Mercedes-Benz CLR

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Mercedes Benz
CLR at the Nürburgring in 2009 (rear: Porsche GT1 and CLK GTR)
CLR at the Nürburgring in 2009
(rear: Porsche GT1 and CLK GTR )
CLR
Production period: 1999
Class : race car
Body versions : Coupe
Engines: Otto engine :
5.7 liters (441 kW)
Length: 4893 mm
Width: 1999 mm
Height: 1010 mm
Wheelbase : 2670 mm
Empty weight : 914 kg
Previous model Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR

The Mercedes-Benz CLR was a GT racing car that was built for the 1999 Le Mans 24-hour race and was withdrawn from the race there after a CLR took off for the third time at high speed and overturned in the air .

development

After the end of the FIA ​​GT1 series in 1998, the ACO in Le Mans introduced Le Mans prototype rules for 1999 for closed GTP and open sports cars (LMP). Like the direct competitors Toyota GT-One and Audi R8C , the CLR was built according to the rules for the one-lap faster GTP, while the open version was considered more economical and was implemented with the BMW V12 LMR and Audi R8R .

In April 1999 Mercedes, or the HWA racing department spun off from AMG , presented the new Mercedes-Benz CLR as the successor to the FIA GT Championship winner Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR . It was not the original V12 engine, but the technology including the V8 engine of the evolution variant CLK LM that was largely adopted. The design was based on features of the then new Mercedes-Benz CL ( C 215 ).

The CLR was mainly developed on the very fast racetracks like Le Mans, u. a. at the "old" Hockenheimring, where the Audi R8C was also present. Long distance testing took place in the US where quick ovals and good weather were available. After very good results u. a. at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida and in California on the Oval of Fontana , Mercedes was confident that the car would be fast enough to win the race, despite only a brief test phase in the wind tunnel .

In Le Mans, a test event is offered a few weeks before the race, which traditionally takes place in mid-June, or pre-qualification is required. Typically, not all of them reveal their cards. HWA took part with three CLRs, the fastest took 6th place.

Race weekend

Three CLRs were nominated for the race, which were driven with internationally mixed driver combinations: start number 4 by Mark Webber / Jean-Marc Gounon / Marcel Tiemann , number 5 with Christophe Bouchut / Peter Dumbreck / Nick Heidfeld , and number 6 with Pedro Lamy / Bernd Schneider / Franck Lagorce .

During Thursday evening qualifying, Mark Webber's # 4 CLR took off from the Indianapolis bend and rolled over several times. Webber got away with a sore throat and a few bruises on his elbow. Such flight insoles, called "blowover" in English, were not unknown in sports cars. As early as 1998, Yannick Dalmas took off with a Porsche 911 GT1 '98 in Road Atlanta when crossing a hill directly behind a competitor and overturned in the air.

On Friday without competition, the CLR No. 4 was completely rebuilt on a new chassis, for which an exemption from the organizer was necessary. In order to increase the downforce on the front axle, smoke deflectors like those used in the rain were attached. Again with Mark Webber at the wheel, the car took part in the warm-up on Saturday morning, but this time the CLR No. 4 only made it to the then still existing hill in front of the Mulsanne curve, where the car again lifted off the track, overturned and up remained lying on the roof. The car “standing” vertically in the air was captured in photos and published on the same day in the newspapers available on the racetrack. There were no injuries in this accident.

Despite this second accident and aware of the Le Mans accident of 1955 , Norbert Haug decided to let the other two cars start the race. For this purpose, further modifications were made to the remaining cars with starting numbers 5 and 6 and the drivers were instructed not to follow other cars too closely over larger bumps.

Despite all precautionary measures, there was another accident with a CLR after a good four hours of the race; this time it concerned the car with starting number 5 and the driver Peter Dumbreck . Dumbreck followed a Toyota GT-One , his CLR took off in a bend on the approach to the Indianapolis curve, overturned in the air and landed off the track in the brush. The accident could be followed live on television. Dumbreck was recovered from the car almost unharmed.

The remaining car no. 6 with Bernd Schneider at the wheel was immediately taken out of the race, the garage doors in the pit lane were closed as a sign of the abandonment.

aftermath

The accidents led to the cancellation of the planned CLR participation a few weeks later at the Norisring , which led to the cancellation of the sports car race planned there. Advertising posters with the CLR, the Audi R8R from Joest Racing and the BMW V12 LMR from Schnitzer Motorsport were already on display at the time. Participation in the American Le Mans Series was also canceled by Mercedes.

The only remaining CLR, No. 6, never raced again and was not put in the Mercedes-Benz Museum , but sold to a private collector. The car was driven by Harald Grohs on the small course of the Hockenheimring in autumn 2001 and exhibited in St. Ingbert in summer 2008 as part of an exhibition in honor of Bernd Schneider. In June 2009 the car was moved around the Nürburgring. Car no. 4 was rebuilt and is now on display in the entrance area of HWA AG in Affalterbach .

Mercedes blamed the bumps in Le Mans. Before the 2001 race, the hill in front of the Mulsanne curve was removed by approx. 2 m, and a minimum height of the sub-floor to the road surface was stipulated in the rules of the Le Mans prototype.

In the period from 1998 to 2001, all four German manufacturers with Le Mans sports cars were affected by similar accidents. At the same crest in Atlanta as Dalmas in 1998 in the Porsche GT1, Bill Auberlen overturned in the open BMW V12 LMR in 2000 . Both types had previously driven at Le Mans without such accidents and had won each. Michele Alboreto died on the DEKRA Test Oval next to the EuroSpeedway Lausitz during test drives in spring 2001 with the open Audi R8 (racing prototype) with which Le Mans was won in 2000 . After a tire damage on the rear axle at 300 km / h, the vehicle broke away and took off, rolled over several times, flew over the guardrails and landed next to the track.

Even near-series vehicles with a front-engined engine can go into flight. On the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 2015 the GT3- Nissan GTR of Jann Mardenborough took off on the crest of the "Quiddelbacher Höhe" in front of the "Flugplatz" during a VLN race , sailed a considerable distance while standing vertically in the air, hit the rear end Stack of tires and overturned behind the FIA fence , killing a spectator.

literature

  • Martin Mahle: Mercedes-Benz CLR . CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018, ISBN 978-1-72302-178-7 .

Web links

Commons : Mercedes-Benz CLR  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. http://www.racingsportscars.com/photo/Le_Mans-1999-05-02.html
  2. Youtube: 1999 Le Mans test day
  3. Youtube: BIG Porsche flip at Road Atlanta
  4. Modena Trackday ( Memento from July 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), racerpics.de
  5. Youtube: Dalmas and Auberlen blowover at Road Atlanta
  6. Youtube: Nürburgring Nordschleife VLN 2015 Crash Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3
  7. Youtube: GTR crash Nurburgring 2015