Category LMP1 Designer(s) Giovanni Lavaggi | Constructor Scuderia Lavaggi | |
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Chassis Carbon fibre composite monocoque Suspension (front) Double wishbone, push-rod actuated springs connected to Sachs dampers, with anti-roll bar Suspension (rear) Double wishbone, push-rod actuated springs connected to Sachs dampers, with anti-roll bar | ||
The Lavaggi LS1 was a Le Mans Prototype (LMP) built by Scuderia Lavaggi. Built in 2005, the LS1, initially using a 6-litre Ford V8 engine, made its racing debut the following year. However, the car proved unreliable, and Lavaggi replaced the Ford engine with a 4-litre AER P32C twin-turbocharged V8 for the 2008 season, with no notable improvement in reliability or performance. The car was retired at the end of the 2009 season.
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Development
In 2005, Giovanni Lavaggi built a LMP1 sports prototype, and named it the Lavaggi LS1; the car was the first Le Mans Prototype to have been built and designed in Monte Carlo. The car featured a 6-litre Ford-based V8 engine (built in North Carolina by Pro-Motor Engines) mated to a 6-speed Hewland gearbox (designed by Lavaggi), and was painted in the red-and-white racing livery of Monaco. It used a carbon fibre composite monocoque chassis, and used Brembo carbon disc brakes with six-piston calipers, whilst the suspension consisted of double wishbones, push-rod actuated springs connected to Sachs dampers, and an anti-roll bar either end of the car. After a series of delays, the car made its first public appearance at the 1000 km of Nürburgring in July 2006, which was the third round of the Le Mans Series (LMS), although it did not actually race.
2006–2007
Two races later, at the LMS season finale (the 1000 km of Jarama), the car competed for the first time, with Lavaggi partnering Xavier Pompidou. It would not prove to be a successful debut; the pair started 34th, having not set a time in qualifying, and only completed 27 laps in five hours and 20 minutes prior to retiring; their fastest lap was 1.7 seconds slower than the next-slowest, a GT2-class car. The team had struggled with engine and engine management issues all weekend.
Despite the poor debut, Lavaggi persisted with the LS1 for 2007. In the pre-season test held at Paul Ricard, Lavaggi set the 20th fastest time in his car, and eighth in class. Lavaggi selected Marcelo Puglisi as his second driver, but the pair were only able to complete 57 laps before retiring after four-and-a-quarter hours. Puglisi was replaced by Cristian Corsini for the 1000 km of Nürburgring (Lavaggi opted to skip the second race of the season), but this time the car lasted for just under an hour before retiring, having completed 29 laps. The car's last appearance of the 2007 season came at the 1000 km of Spa, where Wolfgang Kaufmann was selected to partner Lavaggi; however, another incident-strewn race saw the LS1 complete just 49 laps in nearly five hours, before retiring from the event. As in 2006, the car's problems were centred on the engine; in Spa alone, two engines had to be replaced. In fact, at the end of the season, Lavaggi stated that he hadn't had a single mechanical issue apart from the engine failures, with the rest of the car proving reliable despite having covered around 2,500 km (1,553 mi), and the limited testing the team had done.
2008–2009
After the numerous problems with the engine, Lavaggi replaced the Ford unit with a 4.0-litre AER P32C twin-turbocharged V8; however, the team's application for an entry in the 2008 Le Mans Series was unsuccessful. Kaufmann and Lavaggi were still able to enter the series after the withdrawal of other teams. Despite the new engine, the car was still proving unreliable, as the LS1 retired after two hours and 50 minutes – and 87 laps – from the 1000 km of Catalunya. Lavaggi again opted to skip the second round of the season, and next entered the LS1 at the 1000 km of Spa; however, he and Kaufmann retired once more, this time having completed 66 laps in three-and-a-half hours. One more LMS entry came that season, in the 1000 km of Nürburgring; here, the car was still running at the end of the race (for the first time), but the 110 laps it had completed were not enough for it to be classified as a finisher. The car's final entry of the season came in the non-championship 6 Hours of Vallelunga event; the only LMP1 entry present, Lavaggi and Kaufmann took pole position and the fastest lap, but were only able to finish tenth overall.
Despite the car's poor reliability, and the changes to the LMP regulations for 2009, Lavaggi opted to carry on running the LS1 for that season. Having skipped the opening round of the season, Lavaggi and Kaufmann drove the car at the next event, the 1000 km of Spa; however, although the car was running at the end of the race, the pair had completed just 49 laps, and were not classified. One more LMS entry would follow, in the fourth round of the series (the 1000 km of Nürburgring), but this time the car lasted little longer than 40 minutes, and 21 laps, before being retired. This would prove to be the LS1's last race, as an entry at the 6 Hours of Vallelunga was unsuccessful; the organizers opted to allow slower touring cars to compete, and the LS1, as the single LMP1 entry, was deemed too fast to compete with them, and Lavaggi withdrew the car.