Target achieved for MissionH24 in Portimão. The LMPH2G of the H24Racing team leaves Portugal after a successful participation in the free practice of the Michelin Le Mans Cup.
2019 end-of-season target achieved for MissionH24. After its first race weekend race at Spa-Francorchamps on 20 September, the LMPH2G, a hydrogen-electric racing prototype, returned to the track on Friday and Saturday in Portimão for the last meeting of the Michelin Le Mans Cup of the season.
The LMPH2G presented itself in Portimão in the same configuration as in Spa in order to continue the validation of several technical solutions developed in private trials, the reliability of which must be put to the test.
On the program of the H24Racing team that operates the car, on the one hand, on the track, roll again the LMPH2G at the heart of the pack at a steady pace; On the other hand, off-piste, allow the team to integrate into the environment of the competition and, in particular, continue its work with Total, which designed a mobile hydrogen refueling station specifically for the MissionH24 project.
A new technological step in refueling
For the first time, the car was refueling at the entrance to the pit area, in line with the other stables. Another first, Total engineers have now equipped their hydrogen refueling station with an infrared link that connects the station to the car and allows an automatic management of the refilling of the tanks of this one (temperature, pressure and quantity). The only human operation when refueling the LMPH2G is now to couple the refueling connector to the car, monitor the smooth completion of the automated refill, and decouple the device.
H24Racing will resume its performance development program next week so that in 2020, after a first semester dedicated to the validation of new technical solutions, it will be able to resume the course of its participation in the race weekend.
The figures of the two free practice sessions of the Michelin Le Mans Cup:
- 22 completed laps (13 for Norman Nato, 9 for Olivier Lombard);
- best times: Friday 1’53”966, Saturday 1’52”797;
- 4 refueling stops.
Jean-Michel Bouresche (Director of the H24Racing team): ” After our first race weekend at Spa Francorchamps five weeks ago, this return to the track here in Portimão for the last round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup 2019 was important. As planned, we started our competitive development process at the end of the season and had to make the most of each appointment on the calendar. It’s a coincidence and it’s lucky if these last two race meetings were held on two of the most complicated European circuits. It was an asset to face the most demanding conditions and prepare our 2020 season. “
Olivier Lombard (pilot of the LMPH2G n ° 42): ” Portimao is a complicated track because of its very varied profile – strong variations of relief and gradients, its embossed surface, sometimes high ambient temperatures and the strong wind that swirls there regularly. Features that make it an excellent test circuit. Driving in a race weekend here was therefore very important for us to accumulate experience. We leave with a lot of information that will be very informative for the rest of our performance development. I can not wait to get behind the wheel again to continue our technical program. “
Norman Nato (pilot of the LMPH2G # 42) : “The two free practice sessions of this last meeting of the Michelin Le Mans Cup season, in which Olivier and I participated in the middle of the other competitors, are worth gold. It was not a question of flying to the maximum of our level of performance or pushing the car to its limits, it was not the objective. As at Spa, our work plan was simple: to confront a difficult circuit, to evolve in the middle of the pack, to force us to a rhythm of competition, on track as in the garage or during refueling. At the end of the two days, we have only reasons for satisfaction. “
MissionH24
MissionH24 is a collaborative project created by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest and GreenGT, co-chaired by ACO President Pierre Fillon and GreenGT President Christophe Ricard to prepare the creation of a reserved category. prototypes with electric-hydrogen propulsion at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2024.
H24Racing
The H24 Racing team is the team run by Jean-Michel Bouresche and commissioned by Mission H24 to run in competition the LMPH2G electric-hydrogen powered racing prototype.
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