Chris,
Yes. And, to add insult to injury, the French STILL lost that award at
Le Mans year after year, beginning in 1959, and kept on changing it.
They tried to fine tune it so that the French entry (I believe
Deutsch-Bonnet at one time in 1963), would take it. They still lost.
FIA "refined" Index of Thermal Efficiency rules to try to give small
French cars an advantage, as they were not doing very well in racing.
(FIA is French run). We have other words for this.
You might be surprised to learn that prominent ACTUAL winners were
Sunbeam Alpine, (twice) with Peter Proctor (of Le Mans Tiger fame ) in
1961, Porsche 904, 917, Aston Martin DB4, FORD GT40 427 Cubic Inches
(1967) , BRM, and so on. Surprisingly it wasn't the small engines that
predominated.
Funny how rule makers, with ulterior motives, get shafted. {8-)
Steve Laifman
Chris Thompson wrote:
> Do you know that the Index of Thermal Efficiency was something just
> dreamed up by the French to try to guarantee them an award after they
> conceded that they were no longer competitive in their own national
> race? It was an award made even more ludicrous that the french
> couldn't ever seem to win it.
>
> Interesting comment, though, about Lotus - thanks Jim. Something to
> file away.
>
> Chris
> B382000331
> 1969 Lotus 51c
> others --
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Steve Laifman
Editor
http://www.TigersUnited.com
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