Few changes for Diesel cars

Audi dominated this year's race in their first year with a diesel engine, and despite performance penalties in the American Le Mans Series, the Audi R10 is currently undefeated in the series with one round remaining.

Several rival teams complained that the Audis were allowed the same size fuel tank as the rest of the field, despite diesel offering better mileage. The German cars were able to run longer than the other front-runners, and still set a blistering pace.

Next year, Peugeot will also race with a diesel engine, and the ACO will reduce the size of the fuel tanks by 10 per cent for diesel-powered cars, without restricting their performance in any other way.

ACO president Jean-Claude Plassart said: "Our regulations are framed in such a way as to encourage manufacturers to take up new challenges.

"We are delighted with the recent initiative of two major manufacturers, which have accepted the challenge to race at Le Mans with a clean diesel engine."

Since the 24-hour classic in June, the ACO has been working closely with manufacturers, fuel companies and independent engineers to review its regulations.

Plassart continued: "We came to the conclusion that corrections had to be made but with considerable caution, all the more so as those in the running for victory were separated by small gaps."

According to the ACO, the reduction of fuel tank size by 10 per cent corresponds to the difference in the amount of energy in a litre of diesel and a litre of petrol.

Restrictions will also be put in place to increase the gap between LMP1 and LMP2 cars. Porsche have raised the bar in the LMP2 class this year, often outpacing cars from the top class in the ALMS.

GT1 cars will have their air restrictors reduced by five per cent to reduce their top speeds and increase the gap to the prototype cars. GT2 cars will have the same change to keep the gap the same between the two GT classes.