Dome S102 #11 – Ebbro

2008 Dome S102
Pilots: D. Ito, T. Kataoka Y.i Tachikawa
Team: Dome Racing Team
Race: 33rd overall (LMP1 class) at Le Mans in 2008
Ebbro - 44094 (resin) 

Published 06/01/19

Designed as the successor to the S101, the Dome S102 debuted at La Sarthe in 2008. Developed in-house by Dome, the big differential of the new car was the closed-cockpit design. This new design allowed 9% less drag, consequently being 11% more aerodynamically efficient. Dome used the same style of monocoque chassis, yet this time it was a 100% carbon fiber affair. They also swapped the Judd GV4 engine for the newer and bigger GV5 S2 unit. The GV5 was a 5496 cm³ aspirated V10 that with 40 valves and DOHC produced 650 hp. Not only more powerful than the previous GV4, it was also lighter.

Looks like a test car, with so few sponsors – that’s the reality of small teams.

The car was ready only by March 2008, with barely enough time for Le Mans. Dome did manage, however, to do a shakedown at Spa, and the car lined up for the Le Mans test week in early June. As a works car, at test week the sole S102 classified in 11th. The race was a diesel battle, between the R10s and 908s, with the R10s taking the podium. S102 #11 finished in 33rd place, the last car to classify.

Beautiful – one of the best looking LMP1s of the W-143 Garage.

In scale, it’s a fairly nice model. I adore the lines of the real deal – to me the car looks fast, even standing still. Cars like this makes me long for the pre-shark fin era… But I digress, back to scale. Ebbro did a nice job replicating it in 1:43rd, and to my surprise, in resin! Detail wise it’s a very “complete” model, but at least on mine decals could be a tad smoother. However, in the end, you get a not expensive model that’s very nice, so a good buy.

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