80th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours - 16–17 June 2012

[Furinkazen]

Nice video Furinkazen 👍 Some drivers cut that last chicane like those immature kids I find in GT5 online races.

I thought that as well, ACO will probably be harder on it during races...

 

[Mac K]

Cool online magazine/guide to Le Mans 2012. Amazing job for a 17-year old ...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a9bxo1dy4d8y7wa/Stephen's guide to Le Mans 2012.pdf

Looks like a school project, cool. The irony is I just did a similar one on the Nurburgring

 

[Furinkazen]

Few select pics from the photo gallery link in the OP.

 

[Hun200kmh]

Guillaume Moreau has regained feeling in his legs following a successful operation on the back injuries he suffered in a crash at the Le Mans Test Day last Sunday.

The OAK Racing driver crashed his OAK Pescarolo-Judd at high speed and was taken to hospital for surgery to relieve the pressure on his spinal chord, which had been caused by a compressed 12th vertebra.

A statement released by the team on Wednesday night praised the work of the medical team at the scene of the accident and in the hospital.

The statement read: "although Guillaume remains at the University Hospital of Angers, the prognosis is encouraging. The worst possible outcome has been avoided thanks to the efficiency of all those medical teams involved.

"Post-procedure has been straightforward with Guillaume recovering sensations in his legs and tests revealing greater strength in that area compared to on arrival. Thoughts now turn to a bespoke rehabilitation programme tailored to his conditions."

Moreau is not expected to drive a racing car again for at least a few months. No replacement has yet been named for him at OAK for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

Good news! 👍

 

[Furinkazen]

A second helping of pics:

 

[hawkeye122]

What is that car on the bottom? I feel terribly out of the loop...

 

[Wardez]

That's the Green GT, a hydrogen-electric prototype. It's getting the experimental garage slot the Delta Wing has next year:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100085

 

[Desmo46]

Looks like they found the missing branch from the ugly tree.

 

[Wardez]

Yeah, like I said before - Spyker LMP car 👎

Here's another little something for you guys to look at from our CALM Le Mans 3 Hour event.

Allan McNish guides us around a lap of the Audi R10 in Circuit de la Sarthe in GT5:

​

 

[Earth]

Amazing news for those who will watch the race through the SPEED TV channel

In recent years past SPEED TV only covered 16 of the 24 hours on television with only the other 8 hours being covered online at speedtv.com

This year Speed's TV channel will carry 22 of the 24 hours live and in HD! The missing two hours will be broadcasted online at speedtv.com. For the first time in many years speed TV viewers will be able to watch the sunset live and in HD.

This is how it will go, in eastern standard time

8:30 AM - 1:00 PM - Speed TV

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM - speedtv.com

2:30 PM - 7:00 PM - Speed TV

7:00 PM - 7:30 PM - speedtv.com

7:30 PM - 9:30 AM - Speed TV

 

[Sam48]

For a channel that has always been biased towards everything except NASCAR, I got to hand it to them for that. Well done Speed.

 

[SuperShouden]

Spotter Guide will be out tomorrow

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Franck Montagny to replace Guillaume Moreau:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100182

 

[gtone339]

Franck Montagny to replace Guillaume Moreau:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/100182

Thank you!! 👍

 

[Azure Flare]

Amazing news for those who will watch the race through the SPEED TV channel

Awesome:tup:

 

[Paulie Walnuts]

Spotter Guide: http://blog.simraceway.com/2012/06/download-your-simraceway-24-hours-of-le-mans-spotter-guide-now/

 

[Azure Flare]

*removed*

 

[Furinkazen]

*removed*

Going to upload the large version via my Photobucket.

http://www.spotterguides.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2012_LM_V1_H.pdf for now in PDF form.

 

[nitrorocks]

I just can't get over on how beautiful the new Toyota is.

 

[Carlos]

Cool online magazine/guide to Le Mans 2012. Amazing job for a 17-year old ...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a9bxo1dy4d8y7wa/Stephen's guide to Le Mans 2012.pdf

Very nice. Was just looking for this. I'm bringing my dad to Le Mans this year so he can learn quickly

 

[Furinkazen]

GREAT NEWS!

I messaged Andy Blackmore's page about there being a lack of one in a normal image format (JPEG, GIF, etc)... and he's only gone and released one on request Enjoy!!! !!!!:

Links going in OP

 

[Desmo46]

Great stuff.

If you perhaps didn't know your cars and judged them just by the spotter guide, you'd think the DeltaWing was just another LMP1/2 racer, not the dart-shaped machine it is.

 

[Ardius]

Hmm, the spotters guide only further highlights the lack of variety in GT. Ok, we do have 3 different cars that are pretty competitive plus the Astons. But before we had BMWs and the odd Jaguar, Lamborghini and Spyker as well. Still better than having the piddly little GT1 class a few years ago, even if it did mean the Saleen finally got the win it was designed for.

Its definitely all about the LMP2 class this year.

 

[Furinkazen]

Hmm, the spotters guide only further highlights the lack of variety in GT. Ok, we do have 3 different cars that are pretty competitive plus the Astons. But before we had BMWs and the odd Jaguar, Lamborghini and Spyker as well. Still better than having the piddly little GT1 class a few years ago, even if it did mean the Saleen finally got the win it was designed for.

Its definitely all about the LMP2 class this year.

Agreed, oh and you forgot the Lotus Evora's we had as well.

 

[Clark]

Can't wait, heading off to Le Mans early on Sunday morning

 

[SuperShouden]

So, in GTE-Pro it's Ferrari, Corvette, Porsche and Aston Martin. In GTE-Am it's Ferrari, Corvette...Prosche...and Aston Martin....WTF? Where's BMW? Where's Spyker? Where's Ford? I think that just makes it boring when there's the same cars in each class.

 

[Ardius]

I don't think its quite that bad. After all, most of the "hey days" of GT racing were usually between only 2-3 competitive cars. People love the days of the Viper, etc but it was pretty much only Porsche vs Viper at one point!
But I do agree its a shame to have so many LMP cars and then a GT field made up of entirely 4 brands.

Still it will be a great battle in GT as a lot of those team/driver/car combinations are competitive and who can choose between Corvette, 458 or 911?

I think the main plus of this year's field is that there are very few (none?) "joke" teams like JLOC or RSR. While its great to have the amateur teams in the field and nice to have an underdog story to follow, its equally good to see 55 competitive cars rather than ~45 and a bunch of no-chancers.
The only weak cars in the field are the V8 Vantages.

 

[Desmo46]

So, in GTE-Pro it's Ferrari, Corvette, Porsche and Aston Martin. In GTE-Am it's Ferrari, Corvette...Prosche...and Aston Martin....WTF? Where's BMW? Where's Spyker? Where's Ford? I think that just makes it boring when there's the same cars in each class.

IIRC, BMW pretty much pulled the plug on everything car-wise except the American Le Mans Series to focus solely on the M3 DTM project. It's why there was that big falling out between them and Prodrive over the WRC Mini.

They still sell their cars to customers, but they don't compete as a manufacturer apart from the ALMS, and of course DTM.

 

[Furinkazen]

The only weak cars in the field are the V8 Vantages.

That Pro driver line up for Aston is formidable.

 

[gtone339]

GREAT NEWS!

I messaged Andy Blackmore's page about there being a lack of one in a normal image format (JPEG, GIF, etc)... and he's only gone and released one on request Enjoy!!! !!!!:

http://www.spotterguides.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2012_LM_S1_V1_M.jpg
http://www.spotterguides.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/2012_LM_S2_V1_M.jpg

Links going in OP

Thanks man! Already downloaded it! Oh by the way go Toyota!! 👍