85th Running Of The 24 Hours Of Le Mans, 17-18 June 2017Sports Cars

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Because Ford is American, there has always been a dislike of American teams in world sport in general.

I've seen Corvette to be the most liked American team ever, and I haven't seen ever too much hate. Perhaps it's because they have all the likable American traits, and the hard work and winning spirit anyone anywhere can relate too. I'm having a hard time seeing Ford in the same light. It seems like this is just a business venture.

 

[McLaren]

Couldn't be more wrong. It's called pushing the limit. These are the fastest cars of all time in sportscar racing. Modern LMP racing is pushing the very limit every lap. Things break. This was story nearly every single year at LM until Audi came along, and even then they had mostly non-factory opposition.

Eh, he might be on to something a bit.

The announcer did say during the last Toyota's misfortune that Toyota had not engineered the car to run the circuit on just electric alone, also noting that the driver really shouldn't have been pushing so hard to get back given the damage sustained.

 

[Jason115]

Watching onboards of the #8... I don't know whether to feel sad or cheer on

 

[GOTMAXPOWER]

News from Eurosport: Mechanic problem on #9 Toyota cut the power ahead of Trummer's car which couldn't avoid contact, the damage on the Manor put him into a crash in the Esses. Not sure if Lapierre would've made it back had he slowed down sensibly with the damage.

 

[Michelin Man]

Right, I've an extra strong cup of tea; made with 2 tea bags no less, so lets see how this helps .

 

[NW48]

Seems like I missed a lot while I slept during the evening hours of the race. Just imagine the scenes if the #1 Porsche broke down and an LMP2 car won the race

 

[Downhill Dino]

That's the one point from last year I will agree with, was unnecessary from Ganassi (not necessarily Ford, as Ganassi himself reported it), but technically he wasn't wrong, in the fact that the Risi Ferrari's number plate was obscured by a fair amount, and it's permitted to be visibly by regs. But it was still not needed, granted.

Aside from that, I don't get why the salt is still in the air about the sandbagging, the Ferrari did it, and many, many teams in all sorts of sports have pulled similar tricks in the past, and will continue to do so. Besides, Ford didn't break any rules per-say in "sandbagging", as they just found a loophole in the regs and the ACO's rather shambolic BoP rules, which let's be honest, is the root of all this, and played said loophole cleverly.

But if the ACO got their act together, and sorted the BoP levels, then such tricks wouldn't be needed, just look at IMSA.

Personally, I found more issue with their attitude leading up to and after the race. 'Yeah we're and going to win. Specifically to beat Ferrari like we did all the years ago! Remember? Eveyone remember that? Do I need to remind you? Oh look we won, of course, Ford triumphs the 24 once again.' Is what I took away from last year.

 

[Michelin Man]

I was gutted when I heard that Ford chose Ganassi to run the program, love Ford, love the GT, can't stand chip!

I've seen Corvette to be the most liked American team ever, and I haven't seen ever too much hate. Perhaps it's because they have all the likable American traits, and the hard work and winning spirit anyone anywhere can relate too. I'm having a hard time seeing Ford in the same light. It seems like this is just a business venture.

It definitely seems Corvette would be a somewhat universally liked team and deservedly so, because, as you say, they do express traits of a hard working, very nice team. I think the issue with Ford is not with Ford itself, but with Ganassi.

@MustangManiac expresses it perfectly for me, when I saw the new Ford GT, I was stunned, then overjoyed when the GTE program was announced, but then got a bitter taste when I found out that Ganassi would be running the program, as he's not the ideal guy to run the team, not really a fan of him or the team.

However, moving the politics aside, I will continue to support Ford and the GT, as there's still some very good guys in that team, and some cracking, very likable drivers too.

 

[Vinylshark]

Tyre damage for Prost.

Seems like there's more wrong on the LMP2 leading Rebellion.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

It definitely seems Corvette would be a somewhat universally liked team and deservedly so, because, as you say, they do express traits of a hard working, very nice team. I think the issue with Ford is not with Ford itself, but with Ganassi.

@MustangManiac expresses it perfectly for me, when I saw the new Ford GT, I was stunned, then overjoyed when the GTE program was announced, but then got a bitter taste when I found out that Ganassi would be running the program, as he's not the ideal guy to run the team, not really a fan of him or the team.

However, moving the politics aside, I will continue to support Ford and GT, as there's still some very good guys in that team, and some cracking, very likable drivers too.

I disagree simply because Ford know who they were working with, have been working with the guy and decided "he's the man to get us what we want, WINS! And that's what we want to sell more cars for a limited time"

Corvette go to Le Mans for PR sure but it seems more trouble than what they get out of it even when they do win. Some years it's even turned so bad for them that it risked their chances of running cars in the state side series.

 

[Nielsen]

The race seems to a found its night groove.

I wonder if I can make it to the end on power naps. I usually sleep five hours during the race, but I always wake up feeling annoyed by missing out on the decisive sunrise hours.

 

[TheElbows]

I've got another good few hours...and then I pretty much lay in bed and watch the race - fading in and out, until I set an alarm to watch the last 2-3 hours. I'm not in my 20's anymore so I doubt I'll stay up all night crushing Red Bulls.

 

[ProjectWHaT]

Clearly, all of the LMP2s will have mechanical failures and a GTE Pro will get on the podium.

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

Anyone got a good up to date timing and scoring for the race?

 

[IforceV8]

The 31 is several seconds off the pace.
@LMSCorvetteGT2 Thank Chip

 

[Skython]

#35 Alpine is 3rd in class now.

 

[05XR8]

I feel that issue with Ford being disliked, is due to it not being Mustang. Had it been a GTLM/GTE Mustang, the world over would be cheering it on.

 

[comu]

Off to sleep now. Aiming for a 6-7am wake up.

 

[TheElbows]

I think most of the dislike is the Chip Ganassi connection, an effective and successful team owner...and a ********. The car? I dislike how disingenuous it is --- it's a race car full stop, the "we'll make a road version, I promise!" is kinda weak sauce. Couple that with a BOP that benefitted it for a little too long in both series...meh.

 

[Michelin Man]

I disagree simply because Ford know who they were working with, have been working with the guy and decided "he's the man to get us what we want, WINS! And that's what we want to sell more cars for a limited time"

Corvette go to Le Mans for PR sure but it seems more trouble than what they get out of it even when they do win. Some years it's even turned so bad for them that it risked their chances of running cars in the state side series.

I can see what you mean, and it'd seem that was the route they decided to take in joining Ganassi, as he is that type of guy, with the attitude where he feels "he can get what he wants". And whilst hunting purely for wins is great, as it does sell, especially when the car is as exclusive as the GT. But I still feel Ford could've done far better than teaming up with Ganassi, as there's better people to create a winning partnership, and image with.

And with regards to Ford's "showboating" nature, pointing out their heritage, yes I can see why people turn their noses up at that, as understandably people don't like it when one brags about their achievements. But at the same time I can understand why Ford did it, as it was big news when the new GT was announced, and even more so when the return to Le Mans was announced, especially with looming battle with Ferrari to look forward too. Yes they perhaps didn't need to point out the famous wins of the past so often and cockily, but as I said, I do understand it.

But going back to the start, I still believe that the route of all this controversy (or salt) is mostly, if not all, down to the Ganassi side of things.

I wonder if I can make it to the end on power naps. I usually sleep five hours during the race, but I always wake up feeling annoyed by missing out on the decisive sunrise hours.

I'm thinking the same, if it get's so bad tiredness wise, I may slip in a power nap, think 90mins to 2 hours. But I'd be anxious of missing any action, especially after all that's happened


Apologies for the vast wordy post!

 

[Spacegoat]

Knock on wood, hopefully this is finally the year for them.

Surely their luck couldn't get any worse?

I couldn't have been more wrong. It was worse.

Oh well, here's hoping that Porsche can pull off a good result in GTE-Pro.

 

[Northstar]

I actually love the GT and really the only thing I dislike about the car is the terrible livery.

Chip on the other hand is terrible. He knows how to win, but doesn't know how to do it with class like most other highly successful teams. How he manages to attract major corporations and drivers will forever baffle me.

 

[Michelin Man]

Not related to my bias towards Ford, but I'd like Porsche in GTE-Pro to keep up the battling, at try and stop Ferrari getting a podium at least if all else fails for my GT's (no malice, just loving the new 911 RSR, and not a fan of Ferrari much in general).

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Maybe it's just me, but the music RLM uses for their hourly updates is really catchy.

 

[Amac500]

My heart still goes out to Toyota, but my sense of timing has always been terrible

 

[Michelin Man]

Maybe it's just me, but the music RLM uses for their hourly updates is really catchy.

Well, that's the joy of The Cult's - She Sell's Sanctuary.

In fact, I've listened to The Cult so much with RLM's hourly updates, that whenever I hear the Cult elsewhere, I instantly think of RLM .

 

[RandomCarGuy17]

Well, the lmp1 class is now boring that it's just mainly Porsche running laps. Im just gonna focus on Ford, come on Ford!

 

[AMPMROCKETFANN]

Well, that's the joy of The Cult's - She Sell's Sanctuary.

In fact, I've listened to The Cult so much with RLM's hourly updates, that whenever I hear the song elsewhere, I instantly think of RLM .

I've actually been glued to "Love Removal Machine" for some time now. Not helping given how Toyota went south I suppose

 

[Furinkazen]

Lapierre said to RLM that the crash with the P2 earlier was due to a sudden fuel cut, cue contact from P2 taking avoiding action.

 

[Northstar]

I finally got a reply to my refund request and instead of the nice personalized email I got the first time I received this.

Dear {% contact.first_name%},

Our platforms have suffered attacks which prevented our serevers to respond properly.
We invite you to consult the GCU and in particular Article 6: [[http://fiawec.com/en/terms-of-use-app/62]]
The entire race is available in replay.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, please be assured that all teams are working hard to ensure the best possible availability of the Application & Live Web.
Thank you for your understanding.

Regards,

So yeah, they're hiding behind their ToS instead of doing the right thing. At least we know where their priorities lie.