FIA WEC 6 Hours of Spa
- Thread starter Patrick
- 231 comments
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- 3,587
You just made me sad inside. Lol.
- 10,373
- Manchester
- Ardius_
It happens in series without manufacturers though - those with the most money will always have the best engineers, mechanics, etc etc etc. The difference is whether the series allows teams with the most money to actually dominate - sadly the reality of motorsport is that having a load of money is always going to help.
That said, I do agree that most of the time it tends to be when manufacturers start getting move involved that the costs start to spiral as they are willing to spend more than most sponsors. Equally motor racing would lose a fair bit of interest without manufacturers - you see on this very forum that there are fans of BMW, Ford, Holden, Mercedes, Toyota, Peugeot, Audi, Ferrari...can't really the say the same for Vodafone or Santander.
I think there needs to be a balance met for series - an impossible balance - to make the series cheap enough for an independent or poorer team to have a chance but open enough for manufacturers to be able to come in and make their own impression (rather than just being a sponsor sticker).
- 7,177
- Lisboa
- FLAT_TWELVE
At top level the Sports Cars category, unlike F1, was always heavily based in manufacturers.
In F1 you have basically one resident manufacturer (Ferrari) but that happens because Ferrari was the Scuderia Ferrari before being the Manufacturer Ferrari (Ferrari Auto S.p.a. I think). In the eraly years you had Mercedes but they weren't a Scuderia first. And you had many others every now and then, but none like Ferrari (with the possible exception of Colin Chapman's Lotus Team and Lotus Cars when they both belonged to him).
In Sports Cars, however, you ALWAYS have and had manufacturers driving the discipline forward. Much more than Formula 1 - and in this I don't agree with many other posters - it is at Le Mans and at similar events that the manufacturers really "flex" their muscles. So, when you don't have manufacturers in Sports Cars the discipline faces oblivion and therefore lack of sponsors for the privateers.
And this is bad because - and in this I totally agree with Ardius - it's in the presence of privateers that also resides the beauty of sports cars as a racing discipline. Not privateers like the "non-manufacturers" of Formula 1. REAL privateers. Le Mans and both Le Mans Series is where, at top level, you can still find "gentleman-drivers". Actors, musicians, businessmen, occasional racers, whatever. And low-budget teams that do show up to race, some very professionally, some not (never forget the awesomeness of the Japanese Lamborghini Owners Club. They do try, year after year
)
But Sports Cars need the manufacturers. Be it sports cars makers like Ferrari and Porsche, be it big companies like Audi and GM and BMW and Toyota and Peugeot and Nisssan ... they're fully part of the game and therefore they're missed when absent.
In F1 you have basically one resident manufacturer (Ferrari) but that happens because Ferrari was the Scuderia Ferrari before being the Manufacturer Ferrari (Ferrari Auto S.p.a. I think). In the eraly years you had Mercedes but they weren't a Scuderia first. And you had many others every now and then, but none like Ferrari (with the possible exception of Colin Chapman's Lotus Team and Lotus Cars when they both belonged to him).
In Sports Cars, however, you ALWAYS have and had manufacturers driving the discipline forward. Much more than Formula 1 - and in this I don't agree with many other posters - it is at Le Mans and at similar events that the manufacturers really "flex" their muscles. So, when you don't have manufacturers in Sports Cars the discipline faces oblivion and therefore lack of sponsors for the privateers.
And this is bad because - and in this I totally agree with Ardius - it's in the presence of privateers that also resides the beauty of sports cars as a racing discipline. Not privateers like the "non-manufacturers" of Formula 1. REAL privateers. Le Mans and both Le Mans Series is where, at top level, you can still find "gentleman-drivers". Actors, musicians, businessmen, occasional racers, whatever. And low-budget teams that do show up to race, some very professionally, some not (never forget the awesomeness of the Japanese Lamborghini Owners Club. They do try, year after year
)But Sports Cars need the manufacturers. Be it sports cars makers like Ferrari and Porsche, be it big companies like Audi and GM and BMW and Toyota and Peugeot and Nisssan ... they're fully part of the game and therefore they're missed when absent.
- 3,819
- Auckland New Zealand
- gtone339
This is what Allan Mcnish has to say about Toyota's absence at Spa Francorchamps. I feel a bit disgusted about the way he says or thinks that he HATES the fact that their rival Toyota is confident at winning at next months Le Mans or the following rounds of WEC.
More info here: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/in-the-cockpit-allan-mcnish-spa-wec//P2/
More info here: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/in-the-cockpit-allan-mcnish-spa-wec//P2/
Tired Tyres
Premium
- 12,559
- West Yorkshire
- Tired_Tyres
- Tired Tyres
It's funny that Audi tried to win a Le Mans without racing their new car all of three years ago?
The year Peugeot won to be specific.
What was wrong with the Audi that year? Exactly the same thing as every other year. It wasn't as fast as the Peugeot. In other word no different at all.
Perhaps he thinks only Audi should be allowed to do that?
- 3,587
Are you talking about the Truth in 24 year? I thought they did win that year?
- 10,373
- Manchester
- Ardius_
Truth in 24 is about 2008.
Tyres is referring to 2009 when Audi debuted the R15 and it had teething problems and setup issues as they didn't test, race and prepare to the same extent they normally did.
- 3,587
Such a good movie. At least they were the underdogs that year.
- 657
- Texas
- XizangM1
Unless other teams are doing the same thing, that part really concerns me.
Playing the "Ridiculously-Paranoid-Conspiracy-Theorist" card here: We already know that Audi got a lot of unnecessary coverage during the Spa race, but I fear that may not be the only consequence of them sponsoring the WEC. What if this 'sponsorship' also acted as a sort of bribery that made the WEC regulate diesels less strictly than petrol cars? Think about how far the Audis (or any diesel for that matter) were ahead of the petrols during every single Le Mans race since the R10.
- 2,073
- Newcastle, NSW, Australia
- mrvajj
- 3,042
- The Netherlands
- MarcoM1972
Well, other teams can submit diesels too. So no, I do not share your thoughts.
Nobody forced Peugeot to leave.
It is just my personal taste that I prefer petrol over diesel engines. Petrol engines sound way better.
- 3,819
- Auckland New Zealand
- gtone339
- 9,741
- Las Vegas UTC-8
- Wardez
- Wardez
Hey guys, just wanted to invite this lot over to the GT5 series we're running as a tribute to WEC. It's complete with an on-going, fictional, back story set in 2014 that we update with semi-authentic "news articles" that detail aspects of our attempt to pro-actively fit the limited world of Le Mans racing in GT5 into some real fun racing context.
We're doing a simulated driver stint of 3 hours for our Le Mans race, the week before WEC's first Le Man running this June.
Should be lots of tight and exciting racing to be had, so sign up even if you can only make one race. Races are every two weeks, with the five rounds besides Le Mans all being two hour long enduros.
http://bit.ly/calmmain
We're doing a simulated driver stint of 3 hours for our Le Mans race, the week before WEC's first Le Man running this June.
Should be lots of tight and exciting racing to be had, so sign up even if you can only make one race. Races are every two weeks, with the five rounds besides Le Mans all being two hour long enduros.
http://bit.ly/calmmain
- 3,915
- California
- gdwest1
Whether Audi had used diesel or not, they would have still owned Le Mans. They have the most money, and the best chassis.
- 9,055
- Murica
- BasedAckbar
The mere fact that Audi is diesel powered gives it the edge over Toyota. Unless Toyota figured out a way to offset the advantage, it's hard to bet against the 10 time champion.
Tired Tyres
Premium
- 12,559
- West Yorkshire
- Tired_Tyres
- Tired Tyres
Explain how Peugeot being faster than Audi at each Le Mans I've seen make Audi the best?
Peugeot shooting themselves in the foot does not equal Audi is better.
- 5,184
- Phoenix, AZ
- nitrorocks
Peugeot did win every race and the title last year except Le Mans. They had an equal car, or better.
- 3,587
Well, it doesn't and it does. Endurance racing in my opinion isn't about who's faster. It's about who can keep it together as a team for x amount of hours. Attrition is a legitimate win, whereas in those two hour quick races speed matters a lot more and you can't count as much on a wreck or breakdown.
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