The Le Mans General Discussion Thread

Furinkazen
Rockenfeller, Dumas and Bernhard are back with Porsche I believe - they'll be in the new works Manthey 911's.
Click to expand...

Rocky is an Audi driver full-time now. He has no contracts with Porsche. Probably focusing on DTM for next year
 
I haven't read this whole op, but I just caught wind of Porsche joining the LMP1 Class this year. They said they'll be starting late into the calendar, but of course they'll be there just in time for 24hrs Du Mans. All we need now is Peugeot to come back, and we would have a good race to see this Spring/Summer of 2014'
 
Why? They passed all the Audis last year with one car in their first race. Then beat them 3 of the next 5 races. They lapped both Audis at Interlagos, their 2nd full race and third try. Passed Audi and gapped them in bahrain before an illumination problem (not their fault) put them laps back. Needless to say its quality over quantity. Audi beat Peugeot with one R18 in 2011. So its definitely doable.

Btw, the 991 cup cars aren't for North America at least early next year.
 
freshseth83
Why? They passed all the Audis last year with one car in their first race. Then beat them 3 of the next 5 races. They lapped both Audis at Interlagos, their 2nd full race and third try. Passed Audi and gapped them in bahrain before an illumination problem (not their fault) put them laps back. Needless to say its quality over quantity. Audi beat Peugeot with one R18 in 2011. So its definitely doable.
Click to expand...
Having three cars, matching your opponent's number of entries, is the best way to ensure a fair fight and diminish the effect of poor luck and circumstance.

You say one R18 beat Peugeot in 2011, however, if you look at it from another angle, you can say that had Audi only brought 2 cars to that race, they very well might not have won. 24 hours is a very long time for a motorsports race, many things can happen. If Toyota brings 2, for example, you lose one car due to an unavoidable collision, another due to poor reliability and you are left with nothing. A third car would give Toyota better odds of avoiding misfortune. It's no coincidence during the histroy of LM, most serious factory teams have brought 3 cars or more to LM in search of overall victory. From 3 Jags vs 3 Mercs in the mid 50s to 3+ Ferraris and Porsches of the 60s and early 70s. How many cars did Jag bring when the won in 1988? 3. Sauber/Merc the following year? 3. 1992 and 1993 were 3 905s vs 3 TS010s. Toyota themselves brought 3 TS020s in both 98 and 99. During the era of Audi vs Peugeot, both makers always brought 3(+) cars.

You can win with two, but the chances are greater with three. I think Toyota's board is being awfully stingy here.
 
Its all chance. Be happy Toyota is even there. You could watch an Audi snoozefest with their duckbilled e-trons beat up on privateer lolas. Toyota have two cars for all the wec. That took the place of three cars at LeMans and two cars for select wec rounds. I would rather it two cars all year. Then we get to see Stephane Sarrazin and Anthony Davidson work their magic in their own TS030.
 
Im just glad there's going to be 2 petrol powered cars giving the Audi's a decent bit of competition. Don't get me wrong, I love Audi but to see them actually have to fight Toyota for victories is brilliant.
 
I think Toyota is only bringing two cars to the 2013 race because they'll probably be busy developing a new car for the new regs the following year. Why go all out for one year when you have to hit the drawing board the year after? Especially if rumors are that Toyota is in for a longer run thanks to the emphasis on hybrid power.

If the 2012 race is a good gauge of comparison, along with the rest of the WEC, I think Toyota has a good chance to upset the Audis.

The budget they had was supposedly much tighter than Audi's and Audi has a much deeper knowledge of sports car racing than does Toyota, well at least at this level.

But in the races they did win, the Audis were generally left gasping for breath.

Maybe the ACO got this Diesel-Gas equivalency right...After six years that is.
 
Last edited:
hawkeye122
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/alms-muscle-milk-completes-cota-test/

So Muscle Milk went out to COTA and did a test. Their car looks quite similar to last years.
Click to expand...

Just looked under the title and noticed this:

Klaus Graf, Lucas Luhr and team owner Greg Pickett turn laps in old and new configuration HPD ARX-03a/c at Circuit of The Americas...
Click to expand...

So technically, two cars.

hawkeye122
To me, COTA seems a bit wide for a Sports Car race- I never really liked the WEC at Grand Prix circuits, and this appears to be no exception.
Click to expand...

Why exactly? What makes it so different now from when the LMES had its 1000 Km races at the Nurburging, Spa and Silverstone?
 
I reckon it's only one car though. Firstly, look at the picture on the cover of the article. You can see that the engine cover is painted as it was in the ALMS this year, and the front is all Black-carbon, a typical testing livery. And then they go on to talking about putting the new parts on to test...
I wish they had 2 cars. I wish they ran 2 cars.

And I hate to be "That Guy", but theres something about the Tilke circuits which just makes them seem... empty. For me, it isn't as pleasing to the eye. It may just be that Spa and the Nurburgring have some kind of landscape surrounding them, whereas the Tilke tracks are all built in barren areas (In terms of Bahrain, Sepang, Korea, India, and COTA. Obviously Abu Dhabi has surroundings). Silverstone and Spa have trees, and green hills and such. I dont know. It just looks not as neat as, say, Road America.
 
I'll agree that some tracks would be better for endurance racing than others but where else are they going to race? It's not like the WEC/ALMS is big enough to have tracks designed for it (sadly).
 
hawkeye122
I reckon it's only one car though. Firstly, look at the picture on the cover of the article. You can see that the engine cover is painted as it was in the ALMS this year, and the front is all Black-carbon, a typical testing livery. And then they go on to talking about putting the new parts on to test...
I wish they had 2 cars. I wish they ran 2 cars.
Click to expand...

Actually if you look at the video, they are running two cars (First camera is on the new one, Second camera is on the 2012 car)

hawkeye122
And I hate to be "That Guy", but theres something about the Tilke circuits which just makes them seem... empty. For me, it isn't as pleasing to the eye. It may just be that Spa and the Nurburgring have some kind of landscape surrounding them, whereas the Tilke tracks are all built in barren areas (In terms of Bahrain, Sepang, Korea, India, and COTA. Obviously Abu Dhabi has surroundings). Silverstone and Spa have trees, and green hills and such. I dont know. It just looks not as neat as, say, Road America.
Click to expand...

Why didn't you just say "Tilke circuits" then instead of "Grand Prix Circuits"?

Also while I agree about many of them (Korea for example, it doesn't even hold other races.), I disagree about Sepang and COTA. Their surroundings aren't really barren. I thinking maybe the Paul Recard Style runoffs is what gives it that impression at COTA(because that track is on Farmlands, which are anything but barren)
 
Because I keep going back and forth in my head. I know I have some kind of point, I'm just not aware of how to make it.

The runoff area part makes sense.
 
I Am Yellow
Why is being wide a problem? It only makes races safer.
Click to expand...

It's not visually pleasing. And as mentioned before, the drivers have no disincentive to run wide on failed moves. The safety is what makes it boring, sadly. I wish it didnt have to be that way....
 
hawkeye122
It's not visually pleasing. And as mentioned before, the drivers have no disincentive to run wide on failed moves. The safety is what makes it boring, sadly. I wish it didnt have to be that way....
Click to expand...

Safety is the reason why most racing drivers have the courage to take it to 110%. Don't get me wrong, a narrower track would bring a better challenge, but with added expense of cars, drivers, and with sponsors more pressing on results more than ever, the added width certainly pleases the owners of these machines.

Tilke is unfairly criticized in creativity when in reality his hands are bound to regulations and to the financier's wishes.
 
Diehardracer
Anyone know of any handy websites to get updated rosters for the ALMS, WEC and ELMS?
Click to expand...

It's a tad early. Probably in mid-January something like that will crop up.

You'd be better off looking for entry lists rather than full rosters, since they tend to change their driver line-ups frequently.

According to Wikipedia, the race at Laguna Seca has been shortened to 4 hours. And on Laguna Seca's website, it no longer specifies "6 Hours". I feel insanely screwed- That was going to be the first ALMS race I went to watch, and I was excited to have it be a 6 Hour event...
 
The 'black' front end was the wide fronts that all HPD's will use this upcoming season. Looks like they were lapping COTA in the 1:55's.

This is for the other Aston Martin lovers out there- 2013 GTE out testing at Silverstone
http://www.the-advantage.org/2012/12/vantage-gte-testing-gallery.html

_MJE5065.jpg


_MJE5069.jpg


Read about the changes and the upcoming changes from Aston Martin here https://astonmartin.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity/racing/Racing%20Line%20December%202012.pdf
 
Dem Rocker Panels.

Awesome. Any idea who's driving? Likely Darren Turner since he's the only factory Aston Martin Driver that comes to mind.
 
Where did Mucke go?

Pretty ace-looking car. Hopefully TRG gets to use the Gulf/Lowes livery.

I also like the livery on the back page of the PDF.
 

Similar threads

Dylan
2025 NASCAR Discussion Thread
2
Replies
45
Views
5K
Eggstor
Eggstor
Famine
2022 Le Mans 24 Hours: Preview, Live Streams, Schedules and Discussion
2 3 4
Replies
110
Views
9K
Coquico
Coquico
Famine
24 Hours of Le Mans 2024 Entry List Announced: Nine Hypercar Marques in Record-Breaking Field
Replies
17
Views
4K
TexHill
TexHill
Famine
Aston Martin Confirms its Valkyrie Hypercar Will Race at Le Mans in 2025
2
Replies
50
Views
6K
Quakebass
Quakebass
Famine
24 Hours of Le Mans 2023 Entry List Revealed for Centenary Race: 16 Hypercars Lead the Way
2
Replies
40
Views
7K
jonoholland29
jonoholland29

Latest Posts

Back