The Le Mans General Discussion Thread

I still dream of a portuguese round to be honest. Estoril would so nice.

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Anyway, I couln't watch the full race yesterday but I caught Di Grassi incident and the other Audi skiding off-track and the Audis seemed highly unstable in slippery conditions, while as Toyotas and Porsches didn't seem that instable (I only saw the first 1,5h).

Porsches seem weak. Not that fast at all.

Looking foward to see Toyotas season as they started with the right foot. Hopefully I can catch more of the races.
 
Considering how many GP circuits the WEC runs on, would there be enough time in a weekend for a WEC/V8 Supercars/Formula 1 super-weekend at Albert Park? Failing that, could it be possible to convince the city council to close the roads for another weekend?
 
TheBook
Considering how many GP circuits the WEC runs on, would there be enough time in a weekend for a WEC/V8 Supercars/Formula 1 super-weekend at Albert Park? Failing that, could it be possible to convince the city council to close the roads for another weekend?
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Really? I can't imagine the WEC going around Albert Park to be very compelling at all. A better bet would be Abu Dhabi, since V8s used to run it in the past and the track would certainly suit WEC more. (although I don't like the track itself too much)
 
TheBook
Considering how many GP circuits the WEC runs on, would there be enough time in a weekend for a WEC/V8 Supercars/Formula 1 super-weekend at Albert Park? Failing that, could it be possible to convince the city council to close the roads for another weekend?
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Albert Park is square in the middle of residential Melbourne. There's no way the residents would tolerate six hours of constant racing. Adelaide is a possibility because the residents embrace the Clipsal 500.

The only venues suitable enough to host a race would be Eastern Creek, Philip Island, or Sandown. Every other circuit is too short, a street circuit, or too isolated.
 
prisonermonkeys
Eh, I live in Western Sydney. I get V8 Supercars every day, usually between the hours of 11pm and 3am.
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Western suburbs in Sydney isn't full of snooty rich people who love to have something to complain about though, far from it. :P

But I think Sydney Motorsport Park could make a decent home to an Australian WEC round, Phillip Island would be my first choice though.
 
TheBook
Considering how many GP circuits the WEC runs on, would there be enough time in a weekend for a WEC/V8 Supercars/Formula 1 super-weekend at Albert Park? Failing that, could it be possible to convince the city council to close the roads for another weekend?
Click to expand...

Impossible.

It's not wise a small series, like WEC, who wants to go bigger to serve as prologue of a F1 race. Let alone the amount of logistic problems that could happen when you put WEC, with trillions of cars, V8 and F1 on the same point in time and space.
 
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Hey guys, just thought I'd share a few pics I took yesterday!


DSCF1370.JPG

DSCF1355.JPG

I just happened to be walking past the Audi garage when the #2 turned up...
DSCF1384.JPG

Taken shortly before the red flag as they were following the safety car.
DSCF1277.JPG
DSCF1285.JPG
 
No one else could either. The full amount of recoverable energy is based on a lap of Le Mans.

Porsche's pace was down to running in Le Mans trim. They don't have a high dowforce set.
 
Tired Tyres
No one else could either. The full amount of recoverable energy is based on a lap of Le Mans.

Porsche's pace was down to running in Le Mans trim. They don't have a high dowforce set.
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But low downforce would mean that in theory they would have the highest trap speeds when in fact they were actually slowest of the LMP1-H after apperantly being 30kph faster in practice.

Audi were fastest at 203.5 MPH on high downforce.

And it was easier for audi to regenerated 2mj and have a higher % to use.
 
Holdenhsvgtsr
But low downforce would mean that in theory they would have the highest trap speeds when in fact they were actually slowest of the LMP1-H after apperantly being 30kph faster in practice.

Audi were fastest at 203.5 MPH on high downforce.

And it was easier for audi to regenerated 2mj and have a higher % to use.
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Radio Le Mans pointed out how much each car could probably get at Silverstone and none of them could get to full power although Audi could get closest, even so, the 6MJ cars could still get more back overall anyway.

As for top speeds. The Porches were easily the fastest in the race. The Audi's where hitting 279 KPH the Toyota's mid 280's KPH and Porsche mid 290's KPH.

http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/

Chronological analysis is the file under hour 6 that gives you all the data you need.
 
Jimlaad43
No, the wet cars. I was on the inside of Brooklands for the race.
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Ohh I see, in one of the other Audi pics there is someone in an orange hoodie :lol:

Decent day of racing (minus the weather) though wasn't it

Edit: Oh you were marshalling!
DSCF1393.JPG
 
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R0ssingt0n
Ohh I see, in one of the other Audi pics there is someone in an orange hoodie :lol:

Decent day of racing (minus the weather) though wasn't it
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It was, i really enjoyed it. Pretty soaked at the end though.

The rain shower at about 1hr was perfect, it was just enough to both spice the racing up and cause and Au-distaster.

It may be a 3 car team, but Buemi won the race there, he was absolutely brilliant in his first stint there.



Just a question, is there a limit to how long drivers can drive for? As Nick Heidfeld seemed to do a 3 and a half hour stint?
 
Jimlaad43
It was, i really enjoyed it. Pretty soaked at the end though.

The rain shower at about 1hr was perfect, it was just enough to both spice the racing up and cause and Au-distaster.

It may be a 3 car team, but Buemi won the race there, he was absolutely brilliant in his first stint there.



Just a question, is there a limit to how long drivers can drive for? As Nick Heidfeld seemed to do a 3 and a half hour stint?
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At Le Mans it's 4 if I recall... maybe that rule applies here? Even though shorter races, there's just 2 drivers per car,
 
4.5 hours according to Radio Le Mans. Le Mans is 4. Strange that it's different.

From the FIA Website.

http://www.fiawec.com/presentation/regulation.html

DRIVING TIMES
For the LMP1 and LMGTE Pro categories:
To be able to score points, a driver must imperatively drive for a minimum of 45 minutes during the race. A driver may not drive for more than 4 hours and 30 minutes in total.

For the LMP2 category:
A driver must imperatively have driven for a minimum of 1 hour and 15 minutes during the race. A driver may not drive for more than 3 hours and 30 minutes in total.

For the LMGTE Am category:
A driver must imperatively have driven for a minimum of 1 hour and 45 minutes during the race. A driver may not drive for more than 3 hours and 30 minutes in total.
Click to expand...
 
prisonermonkeys
Even with Webber driving for Porsche, we get very little coverage of the WEC down here. But we have the local Bathurst 12 Hour, so I think there is potential for the WEC to take root here. Get rid of the Shanghai round, and hold a round in Australia instead. If Bathurst isn't an option, then Eastern Creek, Philip Island or Sandown could probably handle it. And there was the one-of-a-kind Race of a Thousand Years, which was held in Adelaide on New Year's Eve 1999, so maybe the Adelaide Parklands could handle it as well, though it might need the old Grand Prix layout.

Speaking of calendar changes, they should move the Fuji race to Suzuka; Fuji might be owned by Toyota, but it sits in the rain shadow of Mt. Fuji, and so a monsoon is virtually guaranteed. While they are at it, ditch Bahrain for Istanbul; and maybe consider taking the American round back to Sebring, but that would mean it would have to fal of the United Sportscar Championship calendar.
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A lot of wishful thinking going on in this post. Shanghai (or China to be more specific) is on the calendar because the big manufacturers want to go there. Bahrain is the only race on the calendar that pays big money for it's spot, so it's not going anywhere, especially for a location like Istanbul that offers nothing going forward financially. Fuji is not only Toyota owned, but it's also better suited for multi-class racing (wider, longer straights) than Suzuka. (IMO, Autpolis would be the best location for a WEC race in Japan, but the location is clearly not ideal)

Australia has little to offer the WEC, so I doubt it'll go there anytime soon. But if it did, it would go to Sydney or Philip Island, probably the former (newer facilities, closer to a big city).
 

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