The Le Mans General Discussion Thread

What I am saying, is that it almost seemed a farce - I'm obviously biased towards touring cars, so maybe I should leave before really, really thrashing Le Mans... But I don't understand the purpose of a 24 hour race if it's not to be the pinnacle of engineering...

And, if the cars don't make it to the end, then they're not the pinnacle of engineering.
I am so glad you weren't around during the early days of NASA. We'd be bowing to Russia's every demand if we followed your thought process.

It's almost like you ignored my entire last post. I want to see you develop anything new without a few things going wrong along the way. You can't change how to boil pasta without it happening.

Honestly, this feels like a "I want it all now," immature mentality. If it isn't perfect at the start then let's whine and moan.


Why even bother starting a race if you can't finish? Why spend the money?
Do you understand what "endurance" means?
 
And, if the cars don't make it to the end, then they're not the pinnacle of engineering. I could take my Subaru Impreza, make it a hybrid, and get a Top 5 in LMP1-H.

And a Subaru Impreza has never ever had mechanical or electrical failure before, right?

You have no idea how engineering even works. Race cars are designed to run close to their absolute limit, which they do all the time, leaving very little margin of error. This allows every single ounce of weight to be shaved from the car, thus making it faster. Road cars are not like that. Road cars have a much lower sensitivity to weight and are thus designed with a significantly larger safety margin for durability reasons, ignoring the fact that you rarely if ever drive your car at close to 100% (thus effectively having an even greater margin of safety). Also, race cars experience significantly greater forces and great and faster change in forces than a road car ever will as well.

Beyond that, then there's the whole field of reliability engineering, which at its core, has the understanding that you never truly know when something will break, you can only predict with a certain statistical likelihood of if and when something will break.

With that said, you're crazy if you think that the the top LMP factory teams didn't do multiple endurance tests before coming to Le Mans. They've probably tested their car more thoroughly than your car has ever been. And you know what, things sometimes just break.

You really should keep your mouth shut, listen and learn, as you have absolutely zero idea of what you are talking about. Your insinuation and thought that you can do better than these hundreds of engineers did is frankly insulting.

And, this technology will inevitably end up in your Kia Optima, Hyundai Accent or Audi A4. I sense trouble with the road cars that get these powerplants. I sincerely hope I'm wrong, though.

Don't worry, you are wrong.
 
I've watched Endurance racing for my whole life mate so don't tell me I don't know what I'm watching. I stand by what I said.

The problem is that the drivers think it is a sprint. They ride kerbs as if it doesn't matter and then shrug their shoulders when the car fails.

If not a single one of them is able to get a clean run through the race then something is very wrong indeed.

Therefore I recommend that YOU watch a bit more Endurance racing. ;)

Then you'll know why the LMP2 race was not won by the fastest driver or the fastest car, but the one that was driven by drivers who understood what endurance racing is.
 
Oh come on dude, don't be so harsh on him. He's just talking in... what was it? Exaggerated reality? I think that was it.

Ah yes, the incarnate of Hieronymus Carl Friedrich Baron von Münchhausen is at it again. After, he might be the only other fellow who doesn't realize hybrid-powerplant automobiles have been for sale for well over 15 years now. After all, if you haven't driven one before, they don't exist.

They just hadn't been driven for 24 hours at racing speeds, with the associated mechanical punishments of doing so against other folks doing the exact same thing, and through the trials motor racing is defined by when you have different manufacturers competing towards the same goals.

It isn't 1950; you can no longer enter your own vehicle and drop by for a race entry. Although, it would be cool...but technology and safety has changed.
 
Everyone is driving fast and hard, probably not taking the same risks as a 2 hour race but they are still pushing their cars to the max to stay ahead. Its not always the fastest that wins but most reliable and keeping their nose clean. But having a fast pace can allow for you to spend a bit of "downtime" in the pits and still come out in contention, its a long race.
 
Courtesy of Le Mans:

BqUadRrCUAAGmIC.jpg


Yes, a dog wearing a Pescarolo T shirt.
 
I've watched Endurance racing for my whole life mate so don't tell me I don't know what I'm watching. I stand by what I said.

The problem is that the drivers think it is a sprint. They ride kerbs as if it doesn't matter and then shrug their shoulders when the car fails.

If not a single one of them is able to get a clean run through the race then something is very wrong indeed.

Therefore I recommend that YOU watch a bit more Endurance racing. ;)

Then you'll know why the LMP2 race was not won by the fastest driver or the fastest car, but the one that was driven by drivers who understood what endurance racing is.

Actually they aren't going flat out as if it was a sprint, it was stated at Le Mans that if they didn't have all the fuel restrictions and litre per lap rule they would be lapping 10 seconds a lap faster.


hsv
Courtesy of Le Mans:

BqUadRrCUAAGmIC.jpg


Yes, a dog wearing a Pescarolo T shirt.

Actually that is a pescarolo Le Mans race car.
 
Made this last night, posted it in the race thread but since the discussion there has stopped, I've decided to post it in a more active thread so here:



If people really like this, I'll do the same for the Nurburgring 24 Hours.
 
Actually they aren't going flat out as if it was a sprint, it was stated at Le Mans that if they didn't have all the fuel restrictions and litre per lap rule they would be lapping 10 seconds a lap faster.

That's not what I mean. It's the drivers riding the kerbs that is the issue. It sends vibrations through the car that actively contribute to spending time in the pits fixing what they've broken.
 
That's not what I mean. It's the drivers riding the kerbs that is the issue. It sends vibrations through the car that actively contribute to spending time in the pits fixing what they've broken.
Well let's take the audis for example, if the kerbs are causing the issues then how would that contribute to the #3 audi getting rear ended or the #1 and #2 turbos failing?
 
Are you suggesting that vibration sent through the car don't contribute to that sort of failure on a car?

As for#3 if the idiot driver hadn't been doing approximately 2 mph perhaps he wouldn't have caused such a big accident?
 
Made this last night, posted it in the race thread but since the discussion there has stopped, I've decided to post it in a more active thread so here:



If people really like this, I'll do the same for the Nurburgring 24 Hours.

Loved it!
 
Are you suggesting that vibration sent through the car don't contribute to that sort of failure on a car?

As for#3 if the idiot driver hadn't been doing approximately 2 mph perhaps he wouldn't have caused such a big accident?
Well are you saying it did? And if it did I wait for the article to back up the claim, I've never seen a turbo fail on our race cars at Knockhill which is heavy on kerbs.

Same with our na race cars like the fiestas and minis and again if you can show that the toyota electrics failed due to kerb riding I'll await that too.
 
Well are you saying it did? And if it did I wait for the article to back up the claim, I've never seen a turbo fail on our race cars at Knockhill which is heavy on kerbs.

Same with our na race cars like the fiestas and minis and again if you can show that the toyota electrics failed due to kerb riding I'll await that too.

Vibrations loosen up the connections?
 
Well are you saying it did? And if it did I wait for the article to back up the claim, I've never seen a turbo fail on our race cars at Knockhill which is heavy on kerbs.

Same with our na race cars like the fiestas and minis and again if you can show that the toyota electrics failed due to kerb riding I'll await that too.

Yeah I'd have to agree I've never seen turbo or any engine related issues be caused by riding the kerbs, nor have I ever seen any peer review show how a wire loom issue can also manifest from riding the kerbs at speed. If so why don't more engine failures happen at other big endurance events?
Are you suggesting that vibration sent through the car don't contribute to that sort of failure on a car?

As for#3 if the idiot driver hadn't been doing approximately 2 mph perhaps he wouldn't have caused such a big accident?

Are you claiming it's the #3s fault that he was wrecked?

Vibrations loosen up the connections?

A wire loom issue that results in a fire, isn't due to loose connections though. There was either faulty wiring, or the power source burnt out the system it was running through causing the failure and then fire, if you've ever done any wiring or circuits or any basic electrical this is something you learn quickly. IF it was simple as connection issues, that would have been a far easier fix than what actually is claimed to have happened.
 
Considering the Hunaudieres were looking more like a river than a motorway at the time, I think both the #8 and #81 should be at blame for that accident... From the #92 Porsche's onboard, the Toyota appears sideways out of nowhere at [Spaceballs]ludicrous speed[/Spaceballs] with the #81 Ferrari close behind, and carnage ensues as they come across a pack of 4-5 cars that were going slowly. I do think the #8 would have crashed even if there hadn't been a gaggle of cars there at the time.
 
Considering the Hunaudieres were looking more like a river than a motorway at the time, I think both the #8 and #81 should be at blame for that accident... From the #92 Porsche's onboard, the Toyota appears sideways out of nowhere at [Spaceballs]ludicrous speed[/Spaceballs] with the #81 Ferrari close behind, and carnage ensues as they come across a pack of 4-5 cars that were going slowly. I do think the #8 would have crashed even if there hadn't been a gaggle of cars there at the time.

Exactly I love how @Tired Tyres seems to pick his wording in a way that would make it seem more cars outside the #3 R18 weren't around, when we all (well most of us) saw the race and that onboard from a few cars to see there were many slow cars.
 
So far as I could tell, all of the cars in the first group slowed down to the highest speed they felt they could drive without aquaplaning into something (which the Porsche still did), and then when the #8 turned up it was desperately trying to slow down, but couldn't because it was aquaplaning. The Ferrari didn't look like it was slowing down at all.
 
Its a huge WTF for the race director Eduardo Freitas.The track should have gone code 60 from the esses all the way down the Mulsanne straight 5 minutes before that wreck.Terrible leadership led to that wreck.

Thankfully he was around later to slow down that evil Proton Porsche that endangered hundreds/thousands of lives by burning rubber leaving the pits. :dunce: ;)
 
Its a huge WTF for the race director Eduardo Freitas.The track should have gone code 60 from the esses all the way down the Mulsanne straight 5 minutes before that wreck.Terrible leadership led to that wreck.

Thankfully he was around later to slow down that evil Proton Porsche that endangered hundreds/thousands of lives by burning rubber leaving the pits. :dunce: ;)

See that was my after thought as well, yes Sam Bird pulled a bone head move, but one that probably wouldn't have happened if they just did local yellows or at the most a slowdown zone. My bigger question (which you just posed), is why didn't this happen? And the reality that everyone is mad at Sam Bird takes the flak off the race director, luckily for him.
 

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