The Le Mans General Discussion Thread

[01GTP]

Oh, true. That makes sense. I meant Audi has done it in the past, was poorly worded

Audi and Peugeot were at Petit when it and they were part of the former Intercontinental Le Mans Cup and whatever it was before 2010.

Audi was in the ALMS before that leaving at the end of 2008, I do not know about Peugot.

Things change.

 

[Mac K]

Can I just come out and say with the exception of Le Mans, the WEC races on some fairly boring and bland tracks... *puts on flamesuit*

 

[Tower Turn 13]

Yeah I get it. I just feel like the lineup is 90% regular ALMS guys, when I had always considered this one a bigger race. The only difference I see is a few LMP guys and a few GTAm drivers. For the most part the GT field, in fact most of the field, is identical to the regular season lineup. Not that I don't like the season lineup of drivers. But LMP1 will be decidedly boring if Muscle Milk takes off flying away from everyone.

I know Audi would rather compete in/focus on WEC races and funny about Toyota not crashing

Maybe this isn't accurate but ALMS seems to have been dwindling in some ways for a while. Especially with flagship Le Mans teams like Audi giving it little to no attention. Perhaps the merger with Grand Am could be compared to a hail mary of sorts, an economic decision that might not happen in a good economy. But I don't know, I haven't kept up with the official commentary that much. Ah well, I don't know how but I'll find a way to be at Sebring next March for the going away party for the current iteration of ALMS...

 

[01GTP]

Perhaps the merger with Grand Am could be compared to a hail mary of sorts

My thought also.
The fact that between the 2 series we will be missing out on 10 or so races a season is hard to swallow.
Let's hope the events they pick will be epic enough to make up for it.
Sounds promising so far.

Ah well, I don't know how but I'll find a way to be at Sebring next March for the going away party for the current iteration of ALMS...

Hey if cost is a problem, Lime Rock locals close to the track are given tickets (sound issues) to the main events and a lot of them don't attend the races = free ticket if you know the right people.
Local radio stations also give out tickets.
I don't know if the same is true near Sebring.

Lime Rock this year was selling future event tickets for less than 1/2 price during earlier events.
So a person could get this past events (Rolex) ticket for 1/2 of the 10% reduced prepaid ticket. Example: $45 for a $100 ticket
I'm not sure what prices are, my tickets are given to me as presents.

 

[R0ssingt0n]

Can I just come out and say with the exception of Le Mans, the WEC races on some fairly boring and bland tracks... *puts on flamesuit*

I hate to admit it but i kinda agree with you, Although Sao Paulo was pretty good i thought... and Spa. Spa will always be amazing in my opinion.

 

[Shinshiki]

Spa and Silverstone are great tracks. The WEC Brazil race was only good because Audi didn't win. Bahrain is terrible. I don't even understand why F1 still goes there. Suzuka would be better than Fuji in my opinion, and Shanghai isn't too bad of the track.

 

[R0ssingt0n]

Spa and Silverstone are great tracks. The WEC Brazil race was only good because Audi didn't win. Bahrain is terrible. I don't even understand why F1 still goes there. Suzuka would be better than Fuji in my opinion, and Shanghai isn't too bad of the track.

The 'modern' tracks are nowhere near as good as the classics such as spa and silverstone, and Le Mans (obviously). I think they should do a race on completely public roads like the baltimore circuit in the ALMS

 

[Jav]

Modern tracks with all their safer barriers, asphalt run offs and ultra wide sections have just become too boring. Yes they serve a purpose and we all are greatfull for it, but as good as they are they'll never be great like Spa, the original Silverstone, Monza, Road America, Watkins Glenn or the The Nordschleife.
Track designers(HT) need to look into ways to blend those safety features into the enviroment to bring some life back to the new tracks.

 

[SagarisGTB]

funny about Toyota not crashing

Nothing funny about it. They've only got 1 car, one spare tub and a very limited budget (for a factory team). Toyota was barely persuaded to run the full-post-LM WEC, no chance they would run any additional races.

The 'modern' tracks are nowhere near as good as the classics such as spa and silverstone, and Le Mans (obviously). I think they should do a race on completely public roads like the baltimore circuit in the ALMS

Can't call silverstone a classic these days. Only two corners remain similar to the 1990 version of the track, and even those two, copse and stowe, have been re-profiled since.

 

[Tower Turn 13]

Nothing funny about it. They've only got 1 car, one spare tub and a very limited budget (for a factory team). Toyota was barely persuaded to run the full-post-LM WEC, no chance they would run any additional races.

Well obviously no one would find a real wreck funny by Toyota, especially not them. Besides they're the x factor right now. Would hate to see it come down to just Audi the rest of this season, and I'm more or less a fan of Audi in proto racing since the R8.

Interesting that on that limited budget they have a car that runs away from Audi (admittedly with some amazing drivers as well) with a sliver of a fraction of the experience in the class/car. Quite impressive that they're lapping R18s in a series that has been more or less dominated by the German manufacturer.

As for tracks, even as an American I see a great value in a global perspective. Not all great things are born here as some of us tell ourselves (for instance Le Mans!). But American tracks can be brutally challenging. Take a street circuit, or a track like Sebring. The physical and mental endurance is insane and super fun to watch as the cars bounce and claw for grip. Amazing tracks all over the world but American tracks do seem to have a certain grit to them.

 

[Mac K]

Less than 2 weeks until Petit!

 

[Jav]

Can't wait! Thank's for that vid!

 

[Carlos]

Lola for sale?

 

[Shoe67]

Lola for sale?

Where did you hear this???

 

[Jav]

Lola was for sale, unfourtunately they've now gone under.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103257

 

[freshseth83]

WEC is at Fuji this weekend, a collective test took place yesterday. Here are the total results http://www.sportscarillustrated.com/img/News_2012/J/2012_6_Hours_of_Fuji-CollectiveTest_Session.pdf

 

[Jav]

Times look pretty good for the top 3 and 4th place not too far behind! Should be a good race!

 

[Furinkazen]

Lola was for sale, unfourtunately they've now gone under.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103257

That's sad news.

 

[hawkeye122]

Mucke and Turner are quite literally in a class of their own...

 

[freshseth83]

http://live.fiawec.com/ Practice 1 is now live.

 

[Tower Turn 13]

Lola was for sale, unfourtunately they've now gone under.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103257

What the heck is Dyson gonna do next year? I mean I had heard they were already running into parts issues mid-season.

 

[Jav]

Guess they'll just get a Pescarolo or a Dome or even an HPD?

 

[Mac K]

Ex works Pug 908? That would be sweet

 

[Shinshiki]

Ex works Pug 908? That would be sweet

There was one for sale a while back. I don't recall anybody buying it. So right now, it's not completely outside the realm of possibility.

 

[spooble]

With the not-yet-sorted changes that are coming in 2014, do you think they would actually purchase another car? Seems like a lot of expense and headache to switch cars for just one season.

 

[R0ssingt0n]

It would depend if it fits in (or can be modified to fit in) to the regulations though.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Dyson is probably going to keep the cars they have, and try to replicate any parts that need replacing over the season.

It's not just Dyson in this predicament, but many other teams like Rebellion are also in the same boat.

Once 2014 comes around, they'll probably switch to something else, unless someone comes along and buys Lola.

 

[R0ssingt0n]

was listening to Radio Le Mans the other night and they made a good point saying perhaps a company will be set up dealing in lola spares (or creating lola spares). I see that being quite a strong possibility.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Like how Dauer did for Bugatti?

 

[R0ssingt0n]

Like how Dauer did for Bugatti?

I'm not sure, I think they meant because lola won't have made anymore spare parts for the teams to buy a company would be set up to actually reproduce the parts.