Endurance Racing Discussion Thread - WEC, ELMS etcSports Cars 

  • Thread starter Kowhai
  • 825 comments
  • 89,514 views
Rossell2
Nissan last time out?
Click to expand...

Among others, yes.

Basically they come along, say the right things, but never really get far off the ground, if at all. This obviously isn’t limited to sports cars either.
 
After the Spa Prologue today starts the 2021 WEC season officially with the FP1. Enjoy!!

===
I'll never forget our first WEC experience also at Spa.
Together with my son I had a long weekend at a primitive campsite with a view at Eau Rouge/Radillon. And then the first time standing at the grand stand and the Porsche RSR's fly by at full speed. My ears! And we both had so much joy. I admit I even had a tear in my eye of excitement seeing my son so happy. Priceless.
 
Last edited:
Still umming and ahhing about whether or not to follow a WEC that has been beset by negative press. A series that is getting smaller and smaller if you read those reports. The reduction of the power of the LMP2's, the reduction of entries in a new class that was heralded as a new era in Sportscar racing but at the season opener will only see 3 cars between 2 teams, a GTE-PRO class that is basically Ferrari v Porsche with Corvette to bulk entries. The GTE-AM class is the only one to escape cuts and look healthy.

I will still see it. But this 2021 season is not the season I had envisaged.
 
Couldn't even watch the friggin' qualifying because you need a credit card for the stupid app.
Asked a friend for their CC info and that gave an error message.
 
I don't even get to watch the whole race where I live.:(

Watching the onboard of the Toyota really shows how much slower they accelerate out of slow corners compared to before.
 
Diehardracer
Still umming and ahhing about whether or not to follow a WEC that has been beset by negative press. A series that is getting smaller and smaller if you read those reports. The reduction of the power of the LMP2's, the reduction of entries in a new class that was heralded as a new era in Sportscar racing but at the season opener will only see 3 cars between 2 teams, a GTE-PRO class that is basically Ferrari v Porsche with Corvette to bulk entries. The GTE-AM class is the only one to escape cuts and look healthy.

I will still see it. But this 2021 season is not the season I had envisaged.
Click to expand...

The lack of manufacturer teams is disappointing - hopefully the Ferrari and Porsche hypercars in 2023 will make things more interesting. I'll still watch it tomorrow as it'll be fun to see Vandoorne and de Vries outside of Formula E and there are the manufacturers in lower down the grid.

I don't think it's just a WEC issue though - the WRC now only has two direct manufacturer teams. The fact that there are six manufacturer teams in F1 is pretty healthy compared to other series. However, I suppose in F1, Alfa Romeo is really just a rebranded Sauber and Aston Martin a rebranded Racing Point. Plus, if you're going to include manufacturer teams that also design their own engines then you're down to just Mercedes, Alpine/Renault and Ferrari.

I imagine many car manufacturers just can't be doing with the financial black hole that is motorsport these days and maybe times have changed. When I got into Formula E I was pleased to see many non-F1 names in there. I imagine manufacturers like the series because it's cheaper than F1.

I suppose you don't need manufacturer teams per se but it certainly helps keep me engaged. Whilst the GT World Challenge series doesn't have manufacturer teams, the cars themselves are enough to keep me engaged. I think it's why I struggled to get into the Extreme E.
 
Last edited:
Is Spa on TV or streamed anywhere for free in the UK? I thought Eurosport were airing the start and end of the race but apparently not.

Edit: currently on Eurosport 2, Virgin Media messing up the programming made me miss it...
 
Last edited:
Was a fun race! Impressive stuff from Buemi! Pleased that manufacturers are keen to get behind the hypercar project - bodes well for the future.
 
What I find slightly amusing is that when HyperCar was first making the headlines (what 2018-ish?) my very first thought was "Ah, cool...street based cars, wonder how they'll address LMP2 and GTLM". I didn't even give it that much thought because my assumption was that a major international automotive endeavor would have a vague plan for that. A plan that would be handled on time and logically.

From what I can see/hear they've handled it incredibly poorly, and worse, at the last minute. That's pretty garbage. They should have dictated a serious LMP2 performance drop far earlier. It's always easier to add back on horsepower/rev limits, etc.

Having said all that, I get it. We're in the usual "great breath before the plunge". The same thing we saw with IMSA and the Continental series before they revised classes/entries. We get one or two years or simply dire fields of cars, and one-off entrants, exceptions to the rules, etc.

I think in the end we're going to see LMDH (with its more...limited design scheme) subvert the actual HyperCar class in the next 4-5 years. Cheaper cars, with customer cars planned simply seems like the smart choice to me, particularly with the sudden additional financial burden caused by the "Das Kuef".

I think that around 2023 we'll hopefully have a stunning and unprecedented "top" class at LeMans. However it could be a rough 18-24 months before we get there. I hope we get there, regardless of how jumbled and messy the transition is.

The silver lining (in my opinion). Maybe, just maybe, we'll keep the LMP2's as close to the Toyota as they were. I'd actually love the LMP2's to be within 5-6 seconds per lap at LeMans (the last LeMans put LMP2 fastest laps almost exactly 10 seconds behind the Toyota Gazoo). I'd love to have a full class of squared away LMP2 cars waiting to inherit the race win if the HyperCars don't run perfect.
 
Tired Tyres
30 hours testing doesn't prepare you for 24 hours of racing. They are going to discover problems with the car at Le Man's
Click to expand...

I’m expecting problems, too, hence my curiosity.

Anyway, in other news:

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2021/06/04/lmdh-and-lmh-notebook-bmw-cadillac-audi-and-peugeot.html

The most notable part for me:
Audi:

As confirmed by Marshall Pruett on Racer.com, the initial plan for the Audi LMDH to utilise a developed version of the brand’s turbo four DTM Class One engine has now been passed over – both Audi and Porsche will now utilise a twin turbo V8.
Click to expand...
 
I am sort of bummed the Audi & Porsche programs are sounding more and more like rebadges (Or would it be reskins?). But if it means 4 cars instead of 2 I can certainly learn to live with it. Hopefully the rumored programs all come to fruition so we can have a GT3 like field at the front of the grid.
 
Northstar
I am sort of bummed the Audi & Porsche programs are sounding more and more like rebadges (Or would it be reskins?). But if it means 4 cars instead of 2 I can certainly learn to live with it. Hopefully the rumored programs all come to fruition so we can have a GT3 like field at the front of the grid.
Click to expand...


I share your sentiments completely. I’m looking forward to seeing large grids at the front but was hoping for some diversity. The various car concepts excite me in sports car racing - my all-time favorite event will always remain the N24 - but alas the VAG brands may be more cost-effective than we thought. Nevertheless, I hope the racing will be good and we’ll some additional manufacturers commit like BMW.
 
FP1 is almost finished in Portimao:

https://live.fiawec.com/en/live

At this point the Glickenhaus is about 1 second off the pace (1:34.789 vs 1:33.781 from the Alpine) - but of course, it's only FP1, the Alpine is leading the Toyotas and an LMP2 sits on top of the overall chart...
 
TheHun99
FP1 is almost finished in Portimao:

https://live.fiawec.com/en/live

At this point the Glickenhaus is about 1 second off the pace (1:34.789 vs 1:33.781 from the Alpine) - but of course, it's only FP1, the Alpine is leading the Toyotas and an LMP2 sits on top of the overall chart...
Click to expand...
The Toyota's have been bopped down to allow the Glick to keep up. That's brought the LMP2s to the head of the field. Qualifying is 5:30 pm UK BST today. Nice track.
 
Tired Tyres
The Toyota's have been bopped down to allow the Glick to keep up. That's brought the LMP2s to the head of the field. Qualifying is 5:30 pm UK BST today. Nice track.
Click to expand...

Well, it didn’t help much. Glickenhaus quali result is really disappointing.
 

Latest Posts

Back