Porsche LMP1 confirmed for 2014, goodbye Audi?

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cuco33
I seriously hope Audi doesn't go away from P1. Complete and utter dominance. What's the tally now? 11 wins in 13 races w/1 being the Bentley Speed 8 which was an Audi chassis and Audi race team but 'Bentley's motor, where Bentley is owned by VAG?
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Since, you know, a single team winning everything without much in the way of serious competitors has never caused problems for a sporting event in the past...
 
Can this spark the return of a Group C-like age for endurance motorsports?
 
^
If only Nissan and the Jag are returning...it'll be more epic. :D
 
ZEROX
^
If only Nissan and the Jag are returning...it'll be more epic. :D
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Well Toyota are returning (i consider it a bigger news than Porsche returning). And am pretty sure Nissan will be making plans to return by now, by 2015 the roster at Le man would be: Audi, Peugeot, Porsche, Toyota, and Nissan. If only Mazda come's back :(
 
ivoyared
RIP Audi

The King is back.
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Porsche hasn't touched Le Mans in a very, very long time. And Audi should have themselves 2012, 2013, and unless Porsche comes in with a bang, or Peugeot manages to create a car evne better than the R18, which is probably unlikely for now, Audi is safe at Le Mans, even beyond 2014, as it'll take some time for Porsche to sort themselves out.
 
Peter.
Porsche hasn't touched Le Mans in a very, very long time. And Audi should have themselves 2012, 2013, and unless Porsche comes in with a bang, or Peugeot manages to create a car evne better than the R18, which is probably unlikely for now, Audi is safe at Le Mans, even beyond 2014, as it'll take some time for Porsche to sort themselves out.
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Since when was 3 years a "very, very long time"?

If you want to count privateer's there was an RS in this years 24.
 
Hmmm, Audi or Porsche? I've rooted for Audi this year :D
 
The skeptics among us (me) wonder if this is because VAG want to preserve Porsche's record as the most successful LeMans manufacturer in terms of premier class wins. Audi was steamrolling quickly towards that record.
 
Mike Rotch
The skeptics among us (me) wonder if this is because VAG want to preserve Porsche's record as the most successful LeMans manufacturer in terms of premier class wins.
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I wouldn't be surprised if Audi get bumped back to the LMP-2 so that they can keep competing without threatening Porsche.
 
Audi has a four year project with the R18. Don't be surprised if they pull out at this point just in time for Porsche to take over. Audi stating that their plans have not changed supports this because their plans are for four years.
 
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I wouldn't be surprised if Audi get bumped back to the LMP-2 so that they can keep competing without threatening Porsche.
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I'm pretty sure factory teams aren't allowed in LMP2.

Another note, I wonder which drivers are going to defect or get poached for Porsche.

If Audi do pull out I'd love to see Nishy back in a Porsche.
 
Duffers917K
I'm pretty sure factory teams aren't allowed in LMP2.
Another note, I wonder which drivers are going to defect or get poached for Porsche.

If Audi do pull out I'd love to see Nishy back in a Porsche.
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Correct. Maybe though... Audi to GT division?
 
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I wouldn't be surprised if Audi get bumped back to the LMP-2 so that they can keep competing without threatening Porsche.
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Factory teams aren't allowed in LMP-2, and Audi has said already, Porsche entering won't interrupt Audi in LMP1. Even though Volkswagen owns Audi, Audi can still make a decision like that on their own.
 
Peter.
Factory teams aren't allowed in LMP-2, and Audi has said already, Porsche entering won't interrupt Audi in LMP1. Even though Volkswagen owns Audi, Audi can still make a decision like that on their own.
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Audi's plans don't extend past Porsche's re-entry to the sport. Even if they did compete against each other Audi would have to find a new team to do it with, Reinhold Joest and Joest Racing are very much porsche people.
 
Or Porsche could just take up another spot, and get a nice stack of F1 drivers to drive. They have a lot to choose from. Why would Joest go for Porsche, don't they already have a sweet deal with Audi?
 
I thought Joest ran DTM Audi's?

I hope Audi stays. They have dominated, with a slower car, and with one car. Porsche coming and Audi leaving is a pretty under-handed move. In WW1 there was a pilot (His name escapes me) who was a German Fighter ace, and was pulled off the front and put into a desk job as to not interfere with von Richthofen's kill record. Didn't know the Germans did this for their racing cars, too.

Theres no way that Porsche will be competitive out of the box, unless they repaint an R18. I think a bit of competition would be quite good for both brands. But in the end, they'll arrive in 2014, steal Audi's drivers and engineers, run a new car, and lose to Peugeot.
 
Team Abt and Team Phoenix run DTM. Personnel do move between Audi teams in different categories though.

Porsche will be competitive straight away and will probably win first time out. Don't forget there will be new rules for 2014 so everyone starts level. Porsche probably already know what the rules will be though.
 
I looked for a thread dedicated to Porsche's return, and this one is what I found (there's one about Mark Webber returning with to Le Mans with Porsche and a few mentions of it all in the "general" thread for least important miscellaneous stuff) , so let's revive the PORSCHE RETURNS thread with this amazing video:



This "confidence" makes me nervous. I think they're asking of themselves a bit too much, and I'm intrigued by it. Could they ... ahem ... win on their first attempt? I know who they are and that Porsche will settle for no less but ...
 
It could be a marketing thing and if it's that it's working :lol:

edit; no smilies?
 
^Nope. Smilies are temporarily disabled.

Are Porsche being a little overconfident? Probably. But I can't help but really get suckered into it. They're starting to really show what they have lined up for this new program, and it seems like they bringing out the big guns for it. I'll definetly be rooting for them & Mark (and whoever else they have lined up) at Le Mans & the WEC.
 
Porsche has been out of this type of class racing for almost 30 years maybe. This is a big shoe so to speak that they’re trying to fill. I can understand why they are willing to push so hard so soon, more to prove to themselves than others.
 
Zuel
Porsche has been out of this type of class racing for almost 30 years maybe. This is a big shoe so to speak that they’re trying to fill. I can understand why they are willing to push so hard so soon, more to prove to themselves than others.
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What are you talking about? They've been in this type of class not that long ago. P2 (ALMS) for a time was dominated by the yellow DHL's. We could go back a bit further and look at the 911 GT1, when GT1 was the fastest cars at Le Mans which was in the late 90s. Toyota was around then too and they've come up to speed quickly, though being in F1 didn't hurt.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
P2 (ALMS) Yellow DHL's Porsche's. 911 GT1, when GT1 was the fastest cars at Le Mans which was in the late 90s.
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Sorry that you misunderstood, the classes that you named are NOT P1. P1 is merely a new age C class car and the last time Porsche had a chassis of this type was in the early to mid-90's with the 962.
 
P1 is nothing like Group C. No more so than GT1 was in the late 90s, certainly.
 
Zuel
Sorry that you misunderstood, the classes that you named are NOT P1. P1 is merely a new age C class car and the last time Porsche had a chassis of this type was in the early to mid-90's with the 962.
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Um that isn't true at all, and to be fair this new car probably has more in relation to the GT1 car like the TS030 does to the TS020. As Tornado said as well Group C and P1 aren't the in the same level to be honest. Also if you go by the fastest cars of each era, Porsche has had the group and know how to dominate. There P2 car was quite fast and could compete with P1 also if you believe what some say about Bentley, Porsche may win in their first or second year back.
 
Plus the Penske car won a few races outright, if I recall correctly; so they're aren't just banging rocks together.
 
Tornado
Plus the Penske car won a few races outright, if I recall correctly; so they're aren't just banging rocks together.
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This is very true. Hence why rules had to be changed.
 
Zuel
Porsche has been out of this type of class racing for almost 30 years maybe. This is a big shoe so to speak that they’re trying to fill. I can understand why they are willing to push so hard so soon, more to prove to themselves than others.
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This is Porsche we're talking about. Le Mans isn't some new territory to them considering the record of wins they still retain by a manufacturer.

Will they win on their first attempt? Probably not since the odds are against them, but the chances of them following in Audi's footsteps are high once they knock out the first year kinks like the R8R/R8C did.
 
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