The Le Mans General Discussion Thread

[Ardius]

I mean as in if there cars a winner, why change it dramatically, as some posters above think.

You probably should have quoted those posts to make your point clear(er).

I think people would like to see Porsche enter a completely new body shape (rather than ditch all their hard work, obviously), but I agree that there is no reason to as long as they keep winning or at least keep competitive with Ferrari.

It shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone that a new 911 is going to look like....a 911.

 

[albteman015]

It shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone that a new 911 is going to look like....a 911.

I know what you mean and I love Porsche very, very much but I want to see them do something different for once just out of curiosity to see what they can come up with.

 

[arvin charles]

Some ALMS & ILMC news to catch everybody up!

*Mazda gets a new sponsor (ALMS): http://www.endurance-info.com/version2/actualite-endurance-5873.html

*Two teams interested in running an Aston in P1 in the ALMS next season: http://twitter.com/AMR_Teams/status/15467606400049153


*First pics of West Racing's Lamborghini (ALMS): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=252745&id=129807286990&comments

*Robertson Racing (ALMS) tests their new paddle shift system at Road Atlanta:

Murray & Lazzaro gave the car a "thumbs up."


*Atlas EFX-Team FS hopes to run a Panoz Abruzzi in the ILMC next year. http://www.lemans.org/en/news/Atlas-EFX%E2%88%92Team-FS-with-a-Panoz%E2%80%A2_2565.html

*Signature Plus is looking to enter the ILMC next year. They don't know whether they'll stick with an Aston in P1 or run something else in P2...Perhaps an Oreca-Nissan? http://www.endurance-info.com/version2/actualite-endurance-5866.html

 

[gtone339]

Any news on the Peugeot 90X?

 

[arvin charles]

Any news on the Peugeot 90X?

Not yet.

The new Pug won't be unveiled until at least mid-January. There's even some sources saying that the unveiling will occur on February next year.

 

[gtone339]

Not yet.

The new Pug won't be unveiled until at least mid-January. There's even some sources saying that the unveiling will occur on February next year.

Okay thanks. Hope to see a brand new livery colour for it.

 

[Furinkazen]

2011 regs sorted:

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/lemans-2011-regulations-finalized/

Aston want fans to decide on a name for their car (I vote DBR11!):

http://www.caradvice.com.au/95802/2011-aston-martin-le-mans-race-car-naming-competition/

 

[arvin charles]

Rebellion Racing (LMS) has tested the Lola-Toyota at Monteblanco with Nicolas Prost & Neel Jani and at Portimao with Jean-Christophe Boullion & Andrea Belicchi.

 

[Furinkazen]

Rebellion Racing (LMS) has tested the Lola-Toyota at Monteblanco with Nicolas Prost & Neel Jani and at Portimao with Jean-Christophe Boullion & Andrea Belicchi.

Isn't that a tweaked version of the Super GT Lexus SC430 Engine that Rebellion are using?

 

[AlexGTV]

i know what you mean and i love porsche very, very much but i want to see them do something different for once just out of curiosity to see what they can come up with.

+1

 

[arvin charles]

Jetalliance Racing confirms a GT2 Lotus Evora for the ILMC. http://www.planetlemans.com/2010/12/24/jetalliance-racing-confirms-lotus-evora-gt2-entry/

That's great to hear it will be doing the ILMC so that we can see this car on both sides of the pond.

The GT field at Sebring and Petit will be incredibly diverse if it all goes as planned:

911 GT3 RSR
458
C6.R GT2
M3
Ford GT
Jaguar XKR
Gallardo
Evora
Panoz Abruzzi

Isn't that a tweaked version of the Super GT Lexus SC430 Engine that Rebellion are using?

Yep. They're running a 3.4L V8 based on the SGT engine.

It will be interesting to see how this & Nissan's SGT based engine in P2 will do in endurance racing...

 

[Furinkazen]

Jetalliance Racing confirms a GT2 Lotus Evora for the ILMC. http://www.planetlemans.com/2010/12/24/jetalliance-racing-confirms-lotus-evora-gt2-entry/

That's great to hear it will be doing the ILMC so that we can see this car on both sides of the pond.

The GT field at Sebring and Petit will be incredibly diverse if it all goes as planned:

911 GT3 RSR
458
C6.R GT2
M3
Ford GT
Jaguar XKR
Gallardo
Evora
Panoz Abruzzi



Yep. They're running a 3.4L V8 based on the SGT engine.

It will be interesting to see how this & Nissan's SGT based engine in P2 will do in endurance racing...

One diverse field of GT's... reminds me of when FIA GT3 started up a few years back. My concern for Rebellion is that the engine will lack the out and out punch needed to do well. I don't see many problems reliability-wise...

 

[FoolKiller]

For those who have an Xbox 360 and access to the ESPN3 Channel on it (I assume this is US Gold subscribers) or anyone with ESPN3 (US cable or satellite users) you will get to see the entire ALMS in its entirety via ESPN3.

http://jalopnik.com/5723555/watch-an-entire-season-of-racing-on-your-xbox

The American Le Mans Series will be the first U.S. racing series to broadcast an entire season of racing live, online, and unedited via ESPN3 and Xbox Live, including the 12 hours of Sebring you've been poorly recreating in Forza.

American Le Mans is some of the most exciting, most European racing we get in this country, but television coverage has been limited to mostly incomplete races on SPEED for the last couple of years.

Now fans can watch the races live on ESPN3.com or Xbox Live if they have an Xbox 360 and a Gold subscription (probably). ABC and ESPN2 will also start carrying two-hour telecasts of the races, which is probably bigger news for ALMS, but the full live racing is the big news for racing junkies.

With over 60 hours of online programming (including qualifying and pre/post race) it's now almost 5% of the amount of NASCAR programming we're forced to watch.

Even if you have Speed, its coverage is spotty and often interrupted for things like NASCAR testing. This will likely be the first time fans can watch every second of everything from qualifying to post race on a broadcast.

And for people without Speed, like me, this will be the first time we don't have to find nefarious online resources to just see race footage that isn't in edited two hour summaries on ABC once or twice a year.

Hopefully this takes off and IRL moves back to ABC/ESPN with a deal like this. Heck, let's get all the lesser covered racing series on something like this. I would love to see ALMS, IRL, WRC, Baja, Dakar, Formula D, and even overseas stuff like F1, Super GT, D1, LMS, and Asian LMS. Heck, I could even see watching support races on there, like Jetta TDI Cup and whatnot.

Speed's online thing is limited to only Speed subscribers, but anyone with a cable or satellite service of some form, or even an ISP run by a cable company, gets ESPN3. There is much better market penetration, and money, to be made with ESPN3.

I encourage everyone that can and is interested in non-NASCAR racing to watch this just to help encourage growth with other series in this.

 

[arvin charles]

Cytosport (ALMS) to run a Lola Aston Martin in LMP1!

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/alms-cytosport-goes-with-lola-aston-martin/P1

Awesome news!

Also, Falken partners with Walker Racing for a GT entry with a Porsche.

http://www.americanlemans.com/primary1.php?cat=news|15453

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

For those who have an Xbox 360 and access to the ESPN3 Channel on it (I assume this is US Gold subscribers) or anyone with ESPN3 (US cable or satellite users) you will get to see the entire ALMS in its entirety via ESPN3.

I think it could actually work for anyone with access to espn3.com

 

[FoolKiller]

I think it could actually work for anyone with access to espn3.com

I worded it poorly, but that was what I was trying to say, because the 360 doesn't really call the ESPN thing ESPN3, even though that's really all it is.

Now, only people who have ESPN are allowed access to ESPN3. It actually checks your ISP to see if it is connected to a ESPN provider. My Xbox will even say "Provided by FPB Cable" in the upper corner or the menu. My friend's says Insight.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Now, only people who have ESPN are allowed access to ESPN3. It actually checks your ISP to see if it is connected to a ESPN provider. My Xbox will even say "Provided by FPB Cable" in the upper corner or the menu. My friend's says Insight.

I don't have cable or satellite TV and I can access it. I could also access it before with SBC (AT&T) DSL without satellite TV.

edit: http://espn.go.com/espn3/affList
There's the list of participating ISPs.

 

[FoolKiller]

I don't have cable or satellite TV and I can access it. I could also access it before with SBC (AT&T) DSL without satellite TV.

edit: http://espn.go.com/espn3/affList
There's the list of participating ISPs.

As I understand it if your ISP works with a cable or satellite provider that has ESPN it still works. My friend uses Insight for Internet, but DirecTV for satellite. ESPN3 still says Insight when he logs on.

If they allowed some non-TV connected ISPs to sign on independently then I am quite surprised, as that has to be losing someone some money.

EDIT: Just checked their FAQ. Any participating ISP. Interesting.

 

[Le Mans 88]

Rebellion confirm they'll compete with two cars in the LMS and one in the ILMC, of course the European ILMC rounds are also LMS events so Rebellion will have two cars at all but Sebring, PLM and China.

The other big news, or rather rumour, is Red Bull will have a P1 for 2013.

 

[Furinkazen]

Red Bull?! LOL if it's a detuned X1...

Seriously... I would never expect that. Where you her it?

 

[FoolKiller]

The other big news, or rather rumour, is Red Bull will have a P1 for 2013.

Too far off to feel remotely excited, and far enough away to be timed just right for early development. Any word if this will be just LMS or ALMS too? I'd love to see a Red Bull car in the ALMS taking on Audi and Peugeot. Better yet, I would love to see a competitor of the Audi and Peugeot quality running a full season in ALMS.

Don't get me wrong, there are good teams in P1, but when Audi and Peugeot show up at the big events they tend to just leave them all behind.

 

[gtone339]

Rebellion confirm they'll compete with two cars in the LMS and one in the ILMC, of course the European ILMC rounds are also LMS events so Rebellion will have two cars at all but Sebring, PLM and China.

The other big news, or rather rumour, is Red Bull will have a P1 for 2013.

Red Bull?! LOL if it's a detuned X1...

Seriously... I would never expect that. Where you her it?

Same too, got to see what they will come up with. Maybe they may use the X2010 as a base model?

 

[Le Mans 88]

Too far off to feel remotely excited, and far enough away to be timed just right for early development. Any word if this will be just LMS or ALMS too? I'd love to see a Red Bull car in the ALMS taking on Audi and Peugeot. Better yet, I would love to see a competitor of the Audi and Peugeot quality running a full season in ALMS.

Don't get me wrong, there are good teams in P1, but when Audi and Peugeot show up at the big events they tend to just leave them all behind.

They are both great teams but their dominance was helped by favourable diesel regulations, from 2011 all fuel types should have an equal chance of success.

The Red Bull rumour comes from DSC and RLM.

 

[FoolKiller]

They are both great teams but their dominance was helped by favourable diesel regulations,

And the R8?

 

[sumbrownkid]

And the R8?

The R8s were given a few scares by the Pescarolos in Europe, not so much stateside, maybe the Porsche Spyders.

If Pescarolo had the reliability in 2005, they could have snatched it from Audi.

Diesels are completely different beasts that gas engines can't match with in torque and efficiency. I'm sure if they cut the diesels power output, and have them rely on reliability and efficiency, the gas engines can compete for the win.

 

[Akmuq]

Why aren't Pescarolo doing P1 by themselves anymore anyways? They had an awesome machine back in 05 and were getting better.

 

[Ardius]

Why aren't Pescarolo doing P1 anymore anyways? They had an awesome machine back in 05 and were getting better.

Because they went bust. Henri has recently been given the assets back though and is attempting to revive Pescarolo Sport...but its not likely we will see them again.

 

[Akmuq]

Is that why they had the 908 instead of their own chassis in 2009? Because they were low on funds.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Is that why they had the 908 instead of their own chassis in 2009? Because they were low on funds.

Because they went bust. Henri has recently been given the assets back though and is attempting to revive Pescarolo Sport...but its not likely we will see them again.

Actually, it's likely we will see them again, as a customer team that bought a couple of Pescarolo chassis, Oak Racing, bought whatever Pescarolo had and are lending him his old chassis back.

Good sportsmanship on Oak's part. Perhaps they'll continue to develop the Pescarolo chassis.

As for them running a 908 at the 2009 lemans, I think Peugeot lent them one just so to ensure that four 908s have a better chance at winning than three Audi R15s. They had their own chassis too.

Edit: I hope PD and Sony keep supporting Pescarolo, it's always nice to support a privateer trying to beat the factories.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

Maybe they may use the X2010 as a base model?

Haha, no. The X2010 design is so far from any real motorsport regulations. If it were to be used as a base, maybe the only thing left would be the headlights...