The Le Mans General Discussion Thread

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Prost was sacked because he criticised the car. The implication here is that Melo just wasn't a likeable person, and so the relationship with the team broke down.
 
ROAD_DOGG33J
I wonder if Beretta will get a full-time seat with Risi for the ALMS.

If he does, could we expect there to be blood (metaphorically) between him and the Corvette squad?
 
Team owners din't like someone who's hard to get along with, engineers don't like someone hard to get information from and most of all teams need to work as teams so if one part is causing issues then it brings the res of the team down.
 
sumbrownkid
I've been out of the alms loop as of late, so Beretta having issues like that is news to me.

I think he's talking about Jaime Melo.
 
Anyone have a source for the Melo/Ferrari split? His arrogance showed on the track more than once last season when he was having a mean streak. Running Flying Lizards off-track, arguing with his crew about rain tires to keep first place under yellow, then spinning off with everyone else (mid-ohio). His driving decisions were definitely on the aggressive side, even if he was capable of eating time-deficits up like gourmet dinners. I believe they wrecked the car in qualify one race, busted the wing, and didn't put down a time, starting last. He and Vilander ended up in sixth overall or something like that.

In my opinion Melo is faster than Vilander most of the time, and it's a shame about the split. But whatever's best for the team.
 
If I'm honest, Melo has always come off to me as abit of a cold guy, abit emotionless whenever he was interviewed.
 
I met him briefly at the Baltimore GP didnt seem cold at all. However he seems to have a fair bit of Fernando Alonso in him. Last year(2010) he had a spat with Gimmi Bruni right before Petit and Bruni was absent from race day reportedly due to "illness"...Illness of Jaime Melo hahaha. Issues of wanting be known as the lead driver or whatever much like Alonso...

Think he was embarassed if thats even possible when GImmi Bruni put the AF Corse458 on pole at Petit(2011) while he could only manage a 6th place or something.

Also the 458 is a little tougher to drive however or Risi wasn't getting it's setups right because many mistakes from Melo, Vilander passing a Jag in the grass...Very messy season. ESM wasnt quick either....Then we can get into discussions of BOP...but then Bruni put the ferrari on pole over BMW and its a endless cycle of questions as to why Risi Competizione was not quick last year while AF Corse dominated ILMC over BMW.

I think the Ferrari 458 struggled especially over the bumps. AF Corse ran the F430 which is a much softer car at Sebring and qualied really well. The 458 is alot stiffer. Great on the flowing highspeed European tracks but disaster at a place like Long Beach,Sebring bumpy tracks.


Regarding Melo again. At his official site :http://www.jaimemelojr.com/2011/index_en.html Seems in good health. Sit has countdowns for Sebring etc.

Look at those Records of success! I know he had a tough season but thats pretty stupid of Ferrari to let a proven champ go.....

its like Audi dropping McNish for his troubled season..except McNish came back to win at Petit hehe
 
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Don't get me wrong I followed Melo all season. He was by far my favorite driver, a bit of an underdog struggling with that car. When he was on, he was definitely on.
 
Speaking of Risi (in Latin American) Guiseppe Risi was interviewed by that language's version of Speed and has confirmed the team will be in the ALMS.
 
As a Flying Lizard fan I hope Porsche's new GT3 RSR brings back the Porsche teams to the top. They were nowhere all season and it's time they're back in the mix.
 
What site?
That site. The one I linked to. The World Endurance Championship is run by the FIA in conjunction with the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, since they organise the Le Mans 24 Hour and Le Mans is a part of the championship. Apparently they always announce the entry lists for Le Mans live, so this year they're expanding it out to the WEC.
 
Blaze_409
I met him briefly at the Baltimore GP didnt seem cold at all. However he seems to have a fair bit of Fernando Alonso in him. Last year(2010) he had a spat with Gimmi Bruni right before Petit and Bruni was absent from race day reportedly due to "illness"...Illness of Jaime Melo hahaha. Issues of wanting be known as the lead driver or whatever much like Alonso...

Its true that Alonso is a very demanding driver, but he is a great teamplayer. At Maranello he is always visitinf the engineers and workers families, in his freetime he his testing Ferrari road cars for free, when he crashed at Monaco 2 years ago he wrote a letter to each teammember and excused himself personalky by each mechanican.
Melo is nothing like him and isnt even half as talented.
 
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Info

:drool:
 
That is gonna be by far the most tongue twisting name to remember.
 
I like their choice of colors.


That is gonna be by far the most tongue twisting name to remember.

Lola-Lotus B12/80 doesn't sound that difficult, I've memorized more difficult names. Unfortunately, I've forgotten them:(
 
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