The Le Mans General Discussion Thread

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The R18 in the classic Champion colors was orgasmic.👍

I agree with what the head of Audi Sport saying that Le Mans and sports car racing has far more relevance to the public than F1 does.

F1 is really not that great anymore, and it seems to be more about pompous owners and drivers than the actual racing.

The past two years Le Mans was more exciting than what F1 did in the past 10.
 
Start of the race, Falken Porsche goes to the inside, causes the Corvettes to get into each other, #4 in the wall, traffic stacks up behind him.

#3 having issues, spun...wipers on...Electrical issues?

EDIT: First caution flag out because a manhole cover has been pulled out. Falken Porsche leading GT; #4 Corvette made an unscheduled stop to change tires.

EDIT 2: Second caution for a spun LMPC car. #3 Corvette hit the #55 BMW on restart, #3 Vette penalized for Avoidable Contact.

Muscle Milk LMP1 Aston had brake issues.

Dyson Mazda LMP1 couldn't get refired after a pitstop, and had to switch starter motors.
 
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Anyone in Baltimore, Md. going to the race later today?
 
Not Corvette's day today. I don't know how the race ended 'cause the internet on that computer decided to conk out just before people started to cross the finish line. I believe the Falken Tires Porsche won GT after starting the Corvettes off on their bad day.
 
Wanted to rewatch the race on ESPN3.com but it won't let me :(

Missed it for the USF game. Go bulls! Well worth it until crappy NBC cut over to a made-for-tv football movie/show on par with varsity blues (though I thought varsity blues at least was entertaining). We won though, so...

Melo 6th, could have been better for them but I also don't know if they had issues.
 
Floats
A well deserved win for the Falken Porsche IMO. The 45 Lizard had a terrible weekend.
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Except, the only reason why the Falken Tires Porsche won is 'cause everyone who could have contended them had horrible days. I mean...both Corvettes had all sorts of issues, Flying Lizard had issues, the BMWs had issues, the Risi Ferrari got held up at the start thanks to the Falken Tires Porsche....yeah...well, deserved win...seems like the only way that team wins is when everyone else has crappy days. Same thing at Mosport in the rain: Everyone else spun out. Not much of a victory if no one else is runnin'
 
Tower Turn 13
Hey nice pics in your blog! Is that an M1? :drool:
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Yup, thanks!

SuperShouden
Except, the only reason why the Falken Tires Porsche won is 'cause everyone who could have contended them had horrible days. I mean...both Corvettes had all sorts of issues, Flying Lizard had issues, the BMWs had issues, the Risi Ferrari got held up at the start thanks to the Falken Tires Porsche....yeah...well, deserved win...seems like the only way that team wins is when everyone else has crappy days. Same thing at Mosport in the rain: Everyone else spun out. Not much of a victory if no one else is runnin'
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The incident at the first corner was caused by the Corvette of Beretta trying to go through the middle into a gap which didn't exist, when he couldn't force Henzler any further into the wall he hit his team-mate.

Also what issues did the BMW's have other than being slower than the Falken car? The Falken Porsche was all over the back of the 55 car until they made a pass, no issues were present in that. The fact is the Falken car was much faster than everyone else, they had to make serval passes twice due to the safety periods and they pulled out a good gap at the end of the race.

I can't believe your trying to discredit their Mid-Ohio victory, they put the work into developing a superior wet weather tyre and Henzler took 12 cars in a single lap to prove it.
 
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I have to disagree that those things invalidate the win (except maybe the issue you mention with risi being held up).

Navigating traffic, mechanical wellness and adapting to weather conditions are all a part of driving and winning in a series like this. IMO any one of those things is the fortune of the team and a valid reason to lose a race, or win one. In a perfect world the car would never break down, have a puncture, hit traffic or have a spin out/damage. Then the race would be decided only by the skill of the driver and his/her ability to adapt to varying conditions and that alone.

But since we don't have a perfect world there are mechanics to keep the car running, and either it has problems or doesn't. 24 hours of Le Mans is a perfect example of how drivers may be taken down by attrition, and sometimes overcome attrition (Audi).

Just how I feel about it though, you don't have to agree. I see your point that it's better to have well-running cars battling by driver skill. I just think that it's ideal but not necessary to determine a winning team (car and mechanics too, not just drivers).
 
Floats
I can't believe your trying to discredit their Mosport victory, they put the work into developing a superior wet weather tyre and Henzler took 12 cars in a single lap to prove it.
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you guys know that was at Mid-Ohio right, I was at the race at Mosport and there was never any rain.. And Corvette won at Mosport. Baltimore Grand Prix was cool though, that pile up on the first corner was insane.
 
Mac K
you guys know that was at Mid-Ohio right, I was at the race at Mosport and there was never any rain.. And Corvette won at Mosport. Baltimore Grand Prix was cool though, that pile up on the first corner was insane.
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Oops, I meant Mid-Ohio, I think SuperShouden did too.
 
I saw the highlights of the Baltimore Grand Prix on ABC. Tell you what... I have new respect for the city of Baltimore. Beautiful city! As for the race, it was a pretty good race. Not going to say boring, but there was a good deal of action. The track itself was very nice. The real scary moment was when that manhole cover popped up. Yikes!
 
TK42OnE
So, I'm guessing what I'm seeing on ABC right now is in fact a rebroadcast?
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There were two races there, ALMS and Champ Car. From what I was told the best seat were from the Base Ball Stadium. I had to work so I wasn't able to go.
 
Floats
Yup, thanks!



The incident at the first corner was caused by the Corvette of Beretta trying to go through the middle into a gap which didn't exist, when he couldn't force Henzler any further into the wall he hit his team-mate.

Also what issues did the BMW's have other than being slower than the Falken car? The Falken Porsche was all over the back of the 55 car until they made a pass, no issues were present in that. The fact is the Falken car was much faster than everyone else, they had to make serval passes twice due to the safety periods and they pulled out a good gap at the end of the race.

I can't believe your trying to discredit their Mid-Ohio victory, they put the work into developing a superior wet weather tyre and Henzler took 12 cars in a single lap to prove it.
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1. The #55 BMW was spun by one of the Corvettes. Not his fault, but still...

2. The incident at the beginning was the Falken Porsche trying to cut to the inside. The #3 Corvette was trying to avoid the Porsche and the #4 was trying to avoid his teammate and was probably wondering why he was so wide. The Porsche had no business being so far on the inside like that, other than trying to get as many positions as possible. The only reason, I believe, he wasn't penalized was because it was the beginning of the race. Usually, unless it's something REALLY stupid, there aren't any penalties issued during the first corner or two.

3. He passed 12 cars because half of them spun and the other half slowed down to avoid crashing into the spinning cars. I'll admit, it is impressive that he was able to maintain enough speed to pick his way through the spinning and slowing cars, but it'd be a more impressive win if he passed 12 cars at speed in the dry...although, ALMS would probably go over his car if he did that.

I'm not really trying to discredit him, I've just noticed that when the other teams are running strong without many issues, the Falken Porsche hasn't won.

And the BMWs had to be having issues. They started on pole, but...They just were there this race...it was weird.

Great race, but everyone just seemed off their game this race. Aston Martin and Mazda with issues...BMW, Corvette, Flying Lizard and Risi having issues...wow. Weird race...that's all I'm sayin'
 
BMW has been off their game for a few races now. Not sure what's going on there, as early in the season they've been consistently on the podium.
 
Tower Turn 13
BMW has been off their game for a few races now. Not sure what's going on there, as early in the season they've been consistently on the podium.
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I thought they've been on the podium in races so far this season in ALMS, at least one of the both. But what I see in the recent couple of races even as early as round 4, they've been making mistakes and mistakes and in a couple of bad lucks... But they're a very strong team though.
 
Bentley are planning a comeback to le Mans, according to Autosport.

Volkswagen-owned British manufacturer Bentley--which claimed its seventh overall win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2003--has revealed that it is evaluating a return to international sports-car racing. The move follows the appointment last November of former Porsche research and development boss Wolfgang Durheimer, who was in charge of motorsports at the German manufacturer, as Bentley's new boss.

Bentley chassis and powertrain director Brian Gush, whose remit also includes motorsports, said, “What we are doing at the moment is evaluating the options. We are looking from LMP1 down.”

Asked whether Bentley will race again within five years, Gush answered, “Absolutely, and I say that with some confidence. We will be back; the question is, with what?”

Gush explained that he leans towards returning to the top-flight LMP1 category and mirroring Bentley's sports-car racing comeback in 2001-03. Durheimer has stated he favors entering the GT ranks with a road-based car.

“One question that needs to be answered is, ‘Can we race Porsche and Audi in P1?' If two brands [Porsche and Audi] from the [VW] group can race against each other, can three?'” said Gush. “Or would there be more value to Bentley competing in a different class?

“We would need to work out if we could go racing with a racing derivative of one of our existing models or whether we have to build a racing sports-car with a derivative for the road. There are no decisions yet, but we are moving along the road of evaluation and we have a number of ideas.”

Bentley's existing model range does not have a car suitable for turning into a GT Endurance contender to take on Ferrari, BMW, Chevrolet and Porsche. The Continental GT and its derivatives are all-wheel drive, which is outlawed in the GTE category.

One of Durheimer's stated objectives is to make Bentley's models lighter in the future. Industry insiders expect a replacement for the Continental, which could share its platform with the second-generation Porsche Panamera, in 2014 or 2015.

Makes me think... Porsche to LMP1, Bentley with a new GT, Audi as an LMP2 engine supplier?



~
Also ACO may switch to Coupe only prototypes from 2014. And Nissan are looking at expanding into LMP1.
 
Looks like qualy will be about 9:30am my time. Anyone know if eurosport will be showing the race/qualy?

EDIT: looks like they aren't showing the qualifying but are showing about 45 minutes of the race on Eurosport 1. Maybe showing the rest on the online player? Hopefully someone on justin.tv will show it...
 
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MrMulsanne
Makes me think... Porsche to LMP1, Bentley with a new GT, Audi as an LMP2 engine supplier?
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No. I'd say Audi LMP1 (Since they're so successful at it), Porsche LMP2, and Bentley as GT...alongside Audi (Audi was looking into the entering the R8 in GT this year but couldn't afford to run a GT AND LMP team, so the R8 GT car got nixed) and Porsche. Bentley could bring back the Speed 8, as well.

Don't forget, the Laguna Seca 6 hour ALMS race is coming up....and then Oct. 1st is Petit.
 
Already Montagny Peugeot warned for corner cutting on lap 2.

~RLR Lola black / orange flag
~Mental lapping of traffic.
~Bourdais slams door on Mcnish
~~~~~~~~~WTH! PEUGEOT BACK TO THEIR BLOCKING AGAIN!!!!~~~~~~~~
MONTAGNY OFF!!!!
 
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i guess that's what they get for all the blocking, here and at le mans..
nice to see the Aston DBR 1-2 back again as well, the ILMC needed a bit of V12 screaming
And is Lucas in the Signatech this weekend?
 

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