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World Endurance Championship 2013 - 6 Heures da Spa-Francorchamps

Started by DanardiF1 , May 03 2013 20:33

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37 replies to this topic

#1 DanardiF1

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Posted 03 May 2013 - 20:33

I've just realised no-one's made a thread for this weekend's round! Unfortunately I won't be able to watch the race, as I'll be out at the Auto Italia car show at Brooklands tomorrow afternoon, but here is the place to talk about it behind my back!

Spotter Guide (largely the same as Silverstone but for some minor changes)

Qualifying Results

Live Streaming and Timing for Race Day

Radio Le Mans coverage

Audi kind of blasted Toyota away at Silverstone, and have brought a third 'Langheck' car to Spa basically as a test for Le Mans. Toyota have brought one 2013-spec car and one of last year's, again presumably to test and baseline the new car against it's forebear. Practice and Qualifying have shown the #12 Rebellion Lola is MIGHTY around here, and was only a few tenths off the 'works' cars in qualifying... can they do anything special in the race? Probably not as the Toyota's will be able to stretch their legs over a stint more than the Rebellion guys, but P1 is certainly more competitive than last time out!

P2 is as close as always, and it's good to see that at least one of the new Lotus cars is creeping towards the pace. GTE-Pro is still mainly a fight between the lead Aston and the lead Ferrari as with last time out, and it's no different in the -Am field too.

There doesn't seem to be any major weather on the way during the race, but let's face it... This is Spa, so I shan't waste anyone's time by posting a weather report!

Is this championship popular at all? Just find it strange that it's race day tomorrow and there doesn't seem to be any thread for it... especially seeing as it's not really a chocka-block weekend for international motorsport...

#2 BoschKurve

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Posted 03 May 2013 - 20:43

Does the live streaming link only go active once the race starts?

#3 ApexMouse

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Posted 03 May 2013 - 21:02

Bit of shame that toyota evidently dont care for the WEC. just lemans. Hell, the 2013 car they have is in le man spec!

I had hopes for them after last year.

#4 crooky369

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Posted 03 May 2013 - 22:29

Bit of shame that toyota evidently dont care for the WEC. just lemans. Hell, the 2013 car they have is in le man spec!

I had hopes for them after last year.

Isn't the #3 Audi also in Le Mans spec though? Plus they need to get in some running with the car and Spa is the last competitive chance.

#5 DanardiF1

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 08:25

Most teams used last year's Spa race as a test for Le Mans, Audi tested their e-tron car against the regular 'Ultra' model.

#6 DanardiF1

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 08:26

Does the live streaming link only go active once the race starts?

Yep.

#7 SonnyViceR

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 10:29

Spa has generally been the Le Mans dress rehearsal for European teams so of course all the teams are prepping for LM (the championship always comes second to LM). Le Mans styled aero is a must for big teams. Too bad that the 35 car field for the race is about 20 entries smaller than just 2 years ago, way to go ACO and FIA :rolleyes:

Toyota doesn't seem to have the ultimate pace which is worrying, however they have gained a fresh BoP break in terms of 1mm bigger fuel flow restrictor - so technically ACO is breaking it's own LMP1 balancing rules that say that adjustments can't be granted until the first two events have finished :down:

though when you're up against diesels the vicious cycle ever ends. I just wish Audi changed to petrol next year.

The Astons are heavily favoured in both GTE categories so it's pretty much a done deal there

Posted Image

Edited by SonnyViceR, 04 May 2013 - 10:36.

#8 Cavani

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 10:56

race start in gmt ? and does this streaming link has commentary ?

#9 SonnyViceR

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 11:45

race start in gmt ? and does this streaming link has commentary ?

13.30 GMT, 14.30 local time ie 45 mins left. The commentary will be provided by Radio Le Mans.

#10 V3TT3L

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 11:54

GO Bruno Senna !

Bruno was transfered to Aston Martin's B Team :evil:

but conquered the Pole anyway.

#11 DracoN

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 12:05

http://live.fiawec.com/ nice sunny day.

#12 Sin

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 12:15

WEC, DTM, MotoGP... all at the same time, what shall I watch? :eek:

#13 Wingcommander

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 12:53

This is great! :clap:

#14 muramasa

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 13:06

They should turn up the sound or adjust equalizer properly or whatever to make it more attractive, coz on TV the sound is bit too underwhelming, or quite sh!t tbh. In reality those cars sound awesome.

#15 AustinF1

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 14:10

Can't wait to see these guys run here in Austin. This ALMS/WEC weekend has been my most anticipated race here since it was announced.

#16 ApexMouse

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 14:34

The Toyota actually has warp drive out of any slow corner. Lapi screws up the bus stop essentially every lap then pulls 3 car lengths down the pit straight.

Edited by ApexMouse, 04 May 2013 - 14:34.

#17 Wingcommander

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 14:49

The Toyota actually has warp drive out of any slow corner. Lapi screws up the bus stop essentially every lap then pulls 3 car lengths down the pit straight.

Not quite sure but it might be because Toyota can use the boost at any speed. Because Audis are 4wd they can only get moarr power after 120kph. Which i think is kind of stupid. IMO they should be allowed to use these different technologies as with their advantages and disadvantages without artificial limitations.

Edited by Wingcommander, 04 May 2013 - 14:49.

#18 Cavani

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 14:52

goose pumps watching eau rouge

waiting for F1 there

#19 muramasa

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 16:08

c'mon Toyota hang in there

#20 OvDrone

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 16:12

This is getting me pumped for Le Mans.

#21 Cavani

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 17:08

where is the other toy-aota ?

Edited by Cavani, 04 May 2013 - 17:09.

#22 OvDrone

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 17:11

^ Energy recovery issues.

I hope Kobayashi and Vilander take the GT-Pro win.

Edited by OvDrone, 04 May 2013 - 17:13.

#23 Cavani

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 17:25

Kobayashi vs. Senna

#24 OvDrone

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 17:49

That is a lot of penalties.

#25 OvDrone

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 17:55

C'mon Kamui!

#26 Latos

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 18:42

Bruno Senna GTE PRO Champion leader. Kamui is up there to, it will be interesting le mans for gte.

Edited by Latos, 04 May 2013 - 18:53.

#27 muramasa

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 18:51

Audi dominates!

hopefully Toyota solve their issue and up their game quick :up:

nice race nice series, should deserve more attention

#28 Wingcommander

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 18:59

nice race nice series, should deserve more attention

I agree.

Needs more cars though. Porsche + some more privateers to LMP1 would be on my wish list. LMP2 seems quite bland atm and no HPDs there. GT is okay, but i wouldnt mind more cars there too.

#29 Sin

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 19:03

so in the end I fell asleep at DTM Q2 (but not because it was boring, just cause I was so damn tired had been awake since 23:00) and saw the end of WEC.... and I gotta say, it's really intresting, so far I only seen F1 racing wise, but I think I'm gonna start following other racing series as well

what I wonder is why the heck F1 doesn't have fireworks after race finish?

Edited by Sin, 04 May 2013 - 19:04.

#30 Cavani

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 19:34

lmp2 is in no man's land , pretty pointless

#31 BRG

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 19:59

what I wonder is why the heck F1 doesn't have fireworks after race finish?

The same reason they don't do doughnuts, or wave flags or show any real sign of enthusiasm. Because it would be messy and untidy and Bernie won't allow anything messy or untidy. What he knows about showbiz, you could write on the back of his list of good deeds.

#32 midgrid

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 21:05

what I wonder is why the heck F1 doesn't have fireworks after race finish?

There are fireworks in Singapore. Having them at the end of a daylight race would be pretty pointless.

#33 DanardiF1

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 21:10

lmp2 is in no man's land , pretty pointless

It's a very competitive class, but I don't like how it's been pegged back and back over the last few years so it no longer has any real relevance in terms of the race as a whole.

I see LMP2 as the class for private teams who want to run a customer car, and who on a perfect day and given some problems for some P1 runners, could score a good top 5 result. When they're 8 seconds off the leading pace (yes it's a pace set by a different class of car, but a prototype nonetheless that's still designed to the same basic principles) and 5 off the back of the P1 class, there's no chance of that.

The ALMS in 2008 had it perfect IMO. The P2 Porsche's and Acura's at short tracks where their lighter cars and perky engines were more than a match for the overall faster, but slightly heavier and lazier diesel Audi's, and on a perfect day like Sebring could win the race outright. It made for great racing as you had a lot of cars that were able to be run by private teams (okay, some were works and semi-works efforts) and they were able to give the P1 cars a good challenge. P1 is being largely reshaped to favour manufacturer involvement, so why not perk up the P2's and give the privateers a chance to challenge now and then?

#34 DanardiF1

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 21:20

Audi dominates!

hopefully Toyota solve their issue and up their game quick

nice race nice series, should deserve more attention

I agree. With Porsche coming to P1 plus rumours of more (Honda!), there's the possibility of a new 'golden' era of sportscar racing, perhaps comparable in it's competitiveness to the 95-99 FIA GT1 days and Group C from earlier.

#35 BoschKurve

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Posted 04 May 2013 - 21:51

I watched a bit of this race. As someone who has seen very very little of WEC, I was really enjoying the whole thing. It was just good, fun racing that didn't feel like the damn circus show F1 currently is. It's fascinating to watch all of the classes running at the same time, and it is nice to see higher classes have to fight their way through the lower classes. It certainly didn't hurt that this was at one of my personal favorite circuits. I can't wait for Le Mans though. It was a great appetizer for June.

#36 Nonesuch

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Posted 05 May 2013 - 13:24

I was at Spa yesterday, and while it's pretty hard to follow an endurance race on TV - it's even more of a chaos at the track itself. It was nevertheless a great afternoon, with fantastic weather and a big crowd. There's downsides to big crowds - certain kinds of people get very defensive about 'their' hole in the fence, which, coupled with a little too much Jupiler beer led to some awkward scenes for those involved. Tip: bring a small stepladder if you desperately want to get some photographs! The track marshals generally don't mind, and it beats climbing the fence, which is something they do mind.;) On the whole though there was a pretty festive mood during the first 4 or so hours, after which it got noticeably quieter.

The Audi's are real rocket-ships and the sound they make is fantastic. The latter can also be said about Rebellion Racing's Toyota engines, and the GT Pro Ferrari's were beautiful as always. Great to see Fisichella and Kobayashi in action. :up:

I have to agree with Cavani to some extent; the LMP2 field, it seemed to me, was more lacklustre than usual. It was a shame the Gulf Racing team (Fatien, Giroix and Ihara) didn't bring out the classic Gulf livery this year but instead opted for something that was more reminiscent of early 1990s F1 teams with a budget deficit. Let's hope that isn't the case here.

The only real disappointment was the area around Les Combes, which is so fenced off that it's hard to get a good look at the action.

Edited by Nonesuch, 05 May 2013 - 13:26.

#37 Victor_RO

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Posted 05 May 2013 - 13:29

I have to agree with Cavani to some extent; the LMP2 field, it seemed to me, was more lacklustre than usual. It was a shame the Gulf Racing team (Fatien, Giroix and Ihara) didn't bring out the classic Gulf livery this year but instead opted for something that was more reminiscent of early 1990s F1 teams with a budget deficit. Let's hope that isn't the case here.

Sadly it seems as if it is the case, they initially had two entries for the full WEC, but missed Silverstone with both cars and have now cut their programme to a single car for the whole year. Combine that with the livery and you have enough clues to assume a funding shortfall.

#38 SonnyViceR

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Posted 05 May 2013 - 18:29

Sadly it seems as if it is the case, they initially had two entries for the full WEC, but missed Silverstone with both cars and have now cut their programme to a single car for the whole year. Combine that with the livery and you have enough clues to assume a funding shortfall.

Gulf team is a joke. Yet Paul Truswell especialy kept rambling how "EVERY SINGLE TEAM DESERVES TO BE ON THE GRID"... the reason given for that was "because it's a world championship". Umm, no Paul. Note to yourself: you can buy your entry for the championship (or rather, via WEC you buy yourself into Le Mans). Just because it's a FIA WC doesn't convert all the entries to be automatically awesome.

Same thing with Hindy's obsession to praise the huuuuuuuuge importance of winning world championship in WEC, yet he constantly laughs at WTCC (and formerly GTWC), implifying that it's meaningless for the teams/drivers to win those trophies.

Apparently the future of this race is in doubt too, as allegedly ACO/FIA can't appear to afford 68,000 euros (seriously?????) to rent the track :rolleyes:

yuippee, sounds like more Middle eastern tilkedromes with zero spectators are coming in. Spa 1000km/6h is the only truly historic race left on the calendar, with the exception LM of course, so if we lose that the series literally has nothing going on in the calendar anymore, again with the exception of Le Mans... they could help the situation a little bit by merging the grids with the regional series to form at least some special atmosphere around them, but no :rolleyes:

Edited by SonnyViceR, 05 May 2013 - 18:47.