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How did Mark Webber perform in WEC this season?


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#1 aramos

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Posted 26 December 2014 - 23:23

I don't follow the sport closely enough to understand in that context, but was the first time a big name F1 driver made a direct switch to endurance racing to a top team, atleast that I can last remember. There seems to be others following suite now with Hulkenberg to join him.

 

But the question is, how did he go? Was he comparable to more experienced WEC drivers in pace? 

 

To the mods, sorry if this type of thread isn't allowed, the forum looks fairly well ordered I'm not sure if you can make specific 'question' topics such as this.



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#2 JHSingo

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Posted 26 December 2014 - 23:29

By the end of the season, he was, but I distinctly remember at Le Mans he was the slowest of the Porsche guys. Which made the decision to send him out for the final stint while the car still had a small chance of victory seem a bit odd...


Edited by JHSingo, 26 December 2014 - 23:29.


#3 aramos

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Posted 26 December 2014 - 23:32

By the end of the season, he was, but I distinctly remember at Le Mans he was the slowest of the Porsche guys. Which made the decision to send him out for the final stint while the car still had a small chance of victory seem a bit odd...

 

I remember that. I thought the #20 car had handling issues of some description though? I remember all three drivers being fairly slow. It was mostly in position to win out of luck at that point, the other Porsche was regularly taking a second per lap out of it.

 

Also I'm sure the sending Webber out was mostly to do with brand exposure. I'm slightly skeptical on Porsche's whole move with Webber, there are plenty of fine endurance racers floating around, practically any of the ex Red Bull juniors would make great additions, but having Webber in their car and their sport gets them significantly more brand interest.


Edited by aramos, 26 December 2014 - 23:37.


#4 TomNokoe

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Posted 26 December 2014 - 23:54

Not so great

#5 Ian G

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Posted 27 December 2014 - 01:43

Not so great

Yeah,i'm a Webber fan but he seemed to have little interest/enthusiasm for the category except when a TV camera was there.He'll be a big asset if VW go F-1 in the future thou.



#6 aramos

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Posted 27 December 2014 - 07:19

Yeah,i'm a Webber fan but he seemed to have little interest/enthusiasm for the category except when a TV camera was there.He'll be a big asset if VW go F-1 in the future thou.

 

What makes you doubt his enthusiasm?

 

See, I'm not a huge Webber fan, I'm fairly impartial. But he seemed very much into the sport to me.



#7 Peat

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Posted 27 December 2014 - 09:14

Yeah, I don't doubt his enthusiasm one bit. Why would he be encouraging his F1 pals to hop over with him?

 



#8 FPV GTHO

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Posted 27 December 2014 - 09:20

He'll be a big asset if VW go F-1 in the future thou.

Im not sure what he can do for them other than recommend who to head hunt, something which they should be able to figure out if they're going to have any immediate success. 

 

The #20 Porsche didnt seem to be on the same pace as the #14 through the year, i dont know if thats because of Webber's performances, but it perhaps didnt bring much spotlight to how he was going. 

 



#9 KWSN - DSM

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Posted 27 December 2014 - 09:34

The more or less usual 'disappointment' when a driver move from single seater to sports cars, solid performance but out-driven by lessor known drivers already in the series.

 

:cool:



#10 WhiteSGPlayer

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Posted 27 December 2014 - 11:07

He did okay, i guess. Took him a very long time to find his pace, although that probably was in part due to the car not being so great at the start of the season. By the time Fuji rolled around in the second half of the season, he was there or thereabouts and was outright dominant in Brazil before the car hit some trouble. Still just as aggressive and racy as he was in f1 as well.

 

By the time next season comes around I expect him to be on the level of a regular frontrunner, but perhaps not Lotterer/Jani/Duval level of fast


Edited by WhiteSGPlayer, 27 December 2014 - 11:07.


#11 maximilian

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Posted 27 December 2014 - 11:26

Given just how poorly he did in his last couple of F1 seasons, it would be strange to expect anything different in a series where he's a rookie.



#12 Richard T

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Posted 27 December 2014 - 12:15

The Porsche was a very different car for Mark initially. Very low downforce and a rocket down the straights, compared to the reverse characteristics of his F1 cars of lately.

However, I followed the entire season and from Le Mans/COTA onwards he was pretty much on the pace. Probably one of the fastest in the finale at Interlagos.

My impression is that Mark loves his time in the WEC, encouraging his F1 pals to come join him.

#13 YoungGun

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Posted 27 December 2014 - 18:32

I think Mark will be reconsidering his racing future in the off season. While it's not fair to compare even Justin Wilson enjoyed some success outside F1.


Edited by YoungGun, 27 December 2014 - 18:33.


#14 Risil

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Posted 27 December 2014 - 18:56

I think Mark will be reconsidering his racing future in the off season. While it's not fair to compare even Justin Wilson enjoyed some success outside F1.

 

I take it you're thinking of the time Wilson beat Webber by a mile when they were both F3000 frontrunners?



#15 Nonesuch

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Posted 27 December 2014 - 19:41

I haven't paid very close attention to Webber in particular, but I am of the impression that he grew into his new job significantly over the season, and ended up pretty much matching his teammates in the final races.

However, I think maximilian makes a good point as well: Webber struggled to compete with Vettel for years before leaving F1, so that should probably be taken into account.



#16 Ross Stonefeld

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Posted 27 December 2014 - 19:51

If that isn't a case of you're only as good as your last race, I don't know what is.



#17 Imateria

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Posted 27 December 2014 - 21:37

He definitely struggled early in the season, both in getting the last tenths out of the car and maintaining consistency compared to his team mates (a difficult aspect to judge him on given that the 919 lacked the ability to maintain a consistent pace over the length of a stint for much of the season). Le Mans was inconclusive as the #20 was suffering from handling problems from early in the race and all 3 drivers struggled to maintain a consistent pace that day, it was also clear that the car was never really in with a chance to win, losing up to 6s a lap to the #2 Audi, particularly in Lotterer's hands, was always going to make that a foregone conclusion. After that he really seemed to come on strong, matching most of his team mates on both pace and consistency, and he was mighty at Interlagos. I think now the only one of the Porsche drivers that he would still have to raise his game to match is Jani, who's very quietly been doing brilliant things for the Rebellion team for years before joining Porsche.

 

I bet he's glad that blown diffusers were banned for this year though.



#18 scolbourne

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Posted 28 December 2014 - 04:10

Webber is not new to endurance racing having taken part at Le Mans for Mercedes in 1999 and flipping the car in qualifying and the race.

I am not surprised he was off the pace this year at Le Mans as he has probably learnt the merit of easing off the throttle before humps.

 

I just hope he does not end up as a bus driver in Canberra :stoned:



#19 Ferrari_F1_fan_2001

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Posted 28 December 2014 - 22:19

More flexibility, less of a corprate culture and less demands and obligations than F1 suit his personality.

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#20 crooky369

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Posted 29 December 2014 - 16:55

Webber is not new to endurance racing having taken part at Le Mans for Mercedes in 1999 and flipping the car in qualifying and the race.
I am not surprised he was off the pace this year at Le Mans as he has probably learnt the merit of easing off the throttle before humps.

I just hope he does not end up as a bus driver in Canberra :stoned:


I don't believe he had any race experience though. The car broke down before it was his turn in 98 and in 99 the car was withdrawn.

#21 DampMongoose

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Posted 29 December 2014 - 17:12

I don't believe he had any race experience though. The car broke down before it was his turn in 98 and in 99 the car was withdrawn.


Le Mans aside, he had a full season in 98 though didnt he? Including several wins.

Edited by DampMongoose, 29 December 2014 - 17:15.


#22 Dan333SP

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Posted 29 December 2014 - 23:55

Le Mans aside, he had a full season in 98 though didnt he? Including several wins.

 

Correct, I saw him racing the CLK LM at Homestead that year. I think they were in the lead before a rain shower hit and he finished 4th with Bernd Schneider. Mark was one of the strongest drivers on a strong team.



#23 lbennie

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Posted 30 December 2014 - 00:54

Given just how poorly he did in his last couple of F1 seasons, it would be strange to expect anything different in a series where he's a rookie.

 

Plenty of drivers have struggled in F1 and gone on to be very successful in sports cars, davidson etc. I don't think this has any bearing at all. And i think most drivers on the grid would have struggles against vettel during the last set of regulations.

 

 

I'm expecting big things from him next year, there are a lot of intricacies he needed to get his head around this year, after so long away, he was on it towards the end of the season.



#24 FPV GTHO

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Posted 30 December 2014 - 01:11

He didn't lack any testing coming into the year, but Porsche will have a high downforce package ready for the new car at the start of the season which should help after the progress he made after LeMans

#25 George Costanza

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Posted 30 December 2014 - 02:40

Correct, I saw him racing the CLK LM at Homestead that year. I think they were in the lead before a rain shower hit and he finished 4th with Bernd Schneider. Mark was one of the strongest drivers on a strong team.

 

Indeed. They only lost the title to the other sister car.

 

CLK LM was a beautiful car.



#26 aramos

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Posted 30 December 2014 - 03:24

He didn't lack any testing coming into the year, but Porsche will have a high downforce package ready for the new car at the start of the season which should help after the progress he made after LeMans

 

Porsche were making big steps through the 2014 season, they were faster than Toyota at Brazil, but it probably had more to do with the altitude advantage of turbo engines than their package as a whole.



#27 redreni

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Posted 30 December 2014 - 10:39

He seems to be improving. He was very fast at Interlagos but it doesn't count if you bin it, which he did rather comprehensively. Took out a GT Am car as well - the gentleman drivers get plenty of stick if they take out a prototype, so I don't see why a professional with Webber's experience shouldn't cop the flak for it too. We'll see next season if he has the consistency and pace to win races.



#28 krapmeister

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Posted 30 December 2014 - 11:11

Do we actually know what happened to cause Mark's accident at Intelagos yet?

#29 redreni

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Posted 30 December 2014 - 11:26

Do we actually know what happened to cause Mark's accident at Intelagos yet?

 

I haven't seen the footage but I'm going on eyewitness accounts from Graham Goodwin and Nick Daman to the effect that Webber was already out of control and destined for the wall when he came alongside the Ferrari. That's consistent with the TV pictures I've seen, which only catch the end of the accident. No point asking Webber as he doesn't remember it. Most important thing is both drivers were alright, of course.

 

Strange there were no onboards available. A view from Webber's cockpit looking forwards would have settled it.


Edited by redreni, 30 December 2014 - 11:28.


#30 krapmeister

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Posted 30 December 2014 - 11:53

Yeah I had read that he was already in an accident before the Ferrari got involved in it, but hadn't read or seen anything more that indicated what caused him to lose control to start with. Surprised that no footage from the stands etc has come to light or even a statement from Porsche giving a reason as to what happened...

#31 redreni

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Posted 30 December 2014 - 12:01

Yeah I had read that he was already in an accident before the Ferrari got involved in it, but hadn't read or seen anything more that indicated what caused him to lose control to start with. Surprised that no footage from the stands etc has come to light or even a statement from Porsche giving a reason as to what happened...

 

Fair point, maybe it was a car problem not a driver problem. It just annoyed me a bit that there were people in the race thread saying see! This is what happens when you let slow cars and amateur drivers in world championship races! even though the amateur driver wasn't even in the Ferrari and the Ferrari didn't cause the accident in any case.



#32 Amphicar

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Posted 30 December 2014 - 12:13

According to Autosport (18-25 December edition) Porsche's analysis has concluded that the rear of Webber's car clipped a Ferrari 458 Italia in turn 14 and spun into the wall. Porsche Technical Director is quoted as saying

 

"We are pretty sure there was nothing wrong with the car, no technical failure or a puncture. It seems to have been caused by a very light contact but at those speeds it doesn't have to be big."

 

The Ferrari 458 Team Manager, Batti Pregliasco agreed that a contact was the likely cause but said that their driver Matteo Cressoni was not to blame:

 

"We can see from the data that he did not change trajectory. He was sticking to his line, which is what the drivers are told to do."



#33 krapmeister

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Posted 30 December 2014 - 12:26

According to Autosport (18-25 December edition) Porsche's analysis has concluded that the rear of Webber's car clipped a Ferrari 458 Italia in turn 14 and spun into the wall. Porsche Technical Director is quoted as saying
 
"We are pretty sure there was nothing wrong with the car, no technical failure or a puncture. It seems to have been caused by a very light contact but at those speeds it doesn't have to be big."
 
The Ferrari 458 Team Manager, Batti Pregliasco agreed that a contact was the likely cause but said that their driver Matteo Cressoni was not to blame:
 
"We can see from the data that he did not change trajectory. He was sticking to his line, which is what the drivers are told to do."


Cheers Amphicar - I hadn't seen that. Driver error it is then.