100 replies to this topic

[OvDrone]

After a bleak and grueling week for the Motorsport community, I bring you some good news - The World Endurance Championship is back baby.

 

 

Gorgeous LMP1s, aggressive LMP2 privateers, fullblast GTE-Pros and savy GTE-Am drivers.

 

Unfortunately we lost Interlagos but fortunately we now have Nurburgring - you know that place F1 was suppose to race at this year but whatever.

 

The action so far this year was nothing short of breathtaking. The 6Hs @ Silverstone is one of my top three races so far this year.

 

Round 1:

 

Pro Highlights

 

Amateur Highlights

 

Round 2:

 

there ain't no goddamn Pro Highlights so here's the full race

 

Amateur Highlights

 

Round 3:

 

if you don't know what happened at Le Mans, why are you even a motorsport fan?

 

Championship standings so far:

 

Lottererwinslol.

 

Weekend Race Schedule:

 

Fri 28th August:

Free Practice 1 - 12:00 pm

Free Practice 2 - 16:30 pm

Sat 29th August:

Free Practice 3 - 09:30 am

Qualifying LMGTE - 14:00 pm

Qualifying LMP - 14:30 pm

 

Sun 30th August:

Race - 13:00 pm

 

All times local CET.

 

Spotter's Guide:

 

http://www.spottergu...WEC_nurb_v1.jpg

 

Entry list:

LMP1

 

#1 Toyota Racing, Toyota TS040 Hybrid - Anthony 'the best part of Sky Sports F1 coverage' Davidson

                                                               - Sebastien 'the best part of Formula E' Buemi

                                                               - Kazuki 'the best part of Super Formula' Nakajima

 

#2 Toyota Racing, Toyota TS040 Hybrid - Alexander 'current GPDA president and awesome in a Benetton' Wurz

                                                               - Stephane 'one dnf in a Minardi' Sarrazin

                                                               - Mike 'Indycar's street course hipster darling' Conway

 

#4 Team ByKolles, CLM P1/01 AER - Simon 'excuse me, who' Trummer

                                                        - Pierre 'Fisichella's US GT bff' Kaffer

 

#7 Audi Sport Team Joest, Audi R18 e-tron quattro - Andre 'best goddamn driver in the world right now' Lotterer

                                                                                - Benoit 'such emotions' Treluyer

                                                                                - Marcel 'it was me who brought the awesome at Silverstone' Fassler

 

#8 Audi Sport Team Joest, Audi R18 e-tron quattro - Oliver 'the OP keeps confusing me with Oliver Turvey' Jarvis

                                                                                - Lucas 'I hate Piquet jr' di Grassi

                                                                                - Loic '2013 blitz kid' Duval

 

#12 Rebellion Racing, Rebellion R-One AER - Nicolas 'Heidfeld's Nightmare' Prost

                                                                       - Mathias '2012 ELMS Champ' Beche

                                                                       - Nick 'Heidfeld's Nightmare' Heidfeld

 

#13 Rebellion Racing, Rebellion R-One AER - Dominik 'the lesser known Hammertime' Kraihamer

                                                                       - Alexandre 'there's a picture of me aged 4 on wikipedia' Imperatori

                                                                       - Daniel 'I nearly won GP3 you guys' Abt

 

#17 Porsche Team, Porsche 919 Hybrid - Timo 'Stefan Bellof v2.0' Bernhard

                                                               - Mark 'AUSSIE GRIT f*** yeah!' Webber

                                                               - Brendon 'Jp's dude crush' Hartley

 

#18 Porsche Team, Porsche 919 Hybrid - Romain 'real good in a rally car' Dumas

                                                               - Neel '2014/2015 blitz kid' Jani

                                                               - Marc 'engineer with a diploma' Lieb

Nissan

 

LMP2

 

#26 G-Drive Racing, Ligier JS P2 Nissan - Roman 'better than any Russian except Kvyat' Rusinov

                                                                - Julien 'GT driver extraordinaire' Canal

                                                                - Sam 'I nearly won GP2 you guys' Bird

 

#28 G-Drive Racing, Ligier JS P2 Nissan - Gustavo 'I spilled my Red Bull' Yacaman

                                                                - Ricardo '2013 LMP2 Champ' Gonzalez

                                                                - Pipo 'rubbish in F3' Derani

 

#30 Extreme Speed Motorsports, Ligier JS P2 HPD - Scott 'I kinda won Indycar but I did win ALMS' Sharp

                                                                                - Ryan 'one of OPs favorites' Dalziel

                                                                                - David 'holysh*t this dude is actually smart' Heinemeier Hansson

 

#31 Extreme Speed Motorsports, Ligier JS P2 HPD - Ed 'a dude' Brown

                                                                                - David 'Black Jack's son' Brabham

                                                                                - Jon '2 time Grand-Am Champ' Fogarty

 

#36 Signatech Alpine, Alpine A450B Nissan - Nelson 'my name ain't French at all' Panciatici

                                                                     - Paul-Loup '2014 ELMS Champ' Chatin

                                                                     - Vincent 'I raced something called V de V Challenge Endurance Proto - Scratch' Capillaire

 

#42 Strakka Racing, Gibson 015S Nissan - Nick 'I skydived above Mount Everest' Leventis

                                                                  - Danny 'another lost soul from A1 GP' Watts

                                                                  - Jonny 'drove that cool Lola in 2009' Kane

 

#43 Team SARD Morand, Morgan Evo SARD (Judd) - Pierre 'is that food? it sounds like food' Ragues

                                                                                  - Oliver 'you might remember me from WSR' Webb

                                                                                  - Archie 'Reggie Rosberg's nemesis' Hamilton

 

#47 KCMG, Oreca 05 Nissan - Matt 'I googled him and something about smurfs came up' Howson

                                              - Richard 'I was completely amazing at Le Mans' Bradley

                                              - Nick 'I think I know him but I ain't sure' Tandy

LMGTE Pro

 

#51 AF Corse, Ferrari 458 Italia - Gianmaria 'JIMMY' Bruni

                                                   - Toni 'Raikkonen's bff' Vilander

 

#71 AF Corse, Ferrari 458 Italia - Davide 'Ferrari Academy nonsense' Rigon

                                                   - James '2012 GP2's next best thing' Calado

 

#91 Porsche Team Manthey, Porsche 911 RSR - Richard 'is International GT Open relevant?' Lietz

                                                                           - Michael 'not Kristensen' Christensen

 

#92 Porsche Team Manthey, Porsche 911 RSR - Frederic '2012 GTs next best thing' Makowiecki

                                                                           - Patrick 'currently winning United Sportscar GTs' Pilet

 

#95 Aston Martin Racing, Aston Martin Vantage V8 - Marco 'cuss a lot' Sorensen

                                                                                - Christoffer 'some sort of viking' Nygaard

 

#97 Aston Martin Racing, Aston Martin Vantage V8 - Darren 'touringcar touringcar touringcar' Turner

                                                                                - Stefan 'DTM ghost of the past' Mucke

                                                                                - Jonny 'British GT' Adam

 

#99 Aston Martin Racing, Aston Martin Vantage V8 - Fernando 'happiest dude at Le Mans qualy' Rees

                                                                                 - Alex 'nice WTCC lad' MacDowell

                                                                                 - Richie 'I won Monaco in a GP2 car you guys' Stanaway

LMGTE Am

 

#50 Larbre Competition, Chevrolet Corvette C7.R - Paolo 'whoa, I'm drivin a Corvette' Ruberti

                                                                               - Kristian 'OPs favorite Dane' Poulsen

                                                                               - Gianluca 'also drivin a Corvette wow' Roda

 

#72 SMP Racing, Ferrari 458 Italia - Andrea 'official Maserati driver extraordinaire' Bertolini

                                                       - Viktor '2014 GT ELMS Champ, it's Shaittime' Shaitar

                                                       - Aleksey 'Russian (and Ukrainian lol what?) Touring Car Champ' Basov

 

#77 Dempsey-Proton Racing, Porsche 911 RSR - Patrick 'he dies at the end of Grey's Anatomy' Dempsey

                                                                            - Pat 'Pirelli World Challenge master' Long

                                                                            - Marco 'I like his name for some reason' Seefried

 

#83 AF Corse, Ferrari 458 Italia - Francois 'CEO of a oil and gas company' Perrodo

                                                   - Rui 'born in Mozambique' Aguas

                                                   - Emmanuel 'late 90's F1 test driver / I keep confusing him with Rob' Collard

 

#88 Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing, Porsche 911 RSR - Khaled 'Chief Human Capital Officer for the Mubadala Group' Al Qubaisi

                                                                              - Christian 'not a wealthy Emirati businessman' Ried

                                                                              - Earl 'dude won something or whatever' Bamber

 

#96 Aston Martin Racing, Aston Martin Vantage V8 - Stuart '2013 WEC GT Pro Champ' Hall

                                                                                - Francesco '2011 GT3 Champ also fun name' Castellacci

                                                                                - Roald 'wealthy fan of driving cars in circles' Goethe

 

#98 Aston Martin Racing, Aston Martin Vantage V8 - Paul 'dude actually has a Bloomberg Executive Profile page and Lana del Rey fan' Dalla Lana

                                                                                 - Mathias 'an elderly fan's son' Lauda

                                                                                 - Pedro 'c'mon you know who he is' Lamy

 

Pick your heroes! And have a great race everyone.

 

Also there's the 1000km of Suzuka over at the Super GTs for all you Heikki fanatics.

 

Alas this bring me to our main point:

 

 

This one if for you Badass. We will never forget you. See you in the great big racetrack in the sky.

 

 

 

Edited by OvDrone, 26 August 2015 - 13:32.

[Dan333SP]

Well done with the nicknames for every single driver. I saw LMP1 and assumed you'd stop there, but nope.

 

I hope the fans turn out for this one. Audi vs. Porsche on home soil with the fastest prototypes ever manufactured... Even if TV ratings for F1 and the like are dying in Germany, you'd have to think this will stir some interest.

 

Hard to bet against Lotterer, but as usual I'll be pulling for Webbo's 919. Hopefully Toyota can stay on the lead lap.

[Victor_RO]

David 'holysh*t this dude is actually smart' Heinemeier Hansson

 

   

 

Yes I am an unashamed DHH fanboy and proud of it because the dude works in the same field as I do. Albeit at a totally different level.   

[jonpollak]

TV ?

Jp

[Stephane]

I'll be there on Sunday 

[Victor_RO]

TV ?

Jp

 

Motors TV or Eurosport. Or the WEC paid app/website (which I'll be using).

[jonpollak]

Thanks Vicky

Jp

[SilverArrow31]

Awww why are Nissan not racing here??? those massive let downs!!!

[Victor_RO]

Thanks Vicky

Jp

 

Not sure on which it'll be, but in Europe those two have been broadcasting WEC races mostly in recent years. TV listings should say what's what.

 

EDIT: Motors TV are interrupting the race twice with motocross. Ugh.

[jonpollak]

in the UK Eurosport 1 carry the last hour only..

Jp

[Sash1]

I'll be there on Sunday 

 

Me2.   
 

[Dan333SP]

Awww why are Nissan not racing here??? those massive let downs!!!

 

They're afraid that they will get pole by 5 seconds over Porsche and will have restrictions placed on them before Le Mans next year, so they're playing their cards close to their chest.

[FerrariV12]

EDIT: Motors TV are interrupting the race twice with motocross. Ugh.

 

Damn it usually Motors aren't that bad in that regard. I've watched all 2014 and 2015 non-LM WEC races on that channel, plus the last few of 2013 too, and don't remember any interruptions like that. Thanks for the heads up though 

[OvDrone]

TV ?

Jp

 

Ugh, I forgot to post that in the Op.

 

As far as I know, Fox Sports 1 are showing the whole season in the States.

[Exb]

Great OP  

 

Finally the WEC is back :clap:It has been way too long since Le Mans.

 

Although sadly I won't be able to follow it at all this weekend  

[Amz964]

Yes finally WEC is back been 2 long months! I am so hooked on sports cars right now, the technology in these cars are amazing new lap records being smashed on every circuit so far. There was nothing to choose between Audi and Porsche at le mans in fact the whole season so hopefully more of the same but I expect Audi #7 to triumph although there are a few long straights at nurburgring where the Porsche's can stretch their legs and challenge Audi.

[Jimisgod]

 

Nicolas 'Heidfeld's Nightmare' Prost

 

Nick 'Heidfeld's Nightmare' Heidfeld

 

Oh you.

[OvDrone]

I should've said: Viktor 'I was having a Shait' Shaitar.

[Richard T]

Glad the WEC is back! Looking forward to 6h of Hungover on sunday 

 

@Audi__Sport just tweeted this:

 

Didn't know they used the "Endurance" chicane and at the same time the full GP complex at T1-T4.

[Dan333SP]

Glad the WEC is back! Looking forward to 6h of Hungover on sunday 

 

@Audi__Sport just tweeted this:

 

Didn't know they used the "Endurance" chicane and at the same time the full GP complex at T1-T4.

 

I'd think the slightly more open/faster chicane they're using is better for a multi-class race because it doesn't require quite so much braking.

 

Even with a drying track, Lotterer's practice-leading time of 1:39 this morning is only about 10 seconds slower than Hamilton's 2013 F1 pole. I'm sure the chicane speeds them up by a second or so, but I can't wait to see what they can do in qualifying.

[WhiteSGPlayer]

Well I don;t know what the conditions were like, but the fastest time in FP2 was a 37:8

[Dan333SP]

Thank god Porsche and Audi are so close this year, because Toyota are hopeless until they debut their new car next year. Top 3 are within fractions of one another and the 2nd Audi is a few tenths behind them, early days but I'm hoping for another classic race.

 

At least we have a real battle in the LMP1 privateer ranks now, the CLM is pretty close to the Rebellions so far and they're clearly ahead of the LMP2s, which is nice.

[WhiteSGPlayer]

Hulkenberg hanging around in the Porsche garages. RLM saying he'll be back to defend his LM crown next year

[Victor_RO]

Fifth front-of-the-field lockout in a row for Porsche. And that includes Spa and Le Mans where they ran three cars.   

[Mat13]

So glad to see WEC back, F1 doesn't cut it in comparison this year. Come on the winner!

[BT44/45]

Hulkenberg hanging around in the Porsche garages. RLM saying he'll be back to defend his LM crown next year

 

 

 

even if he signs for the renault F1 team?

[WhiteSGPlayer]

even if he signs for the renault F1 team?

 

Well he was interviewed in the garage as well, and he said himself that he was trying to make LM happen.

 

Of course with the whole Renault/Nissan relationship it could cause some worry, but when even Nick Heidfeld (reportedly) turns down a Nissan drive there are some definite problems there

[WhiteSGPlayer]

Indycar could take a lesson from the WEC on how to sing national anthems.

[Risil]

Cars are rolling!

[jonpollak]

and away we go....

Wish it was on the 'schliffe

 

Jp

[jonpollak]

Does Brenden Hartley have a little older sister?

 

Jp

Edited by jonpollak, 30 August 2015 - 10:57.

[OvDrone]

I got a six-pack for the six hours of awesome.

[Victor_RO]

Here we go folks.  Soooooo glad to see these cars back on track.

 

Come on Jp, don't be creepy.

[jonpollak]

Here we go folks.  Soooooo glad to see these cars back on track.

 

Come on Jp, don't be creepy.

Calm Down..I fixed it

Jp

[jonpollak]

Please insert $435.99 to continue watching!!

 

Jp

[Nigol]

At least we were able to see the initial start.

[jonpollak]

Talk about glass half full Nigol..

Jp

[Zava]

is this for real, the stream went for a commercial break during the first lap? (corner?)

[jonpollak]

and they cleared the crows off the uplink dish..

Jp

[OvDrone]

Is it just me or is seeing '5:48:31' on top of the screen a cause for extreme joy?

[jonpollak]

I thought it was a OV Drone Birthday countdown clock....

Jp

[Sheepmachine]

It's nice to see they put a penny in the meter.
Nice to see the Nurburgring again.
Ferrari stopped.

[jonpollak]

Woman's Javelin is good right now..

Jp

[OvDrone]

I thought it was a OV Drone Birthday countdown clock....

Jp

 

I'm just happy that the Sun is conjunct with my natal chart's Sun right now. And sextile with my natal Jupiter.

 

I can't think of something more comfy today than spending my bday with you crazy lot over at the Indycar thread.

 

Will Webber win a goddamn race again? Poor Timo and Brendon.

[OvDrone]

Time to switch to MotoGP for a little while.

[jonpollak]

uhhh..Heidfeld stops.

Jp

[Sheepmachine]

I'm just happy that the Sun is conjunct with my natal chart's Sun right now. And sextile with my natal Jupiter.

I can't think of something more comfy today than spending my bday with you crazy lot over at the Indycar thread.

Will Webber win a goddamn race again? Poor Timo and Brendon.

Webber seems forever jinxed much like no luck Nick.
Also happy birthday for later OvDrone.

[OvDrone]

If he'll win a race, I'll leave whatever I was doing and just get mullered drunk. Heidfeld I mean.

Edited by OvDrone, 30 August 2015 - 12:07.

[Risil]

Heh, MotorsTV seems to have forgotten they're meant to be showing motocross right now.

Edited by Risil, 30 August 2015 - 12:08.

[Sheepmachine]

Heh, MotorsTV seems to have forgotten they're meant to be showing motocross right now.

They must have been looking at the forum. Motocross is on now.