17 replies to this topic

[huisne]

I know it's impossible to compare so many drivers in so many different classes, but the one driver who stood out for me this year was Nick Tandy. I guess most people can only recall his Le Mans win, but he was brilliant in the US driving the GT Porsche (winning Petit Le Mans overall, too), and also in the WEC in his LMP2 team he seemed to be clearly the best driver. 

I think he would deserve a full-time drive in the LMP1 Porsche, but I know they already have 6 good drivers for 6 seats....

Your thoughts? Who was outstanding in sportscar racing in 2015?

[Victor_RO]

Cannot disagree with the choice. I think the more interesting question would be who was second-best. 

 

Second best is an absolute toss-up, there's a lot of drivers who have done very well this year. Brendon Hartley establishing himself as Porsche's LMP1 qualifying specialist, Andre Lotterer being as fantastic as ever, lots of GT superstars like Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, Nicky Catsburg etc., single-seater refugees like Sam Bird and Mitch Evans making a name for themselves in LMP2 this year and earning LMP1 tests... there are a lot of people making a good case for second-best this year. But as for the best sportscar driver this year, I cannot disagree with the nomination for Nick Tandy.

[AlexLangheck]

In the last few years my default driver would be Andre Lotterer; just look how much time he spent in the car yesterday - that's how much Audi rely on him. But I wouldn't disagree with Nick Tandy; he really does deserve a full time LMP1 seat.

[Peat]

Tandy does immediately spring to mind.

Bamber has had a stellar year too. Oh what fun it must be to be a factory Porsche driver. 

[huisne]

I find it a bit strange how little movement there is among the drivers of the LMP1 teams. In F1 and other series, talks about the "silly season" are highly active during the whole year, almost every driver is linked to another team at some point... 

 

In WEC however, it seems the only reason to change is when someone retires, or has serious conflicts with the team (Lapierre), or when a new team (Nissan) appears. There are no rumours about drivers switching from one team to another, and teams tend to keep drivers until they retire...

Is driver stability, having the same driver trios for a long time this important? I wonder if Porsche or Toyota would sign Lotterer if he became available, or would it not be worth it, because it would destroy the harmony...? Would Audi get rid of Fassler or Treluyer if they are much slower than Lotterer, or is it more valuable to keep the trio together, because they obviously function well together?

What started me thinking was, even with his fantastic season and his clear abilities in an LMP1 car, Tandy has almost zero chance for a full drive next year, simply because LMP1 teams don't usually change their drivers. And not just Tandy, I'm sure there are a lot of capable drivers out there, but it seems it is impossible to get an LMP1 contract unless someone retires... 

[Victor_RO]

I think teams are getting a tad complacent, but it's also the matter of people seeing the example of the McNish/Kristensen/Capello trio, a trio that saw a lot of success and stuck together for years on end, and they're trying to replicate that chemistry somehow and build a trio of drivers that works as a cohesive whole as consistently as possible. The Audi terrific trio (Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer) is probably the closest thing we've got to that nowadays, but the Porsche full-season trios seem to start converging towards that as well. Davidson/Buemi is a pairing that is somehow in the same vein.

[huisne]

I actually think that in case of the #7 car, chemistry is the thing that keeps the trio together, not (primarily) driving abilities. As far as I know Lotterer-Fassler-Treluyer are close friends outside racing as well, they work well as a team and I think that's why they don't want to separate them. But I think, if we strictly look at the drivers' pace, pairing Lotterer with Duval and adding either Treluyer or Fassler as 3rd driver would be more beneficial. No wonder that yesterday Fassler drove 1 stint, Treluyer 2 stints,and all the rest went to Lotterer, he was the only one who could keep up with Porsche's pace. 

 

But yeah, speed is not the most important thing in endurance racing - maybe teams deliberately avoid having their two fastest guys in the cars, to avoid ego conflicts? 

[MikeV1987]

Tandy is a good choice, I would put Lotterer up there too.

[Risil]

As a side note I was really disappointed that Nick Tandy wasn't nominated in the Autosport Awards' International Driver of the Year (you know, the one Hamilton's going to win). Surely they could've subbed him in for Nico Rosberg. Nico Rosberg, for crying out loud.

[KingTiger]

I actually think that in case of the #7 car, chemistry is the thing that keeps the trio together, not (primarily) driving abilities. As far as I know Lotterer-Fassler-Treluyer are close friends outside racing as well, they work well as a team and I think that's why they don't want to separate them. But I think, if we strictly look at the drivers' pace, pairing Lotterer with Duval and adding either Treluyer or Fassler as 3rd driver would be more beneficial. No wonder that yesterday Fassler drove 1 stint, Treluyer 2 stints,and all the rest went to Lotterer, he was the only one who could keep up with Porsche's pace. 

 

But yeah, speed is not the most important thing in endurance racing - maybe teams deliberately avoid having their two fastest guys in the cars, to avoid ego conflicts? 

 

They do have to share the setup. It's possibly that Duval and Lotterer couldn't both be fast in the same car because they prefer different handling. 

[BRG]

When I saw this thread title, my first thought was Nick Tandy.  I opened it in trepidation expecting it to be another Webber fanfest.  But look, it is Tandy and I am the only one who mentioned Webber.  Sorry!

[Nonesuch]

Tandy has certainly been impressive, as well as versatile - but I have been most impressed by André Lotterer, and share some of the thoughts about Audi's driver pairings mentioned above.

 

Using the WEC mobile application, I was able to follow the Le Mans 24H on board the #7 Audi and Lotterer's stints especially were great to watch.

 

As always, there's a lot less between these guys than their most zealous fans will claim, but for me he was one of the stand-out drivers of the year. He did pretty well in the Super Formula, as well.

[huisne]

 

I think he would deserve a full-time drive in the LMP1 Porsche, but I know they already have 6 good drivers for 6 seats....
 

 

Now I would be very happy even with the 3rd car drive....   Shame that so many quality drivers don't get an LMP1 shot at Le Mans because there are so few places. 

[Victor_RO]

When I saw this thread title, my first thought was Nick Tandy.  I opened it in trepidation expecting it to be another Webber fanfest.  But look, it is Tandy and I am the only one who mentioned Webber.  Sorry!

 

Webber did quite well for an old man, he's stepped up his game to the level of his teammates and he's pulled his weight, but Tandy has been on another level at Le Mans and in his outings in other classes. I reckon his only two moments where he was outclassed were the mistake at Spa where he crashed into a GT "teammate" and qualifying at Le Mans with Jani and Bernhard's amazing laps.

[Prost1997T]

Webber did quite well for an old man, he's stepped up his game to the level of his teammates and he's pulled his weight, but Tandy has been on another level at Le Mans and in his outings in other classes. I reckon his only two moments where he was outclassed were the mistake at Spa where he crashed into a GT "teammate" and qualifying at Le Mans with Jani and Bernhard's amazing laps.

 

His Daytona and Sebring outings weren't up to par either, although you can't win 'em all in one season I guess.

[Dan333SP]

Lotterer is the best of the prototype lot, Laurens Vanthoor is the best GT ace at the moment (Audi clearly knows how to spot talent!), and Tandy is the most versatile.

[Imateria]

His Daytona and Sebring outings weren't up to par either, although you can't win 'em all in one season I guess.

Muddied a bit by the balance of performance changing, if I remember right the Porsche wasn't great at the start of the year.

[Victor_RO]

Muddied a bit by the balance of performance changing, if I remember right the Porsche wasn't great at the start of the year.

 

BoP only swung in Porsche's favour after Le Mans in both IMSA and the WEC.