79 replies to this topic

[Imateria]

^He's a winner in French GT's.

 

What happened to Oak's LMP1 car. Making all that noise about it and it's not on the entry list for Le Mans or the WEC?

[SonnyViceR]

Imateria, on 13 Feb 2014 - 17:20, said:

What happened to Oak's LMP1 car. Making all that noise about it and it's not on the entry list for Le Mans or the WEC?

 

Looks as if they've given up on it altogether. Privateer LMP1 future not particularly bright...

 

Someone French at tententh said that Fillion's statement about the additional garages was "one or several" (?) which probably means that it will be max 60 

Edited by SonnyViceR, 13 February 2014 - 17:40.

[ezequiel]

Surprised to see Luis Pérez-Companc as a WEC entry after claiming he was considering switching series due to the collision of his business schedule and his racing schedule, and as a GT entry rather than a LMP2, and under the AF Corse banner rather than as PeCom Racing.

[SonnyViceR]

ezequiel, on 13 Feb 2014 - 18:16, said:

Surprised to see Luis Pérez-Companc as a WEC entry after claiming he was considering switching series due to the collision of his business schedule and his racing schedule, and as a GT entry rather than a LMP2, and under the AF Corse banner rather than as PeCom Racing.

 

Pecom Racing was run by AF Corse so nothing has really changed, apart from switching class as you said

 

SMP entries being accepted in both LMP2 and GTE is interesting

Edited by SonnyViceR, 13 February 2014 - 18:21.

[PayasYouRace]

SonnyViceR, on 13 Feb 2014 - 16:00, said:

The garage space has always been the only limit for this race. The circuit could probably have like 100 cars circulating due to it's length (obviously you won't get that many garages due to lack of space and financials, but in theory). It's not like say Road Atlanta where it starts to get crowded because of the circuit length. Nordschleife is double the length of Sarthe and can have 240 cars or more.

 

There should be more cars starting for it in 2015 as confirmed by the ACO, not sure how many though. 60? 65? 70? 75? 80? About bloody time too, 55-56 cars is ancient and throws 15-30 entries off the list every year. Also limits the WEC list to pitiful 32 or whatever low number capacity gap it is.

 

Another weird thing. Automatic entries apparently do not count for anything anymore as not only have you got Risi there at the back of the reserves with like 0,5% chance of getting in, also the Taisan team that received auto entry from AsLMS is on the reserves. WTF, if you want to have people interested in your regional series then you must actually have a way to lure them in and not change minds afterwards (who gives a crap about some AsLMS without any prize, seriously). It's a bit like NASCAR and IMSA handling USCC, making things up as they go along

 

Many French teams left out which is a bit surprising again knowing the ACO

 

Sounds like a Good Thing then. Shame to have a lot of sportscar and GT entries missing out just because of lack of pit space. Will this mean any circuit changes?

[SonnyViceR]

PayasYouRace, on 13 Feb 2014 - 18:22, said:

Sounds like a Good Thing then. Shame to have a lot of sportscar and GT entries missing out just because of lack of pit space. Will this mean any circuit changes?

 

Don't know.

 

They are already making changes for this year @ Tertre Rouge and Porsche Curves. Hopefully not huge areas of tarmac runoff, but I'm not too hopeful seeing as they've installed plenty of that in recent years unfortunately. Not yet in F1 abomination levels like at Spa but it's still slightly disturbing

 

And as I said on post #52, looks as there won't be that many additional garages after all - maybe. Then again, any extra slot is most welcome

Edited by SonnyViceR, 13 February 2014 - 18:31.

[ezequiel]

SonnyViceR, on 13 Feb 2014 - 18:20, said:

Pecom Racing was run by AF Corse so nothing has really changed, apart from switching class as you said

 

SMP entries being accepted in both LMP2 and GTE is interesting

 

 It just cought my eye that, along with the class change the name of the entry (and hence the nationality) also changed. As for SMP, lots of Russian money I suppose (they are also sponsoring Mikhail Aleshing in IndyCar thou I think they won't be supporting the Comtec team in FR 3.5 this year. Not sure what's going to become of their commitment to Blancpain Endurance Series)

[SonnyViceR]

ezequiel, on 13 Feb 2014 - 18:29, said:

 It just cought my eye that, along with the class change the name of the entry (and hence the nationality) also changed. As for SMP, lots of Russian money I suppose (they are also sponsoring Mikhail Aleshing in IndyCar thou I think they won't be supporting the Comtec team in FR 3.5 this year. Not sure what's going to become of their commitment to Blancpain Endurance Series)

 

Not sure about that one but SMP is becoming the new AF Corse of billions of racing programs. 2014 that I know of

 

Le Mans - 2x Oreca Nissan LMP2 + 1x Ferrari 458 GTE

WEC otherwise - 2x Oreca Nissan LMP2

ELMS - 1x Ferrari 458 GTE + 3x Ferrari 458 GT3

One-off GTD Ferrari 458 for Daytona 24 Hours

 

??? International GT Open

??? Blancpain Endurance Series

 

Also some commitments to single seaters

Formula Renault Eurocup
Formula Renault Alps

German F3
Toyota Racing Series

Auto Sport Academy

IndyCar

Edited by SonnyViceR, 13 February 2014 - 18:47.

[SonnyViceR]

Oh and here's one really hoping for third Porsche in 2015 (even if it means descreasing the size of the Manthey deal). With Toyota I have pretty much given up on them ever fielding additional cars but Porsche will probably, hopefully, raise up the car count last year. Peugeot only had two entries for their comeback year in 2007 as well. However, even poor little Aston Martin Racing with it's pay drivers and masqueraded Lolas was able to field three cars 2009.

 

Also, ACO wrote on their recent press release that Nissan WILL BE in LMP1 in 2015 following the marketing project this year, but that probably means Darren Cox has managed to sugarcoat his promises enough for them.

 

Finally, since there will be only three privateer LMP1 cars in the WORLD this year (lowest number since... umm.... ummm) what are the chances of increasing the grid for 2015? Hmm yes indeed.

[OvDrone]

So, Webber in the #14 or #20?

[SonnyViceR]

OvDrone, on 13 Feb 2014 - 19:55, said:

So, Webber in the #14 or #20?

 

#20

[SonnyViceR]

Explanation for the lack of Risi

http://www.dailysportscar.com/?p=23003

 

Looks as it was always going to be a camourflaged Krohn Racing entry...

 

Okay...

 

I think I see how the interaction between the ACO and some of the teams is working right now

 

[Red17]

Looking foiward for the start of the test races season, Hopefully Porsche will take the fight to cousin Audi.

[SonnyViceR]

Test races is a good definition since there is clearly objective A in this game and rest is an afterthought... also for anyone wanting to look into P1 equivalence of diesel-petrol-hybrid performance nonsense, Racecar Engineering's Sam Collins had a pretty entertaining, umm, overview of it on most recent Midweek Motorsport, check it out

Edited by SonnyViceR, 13 February 2014 - 21:55.

[Afterburner]

Can't help but feel a bit disappointed that there's only one HPD banner in that entire list of cars. For shame.

[SonnyViceR]

SonnyViceR, on 13 Feb 2014 - 17:38, said:

Someone French at tententh said that Fillion's statement about the additional garages was "one or several" (?) which probably means that it will be max 60 

 

Okay, and now they're talking of maybe one-ish additional garage for 2015, and other changes are actually for 2017...?

 

[SonnyViceR]

Patrick appears to be happy.

 

[Imateria]

Can't say I'm too bothered about the lack of Risi, since it seems they weren't trying for a full entry but just to run the Krohn car (though under their own name this time?) it's not much of a loss.

[SonnyViceR]

I thought it would be helpful to align the 56x Le Mans entries by championship to make the split easier to recognize for us all. So here:

TOTAL
WEC 31x entries
ELMS 13x entries  + 7x reserves
AsLMS 2x entries + 1 reserve
USCC 6x entries + 1 reserve
Experimental 1x entry
Additional extras 3x entries + 1 reserve
= 56 entries + 10 reserves

FIA WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP
LMP1H – Audi Sport Team Joest – Audi R18 etron quattro
LMP1H – Audi Sport Team Joest – Audi R18 etron quattro
LMP1H – Porsche AG – Porsche 919 Hybrid
LMP1H – Porsche AG – Porsche 919 Hybrid
LMP1H – Toyota Motorsport – Toyota TS040
LMP1H – Toyota Motorsport – Toyota TS040
LMP1L – Rebellion Racing – Rebellion R1 – Toyota
LMP1L – Rebellion Racing – Rebellion R1 – Toyota
LMP1L – Lotus LMP – Lotus/Kodewa T129 – AER
LMP2 - G-Drive Racing – Oak Pescarolo Nissan (Morgan rebrand)
LMP2 - Millennium Racing – Oreca Nissan
LMP2 - Millennium Racing – Oreca Nissan
LMP2 - KCMG – Oreca Nissan
LMP2 - SMP Racing – Oreca Nissan
LMP2 - SMP Racing – Oreca Nissan
LMP2 - Strakka Racing – Strakka Dome Nissan
LMGTE-PRO - AF Corse – Ferrari 458 Italia
LMGTE-PRO - AF Corse – Ferrari 458 Italia
LMGTE-PRO - Aston Martin Racing – Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE
LMGTE-PRO - Aston Martin Racing – Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE
LMGTE-PRO - Porsche AG Team Manthey – Porsche 911 RSR
LMGTE-PRO - Porsche AG Team Manthey – Porsche 911 RSR
LMGTE-PRO - RAM Racing – Ferrari 458 Italia
LMGTE-AM - 8Star Motorsport – Ferrari 458 Italia
LMGTE-AM - AF Corse – Ferrari 458 Italia
LMGTE-AM - AF Corse – Ferrari 458 Italia
LMGTE-AM - Aston Martin Racing – Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE
LMGTE-AM - Aston Martin Racing – Aston Martin Vantage V8 GTE
LMGTE-AM - Proton Competition – Porsche 911 RSR
LMGTE-AM - Prospeed Competition – Porsche 911 RSR
LMGTE-AM - RAM Racing – Ferrari 458 Italia

EUROPEAN LE MANS SERIES
LMP2 - Sebastien Loeb Racing - Oreca Nissan
LMP2 - Race Performance - Oreca Judd
LMP2 - Signatech Alpine - Oreca Nissan (Alpine rebrand)
LMP2 - Jota Sport - Zytek Nissan
LMP2 - Greaves Motorsports - Zytek Nissan
LMP2 - Newblood by Morand Racing - Oak Pescarolo Judd (Morgan rebrand)
LMP2 - Thiriet by TDS Racing - Ligier JS Nissan
LMP2 - Murphy Prototypes - Oreca Nissan
LMGTE-AM - AF Corse - Ferrari 458 Italia
LMGTE-AM - AF Corse - Ferrari 458 Italia
LMGTE-AM - Team Sofrev ASP - Ferrari 458 Italia
LMGTE-AM - IMSA Performance Matmut - Porsche 911 RSR
LMGTE-AM - SMP Racing - Ferrari 458 Italia
RESERVE #1 LMP2 - Larbre Competition - Oak Pescarolo Judd (Morgan rebrand)
RESERVE #2 LMP2 - Signatech Alpine - Oreca Nissan (Alpine rebrand)
RESERVE #3 LMP2 - Caterham Racing - Zytek Nissan
RESERVE #4 LMP2 - Boutsen Ginion Racing - Oreca Nissan
RESERVE #5 LMP2 - Pegasus Racing - Oak Pescarolo Nissan (Morgan rebrand)
RESERVE #1 LMGTE-AM - JMW Motorsports - Ferrari 458 Italia
RESERVE #3 LMGTE-AM - IMSA Performance Matmut - Porsche 911 RSR

ASIAN LE MANS SERIES
LMP2 - OAK Racing Team Asia - Ligier JS HPD
LMGTE-AM - Craft Racing - Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE
RESERVE #2 LMGTE-AM - Team Taisan - Ferrari 458 Italia

UNITED SPORTS CAR CHAMPIONSHIP
LMP2 - OAK Racing - Oak Pescarolo Nissan (Morgan rebrand)
LMGTE-PRO - Corvette Racing - Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
LMGTE-PRO - Corvette Racing - Chevrolet Corvette C7.R
LMGTE-PRO - SRT Motorsports - SRT Viper GTS-R
LMGTE-PRO - SRT Motorsports - SRT Viper GTS-R
LMGTE-AM - Dempsey Racing Proton - Porsche 911 RSR
RESERVE #5 LMGTE-PRO - Risi Competizione - Ferrari 458 Italia

EXPERIMENTAL
G56 - Nissan Motorsports - Nissan ZEOD RC

ADDITIONAL EXTRAS
LMP1H - Audi Sport Team Joest - Audi R18 e-tron quattro
LMGTE-PRO - Aston Martin Racing - Aston Martin V8 Vantage
LMGTE-AM - Aston Martin Racing - Aston Martin V8 Vantage
RESERVE #4 LMGTE-AM - Prospeed Competition - Porsche 911 RSR

Edited by SonnyViceR, 14 February 2014 - 14:21.

[SonnyViceR]

Not sure if anyone is reading these anymore, but anyone want to hear some (useless) facts for this year's 24 Hours?

* The last time there was no British affiliated team in the top prototype class was in 1998 (LMP1) - until now
* The last time there was no Lola chassis in the field was in 1998 - until now

* The last time there was a prototype class without open top cars was in 2003 (LMGTP) - until now
* The last time there was no privateer Corvette in the field was in 2005 - until now
* LMP1 will be the largest class in WEC 2014, but smallest in Le Mans

* There are only three different models entered for the LMGTE-AM.  The last time there was a category with such little variety was GT1 in 2009 (Corvette, Aston and Lamborghini), but that was a field of six cars - GTE-AM entry of this year is 16x. Also Larbre Saleen was on the reserves for the 2009 GT1

 

Maybe I come up with more later. Or not

Edited by SonnyViceR, 14 February 2014 - 19:13.

[DanardiF1]

So is the OAK Ligier happening or not? The P1 doesn't seem to be, but the P2 car is?

[SonnyViceR]

Yes no P1 but there are two Ligier-branded coupes in LMP2, run by OAK and TDS. Different engines on those too, HPD and Nissan.

 

Oak is running with two different P2 chassis options in LM, the new coupe and the old Morgan-rebranded Oak Pescarolo Nissan - ie the safe pair of wheels and the former class winner. But it's kinda shocking not to have Oak Racing in either WEC OR ELMS, but rather in USCC playing BoP games with the NASCAR "prototypes" and in that Asian series no one gives a crap about (not that they even could, seeing as you can't even watch the races)

Edited by SonnyViceR, 14 February 2014 - 20:49.

[DanardiF1]

SonnyViceR, on 14 Feb 2014 - 20:44, said:

Yes no P1 but there are two Ligier-branded coupes in LMP2, run by OAK and TDS. Different engines on those too, HPD and Nissan.

 

Oak is running with two different P2 chassis options in LM, the new coupe and the old Morgan-rebranded Oak Pescarolo Nissan - ie the safe pair of wheels and the former class winner. But it's kinda shocking not to have Oak Racing in either WEC OR ELMS, but rather in USCC playing BoP games with the NASCAR "prototypes" and in that Asian series no one gives a crap about (not that they even could, seeing as you can't even watch the races)

 

Yeah I don't get that either... the AsLMS thing I can kind of get as if you can get drivers who bring a budget and want to do it, why not!?! Total sponsored their cars out there last time so perhaps there is some marketing potential to be found if they can get it to work. USCC I don't get as with the BoP stuff they don't have any reason to be out there as a manufacturer of cars that are just going to get BoP'd down anyway. Pickett has the Nissan deal so there's not even that avenue for them. The only thing I can think of is perhaps they want to sell some of their cars in the States (and possibly establish contacts to sell the Ligiers going forward too?), but then BoP issues don't make buying a P2 car an attractive option IMO...

[Ross Stonefeld]

Would the driver line-ups tell us anything?

[SonnyViceR]

Another case of "we only cared about the Le Mans"

http://www.autosport...t.php/id/112525

 

Even with the boosting 42 (now 41) car grid ELMS has, traditionally 5-10 drop out pretty quick even before the first race... and after Le Mans more backdoor escapes, getting the entry and being there was the primary target

 

Status GP was one of those hijacking little bastards last year, entered WEC for the full season to get LM auto entry. Then withdraw but promise to do full season ELMS to keep the entry - yeah they did the first two rounds prior LM but dropped immediately out after Le Mans, of course. Chassis got wrecked but that's a lame excuse for abandoning all plans. There are numerous other cases too

 

Considering that all of the P2 reserves are from ELMS, and many teams in GT as well didn't get even to the reserves, more of this is to be expected. Happens every year

Edited by SonnyViceR, 14 February 2014 - 21:38.

[SonnyViceR]

SonnyViceR, on 13 Feb 2014 - 18:28, said:

 

They are already making changes for this year @ Tertre Rouge and Porsche Curves. Hopefully not huge areas of tarmac runoff, but I'm not too hopeful seeing as they've installed plenty of that in recent years unfortunately. Not yet in F1 abomination levels like at Spa but it's still slightly disturbing

 

http://sportscar365....ments-revealed/

 

Most importantly:

"Other improvements include a new gravel trap runoff area at the Corvette corner --"

 

Not fan of "improving" the lighting at certain places though, the circuit feels already bit too visible in the night...

[Imateria]

I assume this would be the appropriate thread....

 

With the news that a whole bunch of cars have been withdrawn today and the reserves have all been called up now, is their a plan to bring in extra cars in case of more drop outs (a distinct possibility given it's not even May yet) or does it look likely we'll get less than the 56 cars competing this year?

[chunder27]

Why ahve they withdrawn? I cant sem to find an explanation from any of the teams involved!

[Imateria]

Millenium have been having problems with getting money, if I remember correctly it's to do with sanctions against Russian companies over the annexation of the Crimea. Roeld Gothe has pulled his car due to business commitments  and Aston only cite "various reasons" for pulling their other 2 cars.

[arttidesco]

Andrew Hope, on 10 Feb 2014 - 17:15, said:

Have any of you endurbros done the LM24 in Gran Turismo games? I always liked the shortert enduros, only did Le Mans once, with an R390. For 12 hours I turned the contrast on my TV way down so it looked like it was night out.

 

I was a strange kid.

 

I tried it many times with a variety of vehicles, in one of the GT games (4?) but found it impossible to keep pace without pitting every four laps for fresh tyres, after six months I gave up and assumed the game had either some kind of bug or I needed to unlock something which I was never going to find.