886 replies to this topic

[Victor_RO]

It is once again time, ladies and gents. Time which will be both our friend and our enemy for 24 hours straight. The biggest weekend of racing this side of the Atlantic is once again knocking at the door.

 

Test day is TODAY. 8 hours of running to get an idea of where everyone stands before race week... or to see how many tons of sand everyone is running. Especially an American marque with 4 cars which shall not be named until later.

 

Of course, given some things in motorsport outside France, one might be forgiven for not paying attention to this and focusing on some streets in Azerbaijan. Well, one would be WRONG.   And that's all I shall say on the subject of the date clash.

 

So what happened last year?

 

Well, if you remember last year's race, at least at the front of the field it ebbed and flowed based on how people ran in the early evening, until the #19 Porsche crew took it away and ran with it with a brilliant graveyard shift stint by Nick Tandy, and then his teammates Earl Bamber and some guy named Nico Hulkenberg (where the hell have I heard about him before?) then chipped away further at everyone else, including their teammates who had been recovering from a yellow-flag penalty, until this happened after 395 laps of running:

 

 

Bringing Porsche's win total to 17 over the years, halting Audi's run. I haven't mentioned Toyota at all if you notice, and the less said about Nissan's pitiful effort the better.

 

In LMP2, Jota nearly pulled off a carbon copy of their recovery from 2014, but for a dominant run by KCMG that might not be repeated again (but then again, that's what we said about lots of things). In GTE-Pro, Corvette pulled off a class win with a single car as everyone else in the opposition conspired to disintegrate (starting with a Porsche fire in the first hour and ending with an AF Corse gearbox failure with about 2 hours to go), and once again offered the spectacle of a burnout set to the background of a train horn at the end of the race. 

 

So what's up this year?

 

Works teams are all down to 2 cars, no Nissan here either. Otherwise, 60 cars are due to start, including a LMP2 car driven by a quad-amputee. And Ford are here with 4 cars to celebrate their 4 wins in the 1960s, on the 50th anniversary of their first win in 1966, and they've been running with a huge amount of sand in the cars so far this year to ensure they manage to grab a win somehow. Let's keep it brief, cars are on track already so let's get down to business.

 

SCHEDULE (main event, all times CET):

 

Sunday 12 June: Scrutineering (Place de la Republique), 14:00-17:30

 

Monday 13 June: Scrutineering part deux (same place), 9:30-17:10

 

Tuesday 14 June: Further scrutineering for works teams, autograph session + pitwalk

 

Wednesday 15 June:

Free practice - 16:00-20:00

Quali 1 - 22:00-00:00

 

Thursday 16 June:

Quali 2 - 19:00-21:00

Quali 3 - 22:00-00:00

 

Friday 17 June:

Pitwalk at the track, drivers parade in the center of the city (or is it the other way around? nah)

 

RACE DAY: Saturday 18 June 15:00 - Sunday 19 June 15:00

 

And as a final treat, the amazing 3:16.887 ($&#%!!!) pole lap from 2015 in Neel Jani's own words... and with an onboard. 

 

https://newsroom.por...-lap-12581.html

[Nonesuch]

Similar to last year, the official FIA WEC mobile application provides live timing, live onboard and other video footage of the Le Mans event.

 

The Le Mans-only subscription costs about €10.

[Victor_RO]

Similar to last year, the official FIA WEC mobile application provides live timing, live onboard and other video footage of the Le Mans event.

 

The Le Mans-only subscription costs about €10.

 

But with non-standard commentators. I'll personally be using the app/website video stream muted with RLM audio over it.

 

Also, Eurosport Player should have a subscription-only natural sounds stream.

[Nonesuch]

I'm not sure who the standard is; Eurosport has a whole bus full of language-specific commentator teams. They tend not to travel to all the races, but they will be at the track for the Le Mans race.

 

Either way, the on-board feeds on the application did not have any commentary last year so if it's just the sound of the cars you want that should work as well.

[Victor_RO]

Eurosport has Carlton Kirby on the English commentary. Enough of a reason for most people (including myself) to mute it.

[f1paul]

Eurosport has Carlton Kirby on the English commentary. Enough of a reason for most people (including myself) to mute it.

OMG 

Who else? Jonathan Legard

[Marklar]

I think Le Mans (or WEC in general) is the only motorsport event where I can live with the German commentary....

[superden]

Can't wait, best race weekend of the year. It just edges the Ring 24 and is by far the best motorsport event I've ever attended. Should be a good edition this year.

Azerbai-where-who-cares?

Edited by superden, 05 June 2016 - 11:45.

[TomNokoe]

I wanted to wake up early and follow test -day properly. Stint lengths and all. Sadly I went to bed at 3:30am, was woken at 7:28am because my housemate didn't have their key and so I missed the whole morning session because boy was I tired! And to make matters worse bloody Mark Webber is fastest .

I love this race so so much.

Edited by TomNokoe, 05 June 2016 - 13:08.

[Victor_RO]

I wanted to wake up early and follow test -day properly. Stint lengths and all. Sadly I went to bed at 3:30am, was woken at 7:28am because my housemate didn't have their key and so I missed the whole morning session because boy was I tired! And to make matters worse bloody Mark Webber is fastest .

I love this race so so much.

 

All timing data will be available on http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/ for analysis as ever.  Full timing data from the Test Day should be up about 1-2h after the second session is officially over (which was 5 mins ago due to an accident that caused barrier damage).

[Peat]

This is such a dull circuit and a meaningless, boring race. Really, who cares about some german cars going round and round for a day? Speedway & MotoX is better. You should watch them instead, losers.

[f1paul]

This is such a dull circuit and a meaningless, boring race. Really, who cares about some german cars going round and round for a day? Speedway & MotoX is better. You should watch them instead, losers.

     WHAT!!!!!

Sorry mate but there's more than just German cars, and this race is part of the motorsport triple crown which shows the greatness of the race.

How many viewers do Motox and speedway get? Less than LeMans by far, right???

There's no need to have a go at a series/race you don't like, I don't like MotoGP but I don't go on the thread and say it's rubbish

[Stephane]

DISCLAIMER: Views & opinions within this post are my own and under no circumstances should be considered remotely accurate.

Ah ah!!

[Victor_RO]

     WHAT!!!!!

Sorry mate but there's more than just German cars, and this race is part of the motorsport triple crown which shows the greatness of the race.

How many viewers do Motox and speedway get? Less than LeMans by far, right???

There's no need to have a go at a series/race you don't like, I don't like MotoGP but I don't go on the thread and say it's rubbish

 

I think he was paraphrasing someone else that actually does hold those opinions before that someone else had a chance to nose in. 

[Risil]

This is all quite meta. Let's get the ball rolling:
 
Porsche are using going to use the 2015 spec of their battery after a "production issue" was discovered following the #2's retirement in Belgium.
 
Love this quote from the article:
 

Seidl would not comment on whether the reversion to last year's battery would have an impact on performance.

[cokata]

This is all quite meta. Let's get the ball rolling:
 
Porsche are using going to use the 2015 spec of their battery after a "production issue" was discovered following the #2's retirement in Belgium.
 
Love this quote from the article:
 

Obviously it would have an impact, but it probably won't be a big one. Maybe the 2016 battery is a little lighter, and has better power density, allowing more of the hybrid recovery to come from braking and less from the turbine.

[Joseki]

This year I want to see it all. I'll probably be drunk after 5 hours so I won't probably remember much of it.

[TomNokoe]

“We changed the battery because we had a problem with it,” Jani told Motorsport.com. “We came back to the 2015 spec to be safe, for reliability is paramount here.

“At the end of the day, there's no point being one second faster if the car ends up breaking down. So we came back to that. But you never know.”

Edited by TomNokoe, 05 June 2016 - 19:16.

[Turboflame]

It's nice to see a meaningful race life on Eurosport, like in the old days, without extra payment.

[Dr. Austin]

The coverage we get in the US is horrible. In the night hours they almost exclusively cover what's happening in the pits, even if it's just people standing around talking or watching monitors. It's horrible. I love night racing and they show so little of it here.

 

I'll watch it anyway. It's LeMans.

[Victor_RO]

Half the Ford drivers' fastest laptimes are covered by 2 tenths of a second.

 

Something is fishy. 

[Chunkinator]

Is there any free decent english commentary? Cus I think I will just use the free onboard streams from the porsche website and I need something to accompany it, failing that I will just use the text commentary autosport does.

[Risil]

Is there any free decent english commentary? Cus I think I will just use the free onboard streams from the porsche website and I need something to accompany it, failing that I will just use the text commentary autosport does.

 

Radio Le Mans is your best bet. They talk some good pictures.

[Izzyeviel]

Any plucky underdogs worth cheering on this year?

[Risil]

You mean apart from Audi?

[BRG]

Eurosport has Carlton Kirby on the English commentary. Enough of a reason for most people (including myself) to mute it.

He means well and tries hard.  And doesn't usually shout half the time.  Anyway there is a large team - Martin Haven, Mark Cole and several others -  so dear old Carlton is diluted.

[TomNokoe]

Any plucky underdogs worth cheering on this year?

Always Toyota! Came so close so many times, will probably be the slowest of the LMP1s but not by enough to count them out!

[TF110]

Test day a lot closer than last year. 3:21's for fastest Audi and 3:23's for the slowest Toyota. GTE looks like a tight race so far as well. I think the times are pretty useless with the weather so cool. Race day is supposed to be a lot warmer. Maybe we'll have a Spa type situation on our hands.

[Dalin80]

Half the Ford drivers' fastest laptimes are covered by 2 tenths of a second.

 

Something is fishy. 

 

Fishy!?

 

Fishy doesn't even cover it, the cars shouldn't even be eligible to race but somehow got a special waiver from the the usually iron-fisted ACO and have had the dodgiest sector times all season. If they could have entered 13 cars like they did in 66' they would have!

 

For the LMP's don't look into the times too much, all those cars have 3-4s still to play with if not more depending on temperatures.

 

Last year Eurosport had a channel which did 24h coverage with no breaks and no commentators so you could use RadioLeMans's instead. You can play a good game of bingo with their clichés but it is probably the best coverage in motorsport, few commentary teams can get team heads, chiefs, stewards, drivers (still in racesuits) and more into the commentary box for a quick interview. They are also active on social media and can answer questions or see comments there and then.

 

It's a whole different world from the PR sheltered and sterile environment of F1 and it's nice to see drivers genuinely enjoying themselves.

 

 

 

Any plucky underdogs worth cheering on this year?

 

Rebellion in LMP, if the big three keep suffering from tech issues like they have all year then they could get a cheeky podium.

 

LMP2 is too tight to really have an underdog but Strakka is a favourite of mine, just a shame the livery is pants this year.

 

The Astons in both GT classes, the old bruisers still keep going and frequently get buried under the weight of sand falling out of the back of the competition.

Edited by Dalin80, 06 June 2016 - 05:39.

[Victor_RO]

Fishy!?

 

Fishy doesn't even cover it, the cars shouldn't even be eligible to race but somehow got a special waiver from the the usually iron-fisted ACO and have had the dodgiest sector times all season. If they could have entered 13 cars like they did in 66' they would have!

 

I was understating it of course. Hidden behind the tire warmers in the back of the Ford garage and in cubbyholes inside the team transporters are most likely a few thousand bags of sand that they kept rotating through the cars this weekend while nobody was looking. Wouldn't be surprised if they're 1-2-3-4 in class in quali.

 

 

He means well and tries hard.  And doesn't usually shout half the time.  Anyway there is a large team - Martin Haven, Mark Cole and several others -  so dear old Carlton is diluted.

 

Kirby + Cole is the worst recipe for commentary disaster. As for RLM, yes, they do have a number of cliches, but with every word you can feel their passion for the sport. And that is all the more true when you meet them in person at the track or at events around a race they're commentating on.

[Peat]

Are there full sector times available? Between the 4x Fords, we must be able to cobble together an optimal laptime.

[Victor_RO]

Fastest sector times for the Fords in each sector:

 

S1

#66: 36.951

#68: 36.954

#67: 37.016

#69: 37.029

 

S2

#67: 1:29.937

#66: 1:30.208

#69: 1:30.238

#68: 1:30.239

 

S3

#66: 1:48.546

#69: 1:48.711

#67: 1:48.801

#68: 1:48.873

 

Ideal laptimes

All Fords: 3:55.434

#66: 3:55.705

#67: 3:55.754

#68: 3:55.978

#69: 3:56.066

 

Fastest GTE laptime throughout yesterday was a 3:55.122. Ideal Ford laptime would slot into 3rd on that, but on everyone's ideal laptimes the Fords are 9th->12th.

 

http://fiawec.alkame...ficial Test.PDF

[Peat]

Nice work, Vic.

[jcbc3]

I'm most disappointed in you, Victor. It took you almost 14 minutes to see the question and put up an answer.

[PiperPa42]

Why is everything planned for that weekend
I have a family reunion to attend Friday to Sunday. I will be sneaking off on Sunday to go to the RDAF Airshow. I wont be able to watch a single minute of le Mans.

[jonpollak]

What's Christina driving?
Jp

[Richard T]

First LM i'm watching at home since my girlfriend and I moved in together. Oh she has no idea what's awaiting, and Baku on top of that 

[PiperPa42]

What's Christina driving?
Jp

She is driving with Mikkel Mac and Johnny Lausen in the Danish Formula Racing team Ferrari 458 in the GT Am category.

[TheMidnight]

Why is everything planned for that weekend
I have a family reunion to attend Friday to Sunday. I will be sneaking off on Sunday to go to the RDAF Airshow. I wont be able to watch a single minute of le Mans.

First LM i'm watching at home since my girlfriend and I moved in together. Oh she has no idea what's awaiting, and Baku on top of that

You need to play the game.....

I've had it hardwired into my OH they have an annual June visit to the inlaws. Took a couple of years to get it ingrained and nowadays they automatically go!

Sounds cruel but they get sick of it after a few hours and it's bad form to hog the TV for hours. Around mid-May I ask "So are you taking your Nan again on your usual June visit down south?"...... And then my evil plan falls into place 👏😈

Edited by Elissa, 06 June 2016 - 16:24.

[TomNokoe]

WEC app with Chromecast will zap me into heaven this year.

[SonnyViceR]

For your convenience I have gathered some english coverage media info for the biggest and best race of the year. It's not complete, prone to errors and there are plenty of TBAs left but for starters:

 

For more up to date info + random chitchat I suggest to visit our TV thread over at 10/10ths

http://tentenths.com...=141812&page=38

 

EUROSPORT 1/2 INTERNATIONAL CET (subject to territory differences, these are from FIN but in CET times instead of +GMT2)

LIVE SESSIONS + FIRST SHOWN 24 MINUTES + HIGHLIGHTS ONLY
MON 21.30 24 Minutes EP1 ES1 (30 Min)
TUE 22.00 24 Minutes EP2 ES1 (30 Min)
WED 16.00 Free Practice ES1 (LIVE 4 Hours)
WED 21.30 24 Minutes EP3 ES1 (30 Min)
WED 22.00 Qualifying I ES1 (LIVE 1 Hour 55 Min)
THU 19.00 Qualifying II ES1 (LIVE 2 Hours)
THU 21.00 24 Minutes EP4 ES1 (30 Min)
THU 22.00 Qualifying III ES1 (LIVE 1 Hour 55 Min)
FRI 21.00 24 Minutes EP5 ES1 (30 Min)
SAT 09.00 Morning Warm-Up ES1 (LIVE 1 Hour)
SAT 11.00 Road to Le Mans Support Race ES1 (LIVE 1 Hour 15 Min)
SAT 14.15 24 Minutes EP6 PRE-RACE ES1 (30 Min)
SAT 14.45 Le Mans 24 Hours ES1 (LIVE 6 Hours 15 Min)
SAT 21.00 Le Mans 24 Hours ES2 (LIVE 30 Min)
SAT 21.00 24 Minutes EP7 ES1 (30 Min)
SAT 21.30 Le Mans 24 Hours ES1 (LIVE 1 Hour 45 Min)
SAT 23.15 Le Mans 24 Hours ES2 (LIVE 15 Min)
SAT 23.30 Le Mans 24 Hours ES1 (LIVE 9 Hours)
SUN 08.30 Le Mans 24 Hours ES2 (LIVE 30 Min)
SUN 08.30 24 Minutes EP8 ES1 (30 Min)
SUN 09.00 Le Mans 24 Hours ES1 (LIVE 6 Hours 15 Min)
SUN 15.15 24 Minutes EP9 POST-RACE ES1 (30 Min)
SUN 21.00 Le Mans 2016 Highlights ES1 (1 Hour)
- 5 Minutes off from Q1+Q3 (?)
- Out of these only 75mins all week on ES2

EUROSPORT UK BST

LIVE SESSIONS + FIRST SHOWN 24 MINUTES + HIGHLIGHTS ONLY
MON 22.45 24 Minutes EP1 ES1 (30 Min)
TUE 22.30 24 Minutes EP2 ES2 (30 Min)
WED 15.00 Free Practice ES2 (LIVE 4 Hours)
WED 20.30 24 Minutes EP3 ES2 (30 Min)
WED 21.00 Qualifying I ES2 (LIVE 1 Hour 55 Min)
THU 21.00 24 Minutes EP4 ES1 (30 Min)
THU 21.00 Qualifying III ES1 (LIVE 1 Hour 55 Min)
FRI 22.25 24 Minutes EP5 ES1 (30 Min)
SAT 08.00 Morning Warm-Up ES2 (LIVE 1 Hour)
SAT 13.15 24 Minutes EP6 PRE-RACE ES1 (30 Min)
SAT 13.45 Le Mans 24 Hours ES1 (LIVE 6 Hours 15 Min)
SAT 20.00 Le Mans 24 Hours ES2 (LIVE 30 Min)
SAT 21.00 24 Minutes EP7 ES1 (30 Min)
SAT 20.30 Le Mans 24 Hours ES1 (LIVE 11 Hours)
SUN 07.30 Le Mans 24 Hours ES2 (LIVE 30 Min)
SUN 07.30 24 Minutes EP8 ES1 (30 Min)
SUN 08.00 Le Mans 24 Hours ES1 (LIVE 6 Hours 15 Min)
SUN 14.15 24 Minutes EP9 POST-RACE ES1 (30 Min)
SUN 20.00 Le Mans 2016 Highlights ES2 (1 Hour)
- No Qualifying II
- No Road to Le Mans
- 5 Minutes off from Q1+Q3 (?)
- Big chunk of the coverage on ES2

 

Eurosport Player

Sub required

https://www.reddit.c...ream_eurosport/

 

ACO Official Stream

Sub required

https://www.reddit.c...ream_eurosport/

 

Quest TV

Limited Race LIVE TV Coverage & Highlights TBA

 

Channel 4

Race Highlights TBA

 

FOX SPORTS ET

FS1 SAT 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM Le Mans 24 Hours
FS2 SAT 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM Le Mans 24 Hours
FS2 SAT 6:00 PM to 6:30 PM Le Mans 24 Hours
FS2 SAT 7:00 PM to 7:30 PM Le Mans 24 Hours
FS2 SAT-SUN 10:30 PM to 2:30 AM Le Mans 24 Hours
FS1 SUN 2:30 AM to 9:30 AM Le Mans 24 Hours

*The entire race is streamed live on FOX Sports GO

 

Radio Le Mans CET

THU 9/6 21.00 Class Preview I

FRI 10/6 21.00 Class Preview II

SAT 11/6 21.00 Class Preview III

SUN 12/6 21.00 Scrutineering I

MON 13/6 21.00 Scrutineering II

WED 15/6 13.00 Midweek Motorsport at Le Mans

WED 15/6 15.45 Free Practice

WED 15/6 21.45 Qualifying I

THU 16/6 13.00 Pit Lane Show

THU 16/6 17.00 Road to Le Mans Support Preview

THU 16/6 18.00 Road to Le Mans Support Qualifying

THU 16/6 18.45 Qualifying II

THU 16/6 21.45 Qualifying III

--------------------- RLM FRIDAY+SATURDAY STILL TBA AS OF THU 9/6 ------------------------------

There will also be RLM "Studiovision" on Youtube

 

*OTHER*

TBA ACO TV Distribution 2016 Guide http://www.lemans.or...u-mans-2016.pdf

Road to Le Mans support race might or might not also be shown on https://www.youtube....3D1CeB3g/videos and https://www.motortre....com/subscribe/

Ferrari Challenge support race could probably be seen on Sat Feed but otherwise ???

Teams will have random streams of their own, for example Ford at: https://www.youtube....jbzUqlY8tuKlZyQ

Edited by SonnyViceR, 09 June 2016 - 19:25.

[Myrvold]

This (and some cycling) is basically the reason why I choose to have ESP1 and ESP2 included in my TV package ^^,

[SonnyViceR]

ES Player is pretty cost effective if you only choose one month subscription and cancel it after LM

[jonpollak]

Thanks Sonny.
Jp

[TomNokoe]

WEC app is under £10 for the entire week, also has Chromecast support and no ads. Not sure on comms though.

[SonnyViceR]

WEC app is under £10 for the entire week, also has Chromecast support and no ads. Not sure on comms though.

 

They don't have RLM/Eurosport/FOX/Hindy+GG commentary, but just some random one-off blokes that ain't working for the said parties.

 

Eurosport Player doesn't have ads either if you switch for the alternative natural sound feeds. It is also cheaper and shows more track sessions than the ACO version does

 

Anyway the links I provided in the first post go to more detail on which one might want to choose if TV doesn't satisfy the needs (or you can't receive them)

Edited by SonnyViceR, 09 June 2016 - 16:14.

[SonnyViceR]

The FOX schedule has been corrected, I had accidentally put out incorrect one.

[TomNokoe]

You win, SVR.

[SonnyViceR]

RLM LMP1 preview is up

http://www.radiolema...own-to-le-mans/

 

Eurosport has a program called "Best of" next week that they will be showing scattered all around in random places, I think it's just 60min highlights of LM 2015 but I'm not 100% sure. Either way one of those is slotted between LIVE warm-up and the (non-UK-ES) LIVE LMP3/GT3 support race

Edited by SonnyViceR, 09 June 2016 - 23:29.

[HuddersfieldTerrier1986]

Whilst still a good few days away, every forecast I've looked at for the last few days has indicated a pretty good chance of a fair bit of wet running across Wednesday and Thursday in particular (Saturday/Sunday a little less constant in terms of what the forecasts have been saying), but I'd even at this stage go as far as saying I'd be surprised if practice and all 3 qualifying sessions take place in bone dry conditions with no damp/wet running, purely based on the consistency of the forecasts for those 2 days especially.