535 replies to this topic

[ANF]

Oh, more snow at Les Combes.

Red flag.

[Andy35]

Ferrari GTE got screwed with that !

 

[Andy35]

Sad to see Ferrari did not defeat Aston but so much snow

 

The snow is immense

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=OIVI4cE9PPo

[thegamer23]

Drivers, snow down!

Edited by thegamer23, 04 May 2019 - 17:25.

[Joseki]

Toyota and Porsche won their world championships.

[FLB]

For God's sake, this looks like snow is actually staying on the ground...

[Joseki]

#8 only needs P7 at Le Mans for the drivers world championship.

[thegamer23]

And now it's sunny.

Spa Weather gods on drugs

[Stephane]

No retirements, with the conditions, is an achievement.

[Andy35]

Excellent racing today in really adverse conditions, the number of cars finishing was a testament to the skill showed by all the drivers.

 

I'd like to give a big shout out to Gavin Conway who did an epic stint in the Toyota at the start 

 

Top driving.

[Stephane]

Mike

[Andy35]

Mike

 

Him too

[messy]

Watched quite a bit of this today and it's good to see that the independent LMP1 entries are getting closer. But Toyota still have everything covered, obviously. I don't think Alonso will have ever had an easier 18 months of success in his life. Win, win, win, Le Mans win, quite possibly another one coming up.....World Champion.

In 2015-16 when you had a really tight battle between Audi, Toyota and Porsche plus the GTE Pro boom, the WEC was fantastic. Manufacturers everywhere you looked, brilliant drivers everywhere through the grid and across all classes....it's still just about there now but God I miss Porsche and Audi.

[HistoryFan]

Good to see it was absolutely possible to drive while snowing.

[Cavalier53]

Drive yes, but not race. The SC stayed out rather long after the snowy spells, as if waiting for the sun. Which came. I even hat to take my woolen cap off when the temperatures sky rocketed from +1 (signposted at the top of the old pits tower) to +6.

Yes, there were people out there as well, up to the red flag.

But I pity those who camped in small tents to wake up in winterwonderland this morning!

[Nonesuch]

Eurosport commentator " The sun is making steam come off the track"  .... wow, strong sun !

 

It did, it looked cool, particularly up on the top of Raidillon.

 

Maybe seeing more footage will change my mind, but from what I saw at the track I'm not impressed by the safety cars. No qualms with the first one, that was definitely on. Visibility was absolutely horrible.

 

But I sat through all of the "snow" - more like light hail - and only at the very end did small pieces stay on the ground for longer than a second or two. Didn't even get my feet wet (here in the literal sense) making a full walk around the track.

 

[ThadGreen]

Just finished watching the highlights of this race and have to admit it must have been an interesting experience to have been track side. I am sad to say that I have never been to Spa although it is on my bucket list and when the time finally comes I may choose to see the WEC race over the F1 event. Sports cars seems to belong at Spa

[Joseki]

 

It did, it looked cool, particularly up on the top of Raidillon.

 

Maybe seeing more footage will change my mind, but from what I saw at the track I'm not impressed by the safety cars. No qualms with the first one, that was definitely on. Visibility was absolutely horrible.

 

But I sat through all of the "snow" - more like light hail - and only at the very end did small pieces stay on the ground for longer than a second or two. Didn't even get my feet wet (here in the literal sense) making a full walk around the track.

 

 

 

I think all SC were because of visibility.

[Wingcommander]

LMP1 has been so boring this season. A real snooze fest. They really need to do a lot more to make it more competitive at the front of the field because I can't stand another season like this. The other classes have been more entertaining, but for me they are a side show. ACO, your headline class is in bad health. Quit messing about hypercars and put your place in order. Pronto!

[Nonesuch]

I am sad to say that I have never been to Spa although it is on my bucket list and when the time finally comes I may choose to see the WEC race over the F1 event. Sports cars seems to belong at Spa

Spa is a great place to visit, and it's only become better in recent years.
 
If that time comes this year there's still the ELMS at Spa in late September.
 

I think all SC were because of visibility.

 
I can see that if they were concerned about the medical helicopter, but for the racing itself it was mainly the first shower around 14:00 that was bad (briefly, not the full length of the FCY). It also got quite bad around 18:45 or so, and by then I guess they were more willing to entertain the idea of just wrapping it up. The crowds had largely disappeared by then, too - and lots of people were already closing down and packing up their fan-store businesses.

 
There was of course spray at during each of the showers, and with so many cars of different speeds that's going to be more of an issue than in F1 - but I still think the WEC is too trigger-happy with the safety car for rain. It's pretty much become standard now to see them neutralize the race. Not entirely their fault; it seems to be the new normal from WEC to IMSA to F1. Unfortunate, but it's their call.

 

Edited by Nonesuch, 05 May 2019 - 18:11.

[stewie]

Why not just admit defeat and have a combined lmp1 / dpi formula for WEC and IMSA. Best of both worlds, and no doubt more cars as they can enter both series.

[Nonesuch]

Because a non-hybrid series is not going to be interesting to a lot of big name manufacturers, and FIA/ACO wants those in their World Championships.

 

It'd be better if IMSA and ACO can both compromise this time - unlike during the LMP2 shenanigans - and really differentiate DPi from LMP2 in a more profound sense. If they can do that it might work as a top category, but it's probably not going to be easy to get everyone on board.

 

Otherwise one might as well adopt the ELMS system, and perhaps beef up the LMP2 specs a bit.

[Ben1445]

They should just whack a small front or real axle hybrid system on a DPi and call it done. Then work together with IMSA on where to go next. Why this isn't an option is beyond me, it would be a sensible low cost compromise with a long term benefit. 

Edited by Ben1445, 05 May 2019 - 18:21.

[Nonesuch]

Last year the DPi "manufacturers" were against anything other than a cheap, spec hybrid unit. So there's not been a lot of scope for compromise on that front.

 

I'm sure there's a good solution somewhere, but a lot of people are really set on having it their way.

[Ben1445]

Doesn't that make it the perfect compromise? If both WEC and IMSA could have off the shelf hybrids in a DPi you have both agreement with current DPi manufacturers who can then race at Le Mans, where manufacturers are exactly what the FIA/ACO want. Then you've unified the two categories rulesets and can work together on a global stagey for the future. Who exactly is the loser? 

[Nonesuch]

If both WEC and IMSA could have off the shelf hybrids in a DPi you have both agreement with current DPi manufacturers who can then race at Le Mans, where manufacturers are exactly what the FIA/ACO want. Then you've unified the two categories rulesets and can work together on a global stagey for the future. Who exactly is the loser? 

 

The success of manufacturer involvement in DPi shouldn't be overstated. There are just two more DPi cars at Mid-Ohio than there were LMP1 cars at Spa-Francorchamps for the WEC; or actually three because Dragonspeed's car wasn't fixed in time to take part in the race.

 

Either way, if you were to take current DPi (i.e. LMP2 + mild tinkering by 'manufacturers') and add a spec hybrid module and call it DPi2 in the hopes of attracting more Mazdas and Acuras - where does that leave the privateers? Should they start to tinker with the cars, too? That's a big investment for a private team.

 

Separate DPi and LMP2, perhaps. But that hasn't worked for IMSA either. Their LMP2 "field" is just two cars this year. And in Europe there's the added complication of a healthy LMP3 class that races alongside LMP2 in the ELMS. Three prototype classes in one race? That's going to be fun to balance!

 

Because while I'm quite sure the FIA/ACO wouldn't really mind slowing down the Le Mans lap-times from the Toyota LMP1 times - they're still going to want to have significant differences between the classes. That's after all the reason they sped up LMP2 during the previous overhaul.

 

If there was a clear-cut solution I'm... not confident, but at least hopeful that it would already have been found.

 

Edited by Nonesuch, 05 May 2019 - 20:18.

[DN5]

Back after going to the race - as a spectator you had to plan for shelter on a walk round the track. I managed to miss of the wet stuff in any of its forms.

 

I thought the GT Pro race was brilliant but LMP2 and GTE AM and the non hybred LMP 1s all entertained mightily.

 

Whilst sheltering behind a tree during a brief shower I did see how bad the spray was going up the straight and understood why the safety car periods lasted as long as they had.

 

Credit to the race director who was star of the day in my opinion - all cars classified given that weather was impressive.

[Cavalier53]

As a spectator at the track, I was really surprised to find afterwards that in each of the 4 classes last year's best race lap was bettered. Fractionally, but still at very low ambient temperatures at 6 degree C during the sunny spells.

 

Presently, you'd assume lack of tire temperature would overrule all other temperature effects, like air density.

 

Anybody any idea about last year's conditions, or another explanation?

[Stephane]

It was hot last year, maybe too hot for the tyres.

[f1paul]

And some tracks are very strange in that after rain, the track is at its best straight after a rainy period - Australian tracks have this weird characteristic. 

[Nonesuch]

With Le Mans over and done with, the championships are all decided as well.

 

Toyota wins the LMP1 Championship, which... isn't exactly a surprise. They won all but one of the races this season.

Porsche wins the GTE Championship. With three wins they did better than Ferrari and Aston Martin's two, and Ford's one. BMW is the only manufacturer that failed to win a race.

 

Fernando Alonso, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima (or Nakajima Kazuki, if you will) win the LMP Drivers' Championship with Toyota.

Michael Cristensen and Kévin Estre win the GTE Drivers' Championship with Porsche.

 

Nicolas Lapierre, Pierre Thieriet and André Negrão win the LMP2 Drivers Trophy with Signatech Alpine.

Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Lindsey and Egidio Perfetti win the LMGTE Am Drivers Trophy for Team Project 1 (Porsche).

 

[Nonesuch]

The Dempsey-Proton cheaters still came home second in GTE Am.

 

That's a bit unfortunate, but I suppose they also won in Shanghai, Sebring and Spa - and then came 2nd of the WEC teams at Le Mans, so they were also competitive when playing by the rules.

[Myrvold]

Jörg Bergmeister, Patrick Lindsey and Egidio Perfetti win the LMGTE Am Drivers Trophy for Team Project 1 (Porsche).

 

 

Too bad GTAm isn't a world championship. I would've loved to have a new Norwegian World Champion!

 

Just one more year with the boring LMP1 now!

[Nonesuch]

Too bad GTAm isn't a world championship. I would've loved to have a new Norwegian World Champion!

 

 Egidio Perfetti is quite the character. Born in Switzerland, Norwegian mother, Italian father, lives in the Netherlands. It's all good, I guess.

[Myrvold]

 Egidio Perfetti is quite the character. Born in Switzerland, Norwegian mother, Italian father, lives in the Netherlands. It's all good, I guess.

And if I'm not remembering wrong, have spent most of his life in Singapore, at least in Asia.

He was featured on the Norwegian broadcast of Le Mans, they had met with him, Dennis Olsen, Harald Huysman and Mr.Rallycross, Martin Schanche - as they 4 are the only Norwegians we've had at Le Mans (that have raced. Schanche had a Norwegian co-driver his 2nd year, but they retired on Lap 1). As he said, the flag is based on what citizenship you have, and as in Norway, you are only allowed to have Norwegian citizenship, nothing else. He is, for all intent and purposes - Norwegian. Even though he has never lived in Norway, and doesn't speak a word Norwegian!

 

But as a Norwegian, when it comes to racing, we take what we get!

Edited by Myrvold, 17 June 2019 - 19:22.

[king_crud]

Not sure where to post this, but the Silverstone WEC round in September is only 4 hours, is that right?

https://www.silverst...e-championship/