6 Hours of Fuji qualifying: 1. Cadillac, 2. Cadillac, 3. Aston Martin! AM looked legit. They were at or near the top of the times sheets in practice.

And file this under Only in Japan: they had a dozen or more full-size tour buses circulating the track DURING hot practice. In fact, the drivers were purposely buzzing the buses at high speed to thrill the passengers :D Maybe they've been doing this for a while but I never noticed it.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1758977664.jpg

Is this race on television in the US ? I don't see anything listed on TV Racer.com .

^^^ Sorry, yeah the WEC races are always live on TNT Sports (via HBO/Max). 9:30 EST last night due to the time difference.

Alpine for the win! That was a good race with a ton of lead changes. 1. Alpine, 2. Peugeot, 3. Porsche, 4. Porsche. And in GT3 it was 1. Chevrolet, 2. Ferrari, 3. BMW

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1759060335.jpg

That's a great win for Alpine and Peugeot getting better performance . Surprised a little bit by Cadillac it seemed like they had better pace than the race results .

Both Cadillacs led the first part of the race by a margin but got shuffled back during a yellow that occurred in the middle of a pit cycle and they were caught out. They could never really claw their way back. Alpine made some good pit calls. Porsche had a typically steady effort and just gradually made their way toward the front. They nearly took 3rd. Ferrari took Zero points and were never a factor in the race. So Porsche still has a chance for the manufacturer's title at the last race in Bahrain.

Porsche pulling out of the WEC at the end of this season . They will continue in IMSA .

Porsche Pulls Plug on Factory Hypercar Program – Sportscar365 https://share.google/TmGQ8wQjxiJOWpYPa

Porsche AG gambled and lost on EVs. Nobody wants a Porsche EV :rolleyes: Their business is in the crapper. Luckily, the IMSA program carries on!! :D

I think almost every manufacturer jumped in whole hog on EV's without thinking it thru . I am a firm believer that EV's fill a nitch like city driving . But for the masses nada . Porsche has hopefully learned a valuable lesson . Unfortunately the EU rules for emissions is placing the ICE in a vulnerable spot . Their leaders have to use a little more common sense .

Beyond Porsche's financial struggles, the other piece to the puzzle is the BoPs and the LMH/LMDh spec. They want a unified platform and they've been frustrated by WEC's administration of the BoPs which has allowed Ferrari to run away with Le Mans 3 years in a row. With a lot of spare cars now sitting around, I'm hoping maybe an independent team or 3 will enter 963s in IMSA next year. AO Racing was already rumored to step up to GTP and this makes that move even easier.

Also, I don't think Porsche will be allowed to race at Le Mans next year. There has to be a full-time team running in WEC to allow invitations to IMSA teams. Unless some sort of special arrangement can be made I suppose.

I would love to see Kevin Estre and Matt Campbell in IMSA.

Looks like the AO Racing 963 rumor was just that. A rumor. They will continue next year in GTD and LMP2. Great Halloween livery for Petit Le Mans :cool:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1759968785.jpg

I would imagine there are phone calls into Porsche/Penske by teams in IMSA and the WEC to possibly purchase their WEC cars . Yes AO Racing has announced GT3/LMP2 programs for next year but that could change . Love the Halloween themed liveries .

AO has diecasts of these cars too. I'll get a 1:43 Rexy because it looks boss.

AO Racing released this video to debut the skeletal livery . A little over a minute long . I think the video was very well done including the laugh of Vincent Price . In my opinion the livery is fantastic .

https://youtu.be/P8BYq5jMmOQ?si=cFB3yHyE0i60u_aQ

So who's reporting for us live from Petit Le Mans? Anyone?

Unfortunately I am not going this year :( . The Porsche corral sold out so quick I missed out . Oh well there's always next year .

Thursday Report: IMSA PLM weekend started today, arrived at 6pm. Watched TCR and GS qualifying for the Michelin Pilot Challenge support series, walked the paddock and then toured corner viewing spots for night practice. Drivers being safe, no real incidents. The Aston Martin GTP topped timesheets in night practice and sounded great too! Infield camps are mostly set up already. Crowd appeared light but expected to be massive by race day. Got home late, back tomorrow. Pictures will be shared later.

AO Racing crew uniforms have the skeleton livery as well, love it.

^^^ Thanks. Been watching the action on Peacock most of the day.

Tom Blomqvist - son of 80s rally star Stig Blomqvist - on pole in GTP.
Lorenzo Patrese - son of 80s F1 star Riccardo Patrese - on pole in GTD.