2015 LeMans Thread

[URY914]

Let's get the party started with the Porsche team laying down the fastest-ever recorded lap on the current 8.47-mile configuration of the Circuit de la Sarthe.

Porsche's fleet went 1-2-3 in Wednesday's qualifying session.

"Porsche destroyed their direct opposition tonight in the first qualifying session for the 83rd Le Mans 24 Hours this weekend.

Completing a dominant 1-2-3 clean-sweep, the Porsche 919 Hybrid deployed its immense 8MJ energy retrieval to set the fastest-ever recorded lap on the current 8.47-mile configuration of the Circuit de la Sarthe."

I gotta ask, why are there no American born drivers on any of the top teams? There was a time when the factories wanted drivers from their #1 market to be on the teams to draw the US press to the race. Porsche, Audi, Toyota and Nissan don't care about us anymore?

Complete article...

Porsche sets incredible pace in Le Mans qualifying | LE MANS news | Motorsport.com

[joe payne]

Great news! I want them back to #1. Tough road for the teams with the level of technology and rules.

[Baz]

Thanks for the thread and info, Paul!

Will be interesting to see if we really can win in P1 this year.

Go PORSCHE!

[porsche4life]

Will be fun to watch! Sadly I'll be off the grid of sorts this weekend so probably won't get to watch much of it

[TheMentat]

I'll be watching it... A good buddy of mine is driving an LMP2 car this year. His first time at la Sarthe!

[TheMentat]

that Nissan sure is slow! I admire the fact that the series permits radical designs, but a front engine, FWD car is a pretty big departure from conventional wisdom, and I can't say I'm all that surprised to see it floundering with the LMP2 cars...

[javadog]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Will be fun to watch! Sadly I'll be off the grid of sorts this weekend so probably won't get to watch much of it

Well, you may be in luck. Fox is streaming it on FOX Sports Go, or some such bull****. Being that you are young, you probably have some of the devices that will receive this streaming. The old farts among us, that want to watch the whole race on a television, are screwed. We get about half of it.

**** FOX.

I espect the Porsches to be fast, the Audis might have a better shot at avoiding trouble and the Toyotas will need a miracle to win. But, it's a crap shoot. Never know what errant Ferrari you might trip over in the middle of the night.

JR

[OffCamber00]

Regarding no top teams using American drivers....am assuming you mean the 4 factory teams because there are lots of Americans on the grid. Reason for them not appearing in the factory teams is that each of those outfits have formal driver talent ladder programs that all have their origins in Europe. They draw from single seater series and GT series such as Porsche SuperCup. Nissan has the GT Academy. There simply aren't enough Americans in those specific talent pools.

[OffCamber00]

Next quali session is at 1pm EST. Full live broadcast on RadioLeMans.com

[OffCamber00]

Originally Posted by javadog

Well, you may be in luck. Fox is streaming it on FOX Sports Go, or some such bull****. Being that you are young, you probably have some of the devices that will receive this streaming. The old farts among us, that want to watch the whole race on a television, are screwed. We get about half of it.

The FIA is streaming the entire race as well.

[Aragorn]

Audi has proven before that 24 hours is long time to race full bore like this. Peugeot had fast P1 cars too and had problems getting them to the finish line. Audi figured out years ago that time spent in the pits is more important than seconds gained on the track. Hopefully, Porsche has gleamed something from Audi about how to get to the end of the 24hrs successfully.

As far as the drivers in the top LMP1 cars not being 'merican, I doesn't matter to me. Patrick Long should have gotten a ride in the Porsche LMP1 car but he didn't. Looks like he is in the LMGTE-Am Porsche with Dempsey-Proton Racing. That may be a better move for his career. Being in a more visible car (Patrick Dempsey) is better for name recognition then in an also ran car with other milktoast pro drivers.

Saw the Porsche LMP1 team on Mobil 1 The Grid and there is not a driver in the bunch that I like. If they win or lose I don't really care. With the demise of the old drivers guard at Audi, I don't know any of those drivers either and don't care if they win or lose. I will be cheering on the No. 12 Rebellion Racing entry with Nick Heidfeld. Cool team that in the past has raced here in the USA.

As far as team corvette goes, if you have been to the pits at an ALMS or Tudor race, you may have seen how they treat the fans who come to see their cars. VIP's are treated well but not the common fan. Don't care if they even finish.

2015 24 Hours of Le Mans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

FOX Sports releases broadcast schedule for 24 Hours of Le Mans | FOX Sports

[gorthar]

Originally Posted by Aragorn

Audi has proven before that 24 hours is long time to race full bore like this. Peugeot had fast P1 cars too and had problems getting them to the finish line. Audi figured out years ago that time spent in the pits is more important than seconds gained on the track. Hopefully, Porsche has gleamed something from Audi about how to get to the end of the 24hrs successfully.

As far as the drivers in the top LMP1 cars not being 'merican, I doesn't matter to me. Patrick Long should have gotten a ride in the Porsche LMP1 car but he didn't. Looks like he is in the LMGTE-Am Porsche with Dempsey-Proton Racing. That may be a better move for his career. Being in a more visible car (Patrick Dempsey) is better for name recognition then in an also ran car with other milktoast pro drivers.

Saw the Porsche LMP1 team on Mobil 1 The Grid and there is not a driver in the bunch that I like. If they win or lose I don't really care. With the demise of the old drivers guard at Audi, I don't know any of those drivers either and don't care if they win or lose. I will be cheering on the No. 12 Rebellion Racing entry with Nick Heidfeld. Cool team that in the past has raced here in the USA.

As far as team corvette goes, if you have been to the pits at an ALMS or Tudor race, you may have seen how they treat the fans who come to see their cars. VIP's are treated well but not the common fan. Don't care if they even finish.

2015 24 Hours of Le Mans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

FOX Sports releases broadcast schedule for 24 Hours of Le Mans | FOX Sports

Really? That's funny, although I only really follow WEC since the demise of the ALMS, I always thought the Corvette team was one of the most fan friendly in the paddock. I remember drivers like Ron Fellows and Oliver Gavin coming out and signing autographs and taking pictures with fans and Doug Fehan giving informative talks/lectures right there in the garage for the crouds gathered around. Maybe things have changed in recent years.

[Aragorn]

Originally Posted by gorthar

Really? That's funny, although I only really follow WEC since the demise of the ALMS, I always thought the Corvette team was one of the most fan friendly in the paddock. I remember drivers like Ron Fellows and Oliver Gavin coming out and signing autographs and taking pictures with fans and Doug Fehan giving informative talks/lectures right there in the garage for the crouds gathered around. Maybe things have changed in recent years.

It is more the mechanics that are real douchbags to the fans. Yelling and pushing fans out the way in the pits. I have been to quite a few Petit Le Mans and Sebring races and I have seen this behavior on more than one occasion. The old drivers like Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell were cool, but Jan Magnussen? Not the style of driver I like to root for. It only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch for me and team corvette did that back at Petit in 2006.

[Deschodt]

Originally Posted by Aragorn

Audi has proven before that 24 hours is long time to race full bore like this.

^This ! I am glad Porsche is super fast over a lap (and that they are using historic liveries on the cars). But they still have tire wear issues where Audi can do one more stint than them, and generally can last 24hrs without so much as a filter change.

It remains to be seen what will break on the Porsches this year. I'd love to see them win, esp Mark Weber, but I fear something will break and they will need that speed to catch up... We'll see - gotta look into this FIA stream thing because my provider does not carry fox sports 2 so I'm looking at missing 1/2 of it ! Ah the days of 25h coverage on Speed !! ;-(

[Deschodt]

FIA World Endurance Championship − Official Website hopefully !

[gorthar]

Originally Posted by TheMentat

that Nissan sure is slow! I admire the fact that the series permits radical designs, but a front engine, FWD car is a pretty big departure from conventional wisdom, and I can't say I'm all that surprised to see it floundering with the LMP2 cars...

Man they sure are! I knew deep down they were not going to be up to the pace of everyone else in LMP1 but geez. Current best is 21 seconds off the lead #18 Porsche. Gonna be a long race for NISMO.

[Deschodt]

The Nissan was designed to have electric boost to the rear wheels, but apparently it's not working well enough so it's gas engine only + some front wheel kynetic boost (lowest recovery category, if it's working at all, can't recall)... It's hardly surprising it's slower, it's amazing it's got the fastest straight line speed already though, nice proof of concept anyway! It was never gonna challenge this year, but it's a cool original concept that is NOT as ugly as the Deltawing is ! I'd like to see them do well next year once they figure out the ERS (it's nissan, they could ask Renault for F1 technology.... just kidding!!!) .

[URY914]

Magnussen placed on stretcher after Porsche Curves shunt - video | LE MANS news | Motorsport.com

Watch the video, he nailed that wall pretty hard. We'll see if those meanies can have it repaired by race start.

[porsche4life]

What happened to cause that? Looked like he just plowed straight into it!

[gorthar]

Speculation on RLM is that something broke (obviously, I guess), but Corvette won't say what, They brought the sister car in and are making adjustments as I'm typing this.