2015 LeMans Thread

[gorthar]

Porsche reveals its true hand in Q1 for the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours, as Neel Jani betters last year's pole time by almost five seconds to lead a 1-2-3.

Le Mans News - Jani leads 1-2-3 as Porsche unleashes blistering pace

[URY914]

[Flieger]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

^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 !! ;-(

I agree about the tire wear. Audi and Toyota said they wouldn't even try to get pole since Porsche has such an advantage with the 8MJ hybrid. Porsche this year so far has been looking rather rough in terms of strategy and discipline compared to Audi. They've been crashing or breaking or getting penalties. They overwork the tires too. Audi is looking reliable as ever and with double stinting tires and their top-notch pit work and strategy I still think they are the ones to beat, despite Porsche's speed.

And all the cars are ugly as sin, Porsche included. The 919 actually doesn't look bad when it is all black but I don't understand why they have this hideous lettering for the livery. It's the worst I've ever seen on a Porsche prototype. It clashes so much with the curves.

[Flieger]

[Lapkritis]

Excited for the race but at a wedding this weekend. Should be a great battle.

[URY914]

I find it interesting how "blunt" the front of the 919 is compared to the 917. The front fenders look like pontoons compared with the 917. And they have reatively the same amount of distance from the front of the car to the front of the tire. I'm sure the new four headlights require about half the space that the 917's 2 lights did.

[GH85Carrera]

Some of that is the new aero requirements. The car MUST have the area right above the tires (front & rear) open to let air out. It is to prevent any more flying cars like the Mark Webber experienced. With that huge opening the aerodynamics are just completely different that the day of old.

[URY914]

The broken Vette won't be making it to the grid tomorrow.

Corvette withdraw No. 63 from Le Mans after crash | LE MANS news | Motorsport.com

[Deschodt]

The 919 is tiny.. Local dealer has a demo fake one, it makes a boxster look big ;-)

[widebody911]

Blipshift, t-shirt, Pigs Fly at 24 hour of LeMans 917 | blipshift

[herr_oberst]

[widebody911]

They have some other designs as well: Awesome automotive apparel. One at a time for a limited time, blipshift

[porsche4life]

Keep the thread up to date guys. I'll be staying at a place in SoCal with no internet and crappy cell service so I won't be able to stream the race.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Keep the thread up to date guys. I'll be staying at a place in SoCal with no internet and crappy cell service so I won't be able to stream the race.

C'mon over. I think Dave wants to have a LeMans party. Not sure we get the Fox channels that are broadcasting the race, so I might have to figure out how to hook up the computer to the TV screen.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by URY914

I find it interesting how "blunt" the front of the 919 is compared to the 917. The front fenders look like pontoons compared with the 917. And they have reatively the same amount of distance from the front of the car to the front of the tire. I'm sure the new four headlights require about half the space that the 917's 2 lights did.

The top of the wheel wells are exposed to allow a pressure release from under the car. This means the tire is spinning backwards into open airflow, if you tried to create a high pressure down force area here, drag would be insane as its in contact with the top of the tire spinning + moving 220MPH, so a 440MPH difference to airflow. You want to keep high pressure air from flowing into these zones, so air is instead directed around the sides to provide high pressure air in channels above under tunnels to produce the downforce.

[Heel n Toe]

When clicking on this link...

Originally Posted by Aragorn

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

...one comes across this paragraph:

Now available to 85 million pay-TV customers, FOX Sports GO app offers live continuous streaming of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, including the non-telecast hours. Customers of participating video providers may access the live streams of the race through FOX Sports GO on iOS, Android, Fire tablets and Fire phones, Amazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick, select Windows devices, and online at FOXSportsGO.com.

Does anyone know if that means one can see/stream the entire race online at that URL? Is there a fee?

I saw in the comments section that one can watch it at Le Mans TV: Video 24 Hours of Le Mans - Live the race on 24h Inside but I can't tell if that's true by going to the URL tonight.

[Noah930]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

Does anyone know if that means one can see/stream the entire race online at that URL? Is there a fee?

I don't know the answer to that question, but last year I was able to watch the whole race on my laptop via LeMans TV (from the LeMans website) for free.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by Aragorn

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.

I don't know but rather think some fans need to be pushed out of the way. I'll refrain from reasons why but you've seen them. And about drivers not meeting your expectations....lol. Get over it. jeez

[slodave]

Originally Posted by Noah930

C'mon over. I think Dave wants to have a LeMans party. Not sure we get the Fox channels that are broadcasting the race, so I might have to figure out how to hook up the computer to the TV screen.

Should I bring hookers and blow or food or both?

[Baz]

Here we go.....16 more minutes and counting......