Le Mans

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

How about that. I fully expected to see the Fords drop out with mechanical difficulties. Very rare to see anybody win as a rookie entry. Congrats to Ganassi and his teams! 1st, 3rd, and 4th... I'm thinking this car is destined for the Ford Museum.

[porsche4life]

Ford fought hard for it too. Ferrari was giving them hell the whole way. The GT is an awesome car!

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by Geronimo '74

It's a victory with an aftertaste for Porsche.

In hockey there is a saying:
They don't ask how pretty. Just how many.

In racing it doesn't matter where you start, how many laps you led, or how dominant you were for most of the race. The only thing that matters is on the last lap who crossed the finish line first.

[Embraer]

So, still camping tonight. Just saw a guy destroy a Cayman while doing donuts and drifting through the field with a Ferrari 360, miata, and Renault van. Fireworks out here, tents on fire. Craziest stuff I've ever seen!

[porsche4life]

Haha! Have fun, and don't still be in your tent when it burns!

[jyl]

I have to insert one bit of grumpy: how come the Toyota and Porsche look so similar to each other, and so ugly?

[Por_sha911]

form follows function

[Flieger]

Originally Posted by jyl

I have to insert one bit of grumpy: how come the Toyota and Porsche look so similar to each other, and so ugly?

They are actually quite distinct. Toyota is definitely the prettiest. Porsche isn't a looker but it's ok. Audi is just plain ugly. Their aerodynamicist must be blind.

[intakexhaust]

Stayed up. Always in awe of the LMP's but all of them seems their lap times were down this year.

Audi R18 v.? whatever version they call it, couldn't run the underbody from Silvestone (outlawed). So in a sorts got screwed right from the start. Though pretty cool to see maybe only a 900 rpm differential in a lap. Low r's too help in longevity. These hy-jobbies are weird, including the exterior.

Then the Ferrari vs. Ford hype. I'll tip my hat to Ford but with an open checkbook and with a good number on the grid, bound to show well.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by jyl

I have to insert one bit of grumpy: how come the Toyota and Porsche look so similar to each other, and so ugly?

After seeing the 919 in person in Rennsport its clear, that car is designed with one goal in mind, and it ain't looks! It was wicked fast on the track, and eerily quiet! He was hitting turn 1 at Laguna at close to 160, and that was just out doing some demo laps for the crowd!!!

[Flieger]

Originally Posted by intakexhaust

Stayed up. Always in awe of the LMP's but all of them seems their lap times were down this year.

Audi R18 v.? whatever version they call it, couldn't run the underbody from Silvestone (outlawed). So in a sorts got screwed right from the start. Though pretty cool to see maybe only a 900 rpm differential in a lap. Low r's too help in longevity. These hy-jobbies are weird, including the exterior.

Then the Ferrari vs. Ford hype. I'll tip my hat to Ford but with an open checkbook and with a good number on the grid, bound to show well.

The fuel allocation was reduced this year by 10 megajoules per lap compared to last year to keep speeds in check and the hybrid power output was capped at 300kW for "class 2" circuits (ones that are not up to F1 standards). Le Mans is the only class 2 track on the WEC calendar.

The Audi underbody itself was legal, the issue at Silverstone is that they were bottoming out too much and wore the plywood legality plank more than the allowed 5mm- similar to the plank used in F1. In other words they were running just a bit too low.

[Scott at Pelican Parts]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

After seeing the 919 in person in Rennsport its clear, that car is designed with one goal in mind, and it ain't looks! It was wicked fast on the track, and eerily quiet! He was hitting turn 1 at Laguna at close to 160, and that was just out doing some demo laps for the crowd!!!

You might be surprised to learn that the 919 doing laps at Rennsport did not have its hybrid system installed! It was powered by only the 4-cylinder turbo engine. The engineer said that to have the hybrid system available would have required dozens more engineers and safety personnel. So the car we saw - which was by far the fastest car at the event - gave us only a glimpse of its true speed. Amazing car!!

[porsche4life]

Did not realize that! And more engineers? There were like 10 guys around that thing the whole time we were there!

[Deschodt]

Man I miss the days of Speedvision/SPEED channel.

FS1, FS2, FSGO... or WEC live.. You can juggle, but I used to record all 20+ hours on speed and replay the entire race over two weeks in bite size increments...summer pleasure. Now it's ephemeral, the tablets or PCs don't exactly store it ! I particularly did not enjoy missing the last 2 hours for ... Golf !!! Thanks Fox ! FSGO was supposed to have it but somehow not on my tablet !

Didn't get to see the Ford Podium I wanted to see... Big one for SeaBass, he's chased that for years in LMP! but I'm sure a 1st in class will trump that !!! As a Porsche guy, I'm gutted for Toyota. But then again those pople make Corollas, and that's 18 for Porsche so yeah !!!

[OffCamber00]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

FS1, FS2, FSGO... or WEC live.. You can juggle, but I used to record all 20+ hours on speed and replay the entire race over two weeks in bite size increments...summer pleasure. Now it's ephemeral, the tablets or PCs don't exactly store it ! I particularly did not enjoy missing the last 2 hours for ... Golf !!! Thanks Fox ! FSGO was supposed to have it but somehow not on my tablet !

I watched 18 hours of this years race, uninterrupted, on my big screen using Chromecast.

Additionally, the FIAWEC app lets you replay each race (broken down into hour long chunks) for up to 30 days after the race date. I have been doing this since i cut the cable cord in Jan. The replays for Le Mans include the 3 quali sessions and the podium ceremonies.

[intakexhaust]

Originally Posted by Deschodt

Didn't get to see the Ford Podium I wanted to see... Big one for SeaBass, he's chased that for years in LMP! but I'm sure a 1st in class will trump that !!!

YES indeed! Thanks for giving him recognition and I fully agree. Bro' crewed for him for a number of years. His F1 venture may not have panned out, regardless a most humble and brilliant driver. Same goes for his father (also believe still resides there.)

[Heel n Toe]

Hmmmm... the #82 matched the Safety Car's self-rescue in the wet:

https://www.facebook.com/olly.jarvis.73/videos/1436650043027349/

[Won]

Originally Posted by Flieger

They are actually quite distinct. Toyota is definitely the prettiest. Porsche isn't a looker but it's ok. Audi is just plain ugly. Their aerodynamicist must be blind.

Hey now! My friend does the front half of aero at Audi Sport, and he's definitely not blind Given his background, it makes sense that their package looks distinctly... single-seater. As the commentators were saying, once they iron out the issues, it could be unbeatable next year.

As far as we are on the topic, I knew the 2016 9R9 looked not too different from the 2015 car. I remember at the time thinking, they didn't put enough effort into this and could be exposed to Toyota and Audi especially if they did a good car for 2016. And the result speaks for itself so far this season, I would say.

[Flieger]

Originally Posted by Won

Hey now! My friend does the front half of aero at Audi Sport, and he's definitely not blind Given his background, it makes sense that their package looks distinctly... single-seater. As the commentators were saying, once they iron out the issues, it could be unbeatable next year.

As far as we are on the topic, I knew the 2016 9R9 looked not too different from the 2015 car. I remember at the time thinking, they didn't put enough effort into this and could be exposed to Toyota and Audi especially if they did a good car for 2016. And the result speaks for itself so far this season, I would say.

I'm sure it's great for aerodynamics and that's all that matters but I dunno, man. Maybe if they kept it all black and fixed the headlights? something about the front leaning forward and nothing being a nice quarter sphere or straight line or airfoil or something- it's all a complex organic shape that doesn't have the "face" that the brain wants to see in a car with headlights. That and the transition from the narrow front to the (relative to the nose) wide cockpit.

[Embraer]

Back from Le Mans....most fun race I've been to! Some things I learned on my trip....

1. Strangely, the track-favorite of the locals are the Corvettes. The Europeans absolutely loved them. Louder than anything else on the track. Actually, any American muscle car was garnering huge attention. The Ford display at the track was constantly packed....and there wasn't a GT there. It was just Mustangs, but everybody loved them.

2. The track food is amazing. Steak sandwiches on a baguette, loaded with fries on top. 9.50 Euro. Puts anything at American tracks to shame. If you like Churros, you can't walk 100 yards without finding somebody selling churros. ha!

3. Be prepared to walk miles each day. Good shoes and raingear. It will rain throughout the week. It can be absolutely clear, and then raining 20 minutes later.

4. Camping is absolutely the way to go. Once you're in the track, you really don't want to leave. The Antares tram can take you into town for the parade, or take you to Carrefour for snacks or whatever. There are high-end campsites available. A hotel would be too much of a pain.

5. The drivers parade is one of the most fun parts of the week. Get there 2 hours early to get a good spot.

6. Actually, get wherever you want to be a couple hours early.

7. A small folding stepstool that can be attached to your backpack is a lifesaver. If you want to see the action, you have to be above everybody else.

8. The official souvenirs are the most modestly priced. Everybody that sells stuff asks crazy prices.

Pics to follow tomorrow.....