Motorspot chat - No dull F1 though

[Sidewaysbob]

Okay, so there is a load of really great racing out there.

 

WEC - multi class racing with big grunty cars.

Formula E - whizzy little battery powered efforts

Indy Car - proper racing for the lead whilst turning left

NASCAR - Red necks and good old boys beer it up

Touring cars - tin top dust up

WTCC - tin tops round the world

 

All these series have great racing, professional teams and no dull boring processional races round some of the more despotic third world black spots.

No F1 is not the be all and end all of motorsport. Racing can be fun, exciting and not about who's got the most money to throw at the problem.

 

 

[kiroquai]

Must admit I've never been a fan of the WTCC. Kind of seemed like touring cars with all the fun sucked out 

 

Been keeping up with NASCAR this year, and IndyCar too. IndyCar in particular is (forgetting the Texas race, which was a bit of a farce) picking up quite some momentum and becoming a really good series now.

[Sidewaysbob]

This week it's the third round of the WEC from Le mans, the spiritual home of endurance racing. 24 hours of elbows out sprint racing, long gone the days of driving to a delta time and hoping the old girl will hang together.  Balls out 1000bph machines threading their way past Street derived GT cars. this is multi class racing and it's bloody amazing.

 

60 cars this year and whilst Audi have gone home to fix the emissions test machine, Toyota and Porsche have stepped up to give us a race. Although no one wants Porsche to win after Toyota lost the race on the last lap this time a year ago. Toyota just have to win this race this year,

 

LMP2 is chock full of speed machines and class teams this year. Although if they don't have an Oreca chassis they're going to struggle to stay in touch. Its a new era for this class with 4 spec chassis and engine choices. it looks like the French chassis builder that lobbied for the change to the rules is going to clean sweep the podium. Throw a dart at the entry list and pick your favourite driver squad, anyone could win this year. Signatech topped the time sheet on last weeks test day with a speed trap speed of over 214mph! the LMP1 will need to keep an eye on their rear view mirrors in the Mulsanne corner braking zone, these LMP2 can really shift.

 

GT pro is going to be full on meaty racing this year. Ford got nailed for their blatant sandbagging last year and got hit with turbo boost limit which saw them 5 seconds off the pace at the test day. Fords loss was Corvettes gain with a hairy chested top test time form the No 64  car. the Ferrari challenge failed to materialise last year but after a year of development the 488 GTEs looks much stronger at this aero circuit. Porsche have revised their 911 RSR moved the engine to the middle and build a rocket ship this year. If they hang together they have to be in with a shout. Whilst Aston have brought their aging Vantage cars to have one last crack. so far Aston have been well off the pace in the first two rounds, had they picked up the sandbags Ford dropped last year ?

 

GT am is going to be a Ferrari fest. unless Aston can take the car that should have won last year tot he top step. This may be the amateur class but the racing will be just as cut throat.  

 

First practice is 3pm Wednesday and can be watched on Europsort or listened to live on line at www.radiolemans.com

 

Come and join us for the greatest race in the world  twice round the clock

 

[marsh]

I love le mans, Quest on freeview have got live coverage this weekend, albeit at various times throughout the day so you can, you know, live your life. At the very least I'll watch the start and the finish.

 

Will Toyota shake off the curse from last year?

Is this going to be a walk in the park for the Corvettes? even though the ACO have wound them back a bit?

Not even going to venture near the LMP2 class, far too many teams to even try and predict!

 

 

The 'Bang' at the end of the video was the corvette.......tis an epic noise.

[Sun Tze]

Kobayashi sonic boom. 

 

God, never knew i'd miss that particular sounding diesel drone so much. Also, no Audi just feels weird/ wrong after so many years. Looks like Porsche have already dialled down their operation ? What am i hearing about 2018 regulations ? Big teams out, smaller teams in ? 

 

LMP2 is going to be exciting with Signatech, G-Drive and lots of others in contention. Romain Dumas triple crown. Rubens Barrichello and Jan Lammers in a yellow cab. 

 

I just want to forget about last years 'spectacular' Ford parade and go back to the bumper to bumper racing that made GTPro so fascinating in previous years. Praying to the BOP Gods. 

 

AM, similar to the LMP1 situation, i think this is Aston's to lose (Dala Lana). 

 

Rooting for everyone but fanboy hat on for #63 and #64. 

[marsh]

The LMP2 field is going to be very different next year, bykolles are off to start developing the car for next year as they fear the Ginetta will wipe the floor with them if they don't. Where LMP1 is going to be next year is a mystery. Audi was Le Mans.

[marsh]

My lmp2 pick has to be: Jackie Chan DC racing.

 

I'm not making this shit up either.

[Sun Tze]

12 hours ago, marsh said:

My lmp2 pick has to be: Jackie Chan DC racing.

 

I'm not making this shit up either.

Don't believe you are. But it's not a completely wild guess is it ? Afaik they came in third in quali and are performing well all season. Ho Pin Tung is a regular analyst pre/post F1 races for Dutch TV and is a really cool, modest guy. Would love it if his car competes till the end. 

 

Have a soft spot for the Michel Valiant cars. Comic books come to life and Rebellion finally have a good looking livery.

 

Road to Le Mans race in a bit. Anything i should look out for ? Any favourites, special talent i should keep an eye on ? 

[McFly]

My cousin is a LeMans this weekend so im sure she'll have a good time, her husband is a bit endurance racing fan. Ive been to MotoGp and Superbikes but never cars. 

 

Speaking of World Superbikes considering how dominant British riders have always been it gets fuck all coverage really which is a shame as all British podiums are very common. 

 

 

[Sun Tze]

Speaking of SBK, did you catch the finish in Misano ? Pretty spectacular final 8 or so laps.

[wev]

And the 24 heures LeMans is under way

[wev]

Interesting that the LMP1 cars aren't at full chat at the end of the Mulsanne straight but the LMP2 cars are because of how the LMP1 hybrid engines work

[marsh]

This is going to be close. Insane.

[Sun Tze]

Great start. Porsche keeping up nicely with those two Toyotas so far. 

 

Rusinov's G-Drive off to a surprisingly bad start in LMP2. Shame about Jarvis' pitstop. 

 

Aston Martin rolling on those Dunlops. Apparently good in hot conditions so will be interesting to see how they hold up when it cools down tonight. 

[McFly]

2 hours ago, Sun Tze said:

Speaking of SBK, did you catch the finish in Misano ? Pretty spectacular final 8 or so laps.

I did, furstly Van Der Marks wheel fell apart then that horrible thing with Rea and Davies 

[Sidewaysbob]

GT pro racing is just amazing so far. So many cars have found that pesky bag of sand that was holding them back.

 

[Sun Tze]

Great race, just one complaint but that's more to do with the presentation. Seven hours in and both Eurosport and RTL commentators just won't take a break. While we're still running on petrol. let me enjoy some engine noise for a bit and change up the pace of the broadcast. Auto soft mute when switching to an onboard cam would be cool feature. Guess i need to get on that twitter thing. 

 

Race itself is pretty good, nothing decided yet, lots of close battles and skirmishes. Loving it. 

 

 

[kiroquai]

I can't help but get the feeling that Toyota are somehow going to not win the race. I hope they do, but the number 8 has had problems now.

 

Then again, I also have the feeling that the moment they do win it, they'll also decide that's their goal satisfied and decide to leave the WEC.

[marsh]

Interesting theory, win it and walk....

 

Anyway, there's some new LMP1 teams waiting in the wings for next year, was the thought process behind upping the power of the LMP2 cars to soften the blow when both LMP1 hybrid teams quit? On todays performance they might not be missed......?

[marsh]

Oh, and I have to go and watch it one day.

[wev]

I've had to use Quests coverage for this as I only have freeview and very limited internet access for now. It's not particularly good tbh, it's very difficult to follow such a race when they're only showing 2 hours of footage in total (split in to two one hour segments) a day and any highlights of the time between was just the crashes

[kiroquai]

Sure enough, the #7 Toyota just broke :(. Limping in on massively reduced power.

 

EDIT: And out of the race. Now the #9 Toyota has broken too. Unbelievable.

[Sun Tze]

I wanted drama, this is a bit much though. Unbelievable bad luck for Toyota. 

 

Rebellion going LMP 2 and finally making overall podium would be kinda funny.

 

Not even halfway.  

[Dudley]

The #2 Porsche will catch the Rebellions by the end of the race, but the 8 is too far away.

 

So yeah, they're on for 3rd and 4th right now.

[ryodi]

The end of Le Mans is on ITV4 now.

[marsh]

Is an LMP2 car going to win this....?

[Sun Tze]

Just... wow

[wev]

The end of Le Mans is on ITV4 now.

I'm not one to bitch about picture quality and whilst ITV4 isn't HD it's vastly superior to whatever the fuck Quest were using!!

[marsh]

Amazing. Though the other porsche could still do it.....

[marsh]

1 minute ago, wev said:

 

I'm not one to bitch about picture quality and whilst ITV4 isn't HD it's vastly superior to whatever the fuck Quest were using!!

 

 

This, hugely grateful for the quest coverage, but I've gone straight over to ITV4!