Audi LMP1 Discussion

[tigas]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

One thing is certain - they can't have the new P2s becoming their top class. Or at least not as long as it doesn't allow for manufacturer involvement and activation. So if the bottom completely drops out from P1, they will be absolutely forced to come up with something new to replace it and on rather short notice. (Unless they already have contingency plans drawn up, which is of course entirely possible.)

I'm sure Hughes "W*nker" de Chaunac will find a way of selling more chassis and killing more competition.

Maybe something like DPi, but forbidden to DPis...

(Bitter? Salty? Who, me?)

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by bavila

So Audi lose LM two years in a row and run out like spoiled brats (to FE, of all things)?? Good stuff. Things were just getting interesting for LMP1 but it seems they couldn't handle real competition. Not gonna miss them at all. Long live WEC, long live Le Mans. Real race fans will remain. Bye Chernaudi

Regarding the part I bolded above.... Seriously? Why the kick in the crotch? Thanks for your contribution to the discussion.

Richard

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

Regarding the part I bolded above.... Seriously? Why the kick in the crotch? Thanks for your contribution to the discussion.

Richard

Because the user in question had made this about himself in an earlier post:

Originally Posted by chernaudi

Well, this frees up my weekends.

[PhilipR]

I have started following Le Mans racing at roughly the same time Audi joined. I have been a fan of them through all their time. It is sad to know that they are leaving, even though nothing lasts forever and this would have happened at some point.

However I wonder what will happen to Joest Racing. Will they go independent or will they be integrated into the new Audi structure and run other Motorsport activities(i.e GT3, DTM - again, or the official FE team)?

[tigas]

Originally Posted by PhilipR

I have started following Le Mans racing at roughly the same time Audi joined. I have been a fan of them through all their time. It is sad to know that they are leaving, even though nothing lasts forever and this would have happened at some point.

However I wonder what will happen to Joest Racing. Will they go independent or will they be integrated into the new Audi structure and run other Motorsport activities(i.e GT3, DTM - again, or the official FE team)?

I'm also worried about Joest. I don't think they'll inherit the F-e team since Audi already has a long-time collaborator there as well (ABT-Schaeffler) running the current Audi F-e team.

[MoMedic9019]

Originally Posted by PhilipR

However I wonder what will happen to Joest Racing. Will they go independent or will they be integrated into the new Audi structure and run other Motorsport activities(i.e GT3, DTM - again, or the official FE team)?

Well. Manthey is out of the factory GTE program and they will need someone to run the WEC for the new 991 next season.

Seems to me that Joest Porsche is probably back.

[PhilipR]

Originally Posted by MoMedic9019

Well. Manthey is out of the factory GTE program and they will need someone to run the WEC for the new 991 next season.

Seems to me that Joest Porsche is probably back.

Wouldn't that be a short turnaround, from the end of this years WEC till Silverstone next year? I doubt they took any part in the testing of the car or started integrating the team into the Porsche GTE structure(maybe they did behind closed doors). Also Audi's decision seems to have been a fairly recent one so Joest might not have had the chance to plan for the future. Anyway this is an Audi thread and not a Joest Future thread so I'll try not to stray off topic.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Because the user in question had made this about himself in an earlier post:

I am done with this specific topic as Chernaudi can defend himself if he wishes, but that is a poor excuse for poor behaviour.

Richard

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

Coming to a close?

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/m...1-6372707.html

So it seems to be.













L.P.

[BSchneiderFan]

I really hope Joest continue and go GT3 to square up against WRT.

[PascaLM]

I had thought that Audi would have left LMP when Porsche came back in prototypes. They have remained in WEC for several years.
Now I'm thinking about Wolfgang Ullrich and his fantastic career at Le Mans. Will Reinhold Joest will enter some cars at le Mans again ?

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Because the user in question had made this about himself in an earlier post:

Yeah, but then adding the "real race fans" comment is just a personal attack.

Anyone who claims Audi achieved nothing and only had poor competition needs to look at the results record from 2007 onwards. You'll find it's still stands up as one of the best in history.

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

* I don't see Porsche going anywhere. If anything this cements their presence in WEC.

Even if it becomes a one-horse race? I know it can be dismissed as bluster, but when Porsche entered LMP1 the voices from Stuttgart were that they wanted to beat the best, and I think that (manufacturer) competition is still important to them, and to Toyota too. Should if one fall for whatever reason, I expect the other to follow in short order, likely after one more LM win.

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

* Likely a good thing in the long term for WEC. That is "if" they use this as an opportunity to adjust things to entice someone else to fill the shoes of Audi. Likely cost saving measures.

I think this is a tad more accurate, given the short-termism of the ACO!

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

* Likely zero chance of the series moving away from hybrid power. I love old school engines and cars, but if anyone has illusions of the future being a pure old school combustion engine only solution, think again. If anything the writing is on the wall for ANY top level series that is pure hydrocarbon powered and is not part or all electric. Question is just "when".

* If anything I can imagine the engine and hybrid rules to get tighter. Maybe more like it was years ago in F1 in which each team was somewhat free to do engine development, but also in which more money didn't generate much in the way of performance. As I mention above, I love open rules, but it is expensive. So I can imagine more "spec" aspects of the power unit to curb development costs in those areas.

It would also be a humiliating climbdown for the ACO to suddenly drop their "road relevance" message just to save the top class. But hybrids don't come cheap unless they are very tightly controlled so something will have to give. For example, if it is safe to assume that the current regs suit Toyota best, how would they react to not being able to exploit their R&D to anywhere near the current level?

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by mariantic

Well the FE chassis will be spec for the foreseeable, future tenders are invited for a new spec chassis for Year 5 onwards.
http://www.eurosport.co.uk/formula-e...87/story.shtml

There will also be a new spec battery from Year 5 - one of the tenderers is said to be...Porsche!

http://www.motorsport.com/formula-e/...vealed-828460/

Interesting times...

Mariantic

Results of that tender for the battery have already been announced, it's McLaren (rumoured to be in partnership with Sony) who have been chosen as the battery supplier.

[mariantic]

Originally Posted by Victor_RO

Results of that tender for the battery have already been announced, it's McLaren (rumoured to be in partnership with Sony) who have been chosen as the battery supplier.

Ah yes- sorry forgot that! Interesting that Porsche bid though?

Mariantic

[mwfuzz]

I spoke to Olly Jarvis a short while ago for his reaction to the news/what happens next for him as a driver.

Here's a link to the article - hope it's of interest:

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/spor...t-new-12082797

[Pole2Win]

They did this because 1) no matter how (non-)competitive, diesels have a bad name after the scandal and are no longer marketable, and 2) Porsche runs petrol and it makes no sense for Audi to also run a petrol car.

Anyway, Audi does take F-E very seriously as they were one of the few manufacturers with semi-works teams (semi because in the first year components were standard) from the start (the other being Renault). I bet they were disappointed when Di Grassi lost the title to Piquet, as Abt had major support from the factory and couldn't win the championship still.

I personally don't care that Audi leaves... Not nearly as legendary a legacy as that of Porsche IMO despite the double-digit wins. People are saying Audi supported endurance for 15, 16 years... Well Porsche did it for much longer. There were Porsche prototypes racing in the lower classes of LM when the name Audi was meaningless outside of a prewar memory. It would be a travesty if Audi overtook Porsche with most LM wins. Everyone moved to F1 after 1999 (BMW won and did the same thing as Alpine Renault in the late 70s after beating Porsche) and Audi did keep the championships going by virtue of being there, but don't tell me they didn't benefit from the lack of strong competition in the early 2000s to build a solid foundation with which they thrashed Peugeot later on...

Regarding their absence, others will replace them when tech development catches up, and Audi themselves may even come back eventually. If there's a surge in development of electric engines (as that's the current trend), you can expect manufacturers to flock to LM again.

[FIRE]

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by Pole2Win

I personally don't care that Audi leaves... Not nearly as legendary a legacy as that of Porsche IMO despite the double-digit wins. People are saying Audi supported endurance for 15, 16 years... Well Porsche did it for much longer.

I think it was 17 years, continuously. 1999-2016.

I am a huge Porsche fan, but they've never run in the top categories for 17 years straight. Give kudos where they are deserved.

[bobec]

Originally Posted by bavila

So Audi lose LM two years in a row and run out like spoiled brats (to FE, of all things)?? Good stuff. Things were just getting interesting for LMP1 but it seems they couldn't handle real competition. Not gonna miss them at all. Long live WEC, long live Le Mans. Real race fans will remain. Bye Chernaudi

I think you are either trolling, or you have zero understanding of LM or the series.


It's sad Audi won't be here for 2017. I will miss this forum

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Pole2Win

I personally don't care that Audi leaves... Not nearly as legendary a legacy as that of Porsche IMO despite the double-digit wins. People are saying Audi supported endurance for 15, 16 years... Well Porsche did it for much longer. There were Porsche prototypes racing in the lower classes of LM when the name Audi was meaningless outside of a prewar memory. It would be a travesty if Audi overtook Porsche with most LM wins. Everyone moved to F1 after 1999 (BMW won and did the same thing as Alpine Renault in the late 70s after beating Porsche) and Audi did keep the championships going by virtue of being there, but don't tell me they didn't benefit from the lack of strong competition in the early 2000s to build a solid foundation with which they thrashed Peugeot later on...

Well of course Audi's legacy isn't the same as Porsche's - Porsche have the greatest ever.

But don't forget, many or Porsche's wins were far from hard-fought. From the mid 70s through to the mid-late 1980s, Porsche's main competition was themselves.

Audi were brewing something special from the moment they entered prototype racing - don't forget, their debut podium came in arguably the toughest Le Mans in recent history.

They raised the bar in terms of serviceability, reliability and efficiency and it's shaped what modern endurance racing is today, not to mention the names and characters they introduced to us. Nobody is saying they've toppled Porsche's legacy, but I do feel your post is a little too dismissive. There won't be an asterisk next to Audi's name in the history books.

[bobec]

Originally Posted by bavila

I'm no Audi hater, but I don't think they accomplished all that much with mostly weak competition for years. If they DIDN'T win, they'd be berated endlessly. Just because they remained in the WEC for many years doesn't mean much. If that were true, Rubens Barrichello would be considered one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time (far from reality). I did want them to remain in place to see the developing LMP1 battles, but oh well, Porsche and Toyota will keep things exciting for us.

Think about Ferrari withdrawing, not Rubens. And you are being very unfair to him as well. Yes, he didn't have a winner's mentality, but maybe I should remind you how he almost died in 1994. There is no driver out there who wasn't changed permanently after a near-fatal crash.

As for the rest, saying you're not a hater doesn't make you a non-hater

[Giba]

Joest Racing have posted on facebooka statement about the Audi WEC withdrawl and includes the following sentence.

"After the joint WEC project with Audi is completed in the short term, the rich in tradition and successful Odenwald racing team will now be exploring the market and searching for new motorsport challenges."


Personally I wish them all the best, but it will be odd at Le Mans without Joest there in some form


Also, I know that this isn't the highest priority right now but what happens with rookie test for Antonio Giovinazzi, will he get to ride in another P1 or has he got the short straw?

[bavila]

Originally Posted by bobec

Think about Ferrari withdrawing, not Rubens. And you are being very unfair to him as well. Yes, he didn't have a winner's mentality, but maybe I should remind you how he almost died in 1994. There is no driver out there who wasn't changed permanently after a near-fatal crash.

As for the rest, saying you're not a hater doesn't make you a non-hater

Again, NOT hating, but Rubens was never 'top' material. He was good, but not great. That accident didn't change somehow make him a legend. I'd pick Nicki Lauda over him regarding post-accident motivation.

[bobec]

Originally Posted by bavila

Again, NOT hating, but Rubens was never 'top' material. He was good, but not great. That accident didn't change somehow make him a legend. I'd pick Nicki Lauda over him regarding post-accident motivation.

I'm not saying the accident made him a legend, but that maybe it ruined his potential. Even if he was never top material, there are plenty of drivers who never were. Why compare Audi to them?