[WEC] WEC 2019/20 season

[canaglia]

Originally Posted by TheMightyM

As Graham Goodwin wrote in an opinion piece:





So yes, the WEC is going back to a traditional schedule going forward. All we know at this point is that in 2021 it will feature Le Mans and Super Sebring. Everything else is TBD. With the world economy entering recession, I'd expect a relatively short season in 2021.

at worst I expect a 7 races championship. Toyota cares too much for a chinese and a japanese round due marketing... basically something like this:

march 2021 - sebring 1000miles
april 2021 - monza 6h
may 2021 - spa 6h
june 2021 - le mans 24H
sept 2021 - silverstone 6H
october 2021 - fuji 6H
november 2021 - shanghai 6H

or maybe austin and sebring back to back for a 8 races championship.
Monza was in the old 2020-2021 draft, don't think will be folded.... but you know... who knows. Guess for late 2021 china will be ok for racing, at least I hope.

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by canaglia

march 2021 - sebring 1000miles
april 2021 - monza 6h
may 2021 - spa 6h
june 2021 - le mans 24H
sept 2021 - silverstone 6H
october 2021 - fuji 6H
november 2021 - shanghai 6H

Fun game!

I'd imagine Silverstone and Monza between Le Mans and Fuji. No need to have four rounds in successive months then a three month gap.

[TheMightyM]

Originally Posted by canaglia

at worst I expect a 7 races championship. Toyota cares too much for a chinese and a japanese round due marketing... basically something like this:

march 2021 - sebring 1000miles
april 2021 - monza 6h
may 2021 - spa 6h
june 2021 - le mans 24H
sept 2021 - silverstone 6H
october 2021 - fuji 6H
november 2021 - shanghai 6H

or maybe austin and sebring back to back for a 8 races championship.
Monza was in the old 2020-2021 draft, don't think will be folded.... but you know... who knows. Guess for late 2021 china will be ok for racing, at least I hope.

China will probably be OK for racing before the U.S. or Europe — but that doesn't mean there will necessarily be a Chinese round. You can say "Toyota cares too much" but Shanghai wasn't on the WEC 2020/21 schedule so I think it's far from a given it will be added back in on the revised, likely with fewer races 2021 schedule.

[Deleted]

They're not gonna ditch the cash bag offerings from Bahrain Royal Family, nor have round in April due to slow ass sea freight, nor have Kyalami or Shanghai due depleted prototype field consisting of 4-5 LMH cars and array of random economy-surviving spec Oreca 07s, so it will be sth like

Mar - Sebring
May - Spa
Jun - Le Mans
Aug - Silverstone
Sep - Monza
Oct - Fuji
Nov - Bahrain

Possibly swap Monza for July

[Anyopenroad]

No ELMS at Spa 9 Aug or WEC 15 Aug. Belgium has banned all sporting events and festivals until the end of August.

[broadrun96]

Yeah, seasons are getting cut shorter and shorter and I'm not sure 21 will be any better. These ideas of empty tracks with just TV viewers might fly BUT racing likely has a better chance of that working than stick and ball sports.

At least for the US the stadium ticket sales and concessions fund a most of the operations. Not sure how European football leagues work with that but I'm guessing ticket sales have to hurt the bottom line. I'm guessing tracks would have to get a serious discussion about fees without attendees. But how many sportscar series buy time on track rather than the track paying for the series?

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Yeah, seasons are getting cut shorter and shorter and I'm not sure 21 will be any better. These ideas of empty tracks with just TV viewers might fly BUT racing likely has a better chance of that working than stick and ball sports.

WEC would have a closed doors race and still claim 55,000 spectators.

[broadrun96]

Claim all the tickets "sold" to commercial partners as attendance and bam, there's your good number. No one needs to know they were free, it's the Ponzi scheme of tickets.

[chernaudi]

French GP has been cancelled because of worries over how soon restrictions may be lifted and the promoter couldn't see running the race closed off to fans.

Could LM face the same fate if some of the mass gathering restrictions in France don't get lifted soon (I know that the race got moved back to Sept, but still...).

However, the ACO and FIA are willing to run Spa as scheduled closed off to fans and with limits on on-site personnel.

[carbsmith]

I can't see how they can run a Le Mans sized spectator event this year and I also can't see how you could run Le Mans without spectators given that 11 1/2 hours of sports car racing in the dark isn't exactly prime TV fodder. Actually it's worse than that when you look at the sheer number of personnel involved with 60 teams, 180 drivers, an 8.5 mile track, the massive number of on track hours all around the clock requiring multiple shifts, etc. That's ignoring all the teams and drivers that aren't based in Europe too.

[broadrun96]

Yeah, you have to think there's an extremely likely chance LM is over and done for 2020. And possibly at risk for 21 without major developments, but there is new information coming each day so who knows. But the ramp up in production needed for a group the size of LM, with fans and teams and support staff, can't occur within 4 months.

[Speed-King]

If push comes to shove: should they run the 24h on the Bugatti circuit?

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by carbsmith

I can't see how they can run a Le Mans sized spectator event this year and I also can't see how you could run Le Mans without spectators given that 11 1/2 hours of sports car racing in the dark isn't exactly prime TV fodder. Actually it's worse than that when you look at the sheer number of personnel involved with 60 teams, 180 drivers, an 8.5 mile track, the massive number of on track hours all around the clock requiring multiple shifts, etc. That's ignoring all the teams and drivers that aren't based in Europe too.

Everything you say is right, but things like what makes good TV really isn't a factor right now. They'd run 24 hours in the dark if they could run the event safely. It is, quite literally, better than nothing.

Whatever the first series is to start up again will probably have to ignore teams and drivers that aren't based on that continent. Obviously it's crap, but that's the reality of the situation. Racing events (like everything else) are built for the rules of the old world. Those rules aren't coming back this year - and maybe not return to completely normal next year. Changes will have to be made - changes that make the events worse - because without them, we won't having any for a while.

[truebeliever]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Everything you say is right, but things like what makes good TV really isn't a factor right now. They'd run 24 hours in the dark if they could run the event safely. It is, quite literally, better than nothing.

Whatever the first series is to start up again will probably have to ignore teams and drivers that aren't based on that continent. Obviously it's crap, but that's the reality of the situation. Racing events (like everything else) are built for the rules of the old world. Those rules aren't coming back this year - and maybe not return to completely normal next year. Changes will have to be made - changes that make the events worse - because without them, we won't having any for a while.

Maybe someone should mention this aspect to the ACO

Those rules aren't coming back this year - and maybe not return to completely normal next year.

They seem to be living in a kind of fantasy world that bears no comparison to the real world, does not even begin to take into account the Post Virus financial depression that will be hitting Europe, America and elsewhere before too long!

It's time to pull their heads out of the sand, see the writing on the wall and realize the world as they have enjoyed for too long, is OVER! It will not be OEM's who will provide the base for ANY future prototype racing, but the seemingly despised Privateers. So this is the time to understand what is over the horizon and work with teams in some sensible plans and forget the glory days of old.

Yesterday has gone and IS NOT coming back. Any racing MUST be geared around the economic climate which will be in place down the road.

[courageous]

The other thing to consider is the local politics - Le Mans town gets a complete upheavel in return for (I imagine) a boost in the local tourist economy.
That trade off might not be worth it until things go back to total normality

It must also be a bit of a drain on the emergency services & I doubt they'll be keen diverting resources

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by truebeliever

Maybe someone should mention this aspect to the ACO

Those rules aren't coming back this year - and maybe not return to completely normal next year.

They seem to be living in a kind of fantasy world that bears no comparison to the real world, does not even begin to take into account the Post Virus financial depression that will be hitting Europe, America and elsewhere before too long!

It's time to pull their heads out of the sand, see the writing on the wall and realize the world as they have enjoyed for too long, is OVER! It will not be OEM's who will provide the base for ANY future prototype racing, but the seemingly despised Privateers. So this is the time to understand what is over the horizon and work with teams in some sensible plans and forget the glory days of old.

Yesterday has gone and IS NOT coming back. Any racing MUST be geared around the economic climate which will be in place down the road.

Lets be fair - this isn't an ACO problem. Every series is saying they're starting back up. They won't be able to, but they have to make plans just in case they can. ACO, IMSA, F1, SRO, VLN, ADAC. They're all saying they're going racing soon.

[chernaudi]

NASCAR says that they want to get going sometime next month, but even then it'll be far from normal. The first races will happen in states near North Carolina (where almost all teams are based), without fans, with personnel reductions, likely no live pit stops (think the old truck series half time break between segments).

This is symptomatic of the conflict that's going on in life in general everywhere right now. People don't want to get sick or make others ill or willfully put their or others life and limb at risk. But people are out of work, some are running out of money, and even people who call themselves homebodies or loners need some form of social interaction and are going stir crazy.

Some lifting of restrictions (such as happening in Germany and Belgium right now or soon, though it generally doesn't apply to mass gatherings, and are also planned for most areas of the US/North America soon) are I think necessary.

Saying that, life will still be difficult for many who crave what normal was. Sadly, that normal may very well be months away from mostly coming back. But I do have to admit as someone who needs some social interaction to cope with depression and mental health issues, some small steps towards normalcy is better than nothing. It's kinda like the Chauchat machine gun from World War I and the Sten SMG from World War II. They were kinda crap as weapons and there were in truth probably better things for the job at hand. But they were cheap, available, can be made in large numbers quickly, and were a lot better than just throwing rocks at enemy troops.

And that's the path that racing has to take. They (and we as the fandom as well) have to accept that things will be strange and awkward. But trying to make some steps to try and get back to "normal" are better than nothing for everyone involved.

We have to face facts, the world can't go on like this forever. Nothing lasts forever in reality. But I do hope that the world collectively has learned from this and know better how to act/react/proact next time.

[Deleted]

Even in gaming everyone has spec Orecas now who says games aren't as real as the actual things lol
http://assets.lemans.org/explorer/pd...entry-list.pdf

[blankfile]

Originally Posted by Chiana

Even in gaming everyone has spec Orecas now who says games aren't as real as the actual things lol
http://assets.lemans.org/explorer/pd...entry-list.pdf

Well thats probably more due to the fact that its the only lmp2 car in the game

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by blankfile

Well thats probably more due to the fact that its the only lmp2 car in the game

If they really had no other alternatives than rfactor and also couldn't bother to look into modding or something, they could've still hosted a GTE race instead of spec Oreca race

It's just bizarre that in the world of gaming you could literally come up with anything, with only the sky being the limit, yet it's Oreca 07 fest just as you have on real track too. In a way it's also mimicking the pro-am concept too as you also have those gamer people also driving the cars

Not that it matters, these esports events seem to go by with little attention

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Chiana

If they really had no other alternatives than rfactor and also couldn't bother to look into modding or something, they could've still hosted a GTE race instead of spec Oreca race

It's just bizarre that in the world of gaming you could literally come up with anything, with only the sky being the limit, yet it's Oreca 07 fest just as you have on real track too. In a way it's also mimicking the pro-am concept too as you also have those gamer people also driving the cars

Not that it matters, these esports events seem to go by with little attention

Modding is basically illegal when it comes to brand names. Modders get a blind eye turned (usually) but you can't have actual organisations messing with legal stuff like that.

And you're going to find that the gamers are often faster than the real drivers.

[canaglia]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Modding is basically illegal when it comes to brand names. Modders get a blind eye turned (usually) but you can't have actual organisations messing with legal stuff like that.

And you're going to find that the gamers are often faster than the real drivers.

that's the truth. I've been in gtr2 modding scene for years and "mods" are nothing but 3d car models ripped from a game and converted to actually work in other games. None could seriously expect this kind of "policy" for an event like this
BTW I'm curious about the gtlm race because usually happens that some cars are made with a better handling/physics than other ones by default. At example in ACC bmw m6 gt3 is almost undriveable in any setting/conditions; never played rfactor2 actually but at the end, "realism" it's all about a balance between how much data manufacturers gave to developers and how developers had to "improvise" because of lack of real data.

Said that, this virtual race likely will be a 24h mess... can't expect everyone around the world will have the same kind and quality of connection, not to mention that as shown by f1/fe official virtual races, drivers will crash on eachother without thinking twice.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Modding is basically illegal ...

OMG, Ayse, joeb, skycafe, Bentley03 we’re in trouble!

[CTD]

Originally Posted by Adam43

OMG, Ayse, joeb, skycafe, Bentley03 we’re in trouble!

Not forgetting The Who and the rest of these guys (and girls):

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by CTD

Not forgetting The Who and the rest of these guys (and girls):