[WEC] FIA World Endurance Championship

[Purist]

Scooter, Tavo may have had a concept in mind, but Austin is a Tilkedrome. There are too many of Hermann's hallmarks on this circuit for it not to be.

It has, yet another, stadium complex. There is the pseudo-copy of Istanbul's Turn 8, just in the opposite direction. The final two turns are VERY much like the last two corners at Abu Dhabi; they just go the other direction (left instead of right). Austin has, in somewhat miniature form, one of those kinked "straights", like a couple of the runs at Abu Dhabi, or the run out of the Turn 1 hairpin and the redone 300R at Fuji. I might just have to have a look to see how much those esses (Turns 3-6, or 3-8) resemble, in reverse, the esses at Valencia. Of course, Austin also has those signature, angular-looking hairpin turns, not to mention another textbook display of the slow(-ish) corner, straight, slow corner model; it occurs at least three times around the lap at Austin on a larger scale, and yet another time in miniature.

(Trust me, this was just what I could see in the layout from off the top of my head. I could easily look harder and find more commonalities.)

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

Transportation would be a nightmare?

Strange, it is just about as close to a major airport as Road Atlanta??

Strange, because it is the same size??

Strange, doesn't it have the same FIA rating? Have you seen the changes?

This is the WEC thread. Road Atlanta has never been part of the WEC. Only a few ELMS teams came last year.

Simply compare the facilities at Road Atlanta or Mosport compared to COTA. I'm not saying I approve of the new idea of nit-picky, supermodern tracks ONLY in a world class series, but we've talked about this enough the last few days. The last time an ACO-based series had Road Atlanta OFFICIALLY on it's schedule was in 2011, the final year of the ILMC. And look at the tracks it ran alongside with... tracks like Zhuhai, Imola, and Sebring. Since then, Zhuhai has been replaced by a classier, more developed alternative: Shanghai International Circuit. Imola was scrapped - it was in need of further development and refurbishing for a truly world series. Sebring was scrapped this year for the more modern, squeaky-clean, brand-new COTA.

Sorry if I offended you by talking about Mosport. But just compare that...



to that...



No comparison. What do I personally like better? Mosport! It's truly rich with history and is fully capable of hosting something like American Le Mans or the future USCR. So is Road Atlanta, Road America, Mid-Ohio, Sebring, VIR, the Glen, etc, etc. It would be a tragedy to turn all of these tracks into supermodern, squeaky-clean, overdone, 21st-century, "international" tracks. But Mosport, or Road Atlanta, for that matter, just wouldn't fit that sort of new vibe that is emanating from the WEC at this point. I would speak differently if they hadn't changed Zhuhai in for Shanghai and hadn't dropped Sebring and Imola.

[gregtummer]

Here is the problem with building new F1 tracks:

The 305km/190 mile race distance rule in F1.

What you are telling the track designers is this:

Build a track that an F1 race takes a race an hour and a half
Make it so in that in that hour and a half, the cars go 305km/190 miles.
Make sure the cars have a chance to pass (so you get long straights and tight hairpins)

The unintended consequence of that 305km/190mile distance rule is that you get a bunch of long straights with tight hairpins (so the cars can pass under breaking) followed up by a lot of unnecessary sections of track where it twists back and forth on itself unnecessary (like the last parts of Austin and turns 1-4 of Shanghai) in order to slow the cars down in order to get the cars to complete 305km/190 miles in 1.5 hours.

Hence you no longer get any tracks that have a natural flow to them (like Spa or Monza)

The solution to this, is to abolish the 305km/190 mile distance rule and make the race distance suit the individual track.

So if you have a fast track like Monza, instead of adding unnecessary twisty sections, simply increase the race distance by 5 laps or so.

[werner]

While we are out of the box now anyway, how about this idea for increasing the car-count and spectacle a bit?

Let's re-invent the ALMS. But, instead of mainly racing in the USA, have the races in South America as well. A calendar could consist of races in Buenos Aires, Terma's Rio Hondo, Curitiba and Mexico. The cherrys on the pie would be races in Sao Paulo, COTA and San Luis, combined with the WEC.
If you combine the races at Spa and Silverstone with the ELMS, and races in Fuji and somewhere else in Asia with the AsLMS, you'd always have a double field in the big races.

[GT3.14]

Originally Posted by gregtummer

What you are telling the track designers is this:

You spelled Hermann Tilke wrong.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by werner

While we are out of the box now anyway, how about this idea for increasing the car-count and spectacle a bit?

Let's re-invent the ALMS. But, instead of mainly racing in the USA, have the races in South America as well. A calendar could consist of races in Buenos Aires, Terma's Rio Hondo, Curitiba and Mexico. The cherrys on the pie would be races in Sao Paulo, COTA and San Luis, combined with the WEC.
If you combine the races at Spa and Silverstone with the ELMS, and races in Fuji and somewhere else in Asia with the AsLMS, you'd always have a double field in the big races.

My thoughts exactly. Wherever doubleheader weekends fall into place, take advantage of them. But remember, it will no longer be the ALMS... I wonder if USCR will be that exploring about their venue locations. I think not, but I hope to be proven wrong.

[Fogelhund]

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...lans-for-2014/ Dyson looking at WEC LMP2 for 2014 as an option.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...lans-for-2014/ Dyson looking at WEC LMP2 for 2014 as an option.

Why must they make it so difficult on themselves? The USCR would have been the perfect option, and now they are thinking about stretching their budget to the absolute bare minimum (as well as their competitiveness) by attempting to do almost as many races as the ALMS worldwide.

"I'm really focused on '14 and trying to put the team in a winning situation for next year. We've got folks who we've worked with in the past who will help us get to the events.

The WEC will not be a winning situation. Look at the competitive nature of that field. I feel kind of sorry for saying this, but drivers like Chris Dyson, Tony Burgess, Chris McMurry, and Michael Marsal aren't up to "winning standards" when it comes to the WEC. Also, they've applied to Le Mans (twice?) only to drop out near the end. They need to make a decision now, and I don't think the WEC would be a "winning" one.

Apologies for being a pessimist about this... I love the underdog teams, but I think the move to the WEC is absolutely mad.

[Purist]

Beetle, you do realize this would be Dyson in WEC LMP2, right? There, you are REQUIRED to have a "gentleman driver". In that field of play, a Chris Dyson or Tony Burgess is NOT that slow.

Mike Hedland just posted on another thread that running in Europe would actually be cheaper now than running here.

Dyson can probably save quite a bit just switching to LMP2 anyway. They won't be spending time/resources on that hybrid system they've used from time to time. They won't be wrestling with making a car work with those wider front wheels and tires. Heck, if they can get by with running the current engine, just de-tuned, they'll probably have a damn reliable unit there; I find it amusing that current LMP1 engines are actually smaller than current LMP2 engines. If Judd can get away with their motor, I'm sure Dyson-AER and Mazda can sort something out.

[werner]

Originally Posted by Beetle

But remember, it will no longer be the ALMS... I wonder if USCR will be that exploring about their venue locations.

My idea is to start a completely new racingseries, and call it ALMS, since that name is no longer used anymore from next year for the US-based sportscarserie anyway. You'd have a pretty well known and very apropriate title that way.

[Purist]

You'd have to get the ACO's permission to use that name.

Also, it would practically be another world championship. It's farther from Monterey, California to Sao Paulo Brazil than it is from Monterey to Tokyo, Japan!

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by werner

Let's re-invent the ALMS. But, instead of mainly racing in the USA, have the races in South America as well.

There is a little something called "money" and it will be hard to come by if you're travelling across two continents. Sorry, but this won't work.

Originally Posted by werner

My idea is to start a completely new racingseries, and call it ALMS, since that name is no longer used anymore from next year for the US-based sportscarserie anyway. You'd have a pretty well known and very apropriate title that way.

Can't use the Le Mans name without ACO permission...and that likely won't happen.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Salamus

There is a little something called "money" and it will be hard to come by if you're travelling across two continents. Sorry, but this won't work.

Yes, I have to agree - it would be halfway to the World Endurance Championship by that point!

Speaking of the WEC... don't we have a series going on right now to talk about?!

Here's the provisional entry list for the 6 Hours of Sao Paulo... with some obvious mistakes .

http://www.fiawec.com/races/6-hours-...ntry-list.html

The Toyota #8 and Strakka #21 should be off there, and it's just wishful thinking to believe that Gulf Racing could bring a second car to an overseas race.

[Victor_RO]

Hindy just tweeted that Gulf Middle East have withdrawn from the rest of the WEC season. And this is not my surprised face... a Gulf-sponsored car on the grid without any actual Gulf sponsorship was a dead giveaway of lack of money.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Victor_RO

Hindy just tweeted that Gulf Middle East have withdrawn from the rest of the WEC season. And this is not my surprised face...

Story on EI:

http://endurance-info.com/version2/a...nce-19457.html

[Aysedasi]

Don't you just love auto-translate.....

One could also see this structure come to a rod at the end of season to prowl for the next season of the FIA WEC ;

[GT3.14]

The post Le Mans drop outs are to be expected.

I do hope we see a Danish Vantage in Brazil.

[CTD]

Originally Posted by GT3.14

The post Le Mans drop outs are to be expected.

I do hope we see a Danish Vantage in Brazil.

I see a lot of pros and cons for that car to continue.
The biggest problem would be to find a Danish driver of the same quality to replace him.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by CTD

I see a lot of pros and cons for that car to continue.
The biggest problem would be to find a Danish driver of the same quality to replace him.

Michel Nykjaer comes to mind first. He's a great driver, and the schedule wouldn't be too interfering, except at Suzuka and COTA (same weekend). He'd have to do the Argentina WTCC race on August 4, WEC at Interlagos on September 1, then a week later at Sonoma for the WTCC on the 8th of September, then skip COTA and go to the WTCC race in Suzuka on September 22, come back to Suzuka on October 20, go to Shanghai for the WTCC race on November 3, stay in Shanghai a week for the WEC race on the 10th, go to the Guia Circuit for Macau on the 17th, and finally head out to Bahrain on the 30th for a final WEC race.

Also, I know he's Swedish, but what about Rickard Rydell? Where's he at now?

Of course, they could just skip all the complications and go down to 2 drivers like the Pro AF Corse Ferrari's have been doing. A final option is to pick Jonny Adam or Daniel McKenzie, the other "Young Drivers", even though they are British.

[Mr Pink]

Originally Posted by Beetle

Michel Nykjaer comes to mind first. He's a great driver, and the schedule wouldn't be too interfering, except at Suzuka and COTA (same weekend). He'd have to do the Argentina WTCC race on August 4, WEC at Interlagos on September 1, then a week later at Sonoma for the WTCC on the 8th of September, then skip COTA and go to the WTCC race in Suzuka on September 22, come back to Suzuka on October 20, go to Shanghai for the WTCC race on November 3, stay in Shanghai a week for the WEC race on the 10th, go to the Guia Circuit for Macau on the 17th, and finally head out to Bahrain on the 30th for a final WEC race.

Also, I know he's Swedish, but what about Rickard Rydell? Where's he at now?

Of course, they could just skip all the complications and go down to 2 drivers like the Pro AF Corse Ferrari's have been doing. A final option is to pick Jonny Adam or Daniel McKenzie, the other "Young Drivers", even though they are British.

Rydell isn't doing anything this year as far as I know.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Mr Pink

Rydell isn't doing anything this year as far as I know.

Then he's pretty much the perfect choice.

[CTD]

Nykjær dont have any GT or Endurance experince, so not a good choice to replace a Platinum driver. The only danish choices I can think of is trying to take some of the young Danish talents: Kevin Magnussen, Michelle Gatting, Marcus Sørensen, Nicki Thiim and finally Michael Christensen.
Many of these drivers are however under contracts with teams and Marques which might eliminate them from the chance of running an Aston Martin.

[Nigma]

Originally Posted by Beetle

Then he's pretty much the perfect choice.

I think I read somewhere he does commentary for the STCC since he stepped down from active racing when the new regs were outdated the S2000 cars.

[GT3.14]

And commentary for DTM as well if I am not mistaken.

[Starfish Primer]

Kristofferson was one of the 2012 sensations (STCC, Porsche cup, Superstars) and seems forgotten this year.