[LM24] Is Le Mans Going to Be Neutered For 2012?

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by JAG

There's been a long period when many wished cars were just like they were in the Group C days, personally I feel the time has come where the WEC and 2014 are more exciting, and more relevant to the modern world, than what's gone. I can now watch historic Group C and not think the best sportscar racing has to offer is in the past.

It's an interesting muse my friend. I've always looked back with huge fondness at the Group C days as that's what sportscars were all about when I started watching them and going to Le Mans. But watching them more recently in largely neutered historic mode now gives me little pleasure. But I still think the races I watched in the mid to late 80s were more exciting than the racing I've watched over the last 10 years or so. In fact, I enjoyed watching the Peugeot and Toyota cars from 92/93 and the glorious GT1s from a few years later even more. As to the future, I remain ready and willing to be impressed....

[Steptoe]

Tend to agree with Ayse the GRP C is my fondest memories for the same reasons said but it is not as good now as it was then. At the time I hated the 3500 litre formula (F1 cars with doors) but looking back it wasn't that bad. The GT era was good wth close racing especially the Mclaren win but Prototypes is what Lm is all about . We have probably seen one of the greatest eras of domination (Audi)just like we saw in the 80's with Porsche. I'm not a fan of diesels but you can't ignore the fact that the racing has been very close in past years, it just lacks noise up the front. Also the GT1 class battles have also been nail biters. At the end of the day so long as combustion engined prototypes are running at LM it will always be good.

[miatanut]

Originally Posted by AGD

It's like I've said before: professional auto racing "jumped the shark" some time ago.

Yup! At the same time you can see a FF or Spec Miata race and the racing is as good as it ever was, even though the cars are very equal.

Some people complained about the 'fuel economy runs' of Group C, but I also really enjoyed the Group C era, and with a bit bolder rule-making, it would be possible to have racing that was even better, while balancing safety considerations.

If the rules were that you had a certain number of BTU's/Joules to go the distance, any fuel source you wanted, safety regulations, but much more open rules about the configuration of the cars, the racing could be the best it's ever been. The emphasis would move more toward drag reduction and efficiency rather than being so focussed on grip and you would get cars with very different strengths and weaknesses. Somebody would get it better than anybody else and win by several laps, but that's OK. With such open powerplant and chassis rules, the next year may well be dominated by a different approach, so being the best copycat won't guarantee you victory.

With a greater emphasis on efficiency, it would also have increased appeal to manufacturers, who are looking for technology they can adapt for their road cars.

Efficiency could be something that makes the racing much more interesting, not less.

[Mal]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

It's an interesting muse my friend. I've always looked back with huge fondness at the Group C days as that's what sportscars were all about when I started watching them and going to Le Mans. But watching them more recently in largely neutered historic mode now gives me little pleasure. But I still think the races I watched in the mid to late 80s were more exciting than the racing I've watched over the last 10 years or so. In fact, I enjoyed watching the Peugeot and Toyota cars from 92/93 and the glorious GT1s from a few years later even more. As to the future, I remain ready and willing to be impressed....

Strangely I think the opposite - other than the the Jaguar Victories which were the best as far as atmosphere, I have found the recent years and especially 2011 some of the best racing I have witnessed at Le Mans. Group C was often an economy run and was largely dominated by the Porsche 956/962.

I did enjoy the GT1 years though.

[Spyderman]

I cant think why.

The average speed of the winning Porsche's in the 70's were about 198Km/h (with the exception of 1971 where a record of 222 Km/h was set)

The average speeds of the winning Porsche's in the 80's was almost always above 200Km/h (as much as 212km/h in 1985).

On the whole, the winning Porsche's average speeds in the 90's were slower