[LM24] NASCAR returns to Circuit de la Sarthe...

[keviiinn]

Jimmie Johnson was never that great on road courses, even in his championship prime. Doesn't surprise me he lagged behind his teammates. I never even understood why his first year in Indycar was all road courses when he wasn't even good at them. Other than the indication he was scared of crashing at high speeds on ovals.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by keviiinn

Jimmie Johnson was never that great on road courses, even in his championship prime. Doesn't surprise me he lagged behind his teammates. I never even understood why his first year in Indycar was all road courses when he wasn't even good at them. Other than the indication he was scared of crashing at high speeds on ovals.

He should be scared to rub ovals in an IndyCar. Watch any of those races? Makes F1 look like child's play.

And it doesn't surprise me either that a guy who spent the better part of two plus decades racing on mostly speedways in a spec series with two road races a year didn't keep up with the likes of Mike Rockefeller and Jensen Button on a track he had never seen. The fun this particular endeavor was, many years after another Camaro ran at Le Mans with a bunch of two-bit Americans, is what I'd like to remember, but hey, lap times is lap times.

[Adam43]

It’s not the winning it’s the taking part. In most cynical professional sport that is far from true. For Le Mans it is the taking part that is important probably for most of the competitors. It’s a proper sport.

[skycafe]

Marshal Pruet from RACER with John Doonan, of IMSA, who ran this G56. Also Jenson Button drinking champagne after the race and sharing moments.

And....some great on-track shots of the great beast ripping across the countryside and past famous landmarks of the LeMans track.

https://youtu.be/98ZP7UB7IXE

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by keviiinn

Jimmie Johnson was never that great on road courses, even in his championship prime. Doesn't surprise me he lagged behind his teammates. I never even understood why his first year in Indycar was all road courses when he wasn't even good at them. Other than the indication he was scared of crashing at high speeds on ovals.

Wow, just wow to everything you said up there. You don't watch racing at all really do you?

[JT240Z]

Originally Posted by keviiinn

Jimmie Johnson was never that great on road courses, even in his championship prime. Doesn't surprise me he lagged behind his teammates. I never even understood why his first year in Indycar was all road courses when he wasn't even good at them. Other than the indication he was scared of crashing at high speeds on ovals.

Just another Jimmie Johnson hater, I guess. Lots of them in the NASCAR fan base.

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by Adam43

It’s not the winning it’s the taking part. In most cynical professional sport that is far from true. For Le Mans it is the taking part that is important probably for most of the competitors. It’s a proper sport.

As Baron Pierre de Coubertin liked to say
« Le plus important aux Jeux Olympiques n'est pas de gagner mais de participer, car l'important dans la vie ce n'est point le triomphe mais le combat ; l'essentiel, ce n'est pas d'avoir vaincu mais de s'être bien battu »

[The Fat Clerk]

Taking part in an event where suddenly they change the Safety Car rules so that you have to let everybody past you who you've already fairly overtaken.
Absolute farce.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Gerard C

As Baron Pierre de Coubertin liked to say
« Le plus important aux Jeux Olympiques n'est pas de gagner mais de participer, car l'important dans la vie ce n'est point le triomphe mais le combat ; l'essentiel, ce n'est pas d'avoir vaincu mais de s'être bien battu »

I was going to add a comment about the Olympics.

[Adam43]

Here is the "battle" comparison for G56 and a couple of GTE-Am cars.

Not that it was a battle, but it nice to see the relative pace. I got the impression during the race that the GT cars dealt with the changing conditions better. Here we see that the in the middle of the race it settled in to a pace that was comfortably faster. It was a joy to watch - I had the in car on for a long time on one of the screens for a long time.

[skycafe]

Mr. Button had a lot of fun

https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsp...-56-interview/

[Gerard C]

Yes saw this too. How refreshing it is. Enthousiasm, truth, fun, freshness all those things I feared to see gone for ever. Hope!

[S griffin]

That is nice to see. And enthusiasm is what Le Mans is about for a lot, so not really too much of a surprise

[JT240Z]

I hate to think that this will be the first and only time we'll see that Camaro on a track. I see no plans for its use going on into the future. I understand that, as a promotional vehicle, it did its job. Just would like to see it run in person here in the US.

[Mike E]

WEC Unfiltered

https://youtu.be/Z0T9pkvrYYs

[S griffin]

Originally Posted by Mike E

WEC Unfiltered

https://youtu.be/Z0T9pkvrYYs

Great insight there

[RL17]

There’s a second clean one that was at Brands Hatch a week or so ago. There’s going to be some runs at Goodwood FoS in mid July as part of the LM celebrations there- assume clean one again but maybe not.

[JT240Z]

I love this shot of the Garage-56 car in the pack:



Makes the car look so out of place. PS: This was supposedly not a photoshopped picture.

[rx555]

I ran across this excellent article from Sports Illustrated written about the Camaro that ran at the '81 race with Cale Yarborough.

https://vault.si.com/vault/1981/07/1...s-only-ol-cale

[Adam43]

Thanks.

Jense took G56 up the hill today. https://twitter.com/fosgoodwood/stat...208366081?s=61

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Thanks.

Jense took G56 up the hill today. https://twitter.com/fosgoodwood/stat...208366081?s=61

Came here to post this.
If you don't like this. You're wrong.

Originally Posted by rx555

I ran across this excellent article from Sports Illustrated written about the Camaro that ran at the '81 race with Cale Yarborough.

https://vault.si.com/vault/1981/07/1...s-only-ol-cale

Yeah, there's been a few American stock car drivers that have done the 24 in American machines. None have officially affiliated with or representing NASCAR itself.

Thx for posting this. Cale and Bill Hagan represented well!

This is hilarious:
The real pity is that Cale Yarborough, at 41, had turned out to be a natural for that course: Right at the start he had cranked the Camaro down the Mulsanne Straight at about 210 mph—that's two hundred and some miles an hour—and had pulled back in to allow, "Well, I didn't come over here to poke around; I could be back on the farm, poking around on my combine."

Love Cale. He's not doing well right now but had one helluva career.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by rx555

I ran across this excellent article from Sports Illustrated written about the Camaro that ran at the '81 race with Cale Yarborough.

https://vault.si.com/vault/1981/07/1...s-only-ol-cale

Great read.... thanks for sharing.

[S griffin]

Yes that is a great look back, certainly was very unique for it's time

[Mike E]

https://youtu.be/vyLeemwGW-E

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Yeah, there's been a few American stock car drivers that have done the 24 in American machines.
.

Dale Earnhardt had a stated interest in going to LeMans. He and Jr. did the Daytona 24 and came 4th in 2001 with Corvette Racing. If he had not been lost a couple of weeks later, LeMans may have likely an agenda item. I believe he had an interest in Sebring as well.

If Jr. hadn't had the fiery warm-up crash at Sonoma, he may have gone to LM at some point with Corvette to represrnt and honor his father.