[WEC Race] 6 Hours Of Spa-Francorchamps 3-5 May 2018

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by MaskedRacer

There is low traffic when it comes to GTE discussions! None whatsoever.

That's a matter for you guys who post here. We can't manufacture comments.....

Originally Posted by XtC24

Of Course it's fantastic but I thought It was at least partially due to Alonso effect ��

Hmmm, not so convinced of that. Elsewhere among the great unwashed maybe, but I don't think it affects much at all here.

[Akrapovic]

I don't think this thread got longer because of Alonso comments. The users we see in here are generally the users we see in this forum anyway. There's not many 'F1 only' fans who have made their way in.

The first race of the season, a new era, and Spa probably all added up.

[Aysedasi]

Agreed.

[Deleted]

So since no-one's even mentioned LMP2... how does that look for Le Mans then... will it be Oreca fest or not? It's hard to tell how the special-waiver-EVO kits have worked out for Dallara and Oak. The RTN Dallara, before it's collapse, seemed to have a good pace at the start when in the hands of pro, but is that actually accurate representation of anything? Those things were 'fine' everywhere else except LM last year as well (in the ELMS). And Onroak, that JOKE showing from Larbre Comp doesn't exactly give us clues of anything.

[Steve McQ]

If you look at the timing result, Canal (silver rated) has been pretty quick all week-end at the wheel of the Larbre Ligier. To me, it's the only thing to remember from this really poor Larbre showing (again).

Combine that to the pace of the Dallara/van der Garde/Michelin package, it seems we could have a decent fight at Le Mans, provided that Dallaras and Ligiers have good trios at the wheel, and good teams too BTW. And when I look at the entry list as it stands now, it should be the case.

However, Oreca still outnumbers everyone else.

[S griffin]

I think LMP2 will be the one to watch at Le Mans, although I would be surprised if anyone beats ORECA

[Deleted]

I actually hope Oreca is still unmatched, because as much as I despise how Hughes de Chaunac lobbied to create French Cartel Empire with the dumbified spec ruleset, what I hate even more is allowing every other manufacturer except one a bag of gifts just because they built inferior chassis. If you can't have development in your spec class because of frozen technology, waivers are not the answer... EVO kits itself are fine if everyone can make them.

The most interesting thing about P2 though, just like last year, will be to see how high up they'll rise in the overall order. Assuming Manor shows up, the top car should qualify for 11th spot but I think in the race they will finish around 4th or 5th.

[S griffin]

I agree, it should be the best team/car combination that wins. Really ORECA should have no problems though

[Deleted]

Yeah I expected few reliability issues for them and/or Zytek last year but didn't really happen, and by now the cars are all fully ironed out

Oreca utterly dominating again would also show nice middle finger to the spec rules What would they do then, another set of special kits for next year, or actual BoP (as is written as possibility in the rules)?

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Irie

Found this posted in another forum
https://twitter.com/thebpillar/statu...93723821465602

Thanks for finding the analysis.

If anyone is still wondering why Thomas Laurent has made it to LMP1 so quickly, this should give a good indication.

Originally Posted by S griffin

It’s too easy for ORECA, it’ll be a walk in the park. Really this spec series hasn’t worked and they would do better to look at the way ELMS works

From a certain point of view, the spec series has worked fantastically...

[S griffin]

It’s too easy for ORECA, it’ll be a walk in the park. Really this spec series hasn’t worked and they would do better to look at the way ELMS works

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by J Jay

From a certain point of view, the spec series has worked fantastically...

Is that a French view

[TzeiTzei]

The new non-hybrid LMP1s are pretty quick, and the gap to Toyota wasn't as big as I feared. You have say that Oreca know what they're doing. The car came together late but was immediately very quick. Other privateers were a bit disappointing. But Spa is a bit of special track because of the layout and how LD/HD setups work. So maybe not the most representative track to judge the competitiveness of different cars. Bad luck for Dragonspeed. I just really want to see those Ginettas on track, let's hope Manor can sort out their issues. Didn't the chinese fund the team last year aswell? So it's not like there was never any money.

[EffectiveSprinkles]

Originally Posted by S griffin

It’s too easy for ORECA, it’ll be a walk in the park. Really this spec series hasn’t worked and they would do better to look at the way ELMS works

But... ELMS uses the exact same formula... which isn't even spec

Considering the amount of LMP2 cars in the world I'm not sure I agree.

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by Lagunaseca_4life

Meh looks like wec is back to 2012/2013 when Audi won every thing before and including Le Mans with no competition.boringg P1 class again I guess,Toyota's and FA's win are without merit and shallow.le mans will be a joke this year,just like the fia/aco have done with this race,anything to keep Alonso in the headlines.

And I've said it before with rebellion when they came to the US,they are a good team and great guys.but they are not a top level championship winning team when there's real competition involved.i laugh at the hopes that rebellion will stick it to Toyota.

GTE pro is finally really good with the Porsche's up to speed,gt's 488s,and now the new BMW and Aston martins.its a good field to put on a good show not just a 6 hour parade.

GTE AM also put on a good showing.

More Porsche 911 RSRs out there so we can hear that great engine noise at a lot more

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by EffectiveSprinkles

But... ELMS uses the exact same formula... which isn't even spec

Considering the amount of LMP2 cars in the world I'm not sure I agree.

If Racecar Engineering's Sam Collins calls it spec formula, it is spec.

Forced to use specific chassis out of 4 (3) selected: Quasi Spec

Forced not to have any development done on car: Spec

Forced to use specific engine: Spec

Forced to use specific ECU: spec

Forced to have proam drivers: Spec

The only thing not spec are the tires.

[EffectiveSprinkles]

As long as you can still choose a chassis and bodywork (with no development, granted) it's not spec. In my opinion anyway. Sort of a pointless discussion though, the main point is that ELMS uses the exact same formula as WEC so it's very odd to suggest WEC should 'use ELMS as an example'.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by EffectiveSprinkles

As long as you can still choose a chassis and bodywork (with no development, granted) it's not spec. In my opinion anyway. Sort of a pointless discussion though, the main point is that ELMS uses the exact same formula as WEC so it's very odd to suggest WEC should 'use ELMS as an example'.

Agree with the last sentence but guess we'll have to differ with the rest

Anyway, I AM glad there will be tire war again P2. Too bad that the Yokohama evaluation fron few years ago never materialized but at least Dunlop-Mic is good. About the only place left for this kind of thing besides SGT.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I don't think this thread got longer because of Alonso comments. The users we see in here are generally the users we see in this forum anyway. There's not many 'F1 only' fans who have made their way in.

The first race of the season, a new era, and Spa probably all added up.

Correct. I am loving Alonso having a go. But then I’m not a misery.

However my involvement isn’t this thread was down to me loving Sportscar and having the time (and enough other people who like Sportscar racing rather than moaning all the time).

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Simmi

Interesting to see. I was keen to see how Fernando would stack up against his team-mates and this shows he's right in the ballpark. It did look like Conway could close him down at will at the end of the race, but he should only improve - but the good news for Toyota is that he doesn't seem to be off the pace like Webber was in his first season with Porsche.

Obviously Alonso was going to be quick. But what you see there is his real talent; a consistent (quick) lap time. It’s his hallmark.

[andrewn7]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Obviously Alonso was going to be quick. But what you see there is his real talent; a consistent (quick) lap time. It’s his hallmark.

Yep, he was mega. Real superstar quality, on and off the track. Couldnt ask for more from a debut weekend really!

[chernaudi]

As to why I didn't comment on the GT goings on, one, I wasn't able to watch the race live, and I'm not the biggest GT fan out there. I normally follow GTs only when they're the top classes.

I'm a bigger prototype fan, but that doesn't mean that I dismiss GTs, they're just not my absolute favorite.

I also think that there was interest in the root of recent news/potential controversies over EOT/BOP on how close the LMP1 field would be. Not just to Toyota, but among the various privateers.

And as I said, it wasn't quite as close as I hoped for, but not a disaster. The gap was smaller than it was at times in the Audi R8 days where even at Sebring in 2000 they could gap the field by 1-2 seconds a lap when they needed/wanted to, let alone the same race a year later where they outqualified the field by 4-5 seconds! Granted, they had a couple of FCY or pace car situations, but the top 5-6 in LMP1 were on the lead lap for a long time, and the Rebellion cars (not counting the post race penalty for the #1) lost as much if not more time due to minor problems as due to Toyota's pace.

Some development on the privateers, with maybe some EOT help, and I think they could be there for LM and the rest of the season.

But onto the GTs. Ford and Porsche were the front runners as expected from reports that I read. I do wonder if the Ferraris and Aston Martins are genuinely off the pace, or are they doing a bit of politicking for LM BOP, since the system for LM is different compared to the bulk of the season.

[TF110]

The closest team to Toyota, Rebellion, had issues with both cars that basically took their chances from having two cars on the podium away. Not just the plank being excessively worn, but the fuel flow sensor issue that had to be fixed more than once. Those are unnecessary stops that took them off track and into the pits. I haven't done the math, but I do think without that, 2nd place may have been on the cards. 3 safety cars definitely would have helped. There's a lot of things they can fix to get on pace with Toyota that aren't just speed related. Pit stops are the biggest thing.

In all, things will close up imo. GTE always does regardless of gaps in the early races. Lmp1 will once the new teams get their act together and gather the data from Spa and the next round of tests. Lmp2 may actually feature if the Jumbo Dallara shows pace like it did early.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by TF110

The closest team to Toyota, Rebellion, had issues with both cars that basically took their chances from having two cars on the podium away. Not just the plank being excessively worn, but the fuel flow sensor issue that had to be fixed more than once. Those are unnecessary stops that took them off track and into the pits. I haven't done the math, but I do think without that, 2nd place may have been on the cards. 3 safety cars definitely would have helped. There's a lot of things they can fix to get on pace with Toyota that aren't just speed related. Pit stops are the biggest thing.

In all, things will close up imo. GTE always does regardless of gaps in the early races. Lmp1 will once the new teams get their act together and gather the data from Spa and the next round of tests. Lmp2 may actually feature if the Jumbo Dallara shows pace like it did early.

Zero chance the Rebellions would've had second place without any issues. The #7 Toyota was fast enough to win the race, and neither Rebellion was fast enough to keep up with the #8 Toyota, the second fastest car. Without issues they still averaged 1-2 seconds a lap slower.

The Rebellion issues with the data transmitter were neutralised by a Safety Car later in the race, so it didn't actually cost them any time in the long run (but would've if they had used FCY rather than SC). The data transmitter issue only occured on the #1 - the #3 was trouble free and only suffered due to unlucky timing with the final SC.

Same with the poor pit stops - the non-hybrids all lose 2 seconds refiring the engine after the stop, but Rebellion were losing another 2-3 on top of that because they weren't completing driver changes in time. Even if you take that out, they still aren't even close.

It might be different come Le Mans, but even if the private teams ran trouble free at Spa they wouldn't have had a chance to win (not saying they should, however).

[TF110]

I think the safety cars worked against them. Sorry I wasn't clear about that in my last post. I forgot to say that their pit stops were slow as well. So I think without the multiple safety cars which basically gave the #7 it's lap back and put it in touch with those already ahead I think they could have had 2nd and maybe 3rd. The #7 would have had to drive through the field twice. Possible, but I think they would have been 3rd with the lead Rebellion just ahead had everything gone green and pit stops were 'normal' without other issues.