[ELMS] ELMS 2014 Season

[Rodger Davies]

Thanks

[bella]

Originally Posted by TheMightyM

Agreed. 2015 is likely going to be a tough year for ELMS entries to get LM24 invites — the addition of Nissan to P1 probably takes three spots that would otherwise have gone to ELMS cars and Vipe says that they’ll have the money to do Le Mans next year as well, which is two more spots.

i'm not sure i get that logic. the lmp2 podium was all-elms through merit this year. if the lack of wec entries on that podium is anyone's "fault", it's that of the aco. in creating such a strong elms series, they've walked straight into an issue with the wec. if there's no marketing benefit to be had from competing in it, where's the incentive to spend the extra over sticking within europe and still being able to compete at le mans because of the complete lack of lmp2 wec entries?

if there's a similar lack of takeup in 2015 for whatever length of championship ends up appearing then i don't see any problem... or maybe i perceive "being tough" as meaning any more than the top 5 in the '14 championship would find themselves a long way down on the reserve list for '15, whereas you mean anyone in the top 10?

[Articus]

Le Mans will be a lot more exclusive next year in the lower ranks for sure. I think it's very good that the selection committee will actually be "stressed". It will put a lot more value on even being able to race at Le Mans.

[Deleted]

Le Mans not being part of WEC and auto entries surely would help in this aspect wink wink

Anyway, only few years ago it was the ALMS entries that vacated most of the LM grid spots, and now look at the NA numbers... it's ever changing

[ger80]

Are we going to see the FLM/LMPC cars coming back to Europe next year with teams being concerned if they will run in the main TUSCC races next year?

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by ger80

Are we going to see the FLM/LMPC cars coming back to Europe next year with teams being concerned if they will run in the main TUSCC races next year?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cgbZqR2AGI

[airbusA346]

Christina Nielsen replaces David Hallyday at IMSA Performance Matmut for the rest of the season.

http://www.endurance-info.com/en/chr...rmance-matmut/

[TheMightyM]

Pegasus Racing has bought a second Morgan-Nissan LMP2, and looks to eventually run both in ELMS and at Le Mans. Brief story here.

Good to hear but honestly, a second Pegasus car would have to rank near the bottom of the ACO's Le Mans invite priority list, which may complicate things for Pegasus.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by TheMightyM

Pegasus Racing has bought a second Morgan-Nissan LMP2, and looks to eventually run both in ELMS and at Le Mans. Brief story here.

Good to hear but honestly, a second Pegasus car would have to rank near the bottom of the ACO's Le Mans invite priority list, which may complicate things for Pegasus.

I wonder who's chassis it was? Maybe they found some money and can run a stronger lineup in the 2nd car?

[Deleted]

Even the first car ranks at the bottom of ACO's priority list

You know what, this team is basically the soulmate of Extreme Limite Paris. Very little and unnoticeable and off the pace but sympathetic.

[KA]

Originally Posted by joeb

I wonder who's chassis it was?

Maybe the Thiriet car after they upgraded to the new Ligier coupe?

[Pontlieue]

Sebastien Loeb Racing have withdrawn their car from the upcoming race, but plan to return for the final two races of the season.

http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/red...mieux-revenir/

[bella]

and romain brandela has left new blood by morand and been replaced by pierre ragues. shame for brandela, but the title battle just got realllly interesting:

http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/red...morand-racing/

[isynge]

Originally Posted by bella

and romain brandela has left new blood by morand and been replaced by pierre ragues. shame for brandela, but the title battle just got realllly interesting:

http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/red...morand-racing/

Sad not to see SLR at Zeltweg but to be honest they've underwhelmed this year, being a lot more anonymous that I expected them to be.

The title battle is, indeed, getting very interesting indeed. Much like I felt going in to Le Mans, in LMP2 there are some teams I can be pretty sure won't win it, but calling who will win it gets very tricky indeed. What's perhaps most encouraging is the chassis diversity at the front - perfectly feasible to see a Zytek, Ligier, Oreca, or Morgan get it.

[bella]

i agree with you. it really is up in the air. the ligier is the real mystery, i can't wait to see how it works away from le mans and on "normal" short circuits. from another perspective, murphy are still a bit of an unknown quantity too, their driver lineup has so much potential. i suppose at this point you have to say they're out of the title battle though. ultimately i'm expecting that to be between jota and signatech alpine, and if tds/thiriet hit the ground running with the ligier them too. you're right about the diversity in chassis - its very encouraging, and exactly what lmp2 should be about. i don't think there's any shame in the age of the cars involved either, the need for constant updates is just unnecessary when the competition is that fierce.

it's a shame about loeb's car i agree, never good to see one less car on the grid but i'm sure charouz and his backing will wash up somewhere.

[bella]

having said that about murphy, they've bailed out of the red bull ring round too due to the deal with gonzalez falling apart.

looking a bit thin on the ground in lmp2 terms now, but at least there's quality in there.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114967

[Deleted]

Funny to think that the infamous Donington 3 Hours had more P2s in it

[bella]

thanks for that

if anyone's in the area or bored and can find a cheap flight into northern italy or somewhere, then it's free to get in and there's autogp (great engine noise, but there's only about 10 of them) on the support bill. and the red bull ring is truly a fabulous part of the world.

[isynge]

Originally Posted by bella

having said that about murphy, they've bailed out of the red bull ring round too due to the deal with gonzalez falling apart.

looking a bit thin on the ground in lmp2 terms now, but at least there's quality in there.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114967

Disappointing indeed, and while it does make it a thinner grid at the front than Donington 2012, I seem to recall that was a fairly absorbing race and, as Bella says, Zeltweg is a beautiful part of the world - I've thoroughly enjoyed my trips there (even if they are rather a long time in the past).

That said a thin grid does tend to sap enthusiasm a bit, especially on a summer weekend with multiple attractions competing for time and attention.

[bella]

the weather *could* be interesting, it's been swaying between passing thunderstorms and "nah, it'll be sunny" for most of the week. the only consistent bit is that it's going to be just short of 30c, which is similar to last year and about 5 degrees warmer than imola.

[Deleted]

http://www.dailysportscar.com/?p=36693

While the battles have been entertaining and ferocious in the LMGTE category they have not been diverse. The Ferrari 458 Italia has almost been in a class of its own and has capitalised on a favourable BoP equation, particularly in weight and engine breaks carried over from 2013, to dominate the class. Feelings among many of the non-Ferrari teams are festering at present and if the dominance continues at the tighter Red Bull Ring then these behind the scenes grudges may come to the fore in a more public manner. The advantage is so extreme that many LMP2 drivers are also questioning the Ferrari’s straight-line speed as they struggle to make clean lapping manoeuvres during the race.

--- Can anyone challenge the bolting, galloping, slippery Prancing Horses? If they enjoy the same gaping advantage as the previous two races expect audible voices from the opposition and LMP2 teams/drivers for BoP pressure.

Never before have I seen words "favourable BoP equation" and "weight & engine breaks" used in the same context as the 458 GTE. What kind of hidden closed door BoP is ACO running there, cause it certainly cannot be the butchered WEC one where Ferrari always has the lowest possible values!

[Ginaro Zukovsky]

Well we were told the GTE cars have different restrictors when the top speed difference to the WEC GTE cars was noticed at Silverstone - is there a publicly available BoP sheet out there?

[Deleted]

I have never, ever seen a BoP sheet for ELMS/LMS anywhere, they've gotta be hidden somewhere under the rock. IMSA and WEC/ILMC yes but LMS never. In the recent years I sort of thought GTE&P2 used the same values as WEC but apparently not

[Ginaro Zukovsky]

Speak of the devil... http://www.europeanlemansseries.com/...e_bop_v08b.pdf

[carbon_titanium]

wow insane fuel tank for 458 and no restrictors for porsche!
now this officially explain why ELMS GT cars were faster than 2010-2011 GT1 at silverstone.