[WEC] Porsche Prototype Discussion

[Hawkwood]

S365 also states that Lieb and Dumas are still under threat:
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/t...ady-finalized/

[gert]

Tandy confirmed?

http://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/t...ine-up-843059/

[J Jay]

If it is then I'd say they made the right choice, home country bias notwithstanding.

Regardless, I wonder if the announcement will be held off until the end-of-year event or if it will happen at Bahrain.

[chernaudi]

I can see Porsche moving Leib back to the GT side of things. He's had more success in GT cars than the Porsche LMP1, and the GT program obviously can benefit from his engineering and development background.

[gert]

Possible.
The problem is: what does Lieb want? If Porsche wants to keep Lieb in the family for his engineering/development abilities, it's unlikely he will be "demoted" if he doesn't want to.

Of course, if he wins the title, then that - together with the Le Mans win - would be "mission accomplished" , and would make it much easier for him to walk away from the LMP program, and go help develop the new GT car.

If that were the case: Bamber or one of the Audi drivers?
I'm hearing rumors Lotterer in particular is being targeted.

[chernaudi]

Not unless TMG get him first. Lotterer might be in with a shot due to Audi and Porsche both being part of Volkswagen Group, but Andre also has a long standing business relationship in Japan with Toyota, and I can see them making an offer. And TMG/Toyota Hybrid Racing isn't exactly skimping on cash anymore given the investment that they're making in updating the 2017 spec TS050, and the issue of running a third car for LM is very likely, as well as entering it for all the pre-LM races.

[TF110]

Vasselon said a third Toyota car could be something previous Audi drivers feature in. That was mentioned on Endurance-info. I don't think Porsche picks any of them up unless they too have a third car.

[gert]

Regarding Lotterer, there's a few things to consider:

* Toyota have announced their full-time driver lineup has been completed before Audi's withdrawal. That means probably Lopez and 5 others (most likely 5 of the 6 current ones), and no Audi drivers.
* Porsche has made no such announcement. There was a seat available (Webber) that seems to go to Tandy. There is still some buzz regarding Lieb's and Dumas' seats.
* What does Lotterer want? Does he want/prefer a full-time WEC drive or a Le Mans drive only? Does he want to do something else? (e.g. SuperGT)
* Does Lotterer have a contract with Audi or the VW group? Is it a WEC-specific contract or is he tied to the brand (Audi or VW)? Does the contract run out at the end of 2016? Does the contract end because Audi leaves WEC?
* If he's still contracted to Audi in 2017, can/will Audi place him in a GT-car? Does he want that? Combined with a Le Mans drive at Porsche or Toyota?
* If he's still contracted to Audi, does Audi loan him out to Porsche? Like Porsche did with Dumas and Bernhard (and Rockenfeller?) a few years ago?

Too many variables at play.

Same questions for the 5 other Audi drivers - although my guess is Lotterer would be top of the pick list.

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by gert

Same questions for the 5 other Audi drivers - although my guess is Lotterer would be top of the pick list.

I think only Lotterer is the real question mark. The most likely scenarios for the others - di Grassi and Duval focusing on Formula E, Fassler and perhaps Jarvis back to GT cars, Treluyer into retirement. So they're likely off the market for Porsche and Toyota.

[chunder]

The same driver lineup thing happened in WRC, but expect that to change a fair bit too in recent weeks as some of the drivers in VW WRC and Audi LM are top drawer and a team could quite rightly sacrifice a lesser driver to employ one of them.

Survival of the fittest it is, and they will all be compensated if they lose a drive, that much is a right really.

[gert]

Originally Posted by Victor_RO

I think only Lotterer is the real question mark. The most likely scenarios for the others - di Grassi and Duval focusing on Formula E, Fassler and perhaps Jarvis back to GT cars, Treluyer into retirement. So they're likely off the market for Porsche and Toyota.

That would be more or less my assumption too.
Jarvis has indicated he wants to stay in LMP, so maybe he can pick up an LMP2 seat if anyone's interested in his services.

[Starfish Primer]

But in the WRC there is a new manufacturer, Toyota.

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by gert

That would be more or less my assumption too.
Jarvis has indicated he wants to stay in LMP, so maybe he can pick up an LMP2 seat if anyone's interested in his services.

Albuquerque seems happy enough to have been a plug-n-play driver for various LMP2 teams over the last 2-3 years, but that was with a guaranteed LMP1 drive at Le Mans in the third car. I don't think Jarvis would have been content with this before the withdrawal, but it may be his only shot left if he wants to stay in the WEC as I don't think he's good enough to justify sacrificing a current Toyota/Porsche driver (like Lotterer is). If he doesn't, I think Japan is a more likely option than the fall-back of driving one of the hundreds* of R8s racing nearly every weekend.

*IIRC that's not an exaggeration...

[Japanese Samurai]

Motorsport.jp reports that Andre Lotterer will join in the Porsche team for 2017.
It also reports that he will also participate in Super Formula from Team Tom's.
http://jp.motorsport.com/wec/news/we...%81%B8-849576/

[J Jay]

I wonder what Nick Tandy is thinking right now...

Although the situation was slightly different for Porsche than Toyota - as they had drivers with LMP1-H experience in their stable - it looks like Lotterer was too good a driver to pass up regardless.

If Toyota were speaking to Lotterer (not that we'd find out now), the offer of a full season as opposed to the first three races may have made the decision for him.

[Starfish Primer]

We know Webber's seat is available but there are rumours that Lieb and Dumas leave so Tandy can have a full season drive too.

[ederss7]

Lotterer and Timo together? Wow. Best trio IMO, by far.

[Starfish Primer]

Lotterer to Porsche according to Motorsport.com

http://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/l...season-850197/

[airbusA346]

Wonder if Lieb/Dumas would go back into GTE if they lost their seats.

[Acid09]

Some more info in this article on Lotterer's situation:

http://www.motorsport-total.com/wec/...-16111404.html

His Formula Nippon drive dosen't pay him anything, the team only covers his travel expenses and his Tokyo apartment, he needs a second programme to actually earn money to make a living.

Considering this a limited programme with Toyota probably wasn't an option for him, he needed a full season drive...looks like he found one

[chernaudi]

I also don't think that even if Audi Sport were generous enough to, I don't think that Andre would like getting paid to do nothing. The guy's a racer, that's what he does and does well.

[porman]

I was waiting for confirmation of this move and have to say that I'm very pleased. I honestly don't see Lieb staying. Smart move by Porsche and Lotterer.

[Hawkwood]

I see no reason for Porsche not to at least bump Lieb down to the GT ranks for 2017 (though he may choose to retire at the top of course).
They do have a new car coming after all.

Dumas to GT, then the (possible) third prototype at Le Mans.

It does seem increasingly likely that Tandy, Bamber and Lotterer will be racing full season next year.

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Acid09

His Formula Nippon drive dosen't pay him anything, the team only covers his travel expenses and his Tokyo apartment, he needs a second programme to actually earn money to make a living.

This is news to me, I would have assumed that there would be significant salaries for competing in Japan's premier single seater series. Is this only for Lotterer, or are most of the SF drivers (that aren't on the fast-track) only paid to cover their costs?

While there are obviously other things that factored into his decision to join Porsche, it's not hard to imagine that if he was paid for his Super Formula drive then he might have been more likely to pick Toyota, even if it was only the third car...

As for Lieb/Dumas, I think the former would be hard done by with a move to GTE, but his off-track skills are ideal for preparing and developing the new 911. Dumas hasn't impressed me for a while now so I wouldn't be fussed if he is moved out of the #2.

So we could be looking at a lineup of Bamber, Bernhard, Hartley, Jani, Lotterer & Tandy. Wow.

[gert]

A possible 'demotion' to GTE would maybe not be as hard as it seems for Lieb, depending on the result in Bahrain.

If he closes 2016 with a championship win *and* a Le Mans win, wouldn't that be "mission accomplished"? Maybe he'll happily accept GTE as a new challenge?

On the other hand, he could be massively disappointed too.