[LM24 Race] Rate the 24 Hours of Le Mans

[GT6]

I gave it a 5 but perhaps that was a little generous, however the visits and the sight of the deltawing and toyota's made the slightly less exciting race seem better

[chernaudi]

Am I fair to say that this Le Mans was a lot like 2004's in that many of the leading cars had issues that would allow one to get ahead and and would later swing things the way of a competitor?

Just several similarities: both races had an Audi 1-2-3-5 finish, the race was decided by who had the fewest issues and when they happened, a similar distance was covered (379 laps vs 378 this year), all the front runners had some type of issue, both Audi and Toyota, and a combination of speed and attrition decided the outcome.

This wasn't quite like 2012, but it kept me plenty entertained for the 22 hours of so that Speed showed, and at least team orders weren't called until the #2 fell off or to the tail end of the lead lap after Allan's off.

[eps]

Originally Posted by Acid09

I'm sorry but I have the feeling you didn't see the last few Le Mans races?

Peugeot playing catchup? Maybe in terms of strategy but in terms of speed, Peugeot had the clearly faster car from 2008 to 2010.

Audi wasn't able to respond to Peugeot in 2009 which led to a loss and wasn't respond in terms of speed in 2010 either.

I've been to every Le Mans since 1997.

Audi have guaged the balance between speed and fragility just right. Peugeot had a car which was quick, but too fragile - or had heat sink problems after lengthy stops, Audi covered all the bases and kept their cars out of the pits. They also ensured that if problems did occur, they could resolve them very quickly - especially the use of the Ricardo drivetrain.

[eps]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Diffilcult this, as I suppose I have to separate emotion from reality. But I can't.

Any Le Mans is going to have a starting point of at least 5 with me - simply because it is the world's greatest motor race. I give it a 7, based upon how exciting I found the first few hours and that tiny hope in the morning that Rebellion could just get a podium.....

On an emotional level, Le Mans gets a 'Spinal Tapian' 11 from me every time.

Yep, there is something near magical about the place. I thought it was one of the best "Audi years" Le Mans. Some of the others have been too sterile in the final few hours. This year, at least, it seemed like Audi were letting them off the leash and race. Unfortunately the issue with the "McNish" car put paid to any of that - even if he could have reeled the Treluyer car in... I also hoped the Rebellion car would have got on the podium. If Audi had "only" had 3 or 2 cars, then they would have probably been on the podium...

I think this is the problem, with the current Le Mans setup. Privateers bring two cars, Manufacturers bring 3 or 4. I think the 2014 regs. preclude this from happening.. But even still having it tilted massively in favour, is "unfair" - admittedly Audi and other manufacturers spend a lot on the event and the circuit and so on, but it's hedged well in their favour, too well.

[Simmi]

Went for a 7. I think the beauty of a 24 hour race is that you can't know beforehand truly how it will turn out. It's easy to pick a number in hindsight when the dust has settled but the important thing for me was enjoying the race in the moment - as you never know what will happen.

Standing trackside I have to agree with Ayse in the fact that it's always going to be skewed towards the positive end of the scale.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

For 2 users who rated the race 10, This is a "Ten":




And for anyone thinking of giving it a one...:

[vincegail]

^^^
Except when you're the driver in the Porsche....
Race was good, but not extremely good. A 7 in my book.
And the Indy farce doesn't deserve any points. Not even a 1.

[Deleted]

Solid 8+

I was never really fond of the Audi vs Pug fight so IMO in many ways this race as a whole was actually more exciting than last year! Good fights and happenings throughout the field.

GTE-PRO on Saturday was fantastic, and AM shined on Sunday. Too bad that the ACO cameramen were too busy filming lone Audis doing nothing at the front when the battle between Larbre and IMSA was at the hottest.

OK it was disappointing to have the factory vettes struggling so bad after halway mark (and the #74 was struck by misfortunes while leading for the fourth year in a row) but misfortunes for my own favourites don't necessarily make the race any worse. I'm delighted for Ferrari, it is not hard to admit that it's the best car of the bunch by a country mile and the AF Corse guys pulled out a masterful drive. Also third year succession for Larbre was heartwarming

Rebellion's 4th was great too. Really goes to show how massive advantage R18 has over the fastest of privateers though, #3 was numerous laps down at some point but came by in a matter of few hours

[Steptoe]

Went for a 7 but in hindsight I think it should have been an 8 the first 6 hours were edge of the seat stuff and deserved a 10. Also as spectators were down this year access to good viewing areas was so much easier which mad the overall experience better. If it had been sunny then I think the marking might have been higher still.

[kpkorsager]

I think it was a good race, but not epic.