[WEC] 2016 WEC Discussion

[Deleted]

Yours wasn't an answer, it was "it's a world championship that's why". What rationale does that have? I'm waiting for reasons with arguments.

I haven't decided an answer (just because I don't agree with the whole thing doesn't mean it does not exist), I was just thinking that myself now. Maybe it's because of the auto entry process. What if there was someone was not selected for full season even though they wanted to, but still entered every regular event regardless as 'additional entry' (+ Le Mans if they got the nod from ACO) and ended up winning the championship. That could encourage some people to do so and not even bother to fill up the full season entry paper work. Such could have extra nuisance for the ACO.

But the flaw of this theory is that if you don't end up getting that LM entry you are kinda screwed to point. Also ACO could theoretically reject you an one-off somewhere else too.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Chiana

Yours wasn't an answer, it was "it's a world championship that's why". What rationale does that have? I'm waiting for reasons with arguments.

I haven't decided an answer (just because I don't agree with the whole thing doesn't mean it does not exist), I was just thinking that myself now. Maybe it's because of the auto entry process. What if there was someone was not selected for full season even though they wanted to, but still entered every regular event regardless as 'additional entry' (+ Le Mans if they got the nod from ACO) and ended up winning the championship. That could encourage some people to do so and not even bother to fill up the full season entry paper work. Such could have extra nuisance for the ACO.

But the flaw of this theory is that if you don't end up getting that LM entry you are kinda screwed to point. Also ACO could theoretically reject you an one-off somewhere else too.

Youre pulling words out of nowhere or taking what I said out of context. Read again what I said-

Originally Posted by TF110

Why give points to cars not entered in the wec as a whole? Its not a regional series but a "world championship".

Thats my answer for their line of thinking. Notice its a question. There is no "its a world championship thats why".

What do you want, a paragraph long response? I dont see why my statement needs to be taken as an argument anyway. Thats probably their logic. The wec is special and it shouldnt have random points scorers? Doesnt the tusc thread have the same logic?

[lms]

Jota sport with Oreca 05 in WEC next year!
http://www.endurance-info.com/en/jot...05-in-fia-wec/

[Coach Ep]

And they bought not one but two chassis at once! (one for testing, one for racing).

Hopefully that testing chassis becomes available to race as well at some point.

Seems Oreca is doing great business, after KCMG Jota is now the second team to order 2 cars from the ACO's favorite mistress () and with Thiriet TDS having bought the first car last year and recently US based Dragonspeed ordering one as well, the count now stands at 6 cars (that we know of) sold I believe.

Onroak's (Ligier) score so far is 7 (G-Drive 2x, ESM 2x, Krohn, Shank, Algarve Pro).

[Acid09]

Apparently all three manufacturers in LMP1 are in favor of retaining the current set of rules beyond 2017 and are pushing for no changes in the forseeable future to keep the costs down.

http://www.motorsport-total.com/wec/...-15090302.html

Sounds reasonable to me, long-term stability is always a good thing. Whether the ACO & FIA agrees probably depends on whether there's commitment from a new manufacturer to join in 2017 if the rules change.

[Coach Ep]

Porsche wants no extension to the calendar, no new rules in 2017 - all because of cost control they say. Yet, in the meantime they got 230 or so team members employed and likely to add to that number.

Yeah, right....

[deggis]

Originally Posted by Acid09

all three

Freudian slip?

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Porsche wants no extension to the calendar, no new rules in 2017 - all because of cost control they say. Yet, in the meantime they got 230 or so team members employed and likely to add to that number.

Yeah, right....

Yeah with a brand new facility. I doubt theyre concerned with cost saving when delaying new rules or new races.

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by deggis

Freudian slip?

Well no, the article only mentions that the current three manufacturers agree.

With that being said, the author gathered his quotes during the Nürburgring round so he couldn't possibly gotten any from Nissan. But their participation beyond 2016 is doubtful anyways, to say the least...

[Artur]

Originally Posted by deggis

I think you forgot certain two-wheeler championship. WEC's two inherit things, non-driver-centric championship and long-ass races, are contradictory to mass appeal. Other than visiting the shiniest and most glorious circuits, I don't think WEC itself promotes itself as a F1 alternative at all. It mostly the fan base itself that has this obsession of comparing everything to F1, often in a biased way. Frankly this idea that WEC should or could some day become as big as F1 (or MotoGP) is naive and in my opionion is a disservice because the series should stand on its own.
.

Entirely agree.

Even though F1 is free falling _and will likely continue to do so, for quite more years, up until a point when most of the general mainstream mass viewers no longer follows it_ it's niche of followers is still bigger than sportscar's because of it being a driver fanboyism centered thing in short races format, as you already well said.

The gap from sportscar and F1 will, inevitably(imo, as today the casual mainstream viewer has much more options of what to do/watch), decrease but it will be due to Uncle Bernie's little show significantly shrinking instead of WEC's massively growing(as I already posted before, the heavy shriking of F1 has already happened on Germany, France, Italy and will happen the same in Spain once Alonso retires)

deggis, I know Finland is a small country, so it's viewers impact is not that big, but just out of curiosity, I heard Finnish tv had +1 million viewers back when Hakkinen was still around and Kimi during his first "stint". I was also told this number heavily dropped to around 200k viewers in 2010, and never recovered after that. Do you know if that is true? And what about Le Mans' tv rating, does Eurosport reaches decent numbers there?

Originally Posted by Chiana

I have never seen a single minute of cricket in my life. Or rugby.

Neither did I.
I think these sports are only popular in a couple of countries(England, Australia...)

Originally Posted by deggis

Freudian slip?

to be fair, Nissan is a non entity, really

[deggis]

Originally Posted by Artur

deggis, I know Finland is a small country, so it's viewers impact is not that big, but just out of curiosity, I heard Finnish tv had +1 million viewers back when Hakkinen was still around and Kimi during his first "stint". I was also told this number heavily dropped to around 200k viewers in 2010, and never recovered after that. Do you know if that is true? And what about Le Mans' tv rating, does Eurosport reaches decent numbers there?

Not sure about that exact figure but F1 went pay-tv in 2007, so the big drop basically happened already then. Ratings has probably remained smaller but stable since. Pay channel ratings aren't part of the public tv ratings survey. Eurosport: never seen any national figures, probably very miniscule.

Neither did I.
I think these sports are only popular in a couple of countries(England, Australia...)

New Zealand, India, Pakistan and other commonwealths. May be limited to just few countries but the follower base is huge.

to be fair, Nissan is a non entity, really

But still aren't they a full season entry (they're just paying the insignificant fines for not showing up) and regardless of this I can't see ACO/FIA ignoring them.

[Spyderman]

Originally Posted by deggis

New Zealand, India, Pakistan and other commonwealths. May be limited to just few countries but the follower base is huge.

....South Africa, West Indies, Zimbabwe, Namibia.

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Artur

Neither did I.
I think these sports are only popular in a couple of countries(England, Australia...)

Cricket and rugby are hugely popular. Rugby is watched by a similar amount worldwide as American football and cricket is the second most popular sport in the world. It's huge in India, the world's second largest country, and a whole host of others beyond "England and Australia."

I don't want to get into a debate about sports, but my original point is that there are a lot of sports which are hugely popular that entertain in very different ways. 6 hours may be shorter than a football/soccer match but there are a number of hugely popular sports that last for a similar amount of time or longer.

[MoMedic9019]

Originally Posted by Acid09

But their participation beyond 2016 is doubtful anyways, to say the least...

Says who?

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by MoMedic9019

Says who?

Acid09

Now take your does/doesn't game over to the Nissan thread or get over it - both of you.

[TheMightyM]

For those trying to predict the 2016 WEC schedule, here are some additional pieces of the puzzle in the form of the 2016 ELMS schedule, which features an additional race:

April 15-16— Silverstone
May 13-15 — Imola
July 15-17 — Red Bull Ring
Aug. 26-28 — Paul Ricard
Sept. 23-25 — Spa-Francorchamps
October 21-23 — Estoril

[merak1974]

Originally Posted by TF110

I donno about Ferrari joining, but some FIAT brand would be a good idea. Alfa? Maserati? There were rumors about the group wanting back in sportscars.

Would be great to have a Maserati in the series.

[Adam43]

The Nissan LMP1 "discussion" thread is here: http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...40538&page=326

[TheMightyM]

WEC schedule may not be out this weekend after all. Per S365:

It’s unclear if the 2016 schedule will be released this weekend as originally planned. It’s understood a final piece of the calendar is still being finalized, with a time and day for the announcement not yet having been scheduled.

[Deleted]

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/n...ent-like-cota/

Same old we-have-to-be-patient-stability-is-the-key and COTA-or-nothing speech we've all heard million times before, but the Spa comment is funny - as if 2012 was the first launch for the event yeah right (also I'm sure the rain didn't factor at all...)

[Coach Ep]

Neveu is aware of the issues of the place and timing of the CotA race yet doesn't wanna acknowledge his mistake by going there (at this time of year). He rather wants to hang on to something that we all know isn't gonna succeed - and by doing so is running first class sportscar racing in the US into the ground...

We better enjoy it while it lasts!

[MoMedic9019]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Neveu is aware of the issues of the place and timing of the CotA race yet doesn't wanna acknowledge his mistake by going there (at this time of year). He rather wants to hang on to something that we all know isn't gonna succeed - and by doing so is running first class sportscar racing in the US into the ground...

We better enjoy it while it lasts!

Neveau is well aware of the issues with COTA, but is trying to give them an opportunity to correct their issues. As of right now, the WEC has not signed on past 2016.

They need to find a different US venue. COTA just isn't worth the time. And, if the financial issues continue to plague them, it won't matter what the WEC does.

There is nobody else to find to go COTA. The maximum number of fans is already present, and, with COTA's policies being what they are, the race is dead... They will do better elsewhere... Including Indy.

[HJJ]

Indy. And I'll go 2-3 weeks before COTA.

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by MoMedic9019

Neveau is well aware of the issues with COTA, but is trying to give them an opportunity to correct their issues.

I'd argue that the issues are WEC's, it's their choice to go to CotA - wrong place, wrong time.

The Ring showed that a (re)new race at an established sportscar track can be a (huge) success - Neveu knows what he needs to do emulate that in the US, he just doesn't want to, all because his ego (and that of others) are too big...

[DeezPutz]

Originally Posted by HJJ

Indy.

Winner winner chicken dinner.

It would make the crowd at COTA look like the Super Bowl, though.