[LM24] Le Mans 2021 Entry List News

[Mike E]

Originally Posted by joeb

They were the fastest non-Toyota in 2019 and finished 3rd at Le Mans, that ain't bad!

That was SMP Racing, not Dragonspeed.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Hawkwood

While that’s true, and it is indeed a good car, the good one wasn’t the Dragonspeed one.
I’m assuming Hedman won’t be driving it this time?

Good point, and I guess they would probably just use the car they have instead of changing to SMP spec. If Hedman isn't driving, who is leading the effort to put the car on the grid?

[Mike E]

4 car reserve list

No Dragonspeed LMP1

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2021/0...-24-hours.html

[GT6]

Shame about the BR1 but 4 cars so if a few drop out then we will still have a full grid, but perhaps not full grandstands

[Aysedasi]

69 year old Mark Patterson in the Algarve Pro reserve. I'm going to ask if I can be the third driver - to add some youth to the line-up.....

[GT6]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

69 year old Mark Patterson in the Algarve Pro reserve. I'm going to ask if I can be the third driver - to add some youth to the line-up.....

Blimey he is old enough to get the astra zeneca jab in France, well this week anyway, next week it could be back to being only the under 65's they way macron keeps changing his mind.

[gert]

Originally Posted by Mike E

4 car reserve list

No Dragonspeed LMP1

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2021/0...-24-hours.html

No 3rd Glickenhaus either.

[S griffin]

How likely was the 3rd Glickenhaus though?

[gert]

Originally Posted by S griffin

How likely was the 3rd Glickenhaus though?

No idea ...

[WyldStallion]

So the Le Mans entry so far is down yes as far as Pro classes go. I guess its easier to focus on the players who are there. By my count its essentially 14 cars..... 5 cars in LMH, the LMP2 class leader, whomever that is throughout the race to track overall position vs LMH), 7 GTE Pro cars, the GTE Am leader, to track overall position vs GTEPro.

I think Weathertech Porsche winning Sebring made things more interesting now. Clearly Matt Campbell and Mathiew Jaminet can compete with the best GTE Pro drivers. Cooper was good enough to keep it on the lead lap during his stints and benefit from safety cars. Le Mans safety car system I don't believe is as generous as IMSA's is. If I am not mistaken if you fall more than a 1/3 of a lap behind the class leader you won't be able to close the gaps anymore?

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by WyldStallion

I think Weathertech Porsche winning Sebring made things more interesting now. Clearly Matt Campbell and Mathiew Jaminet can compete with the best GTE Pro drivers. Cooper was good enough to keep it on the lead lap during his stints and benefit from safety cars. Le Mans safety car system I don't believe is as generous as IMSA's is. If I am not mistaken if you fall more than a 1/3 of a lap behind the class leader you won't be able to close the gaps anymore?

I think Jaminet will be a good bet for a LM drive with Weathertech but Campbell has a full-season WEC ride already with Proton-Dempsey.

Cooper's drive-time will have to be increased at Le Mans vs the Sebring bare minimum and as you say, the safety cars won't be handing out as many gifts.

I have to say I'm not usually among the forum members complaining about the 'specness' of it all. But after having my first serious look at the entry the other day it's just getting increasingly disappointing. I think there's enough driving talent in P2 to get excited about who is first Oreca, but new P2 regs can't come soon enough at this point.

[WyldStallion]

Originally Posted by Simmi

I think Jaminet will be a good bet for a LM drive with Weathertech but Campbell has a full-season WEC ride already with Proton-Dempsey.

Cooper's drive-time will have to be increased at Le Mans vs the Sebring bare minimum and as you say, the safety cars won't be handing out as many gifts.

I have to say I'm not usually among the forum members complaining about the 'specness' of it all. But after having my first serious look at the entry the other day it's just getting increasingly disappointing. I think there's enough driving talent in P2 to get excited about who is first Oreca, but new P2 regs can't come soon enough at this point.

Driving talent yes since traditional GT drivers are going to protos this year for the first time for many of them. I have never been interested in LMP2 at all though. The specness and the size of it makes it even worse. All that interests me is how the LMP2 class leader is in the overall standings compared to the LMH cars. Only in 2017 did P2 ever got my attention for obvious reasons to those who knows what happened at Le Mans that year.

GTE Am has not been interesting since the Keating Ford GT was there to win it. I consider them the real winners still by the way! Fleet of AFP's only? (aston, fer, por)...will pass on that. GTE Pro despite it's small size is enough to sustain my interest. You can get lots of good diverse GT3 grids throughout the year that has Aston, Ferrari, and Porsches already and much much more. So yeah GTE Am has no interest to me this year.

[gert]

I thought the rumours were putting Vanthoor and Bamber in the Weathertech Porsche.

[Mike E]

Originally Posted by gert

I thought the rumours were putting Vanthoor and Bamber in the Weathertech Porsche.

That does sound familiar.

[Mike E]

Originally Posted by Simmi

...new P2 regs can't come soon enough at this point.

What are the chances of BoP arriving in LMP2? With a development freeze we will just end up with everyone in the same car again, new regs or not.