2018/19 FIA World Endurance Championship

[Duke]

I think Foxtel / Eurosport are showing some of it too.

[DarrenM]

Qualifying results

http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Result ... ifying.PDF

Rocky start for Toyota. The 7 car (Conway, Kobayashi, López), which initially had pole has effectively been given a 1 lap penalty due to a clerical error. They wrote the wrong part id number for the fuel flow meter and it was picked up in scrutineering.

They have to start from pit lane and can't leave until the field has completed 1 lap.

https://www.racingbytmg.com/toyota-gazo ... ent-car-7/


Manor won't be starting because they haven't paid for their cars. Amazing they can get this far into an event before the plug gets pulled.

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/mano ... ng-issues/

Ginetta has confirmed that its pair of Manor-prepared G60-LT-P1 Mecachrome LMP1 cars will not start tomorrow’s Total Six Hours of Spa, with the British constructor not having released the cars due to non-payment.

A statement released by Ginetta explained that the absence of payments from major backer Talent Racing Sports (TRS) to entrant CEFC TRSM Racing has prevented the two cars from making the grid.

[Duke]

Dale Coyne Racing rookie Pietro Fittipaldi’s hopes of contesting his first Indy 500 might have to wait until 2019 after a heavy crash in qualifying for the FIA WEC’s opening round at Spa Francorchamps.

Fittipaldi suffered injuries to both legs in the impact at Raidillon behind the wheel of his DragonSpeed BR1 Gibson LMP1 car.

“At 15:52 today, Friday 4 May 2018, the No.10 DragonSpeed BR Engineering BR1 left the track at high speed at Raidillon, Circuit de Spa Francorchamps. The incident occurred during the LMP qualifying session for the 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps,” read a statement from the FIA.

“The car was being driven by Pietro Fittipaldi of Brazil.

“The driver, who was conscious at all times, was attended immediately by the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Medical Services and FIA Medical Delegate Jacques Tropenat, extracted from the car and taken by helicopter to the Centre Hospitalier de la Citadelle de Liège with suspected fractures to both legs. He is accompanied by the DragonSpeed Team Manager and his condition is not life-threatening.”

[w00dsy]

[pixelboy]

Was a good opening round. Good battles throughout the field.

That restart was mental.

[KNAPPO]

WOW, the #8 coming thru like a freight train!

[Big Kev]

eek!

[Duke]

[Big Kev]

Porsche has announced that it will revive some classic liveries for the 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours race, which kicks off in less than two weeks’ time.

As part of the brand’s 70th anniversary celebrations, two factory-run 911 RSR racing cars will be adorned with iconic colour schemes from the 1970s and 1980s.

The number 91 car, which is to be driven by Italian Gianmaria Bruni, Frenchman Frédéric Makowiecki and Austria’s Richard Lietz, will wear the blue and white colour scheme of the old Rothmans-sponsored Le Mans-winning 956 C cars from the early 1980s.

The number 92 car, meanwhile, will be driven by French racer Kevin Estre, along with Laurens Vanthoor of Belgium and Danish driver Michael Christensen, and will parade the famous ‘Pink Pig’ design from the 917/20 of 1971.

[pixelboy]

They look great don't they.

The entire race is being shown on Foxtel (Eurosport channel) including a grid walk with Tom Kristensen before the start on Saturday night AU time.

[Duke]

Multiple sources are running this story today... Fark yeah!!!

The FIA World Motor Sport Council has confirmed plans for the World Endurance Championship to move its top tier class towards ‘hypercar’ style vehicles from the 2020/21 season.
Currently LMP1 is the endurance championship’s top class, though boasts only Toyota in a manufacturer capacity after Porsche and Audi withdrew from the sport in recent years.
The balance of the LMP1 field has been filled with privateer entries, who have purchased factory cars and engines, and do not run hybrid systems.
With reduced manufacturer interest, and the strength of the Daytona Prototype (DPi) racing in the United States, organisers of the World Endurance Championship have come under pressure to find a solution to boost outright LMP1 numbers.
It was expected that the sport would look to move towards the DPi style designs popular in the States, but instead the FIA has announced a new ‘hypercar’ style platform.
The “freedom of design for brands based on a ‘Hypercar’ concept” in theory opens the door for cars such as the Aston Martin Valkyrie, or the McLaren Senna, in the top class.
Though discussions remain ongoing, the World Motor Sport Council has confirmed that it is also targeting a budget of a quarter of that currently needed to field an LMP1 team.
Further details will be released over the course of the 24 Hours of Le Mans next weekend, along with plans design to encourage the participation of female drivers in the WEC.

[Duke]

[Duke]

Not long now so don't forget to grab Andy Blackmore's WeatherTech 2018 Le Mans Spotter Guide

[Duke]

Aston Martin Racing Le Mans Festival Race

[pixelboy]

If Toyota have some problems early this race could be an absolute belter! Or it could be a procession!

[Duke]

In a way I hope the Non-Hybrid P1 teams keeps the Toyota's honest particularly the Rebellion's. Many of the P1-H cars have not been known for the best reliability over 24hrs so any offtrack garage time could hurt Toyota.
The other classes should provide great racing, especially GTE-Pro after the overnight BOP changes.

Don't forget to grab the Free 2018 Le Mans Guide from Racecar Engineering Magazine.

[norbs]

9:19 to go. Anyone else see the driver nearly get hit by a pitting car. So close.

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

[Duke]

9:19 to go. Anyone else see the driver nearly get hit by a pitting car. So close.

Sent from my F8331 using Tapatalk

Nope I missed it.
I have to give it to Pix, it's been a really uneventful & dare I say it boring event so far.
In P1 the Rebellion's can only hope the Toyota's have mechanical failures while they play the careful "get to the end of the race" strategy.
The GTPro race has been ruined by the stupid mandatory pit window / maximum lap stint rule to curb excessive fuel usage. So the teams can't utilise strategy & it's just a series of sprint races. Then an early SC's gave one of the Porsche's an unintended advantage.
The only interesting thing is how much has Fando paid Toyota to let his car win if both cars stay this close to the end???

[pixelboy]

Yeah unfortunately it hasn't been the most memorable race so far. Some awesome battles in GTE earlier but up front Toyota have hardly missed a beat and are now 10 laps in front of the Rebellion.

But, still more interesting than any F1 race I've seen for a while!

[Duke]

Whao the No.7 Toyota has an issue.
This is not over yet..

Ah looks like it was just fuel related or a ctrl-alt-del reset.

[Dr. Pain]

The Fred Alonso card was just played.

[pixelboy]

I hope they keep Nakajima in the car for the finish!

[KNAPPO]

[Duke]

Ah no he hasn't...

Le Mans LMP2 Winner Excluded, Signatech Alpine Inherits Class Win

As things stand then the winning #26 G-Drive Racing car of Roman Rusinov, Andrea Pizzitola and Jean-Eric Vergne is excluded and the new class winner is the #36 Signatech Alpine of Nicholas Lapierre, Andre Negrao and (perhaps ironically) ex TDS driver Pierre Thiriet.

"The technical delegates issued a report to the Stewards that “an additional machined part not featuring in the drawing is inserted into the flow restrictor, changing the wetted restrictor surface described by the regulatory drawing.
"The Technical Delegates provided the Stewards with photos of the restrictor, the referenced part and its assembly to the “dead man valve”.
"The contested part is a machined part that extends from the dead man valve and inserts inside the cone of the Flow Restrictor.
"The Technical Delegates stated to the Stewards that they started their investigation of the competitor’s refuelling system following the race when they noted the competitor was able to refuel significantly faster than any of their competitors."

[pixelboy]

Porsche obliterates Nordschleife record with 919 Evo.
https://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/por ... o-1053130/