[AGD]

Originally Posted by Félix

The bumper car problem is not that the factory cars do it, it's that they're so fast that they can still finish in front of untroubled cars.

Right, but there were times where Strakka did the same thing last year where they had a mechanical issue that set them back by a fairly significant amount and they would blow by the Judds and Zyteks to win. I can't remember the circumstances exactly, but wasn't there a race last year where Strakka came back from a lap or two down late after an issue to end up winning LMP2?

There are many imperfect comparisons one can do but we'll never get a clear and final answer that stops all debates. We can only look back afterwards and things appear a little clearer based on the development and rule changes from the following year(s)... and when we look back at 2010 stats, what we can all agree on is that there is no way to compare the Highcroft HPD's speed because it didn't come back. Good efforts like these keep disappearing, entries don't look serious anymore because they don't go with only pro drivers and pretty soon we are faced with a lack of competition that stems not from the diesels' superiority, but simply from the fact that everyone else has given up. Nothing to compare, even harder to know how big the injustice was in the first place. And very few people left to complain.

I was completely disappointed by the lack of serious entries for my first time at Le Mans this year. It seems everyone has moved way past competing for winning the race and either lets sons of millionaires drive their cars, is content with half-measures and getting paid to merely show up. When someone talks about winning... it's the petrol class. Maybe it's just because I idealized that whole thing as an actual sport.

Well, to be fair, Strakka seemed to have a slight edge on Highcroft and Strakka will be back with what looks like a fairly competitive petrol LMP1 next year. Ok, I'm not sure if it will compete for wins with the diesels since it won't have the same level of development, but it may shame the rest of the petrols depending on what they do. Of course, as you say, this will be a pro-am effort so certainly they are up against it given that they are going up against the diesels.