[WEC] 2018-2019 WEC Super Season

[TF110]

Too early to give Toyota the crown just yet. They are going to be setting records if this pace carries over though. I expect that the other cars will be getting faster and faster the more they run. They will or be given extra performance to compensate. I wonder if any of them are running high downforce cars? Better to compare them to the #7 Toyota if not.

[EffectiveSprinkles]

Originally Posted by canaglia

won't be surprised if the high downforce package who just marked 1.32 was even barely able to hit 300km/h as top speed vs. private lmp1 >330km/h.

farewell wec, I had some good time in late four season.

[LMPFan]

Originally Posted by TF110

Too early to give Toyota the crown just yet. They are going to be setting records if this pace carries over though. I expect that the other cars will be getting faster and faster the more they run. They will or be given extra performance to compensate. I wonder if any of them are running high downforce cars? Better to compare them to the #7 Toyota if not.

It would be nice if one of the SMP's was running the high downforce package on one of their cars.

[canaglia]

I checked some recent paul ricard onboard videos and as far I can see, they just made slower turns roadway a bit wider (I mean the two right handed slower corners before the fast left turn before mistral). Layout didn't get any change.

Anyway is someone able to explain how ford gt, that is still in 2016 specs without any evolution or big updates received since then, gained 6 seconds?

2016 prologue: 1.58.5
2018 prologue: 1.52.1

[Victor_RO]

At least half of each major improvement has to be put down to changes to the track, either to corner profiles or resurfacing.

[Mike E]

Lotterer is on a bit of a tear in the Rebellion. Very impressed with this effort, considering how late it has come together.

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by Mike E

Lotterer is on a bit of a tear in the Rebellion. Very impressed with this effort, considering how late it has come together.

Yep, been keeping an eye on that too. Just half a second covers the 3 BR1's, the Ginetta and the Rebellion. Very early days, but signs are that the new breed of privateer P1's are fairly evenly matched on pace.

[TF110]

Results are up from the from the first 'session', top speeds are interesting... Toyota #7 is 347.3 kmh! vs 339.6 kmh for the #17 SMP.

On second look, that 347kmh was on an in-lap for Toyota, but other top speeds are around 340kmh for it's flying laps.

[Damian Baldi]

Van der Zande getting very good lap times on the BR-Gibson. He knows the Gibson engine and knows the Dallara P2 chassis, I think he was a good choice for DragonSpeed.

[canaglia]

Originally Posted by TF110

Results are up from the from the first 'session', top speeds are interesting... Toyota #7 is 347.3 kmh! vs 339.6 kmh for the #17 SMP.

On second look, that 347kmh was on an in-lap for Toyota, but other top speeds are around 340kmh for it's flying laps.

well considering that according to track map, TS is set at the end of S2 and still far from braking point, it's likely that toyota hit >350km/h as real top speed and BR1 AER and CLM nismo use to hit about 340km/h.
What can I say.... private lmp1 lost the top speed advantage too....

488 EVO too low on top speed. New Vantage quite slow on straight too, but I'm not surprised.

[TzeiTzei]

Originally Posted by TF110

Results are up from the from the first 'session', top speeds are interesting... Toyota #7 is 347.3 kmh! vs 339.6 kmh for the #17 SMP.

On second look, that 347kmh was on an in-lap for Toyota, but other top speeds are around 340kmh for it's flying laps.

Instead of top speeds we should be looking at the sector times, especially sector 2 which covers most of the Mistral straight. The HD Toyota is 0,9s faster than the fastest non-hybrid. The LD Toyota is a whopping 1,5s faster than any non-hybrid. The hybrid system is a massive advantage and no amount of EoT will equalize that. Toyota are in a class of their own.

[Badlands99]

Originally Posted by canaglia

I checked some recent paul ricard onboard videos and as far I can see, they just made slower turns roadway a bit wider (I mean the two right handed slower corners before the fast left turn before mistral). Layout didn't get any change.

Anyway is someone able to explain how ford gt, that is still in 2016 specs without any evolution or big updates received since then, gained 6 seconds?

2016 prologue: 1.58.5
2018 prologue: 1.52.1

Probably due to the two very large bags of sand that fitted nicely in the engine bay!

[Mike E]

Been watching ByKolles nervously as they propped up the bottom of the chart. Nice to see them show some speed now, slotting into 3rd non hybrid.

[canaglia]

BTW surely gibson 4.5L is low on power compared to AER and nismo, being R13 able to hit about 320-324km/h only for a few laps in a row.
BR1 gibson barely could get 300km/h.

Considering that difference between best BR1 AER (>330km/h) and best BR1 gibson is just 0.4s, top speed importance is really overrated.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Mike E

Been watching ByKolles nervously as they propped up the bottom of the chart. Nice to see them show some speed now, slotting into 3rd non hybrid.

That is good to see. Really tight groupings for the privateers so far, this season could be quite the battle......for third!

I also wonder how the respective chassis will perform on all the tracks.

[Damian Baldi]

Where can I get the results of the first practice?

BTW second Ginetta doing their first laps.

[Adam43]

Results on the app and http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com

Specifically after the 8hour point thingy http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Res...Simulation.PDF

[Purist]

My best guess with the track is that they're using Layout 1A-V1 instead of 1A-V2. And for further reference, ELMS used Layout 1C-V2 in 2017; it previously used 1A-V2.

While you might be able to make up for top speed in other ways in clear running, being able to blow by on the straight is a significant advantage in race conditions.

[TzeiTzei]

Originally Posted by canaglia

BTW surely gibson 4.5L is low on power compared to AER and nismo, being R13 able to hit about 320-324km/h only for a few laps in a row.
BR1 gibson barely could get 300km/h.

Considering that difference between best BR1 AER (>330km/h) and best BR1 gibson is just 0.4s, top speed importance is really overrated.

The Dragonspeed BR1 is using high downforce bodywork. The SMP cars have low downforce package.

[Damian Baldi]

Thanks for the link

Some information from S365

***Only the No. 5 CEFC TRSM Racing Ginetta G60-LT-P1 Mecachrome has yet to take to the track, as it is waiting on parts. However, the car, along with the No. 10 DragonSpeed BR Engineering BR1 Gibson has been added to the list of cars eligible for the overnight testing, bringing the total entries for the entire 30-hour test to 15.

***In addition to Rene Binder and Tom Dillmann, ByKolles is also testing ex-Audi LMP1 driver Marco Bonanomi and former European F3 racer Kang Ling in its ENSO CLM P1/01 NISMO, alongside the previously confirmed Dominik Kraihamer and Oliver Webb.

***Nabil Jeffri, who was originally listed in the No. 37 Jackie Chan DC Racing Oreca 07 Gibson, is not here, leaving the car to his three Malaysian co-drivers for the test. Ben Hanley, meanwhile, has been added to the No. 31 DragonSpeed Oreca, in place of Nathanael Berthon.

***A handful of cars and drivers were prohibited from taking part at the start of the session, due to either not attending a drivers’ briefing or not having completed mandatory license checks. The list included Bonanomi, Brandela, Dagoneau, Pastor Maldonado, Khaled Al Qubaisi and Paul Dalla Lana, as well as the No. 10 DragonSpeed BR1 and No. 5 Manor Ginetta.

***The pair of SMP Racing BR1 AERs are sporting low-downforce Le Mans aero kits at the test, with the DragonSpeed entry in the Russian constructor’s standard, high-downforce trim. A BR Engineering representative told Sportscar365 they’ve yet to decide on what aero package SMP will use for next month’s season-opener at Spa.

***SMP will run with a five-driver lineup at Spa, with its sixth pilot for the 24 Hours of Le Mans not yet announced. Sportscar365 understands that at least one ex-LMP1 factory driver has been in discussions with the Russian squad for the seat.

***Both of the SMP BR1s running at the Prologue are brand-new, having completed rollouts late last month. The team’s test car, meanwhile, completed 5,000 kms in pre-season testing, according to the team source.

[canaglia]

Originally Posted by TzeiTzei

The Dragonspeed BR1 is using high downforce bodywork. The SMP cars have low downforce package.

I supected that, but as modern motorsport teaches cornering speed is much more important than top speed, even in a track with a so long straight.

[templer]

Originally Posted by Mike E

Been watching ByKolles nervously as they propped up the bottom of the chart. Nice to see them show some speed now, slotting into 3rd non hybrid.

I don't think you need to be nervous. The team is on the right way. They have a pretty good guy responsible for the improvements. For the example he examined every new part if they can save weight. This is the main reason for the new underbody.
They have also noticed that they need more testing to be reliable and then improve the overall performance.
The NISMO engine is at the moment the best engine avaiable for privateers.
They have done the most laps of all privateer cars so the car seem to be reliable and they tested several different drivers this day. So I think with Oliver Webb or Dominik Kraihamer on the wheel we can expect some faster laps as seen until now. The team seems to be running a program which doesn't have the focus on pure fast lap times. So things look pretty good at the moment

[RedSquirrel]

-Those Toyota times are astonishing, but we shouldn't be surprised - this car last season did a 1:36.793 at Silverstone, 1:53.658 at Spa and 3:14.791 at Le Mans, breaking/smashing records in all cases.
However, for the last few hours, they've been doing consistent 1:38s-ish, i.e. race pace. And what are the privateers doing? They seem to be able to consistently do 1:38 - 1:39. Toyota will completely rule qualifying this season, but the races should be a different story.

-I haven't been following LMP2 as closely but it looks quite competitive. And we have a little bit of chassis variety!

-GTE Pro is the Porsche vs. Ford show thus far but I don't know if we should trust the times. As an indication of just how far from their ultimate speed the Fords are, the #67's best lap is 1:52.010 but their best sectors add up to 1:50.951....
Aston Martin and BMW are probably going to commence their complaining on Sunday. They can complain all they like, we all know they're not going as fast as they can. The Porsches and Fords aren't 2 seconds a lap quicker in race pace. I hope they're told where to stick their BoP whingeing.

-I can see there being a bit of BoPping in GTE Am. Unless this is more Aston Martin nonsense like we've seen in the past.

[Mike E]

And now they are quickest non-hybrid! ByKolles, I mean.

[RedSquirrel]

Originally Posted by Mike E

And now they are quickest non-hybrid! ByKolles, I mean.

That Tom Dilmann lad has potential.