[WEC] WEC 2019/20 season

[carbsmith]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Club has had that style since 1991.

Nah. There's actually been 3 different versions of that part of the track since 1991 and when they built the Arena circuit and made it the last corner Club was tightened up into more or less two distinct corners. That's why you see a lot of incidents leading onto the front stretch and abuse of the runoff (which was already paved for a long while before) now, as everyone funnels into that second apex.

As you can see the 94-95 layout was a bit crap.

[Adam43]

You’re right, the style of the corner is radically different.

BTW, I know all that. And did of course cite the run off as an issue. You missed that bit in the quote.

[Akrapovic]

I don't understand the negativity about Silverstone.

The new Abbey is kinda cool. The old one is just a chicane. New was great with the apex bump. Old old fast left hander was nice, but that's been gone a long time.

Farm/Village/Loop/Aintree are a bit dull. Don't really bring much.

Brooklands is awesome now. Fast entry with a really unique late long apex. That corner got better with the new layout.

Luffield is cool. Multiple setup lines.

Copse - Maggots - Beckets - Chapel - Stowe is amazing. Do not argue.

Vale isn't great, but hasn't been for a long time.

The new Club is as good as Club can be with the current format, and it is actually alright after Vale. It produces some good cut back racing.

[Adam43]

It’s terrible and rubbish. Frankly that and WEC are a perfect match. If only they made it 2 hours.

[S griffin]

I don't get the negativity for Silverstone either. It's still a fast flowing circuit. Not as much stop start as at other circuits and it can still pull in a crowd too.

[Peter Mallett]

That corner that everyone dislikes, Vale, is quite tricky. It goes off camber halfway around and unless you get it right you end up in the gravel. Great for modern cars bit not so good for historics on concrete tyres.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

That corner that everyone dislikes, Vale, is quite tricky. It goes off camber halfway around and unless you get it right you end up in the gravel. Great for modern cars bit not so good for historics on concrete tyres.

Ooo I like that. I didn't notice that before, but watching WEC practice you're right. That makes it quite a unique wee corner.

[S griffin]

It’s interesting when you look at it. It’s not the most difficult of corners, but it is one you have to get absolutely right usually

[TF110]

I liked the immediate previous layout the best of the revisions. I am not much of a fan of the new Abbey and what follows. Also the tightening of club I think is pointless. Maybe they just wanted it to not be a flat out turn but for F1 and prototypes it pretty much is.

[Aysedasi]

The run from the first corner is actually very entertaining. We watched ELMS and WEC qually from the outside there yesterday. Bruni had his lurid spin right in front of us. Some of the cars were really twitchy there, like the works Porsches and the Project 1 Porsche. The LMP3s too. Hopeless for photography of course, but an entertaining place to watch from. The Becketts G/S (open yesterday) is still the best viewing point where you can see about half the circuit.

[S griffin]

I think it's one of those circuits that's good to watch from. The first corner is a tricky one to get right, but those that do, are impressive to watch. You have to be there to appreciate the speed. Will be going myself to Silverstone for the BTCC which will be great for me. It's only half the circuit of course, but it's still nice to be going to Silverstone again

[Anyopenroad]

This grid is so close to being great. Add the SMPs back in and LMP1 would be excellent. A bit of variety would make LMP2 great. A couple if Ford GTs and a Corvette or two would make GTE awesome.

So close...yet so far.

I wonder what the grid would look like if LMP1 was made a privateer class and the ACO effort had instead gone into getting more manufacturers into GTE, with that being the World Championship. Oh well.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

I wonder what the grid would look like if LMP1 was made a privateer class and the ACO effort had instead gone into getting more manufacturers into GTE, with that being the World Championship. Oh well.

Wonderful. Beautiful. Incredible. Awesome. Fun.

Any of these fit.

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

This grid is so close to being great. Add the SMPs back in and LMP1 would be excellent. A bit of variety would make LMP2 great. A couple if Ford GTs and a Corvette or two would make GTE awesome.

So close...yet so far.

I wonder what the grid would look like if LMP1 was made a privateer class and the ACO effort had instead gone into getting more manufacturers into GTE, with that being the World Championship. Oh well.

You described the super season.

[S griffin]

I am still to be convinced if the super season was the right move

[Adam43]

Well it’s over now so it’s not really important

[Alex Langheck]

Originally Posted by S griffin

I am still to be convinced if the super season was the right move

I'm fully convinced; that it WASN'T. Another in a long list of errors by the ACO regarding 'their' championship. Stick to running Le Mans, and leave the WEC to professionals.

And what made them start the season the same weekend as the return of F1 after their summer break?

After the MotoGP at Silverstone last weekend, this weekend just looked like 'after the Lord Mayor's Show'.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Alex Langheck

I'm fully convinced; that it WASN'T. Another in a long list of errors by the ACO regarding 'their' championship. Stick to running Le Mans, and leave the WEC to professionals.

And what made them start the season the same weekend as the return of F1 after their summer break?

After the MotoGP at Silverstone last weekend, this weekend just looked like 'after the Lord Mayor's Show'.

The ACO/WEC thinks extremely highly of itself. Let's be honest, it's why it insists on going to F1 facilities and Grade 1 tracks even when it really should go elsewhere. We've seen that changed with Sebring, but it's still thinking it's a much higher status than it really is.

They don't seem concerned with clashes with Formula E (which steals half the grid of drivers), with Formula 1 (which is far more popular) or with IMSA (which just creates an awkward clash for drivers, and ruins it for fans). WEC is the most important. It's an FIA World Championship. Why couldn't it clash with F1, MotoGP, FE and IMSA?

I love WEC. But the management could do with being taken down a peg or two.

[Deleted]

In these days, I always look at ELMS as the ultimate spec series galore but in honesty with the grids the way they are now there's just one chassis less in it than at WEC

WEC Chassis Models & Chassis Manufacturers
LMP1: Toyota TS050, Oreca R13, Ginetta G60
LMP2: Oreca 07, Dallara P217
LMGTE-PRO: Ferrari 488, Porsche 911, Aston Martin Vantage
LMGTE-AM: Ferrari 488, Porsche 911, Aston Martin Vantage
= 8 unique chassis, 7 unique manufacturers (in a field of 30 plus)

WEC Engine Models & Engine Manufacturers
LMP1: Toyota, Zytek, AER
LMP2: Zytek
LMGTE-PRO: Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin
LMGTE-AM: Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin
= 7 unique engine, 6 unique manufacturers (in a field of 30 plus)

ELMS Chassis Models & Chassis Manufacturers
LMP2: Oreca 07, Dallara P217, Onroak JSP217
LMP3: Onroak JSP3, Norma M30 (both with Oreca components and service)
LMGTE-AM: Ferrari 488, Porsche 911
= 7 unique chassis, 6 unique manufacturers (in a field of 40 plus)

ELMS Engine Models & Engine Manufacturers
LMP2: Zytek
LMP3: Nissan-Oreca-Katech-Zytek-whatever
LMGTE-AM: Ferrari, Porsche
= 4 unique engines, 3½ unique manufacturers (in a field of 40 plus)

Meanwhile the so-called worst race ever at Donington 2012 had 8 unique chassis models and 5 engines in a field of 13 entries

[S griffin]

ELMS won't attract the interest WEC is attracting. I think WEC needs to make sure the 2021 rules. I miss some of the old manufacturers you used to get in WEC. We're lucky we have a few loyal ones. ELMS never tried to compare itself to WEC in that regard. It was always going to struggle for really big numbers

[gert]

Originally Posted by Chiana

Onroak JSP217

Frankly, I'm intrigued why you insist on calling it Onroak JSP217 or simply Onroak in all of your posts while everybody else including its constructor is calling it a Ligier JSP217.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by gert

Frankly, I'm intrigued why you insist on calling it Onroak JSP217 or simply Onroak in all of your posts while everybody else including its constructor is calling it a Ligier JSP217.

Onroak/Oak is the actual constructor, Ligier just the rebranded title. I always prefer to call the cars by what they actually are, especially if the rebranded name is an actual road car manufacturer - like Ligier - that's dubbed to get all the glory even if they have very little to do with the products

So of the current prototype bunch for example

Ligier JSP217 = Onroak JSP217
Alpine whatever = Oreca 07
Aurus whatever = Oreca 07
Rebellion R13 = Oreca R13 (calling it Rebellion is okayish thou since not road car manufacturer )
SMP BR1 = Dallara BR1 (calling it SMP is/was okayish thou since not road car manufacturer)
"Mazda DPi" = Riley MK30 Mazda
"Cadillac DPi" = Dallara P217 Cadillac
"Acura DPi" = Oreca 07 Acura
"Nissan DPi" = Onroak JSP217 (nothing Nissan except copypasted GT3 engine so I refuse even partial OEM recognizition)

Kolles CLM is a big ??? since I don't know what to make of the old Adess-Kodewa-Praga mess so you might just as well refer to it as what it is called by the team, and it's not like they're using some rebranded car manufacturer title anyway so it's ok

[Adam43]

It’s times like this I remember the fantastic pole lap Blundell did at Le Mans 1990 in the Lola R90CK. Although the TWR won in the end with their XJR-12. However it reminded of Lola’s four wins in the 1960s.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Chiana

Onroak/Oak is the actual constructor, Ligier just the rebranded title. I always prefer to call the cars by what they actually are, especially if the rebranded name is an actual road car manufacturer - like Ligier - that's dubbed to get all the glory even if they have very little to do with the products

So of the current prototype bunch for example

Ligier JSP217 = Onroak JSP217
Alpine whatever = Oreca 07
Aurus whatever = Oreca 07
Rebellion R13 = Oreca R13 (calling it Rebellion is okayish thou since not road car manufacturer )
SMP BR1 = Dallara BR1 (calling it SMP is/was okayish thou since not road car manufacturer)
"Mazda DPi" = Riley MK30 Mazda
"Cadillac DPi" = Dallara P217 Cadillac
"Acura DPi" = Oreca 07 Acura
"Nissan DPi" = Onroak JSP217 (nothing Nissan except copypasted GT3 engine so I refuse even partial OEM recognizition)

Kolles CLM is a big ??? since I don't know what to make of the old Adess-Kodewa-Praga mess so you might just as well refer to it as what it is called by the team, and it's not like they're using some rebranded car manufacturer title anyway so it's ok

If you'd like to be pedantic, it's a Multimatic for the chassis for the Mazda. Whether YOU like it or not that's the manufacturer and owners now, they didn't buy the rights they bought everything AND did the development to make the chassis not a dog. Please give credit to those who have done work instead of holding a fake judgemental position.

[Akrapovic]

It's a Ligier. It was born a Ligier and will always be a Ligier. I understand being miffed about putting badges on already branded things (Alpine ORECA).

The Cadillac DPi is a Cadillac DPi. It isn't a Dallara P217 with a Cadillac engine. A car is more than just the chassis it is built on, otherwise the DeltaWing is an AMR One. Which is ridiculous.