[WEC] 2012 WEC Entries

[alexkiller8]

Originally Posted by I Rosputnik

Going back to WEC I wonder how these Honda's going to fair against the diesels?

highcroft reached the second place last year at sebring also because of peugeot #7 -audi #2 crash, audi #1 puncture problems and peugeot #8 lamy mistakes. But in a "normal" situation, a petrol powered lmp1 simply can't have the pace of diesel cars.

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by alexkiller8

But in a "normal" situation, a petrol powered lmp1 simply can't have the pace of diesel cars.

That is not what Toyota thinks. It is more correct to say that privateer cars can normally not match the pace of factory cars.

[lms]

Originally Posted by alexkiller8

highcroft reached the second place last year at sebring also because of peugeot #7 -audi #2 crash, audi #1 puncture problems and peugeot #8 lamy mistakes. But in a "normal" situation, a petrol powered lmp1 simply can't have the pace of diesel cars.

but this will be a different car with more aero development.

higher res pics at e-i.
http://www.endurance-info.com/versio...ance-9193.html

[Peat]

LMP1 Petrol 'class' is shaping up to be awesome for 2012. So excited for Sebring!

[alexkiller8]

In my opinion (the same of OAK), in 2012 the cars for sure will be more aero developed than 2011, but the gain will penalized by the fenders and other mandatory stuff, for sure also peugeot and audi will have a bettere aero developed car in 2012 than the 2011 version, but will they be able to run with better taplimes of 2011 with a 2012 less powerfull and aero-penalized car?
Answering to gwyllion, for sure factory team are more performant than private teams, but speaking about petrol/diesel there is no chance however. In 2009 and 2010 the prodrive work team of AMR was the best "petrol" team (beating also the kolles two r10) but couldn't do a thing against audi and peugeot when was racing against.... about toyota i don't think they have the illusion to be victorious at LM against audi and peugeot; but for sure admit to don't be able to win the race isn't the best slogan for a brand new car

[Acid09]

The Aston Martin effort was no true works effort anywhere near the level of Audi & Peugeot. The car was based on a customer Lola and used a GT1 derived engine.

Since the Diesels are racing, we have never seen a proper works petrol effort - Toyota will be the first and I have little doubt that the car will be competitive.

Works efforts have always been way ahead of the privateer competition, back in 2000 Audi was four seconds ahead of the first privateer entry without any fuel difference and without any works effort close on their tails to push them.

These gaps have always been there, only since the Diesels appeared it has become a reason for outcry. Teams like Pescarolo that operate on a shoestring budget can simply never compete with a big manufacturer outfit and especially not two of them that push each other beyond any limits.

I blame the 2005 race for these misconceptions, people saw that Pescarolo was suddenly competitive but fail to understand the reasons behind that, it was only because Audi was forced to compete with an arm tied behind their backs and the R8 having reached the end of it's development cycle.

[NelisB]

Originally Posted by Acid09

The Aston Martin effort was no true works effort anywhere near the level of Audi & Peugeot. The car was based on a customer Lola and used a GT1 derived engine.

Since the Diesels are racing, we have never seen a proper works petrol effort - Toyota will be the first and I have little doubt that the car will be competitive.

Works efforts have always been way ahead of the privateer competition, back in 2000 Audi was four seconds ahead of the first privateer entry without any fuel difference and without any works effort close on their tails to push them.

These gaps have always been there, only since the Diesels appeared it has become a reason for outcry. Teams like Pescarolo that operate on a shoestring budget can simply never compete with a big manufacturer outfit and especially not two of them that push each other beyond any limits.

I blame the 2005 race for these misconceptions, people saw that Pescarolo was suddenly competitive but fail to understand the reasons behind that, it was only because Audi was forced to compete with an arm tied behind their backs and the R8 having reached the end of it's development cycle.

2005 had, from every point, an unfair advantage for the Pescarolo's. But the weirdest thing is that Pescarolo still expected to be competitive with the same car in 2011.
In 2005 he could have won it. The Audi's were pulled back enough to make sure the Pescarolo's had a way better power to weight ratio. But they didn't due to mistakes and technical failures. To make a fuss about a unfair advantage for the diesels in 2011 when his team is driving around with a car that's 5 years old is just bordering on ridiculous.

[I Rosputnik]

A Q&A with James Rumsey on why they made the switch.

Seems like JRM has bigger plans.

[NelisB]

Originally Posted by I Rosputnik

A Q&A with James Rumsey on why they made the switch.

Seems like JRM has bigger plans.

Biggest motivation is to get picked up by a manufacturer and become a factory team in the near future. This might bode well for a Nissan entry. They've looked at a LMP2 with a Oreca-Nissan but decided against it because a LMP1 get's more exposure and will get them better sponsors. Pure speculation but maybe they expect Nissan to step up with them.

[gwyllion]

Or maybe they hope to become a HPD factory team.

Anyway Nissan and Honda will probably not return before 2014.

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by NelisB

2005 had, from every point, an unfair advantage for the Pescarolo's. But the weirdest thing is that Pescarolo still expected to be competitive with the same car in 2011.
In 2005 he could have won it. The Audi's were pulled back enough to make sure the Pescarolo's had a way better power to weight ratio. But they didn't due to mistakes and technical failures. To make a fuss about a unfair advantage for the diesels in 2011 when his team is driving around with a car that's 5 years old is just bordering on ridiculous.

Believe that Pescarolo had a new car in 2009.

[JAG]

Originally Posted by alexkiller8

highcroft reached the second place last year at sebring also because of peugeot #7 -audi #2 crash, audi #1 puncture problems and peugeot #8 lamy mistakes. But in a "normal" situation, a petrol powered lmp1 simply can't have the pace of diesel cars.

Consider too since then petrol cars recieved a small restrictor increase prior to Le Mans (something most didn't use with little time to test engine reliability), and this winter diesels recieved something around 7% restrictor cut. There's obvious benefits from factory support, but the privateer Highcroft HPD went into the race with little testing, and Rebellion's Lola-Toyota's recieved new developments throughout the year.

Q. What motivated the decision to graduate to LMP1 for 2012?

James Rumsey: It was a commercial decision: the money seems to be there for LMP1 in comparison to GT1. FIA GT1 is still finding its feet commercially, while the sponsorship acquisition potential of the WEC and Le Mans in particular is very good. LMP1 is manufacturer-led and they are really getting behind the WEC. The hope is that we can tag onto the back of that.

Q. Was LMP1 the only option when considering a move into the WEC?

JR: We started off looking at LMP2 with the ORECA-Nissan and evaluating it against other packages out there. We then started to compare LMP2 against LMP1 and saw that with P1 there was the potential for sponsorship to offset the cost of the programme.

These are two of the most interesting points, commercial opportunities are promising for the WEC, but also some sponsors maybe willing to up their funding to cover increased costs in P1.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96894

[Mal]

Originally Posted by JAG

.These are two of the most interesting points, commercial opportunities are promising for the WEC, but also some sponsors maybe willing to up their funding to cover increased costs in P1.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96894

Absolutely - if there are sponsors in the marketplace expect more teams to try and tap into it.

[gwyllion]

The big commercial advantage of the WEC is that you get a guaranteed Le Mans entry.

[J.C.]

Originally Posted by NelisB

Biggest motivation is to get picked up by a manufacturer and become a factory team in the near future. This might bode well for a Nissan entry. They've looked at a LMP2 with a Oreca-Nissan but decided against it because a LMP1 get's more exposure and will get them better sponsors. Pure speculation but maybe they expect Nissan to step up with them.

I would love to see Nissan to start a LMP1 program again. When I first saw the headlines JRM to LMP1. I was thinking, ok its going to be a Nissan powered car. Nope... its a Honda HPD. Just thinking about it, seems like a slap in the face to Nissan. Becasue Nissan hired this program to develop there new GT3 car. Hopefully this will push Nissan to get back into LMP1 in the near future.

[J.C.]

Originally Posted by J.C.

I would love to see Nissan to start a LMP1 program again. When I first saw the headlines JRM to LMP1. I was thinking, ok its going to be a Nissan powered car. Nope... its a Honda HPD. Just thinking about it, seems like a slap in the face to Nissan. Becasue Nissan hired this program to develop there new GT3 car. Hopefully this will push Nissan to get back into LMP1 in the near future.

But then again, Nissan only hired them for GT3

[Gingers4Justice]

It's been an oustanding winter considering its a global recession for the World Championship in terms of entries.

A top 10 finish would be an achievment for JRM.

10 years ago or maybe even 5, it would be expected that a GT car would finish well inside the top 10. A Corvette ran 4th on Saturday afternoon at Le Mans in 2004. That's unthinkable now!

The quality of the sportscar field has risen ridiculously fast. Can't wait for the season to start now.

[Simmi]

Looks like the LMP2 field is about to grow once again tomorrow if the rumours are to be believed.

[Marcel ten Caat]

Nah ;-)

[Canada ALMS fan]

Could these be the mystery Lola B12's announced before Christmas? The ones speculated to be Jet Alliance...

[Marcel ten Caat]

Or could it be a driver announcement....we'll see in 8.5 hours from now.

[Canada ALMS fan]

Ok, so Elton Julian is taking his funding to a P2 effort in the WEC?

[911targa]

Is it possible that Hankook-Farnbacher sold their F458 GTE MY2011 to Krohn and switch to prototype project? Just a guess.

[Salamus]

Is it possible that Hankook-Farnbacher sold their F458 GTE MY2011 to Krohn and switch to prototype project? Just a guess.

That would be great but I think Farnbacher is done with sportscar racing. I think they are only going to race their GT3 458 in ADAC and do Nurburgring 24.

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by Salamus

That would be great but I think Farnbacher is done with sportscar racing. I think they are only going to race their GT3 458 in ADAC and do Nurburgring 24.

Source?