ACO/FIA WEC 1000 Miles (or 8 Hours) of Sebring

[belt driven]

Originally Posted by ApexTurtle

Hello, new guy here registering an account after lurking for some time on this forum, hope I'm not intruding. Just wanted to say that I enjoyed watching this race a lot. I just wish the privateer LMP1 cars would catch a break in a race at some p oint!

Sounds like mid years ALMS (-Penske) when the question was which Audi will win.

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by ApexTurtle

Hello, new guy here registering an account after lurking for some time on this forum, hope I'm not intruding. Just wanted to say that I enjoyed watching this race a lot. I just wish the privateer LMP1 cars would catch a break in a race at some point!

Welcome! We don’t bite turtles.

[Akrapovic]

This is purely my opinion, but the two big things that WEC lacks are top-level competition (it did have it, but it's gone), and personality. Many (but not all) events feel sterile and lifeless.

Sebring absolutely solved the problem with an event feeling sterile. Despite the race itself not being that good, that was one of the best WEC events in recent years. Compared with COTA, Shanghai and Bahrain, it was just such a fantastic event. Not only the circuit choice but the lengthening of the race and taking it away from just a standard 6 hours.

The ACO wanted every race to feel like an event. It's hard to do that when every race is the 6 hours of Tilke. Sebring 1000 absolutely felt like an event. They absolutely nailed this one.

[Adam43]

Yes, a race with atmosphere. I am looking to go next year, I thought it was that good.

[cg7aa]

Gents,

Does the WEC upload full race highlights (IMSA style) to view for free? Thank you.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by cg7aa

Gents,

Does the WEC upload full race highlights (IMSA style) to view for free? Thank you.

Yes, but usually a week or two after the race.

[cg7aa]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Yes, but usually a week or two after the race.

Ok, thank you.

[S griffin]

Seems like it was a decent weekend of racing here

[TheMightyM]

The ACO/WEC regard the Sebring weekend as a success. IMSA is happy too, and Scott Atherton thinks that the WEC will very likely be back at Sebring in 2020.

That said, there is one thing that needs to be worked on. Per S365:

“We would like to see more activation from the WEC paddock,” [Atherton] said.

“If you look at the automobile displays, the sponsor activation, the corporate hospitality, I think it’s almost 100 percent IMSA and Sebring track-related. It’s not associated with the WEC.

“That would be an important element we’d both like to see improved.”

Bookmark that quote — it tells us a lot about what the ACO/WEC doesn't do well and the challenges it faces going forward.

Edited to add: Atherton's complaint is especially interesting given the WEC's strong preference for Grade 1 tracks and all the corporate suites and such that typically go along with hosting F1.

[Akrapovic]

I think we can all agree with that. The lack of participation in the paddock is a symptom of a bigger issue - in general, not being in touch with the fans. Circuit choices, regulation choices (technical and sporting), poor web services, etc.

This event however, was a huge success.

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by ApexTurtle

Hello, new guy here registering an account after lurking for some time on this forum, hope I'm not intruding. Just wanted to say that I enjoyed watching this race a lot. I just wish the privateer LMP1 cars would catch a break in a race at some point!

The reliability is just not there though. Rebellion Oreca and SMP Dallaras regularly run into issues. Toyotas are almost bullet proof now.

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by cg7aa

Gents,

Does the WEC upload full race highlights (IMSA style) to view for free? Thank you.

I don't think a week or two is correct. One month is what it usually is, by late April the full WEC 1000 miles replay will be up

[chernaudi]

On the activation issue, I think that the ACO are still stuck in the pre-2016 days of where Audi and Porsche were around in LMP1 and they--especially Audi and Audi Sport--did a lot of the activation and promotional stuff that the ACO should've at least had a hand in.

This of course has a trickle down effect on the rules, the TV package, circuit choices, etc. I hope that Sebring is a wake up call to the current ACO administration, who IMO have been at least kinda out of touch with the real world of racing for about a decade now.

[ApexTurtle]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I think we can all agree with that. The lack of participation in the paddock is a symptom of a bigger issue - in general, not being in touch with the fans. Circuit choices, regulation choices (technical and sporting), poor web services, etc.

I disagree with that personally. I've been to two WEC events now and they were both great. Very professional, yet also very accesible. Lots of stuff to do for families as well. If you wouldn't mind, could you explain why you include circuit choices in that list? My biggest complaint personally is the silly geo-blocking for the app which otherwise works flawlessly.

[MaskedRacer]

I was kind of let down by the Corvette's performance, they only beat the Aston Martins. It was just hanging in the back of the lap from start to finish.

But still GTE was great. Awesome to see Ford, BMW, and Porsche battle it out the whole way.

I think the race needs to start earlier, too much of it is run in the dark.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by ApexTurtle

I disagree with that personally. I've been to two WEC events now and they were both great. Very professional, yet also very accesible. Lots of stuff to do for families as well. If you wouldn't mind, could you explain why you include circuit choices in that list? My biggest complaint personally is the silly geo-blocking for the app which otherwise works flawlessly.

Maybe going a bit off-topic with my post, but you did ask.

I include circuit choices because nobody has ever said "yay, my favourite series is going to my favourite track! Bahrain!". The WECs own survey put Spa and Silverstone as fan favourites and they promptly dropped Silverstone before returning with the tail between the legs and re-instating it. The dropping of the Nurburgring wasn't well received either - not only was it well attended, but all 3 manufacturers involved at the time are run out of Germany (Nissan were involved, but never ran). The move from COTA to Sebring was a huge step up and required a rethink of the Grade 1 exclusivity.

When you have such a limited calendar, wasting races on Shanghai and Bahrain isn't the best, especially when the IMSA calender is probably the best in the world. We all know why Bahrain and Shanghai are there, but it didn't make them any more popular in the surveys.

Online services are generally poor. The website is badly made and doesn't display in many browsers properly. The website stores your password as plain text (don't use a regular password for the WEC site, you'll regret it), so it's a security risk. The website crashes at Le Mans every year, and despite it being a pay service it never improves. The app is badly made and requires an update for every race, presumably because SQL Databases were too hard for the app developer. The time conversion often doesn't work correctly and is sometimes backwards, especially during DST. You rightly mention the geo-blocking but remember the mess of that announcement. When they were saying on Twitter it wasn't geo-blocked when it actually was. How they interacted with the fans in breaking that news was less than optimal. And they announced this after Americans had paid for the service, who then had to try and claim refunds. Fans were certainly bottom of the pile during that interaction!

On the plus side, the app does tend to stay working when the website dies during Le Mans. And they've finally managed to get a decent commentary team. Years of listening to the fans complaining about how bad the commentary was finally caught up. There's only so many times you can listen to Toby Moody ask Allan McNish basic questions about multi-class racing and safety cars. And they've finally got a social media presence. The WEC Guy costume thing is a bit weird, but it's a good attempt. Same with the social media cartoon explanations. They're a bit weird but it's an attempt.

Better than it used to be for sure. Still got a long way to go. The move to varied race lengths also helps the calendar. Every race cannot feel like a unique event if you make them all the same - that's going to have a bigger effect than what it seems like on the tin.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by MaskedRacer

I was kind of let down by the Corvette's performance, they only beat the Aston Martins. It was just hanging in the back of the lap from start to finish.

But still GTE was great. Awesome to see Ford, BMW, and Porsche battle it out the whole way.

I think the race needs to start earlier, too much of it is run in the dark.

It was great seeing this one single Corvette trying to challenge though. It did make good time in the first hour though didn't it?

And agreed, it'd be nice to have an earlier race but they had IMSA qualifying and the Michelin Pilot race to get in too.

[ApexTurtle]

Interesting comments Akropovic, thank you for taking the time. I don't agree with all of it (I happen to think Bahrain is a pretty good track) but perhaps that's not suited for this thread.

I will say that I've never used the website, I just use the app only and I've never had a problem with it. For this race too it was perfect all the way through.

[TheMightyM]

Originally Posted by MaskedRacer

I think the race needs to start earlier, too much of it is run in the dark.

Friday also saw a Weathertech practice session and then qualifying (three hours total) followed by the two-hour Pilot Challenge race. Both those events kind of have to be on the Friday, so it's probably difficult to move the WEC start time up much.

[S griffin]

Well obviously the American series have priority, so WEC could only fit in where it was

[Anyopenroad]

My first time at Sebring and on the whole it was wonderful, if brutal (I've posted at length about my experience in the Trackside forum).

The WEC race did feel like a squeezed-in afterthought. There was a long queue of cars snaking out of the venue long before the finish. 4pm-12am is very late where there's a 1040 start the following morning.
Personally, I'd run it 2-10pm and fit in the GT4 race the day before. If a 4pm start is mandatory then I'd run it for 6 hours.

It was interesting hearing US fans awestruck by the speed of the Toyota and to a lesser extent the other LMP1s. The Hybrid acceleration out of bends is incredible to see close up - they were visibly faster than anything else. I also kept hearing the name 'Alonso' being spoken - he is a genuine global star. The privateer LMP1s are less dramatic but look and sound great, with popping exhausts and chittering wastegates.

[airbusA346]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Yes, but usually a week or two after the race.

Last season they were uploading the race on Youtube during the following race weekend.

[TF110]

I think the Silverstone situation was a redo of their deal to run there. Wasn't Silverstone saying that only one race would run there (f1) because they weren't making money? I thought that was the word. At least now it's a summer race and we shouldn't have to worry about snow

[S griffin]

Well Silverstone probably doesn’t know. F1 is still king there. It’s confusing with this super season. Whatever floats your boat I guess

[Mike E]

Thinking back on the race, one of the things I enjoyed most was not a single mention of track limits, by either the comms team or race director.

Because the track...

has...

limits...