[WEC] FIA World Endurance Championship

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by JAG

Here's a novel idea, Audi NA work out a semi-works deal for a full season ALMS entry.

Novel not really. Audi NA had that suggested to them this year, and told AG to go stuff it. Golf and Superbowl ads have more ROI in their opinion.

[JAG]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

Novel not really. Audi NA had that suggested to them this year, and told AG to go stuff it. Golf and Superbowl ads have more ROI in their opinion.

In which case there can be no complaints when events and series are lost, with emerging markets filling the void.

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by JAG

In which case there can be no complaints when events and series are lost, with emerging markets filling the void.

Disagree

[Acid09]

Looks like BMW might not be gone after 2011, the new head of motorsport Jens Marquardt recently said in an interview that BMW is thinking about a further commitment to the ILMC/the WEC, all depending on the rules and whether the car will still be competitive.

[Purist]

Duke_Toaster, so much of Europe is under snow October-March that an off-season-season isn't really workable. And Interlagos in February would be the opposite extreme, as that's high summer there (hot and humid as Hell). And funnily enough, Australian V8 Supercars don't even see fit to run according to the Southern Hemisphere seasons, but instead, they run to our racing season calendar too.

Here's my theoretical calendar:
Late February: Suzuka 1000km
Spring Break Weekend: Sebring 12 Hours
Mid April: Interlagos 6 Hours
Early May: Monza 1000km
Mid June: Le Mans 24 Hours
Mid July: Spa 1000km
Late August: Silverstone 1000km
Early October: Petit Le Mans
Early November: Zhuhai 6 Hours

This covers the major markets, avoids any F1 conflicts by several weeks (or months), and leaves a minimum of 3 weeks gap between all rounds, which should make logistics of travel as painless as it really can be. And as an added bonus, this schedule avoids weather extremes in the various regions.

I know that it's 9 rounds I've put up there, but nothing in there is that outlandish, and a proper championship NEEDS to maintain presence throughout the season, which I don't think just 7 rounds can quite do that.

Interesting and kind of funny thing, I found highlights to the 1984 Sandown 1000km posted up on YouTube the other week.

[kober]

Originally Posted by Purist

Late February: Suzuka 1000km

That's not doable, February's daily mean temperature in the area is 5°C (40°F)

[Purist]

This is one area where an average doesn't exactly tell us a whole lot in practical terms. The temperature at the start of the month could be around 20, while around the end, it could be up to 60 or so. Holding a 1000km race in 50-60 degrees weather would hardly be unprecedented; it's happened a fair number of times at Spa and the Nurburgring.

What I find really absurd and annoying is the teams talking about just 3 races before LM being too much. Transport was NOT as straight-forward in the '60s, '70s, and '80s for something of this scale, yet the old WSC managed a much greater density of races than even my schedule calls for. So, as far as I'm concerned, there's no compelling reason for why things are seemingly less doable now.

I suppose having just a manufacturers title for prototypes could help. Then again, Jaguar, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lancia, Mercedes-Benz, etc all took their works teams/drivers to Sebring, the Carrera, Buenos Aires, and Caracas back in the 1950s! Team travel sure as heck is NOT as difficult or time-consuming now as it was then, so what's the excuse now?

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by Acid09

Looks like BMW might not be gone after 2011, the new head of motorsport Jens Marquardt recently said in an interview that BMW is thinking about a further commitment to the ILMC/the WEC, all depending on the rules and whether the car will still be competitive.

If so, then this is great news, and I doubt the car wont be competitive next year. Thank you Jens Marquardt!

[dxk1]

Originally Posted by kober

That's not doable, February's daily mean temperature in the area is 5°C (40°F)

The temperature in January at Daytona could be anywhere from below 0 C to up to about 20 C and those races went off just fine over the years. People can cope and cars are adjustable.

DK

[kober]

Originally Posted by dxk1

The temperature in January at Daytona could be anywhere from below 0 C to up to about 20 C and those races went off just fine over the years. People can cope and cars are adjustable.

But I guess it doesn't snow at Daytona that often, does it?
Setting a race date for a month when there's a good chance that the circuit would be covered in snow would be too risky for a World Championship.

Daytona Beach (Jan) vs. Suzuka, Mie (Feb):
avg. high (F): 70 vs. 49
avg. low (F): 47 vs. 33
rain (in): 3.1 vs. 2.5
snow (in): 0? vs. 3.1
avg. snowy days: 0? vs. 6.1

... can't really compare.

[Purist]

If you're going by the entire prefecture, the more mountainous regions could esily skew the numbers.

Suzuka itself (the town by which the circuit is located) is right on the coast. The low altitude and moderating influence of the sea, I should think, would make the likelihood of snow at the track itself quite low. Think of how far north Seattle is, but with its low altitude and inlet from the Pacific, it almost never gets snow.

We're not exactly known for our harsh winters here in south-central Kansas (even compared to other parts of the state), and I wouldn't be surprised if we average that much, or more, snow in February.

Really, 3.1in is NOT that much snow, especially spread over an entire month. And 49 for the average high means it could easily be downright comfortable late in the month.

Back to the WEC, I'm just trying to work within the relative constraints of the problem. All the events are apparently going to be rather spaced out from one another, regardless of continent. Suzuka is the logical circuit for such an event. Any Japanese event is going to be near either end of the calender, it would appear. There are two other circuits I would seriously consider for this (Fuji and Autopolis). However, one has been mutilated and is always prone to precipitation, the other is virtually unknown, and they're both at distinctly higher altitudes than is Suzuka.

[Mr Pink]

Is Interlagos already a done deal for the SoAm race? No chance of Potrero de los Funes? There's a sportscar circuit if I ever saw one.

[Purist]

No argument from me on that count.

Potrero de los Funes has to be pretty much the best new Grade 1 or 2 circuit to come out of the woodwork since the '70s really. There have been a handful of very good circuits since, but I'm not sure any are quite up there with that Argentine jewel. The other top picks for me would be Brno, Autopolis, Sachsenring, and Algarve.

[Acid09]

It' a nice track but Peugeot is much keener to go racing in Brazil I guess, it's one of their most important markets.

Same goes for Audi I think, Brazil is just a more interesting market for the manufacturers overall.

[gregtummer]

I would prefer Fuji to Suzuka (just take out a couple of the unnecessary twists that F1 used).

[johntt]

Heres my take on the calendar:

February: Bathurst 12 Hours
March: Korea 1000km (Korean GP track)
April: Monza 1000km
May: Spa 1000km
June: Le Mans 24
July: Watkins Glen 6 Hours
August: Nurburgring 1000km
September: Silverstone 1000km
October: Buddh 1000km (Indian GP track)
October: Fuji 1000km
November: Mil Milhas (Interlagos, 1000 miles)

I purposely left off Sebring and Petit, this is because when the ALMS recovers and the WEC grows its going to be difficult to accomodate both series at those venues.

The races on March/October would be non-clashing with PLM/Sebring in order to allow drivers to do both events.

[gregtummer]

Originally Posted by johntt

Heres my take on the calendar:

February: Bathurst 12 Hours
March: Korea 1000km (Korean GP track)
April: Monza 1000km
May: Spa 1000km
June: Le Mans 24
July: Watkins Glen 6 Hours
August: Nurburgring 1000km
September: Silverstone 1000km
October: Buddh 1000km (Indian GP track)
October: Fuji 1000km
November: Mil Milhas (Interlagos, 1000 miles)

I purposely left off Sebring and Petit, this is because when the ALMS recovers and the WEC grows its going to be difficult to accomodate both series at those venues.

The races on March/October would be non-clashing with PLM/Sebring in order to allow drivers to do both events.

They won't race at Watkins Glen. ISC owns the track and they are the sister company of NASCAR. NASCAR owns Grand Am, so they aren't going to let WEC, ALMS, LMS, etc race at any of their tracks, because they would make Grand AM look bad (well even worse than they already are).

Same goes for Daytona.

[Deleted]

And Bathurst is a definite no-no 'cause current prototypes can't run on FIA Grade 3 tracks

[johntt]

Thanks for the feedback

Substitute Bathurst for Philip Island - If they can run MotoGP there then LMPs shouldn't be a problem

The July Date in the USA can be filled by Laguna Seca, we know that LMPs can run there

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by gregtummer

They won't race at Watkins Glen. ISC owns the track and they are the sister company of NASCAR. NASCAR owns Grand Am, so they aren't going to let WEC, ALMS, LMS, etc race at any of their tracks, because they would make Grand AM look bad (well even worse than they already are).

Same goes for Daytona.

I am actually not quite sure about that... in a weird Macchivellian way it would probably make sense for the Frances to let WEC race at the Glen, if just to give the finger to ALMS...

[alexkiller8]

Originally Posted by johntt

Heres my take on the calendar:

February: Bathurst 12 Hours
March: Korea 1000km (Korean GP track)
April: Monza 1000km
May: Spa 1000km
June: Le Mans 24
July: Watkins Glen 6 Hours
August: Nurburgring 1000km
September: Silverstone 1000km
October: Buddh 1000km (Indian GP track)
October: Fuji 1000km
November: Mil Milhas (Interlagos, 1000 miles)

I purposely left off Sebring and Petit, this is because when the ALMS recovers and the WEC grows its going to be difficult to accomodate both series at those venues.

The races on March/October would be non-clashing with PLM/Sebring in order to allow drivers to do both events.

plese no tilken tracks also in the WEC .-. maybe the only intersting "tilken" track to run is yas marina, but more for merchandising/economic reasons than racing.

[KA]

Originally Posted by Purist

Back to the WEC, I'm just trying to work within the relative constraints of the problem. All the events are apparently going to be rather spaced out from one another, regardless of continent. Suzuka is the logical circuit for such an event. Any Japanese event is going to be near either end of the calender, it would appear. There are two other circuits I would seriously consider for this (Fuji and Autopolis). However, one has been mutilated and is always prone to precipitation, the other is virtually unknown, and they're both at distinctly higher altitudes than is Suzuka.

Oddly enough, pretty much the only major international car race held at Autopolis was the Japanese World Sportscar Championship round in '91.
As I remember, isn't the big downside with it is that it's pretty much in the back of beyond, and difficult to get to?

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

I am actually not quite sure about that... in a weird Macchivellian way it would probably make sense for the Frances to let WEC race at the Glen, if just to give the finger to ALMS...

that would be hillarious!

[johntt]

Originally Posted by alexkiller8

plese no tilken tracks also in the WEC .-. maybe the only intersting "tilken" track to run is yas marina, but more for merchandising/economic reasons than racing.

Yas Marina is one of the worst Tilke tracks in existence.

Korea on the other hand, with its drainage problems solved this year (hopefully) is rather a good track. The first sector is about straightline speed, the second about aero grip and the third is about mechanical grip. Different cars will excel in those three different areas so the track has the potential to produce some good racing. South Korea also has more of an established car industry than China.

India is a bit of an unknown quantity as a track but it is a major market for carmakers and it looks like it could be a good tracks with a nice amount of elevation change, like all new tracks I believe it should be given a chance.

[Acid09]

Not all Tilke tracks are bad, I always liked Sepang for example. That would be a pretty sweet track for LMPs to race on, it's no interesting market for the manufacturers though.