[WEC Race] WEC 6 HOURS SPA FRANCORCHAMPS

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Adam43

It's not bothering me that much. I've heard more stupid things on the dedicated LM radio station! As I said a little more considered strategy call would be good, but you need someone not continually commentating for that.

I think it's refreshing not having opinion rammed down your throat constantly.

There is that. I love Hindy, but when he has an opinion everyone has to agree with it. Even if the opinion is Continental tyres are great...

Then Silverstone went the opposite direction where Moody had no opinion on anything and spent the entire time asking McNish basic questions.

I think the best option would actually be the RLM B-Team. The ELMS coverage last year was absolutely wonderful.

[Adam43]

I think you are on to something there.

[Oracle]

Irrespective of drivers, that #7 has been about a second a lap faster every lap than the #8..

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

McNish was always a bit too animated. Haven is really struggling to understand the strategies and the fuel limits.

McNish gets it Haven must be cheap he is certainly not there because he is on top of it. How the Guy comes back year after year is staggering. WEC is top draw the ACO should demand higher standards

[Maelochs]

Tolerable finish .... sufficient drama ....

[AndreasDavour]

I love McNish, actually. I think the commentary is better than RLM have been lately. I do miss Trussers, though.

[bentley speed 8]

That finish was quite close. Frankly, I think the #7 deserved the win as it was consistently faster than the #8, but got denied due to FCY timing

[J Jay]

Buemi complaining that Kobayashi didn't listen to the message to slow down. Pull the other one Seb, you would do exactly the same thing in the roles were reversed!

Good victory and a 1-2 for Toyota, with the #8 narrowly beating the #7.

[AndreasDavour]

Great work by Kamui Kobayashi!

He's fast becoming my favourite Toyota driver.

[chernaudi]

#7 probably would've won by half a lap if not for the VSC screw ups. That alone cost them nearly a minute in half's worth of track position.

[gert]

The Toyota #9 being lapped by every other hybrid is a bit worrying though.

[seanyb505]

I've liked McNish the last two races. More than a few times he has flat corrected his counterpart on what drivers/teams are thinking.

[bentley speed 8]

It was acting more like a test car than anything else. They had issues with tyre degradation over long runs which made them slower over a stint.

[AndreasDavour]

Originally Posted by seanyb505

I've liked McNish the last two races. More than a few times he has flat corrected his counterpart on what drivers/teams are thinking.

Those have been great.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by gert

The Toyota #9 being lapped by every other hybrid is a bit worrying though.

Was it down to the driver(s) or were they really that slow?

[Artur]

Originally Posted by gert

I think it was more his fault than Dumas' (80/20 in my books), however as Porsche Motorsport I would not be happy with Dumas either, who seemed half asleep and didn't make life easy.

That's my point. Hartley is racing for the win there, he's not cruising. They have to go for the gaps that the slower cars leaves. Dumas left it very open to him almost as if conceding the place to, then, turn in at the last moment without any awareness that the spot was already about to be occupied. If LMP1 drivers had to wait only for 100% clean circunstances to lap the P2s and GTs, then their race pace would significantly drop.

I think that's one of the things that frustrated Webber and encouraged his retirement, ie, people not looking into their mirrors.

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Lapped cars should hold their line and be predictable. Hartley didn't even making it alongside Dumas, never mind within passing distance.

Really don't think Dumas was predictable there. I totally understand Hartley and would've done the same, tbh. Dumas drove as if conceding the corner to be lapped with no problems then suddenly ignored what was already going on. Brendon was not fully alongside but Dumas should've let him through. He seemed like napping.

BTW, I know Hartley forced the move a bit and is, at least, partially to blame for. I just don't think it was only a "poor Dumas got tagged" kind of incident.

[kvenom]

Kunimoto struggled mightily, has to improve a lot before Le Mans

[joeb]

I was really impressed with the ByKolles effort today. If they can keep it clean at Le Mans they will be happy.

Interesting to see the gtepro results with the paired team results. I didn't get to follow the race that closely, did they run this way all afternoon?

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by joeb

I was really impressed with the ByKolles effort today. If they can keep it clean at Le Mans they will be happy.

Interesting to see the gtepro results with the paired team results. I didn't get to follow the race that closely, did they run this way all afternoon?

For the majority. When it was mixed up it was pretty clear how it would unfold. Ford did challenge Ferrari early on, and when the 67 had problems the Porsches started looking at it, but that's about it.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

For the majority. When it was mixed up it was pretty clear how it would unfold. Ford did challenge Ferrari early on, and when the 67 had problems the Porsches started looking at it, but that's about it.

Thanks.

[chernaudi]

It seems this weekend that the LM spec cars were fast over the course of one lap, but had nothing come the race.

I'm thinking that maybe because the rear diffuser changes to the cars, that the LM and sprint packages have become more specialized and I think, like the ACO changes in 2000, shifted the aero balance forward. So I guess that it's little wonder why the LM spec cars struggled for most of the race. Even Porsche got no where near backing up their qualifying performance with the #1.

[XtC24]

"I found this cool live timing: https://timing.71wytham.org.uk/timin...00ca19b897a5f6"

Thank you.

I found this race quite calm, especially comparing to last year's Spa.
And remarkably no major issues (or not at all) regarding reliability in LMP1.

[TzeiTzei]

Haven is good. Pretty much anything is better than Hindy with a hot potato in his mouth.

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by joeb

I was really impressed with the ByKolles effort today.

Yep, the car went round and round for 6 hours, they've made real progress with their revised engine/aero package. Great effort and just reward for their perseverance. All they need now is someone to race against in their class...

I enjoy eating humble pie!

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by kvenom

Kunimoto struggled mightily, has to improve a lot before Le Mans

To what extent was Kunimoto a factor in them finishing 2 laps down? Their total pit time was on par with the other factory cars, their pace over a single lap was in the same ball park as the other factory cars, so where did they lose 4 minutes over the course of the race? I heard mention of tire degradation etc etc, but to lose an average of 2 seconds a lap over the course of the race (I think my maths is right there) implies something more, even if the purpose of the entry was data gathering. Or was this simply a case of super sandbagging...? It was certainly a strange run, in my opinion.