Rise of the ILMC

[Acid09]

I agree, I can't understand why people complain about the Le Mans coverage, it has been ace in recent years.

The channel switching is no big issue, you can't expect them to block the complete 24 hours on Eurosport International for the race..that will never happen.

[Deleted]

Agreed, pitiful LMS/ILMC trash-coverage aside, everything they've done for 24 hours since 2008 has been absolutely top class. Besides the WTCC, IRC and bike series, that's the only motorsport event where Eurosport really puts money and effort into. Motors TV's round-the-clock-and-more broadcasts were fantastic in the past, but let's face it, it was way too niche channel for event like Le Mans..

Kirby might have a few major brainfarts from time to time, yes, but that's why Mr. Haven is there - to save the day. Still laughing to his Legard-impressions from last year!

[deggis]

Originally Posted by Steve Tarrant

A tweet I've just seen.

"EurosportUKTV Eurosport UK TV by Lemansrace

Pleased to announce Eurosport will broadcast the new Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, featuring Le Mans 24 Hours, for the next 3 seasons!..."

The ILMC races? We don't have confirmed schedules for the whole season yet. 1000km Spa, 7 May, live action on BE&BE2

http://twitter.com/EurosportUKTV/sta...27279297007616

[JAG]

United Autosports said their P2 is destined for ILMC if all goes well.

Today Autosport magazine said Brundle Snr and Jnr will compete at Le Mans next year and United Autosports is one of the teams they've been linked with.

[Canada ALMS fan]

Originally Posted by JAG

United Autosports said their P2 is destined for ILMC if all goes well.

Today Autosport magazine said Brundle Snr and Jnr will compete at Le Mans next year and United Autosports is one of the teams they've been linked with.

Great to hear except this is an entry that would likely have gone full season ALMS before the ILMC.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

Aston were welcomed, until they whigned, and whigned...

They had every right to whinge . Were we not promised diesel/petrol compatability , for several years , and then promised this time and time again ..... So , why didnt we get it after all this time ?

I feel that the ACO have possibily shot themselves in the foot , by not bringing the rules together more (diesel/petrol) ..... because , what manufacturer in their right mind would want to go up against Audi or Pug with the currant rules .

I think that AMR should be commended for going ahead with their petrol project in the face of these rules .

Why do you think Porsche are not in the top class right now , I suspect it has something to do with the regs .

There used to be a time , when I was on my way to Le Mans , that any one of 15 or so cars stood a great chance of a win , now we all know whats going to win come June ..... a diesel . So , on that mark , yes there is something terribily wrong with the rules as they stand , or not ?

So yes ..... whinging is fine , if you are promised rules equivilancy ..... for the last 6 years , and nothing happens .

[ubrben]

Originally Posted by The Badger

They had every right to whinge . Were we not promised diesel/petrol compatability , for several years , and then promised this time and time again ..... So , why didnt we get it after all this time ?

I feel that the ACO have possibily shot themselves in the foot , by not bringing the rules together more (diesel/petrol) ..... because , what manufacturer in their right mind would want to go up against Audi or Pug with the currant rules .

I think that AMR should be commended for going ahead with their petrol project in the face of these rules .

Why do you think Porsche are not in the top class right now , I suspect it has something to do with the regs .

There used to be a time , when I was on my way to Le Mans , that any one of 15 or so cars stood a great chance of a win , now we all know whats going to win come June ..... a diesel . So , on that mark , yes there is something terribily wrong with the rules as they stand , or not ?

So yes ..... whinging is fine , if you are promised rules equivilancy ..... for the last 6 years , and nothing happens .

Some fair points, problem is with the HPD performance at Sebring vs. AMR's at Ricard - AMR look so silly that the easy response to any complaints from them is to get their own house in order vs. the other petrol cars before assuming the regs are still unfair.

Problem is, if you have OEMs competing at the top level then you will always have a smaller number of cars able to win overall. It was the same in the 80s with Jag and Porsche. Audi dominated with a petrol car (R8) - it's got more to do with OEM investment levels than the engine regs IMHO.

To put it another way, when it was Porsche 917 vs. Ferrari 512 - who else had a genuine chance to win on performance alone?

I think the situation now with Audi vs. Peugeot = 7 cars plus a solid privateer LMP1 grid of Rebellion, Oak, ASM, etc means you effectivelly have two strong LMP1 races plus P2.

Ben

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by The Badger

They had every right to whinge. Were we not promised diesel/petrol compatability........

Fogelhund was referring to their GT1 exploits in the ALMS, against Corvette, if I'm not mistaken.

[AGD]

Originally Posted by The Badger

They had every right to whinge . Were we not promised diesel/petrol compatability , for several years , and then promised this time and time again ..... So , why didnt we get it after all this time ?

I feel that the ACO have possibily shot themselves in the foot , by not bringing the rules together more (diesel/petrol) ..... because , what manufacturer in their right mind would want to go up against Audi or Pug with the currant rules .

I think that AMR should be commended for going ahead with their petrol project in the face of these rules .

I don't know if the diesel/petrol balancing is correct now or not, but I KNOW the balancing will be incorrect if the Lolas and Zyteks start running equal to or faster than the factory Audis and Peugeots. Balancing of fuel technology does not mean balancing of team performance! Audi and Peugeot are spending a lot more money than everyone else and it reasons that they will be several steps ahead of the small teams even if they were running spec cars. Look at Ganassi's DPs. Grand Am tries to reel them in, but they still dominate.

It is quite possible that petrol cars are actually at an advantage right now compared to the diesels. I do wonder if someone could develop a proper factory petrol P1 and take advantage of "privateer friendly" petrol rules that arguably exist right now.

[deggis]

It is better situation than before but it is also so messed up that the 2% rule just completely ignores not only drivers and teams but all other aspects. In theory tyres alone could make that gap.

[Deleted]

At least it's more sensible than the 0,5% gap in GT2.

[The Badger]

Im well aware , and understand why factory teams are ahead of privateers , tyre deals and all .

The only people to try and take on the diesels with a FSI engine are Aston and Toyota have one now , with Rebellion I think ? Im just hoping that they can take the scrap to the diesels .

Like the RS Spyder for example , it was a turn key chassis , meaning all the work had already been done by Porsche , unlike ASM for example , who buy a chassis , a gearbox and a tyre deal and an engine , and work out cooling and all manner of stuff by themselves , and hope everything mesh's come race weekend ..... I understand that .

[JAG]

With time hopefully we'll see Audi and Peugeot making cars available to importor teams, the Aston and HPD's will be factory developed customer chassis, we'll have to see what Zytek's manufacturer link-up delivers and what Lola's next car will be like.

[ubrben]

Lets not pretend that AMR / Prodrive are spending anything like the budget of Audi or Peugeot. Rebellion have a Toyota but no-one is doing a complete ground up integrated chassis/engine package anywhere close to the Audi/Peugeot budget - hence no reason to believe they will be beaten unless the petrols get an obscene restrictor break.

Ben

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by JAG

With time hopefully we'll see Audi and Peugeot making cars available to importor teams

They should be made to supply at least one team . Imagine what Gruop C would have been like with private Jags,Saubers,Toyotas and Nissans .

I think manufacturers should be forced to .

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by The Badger

They should be made to supply at least one team . Imagine what Gruop C would have been like with private Jags,Saubers,Toyotas and Nissans .

I think manufacturers should be forced to .

That would help, but only to a certain degree. Some teams will always be more equal than others... especially Porsche has a bit of a history with that.

[Purist]

And yet, it was Reinhold Joest who beat the factory Rothmans cars at Le Mans on multiple occasions. There were several Porsche teams in Group C that all had a shot at winning during the height of the Porsche 956/962 (Brun, Fitzpatrick, Kremer, Joest, and more). In the States, you had Al Holbert with the Lowenbrau factory car(s), but you also had Rob Dyson, Bruce Leven, Bob Akin, Jim Busby, and a few others at the sharp end of things running Porsches as well.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Purist

And yet, it was Reinhold Joest who beat the factory Rothmans cars at Le Mans on multiple occasions. There were several Porsche teams in Group C that all had a shot at winning during the height of the Porsche 956/962 (Brun, Fitzpatrick, Kremer, Joest, and more). In the States, you had Al Holbert with the Lowenbrau factory car(s), but you also had Rob Dyson, Bruce Leven, Bob Akin, Jim Busby, and a few others at the sharp end of things running Porsches as well.

Ah, I'm thinking more of 1997/1998 FIA GT1 or more recently Manthey Racing in VLN/24hours at the Ring. These are two instances where I clearly remember customers protesting about the factory's policy of limiting access to the latest developement parts to one chosen team...

[Pandamasque]

These few pages are a strange read. Some talk about the rule about performance equivalence for different types of engines, others reply about budgets and chassis.

As it stands now, I bet there's a least 100hp and over 9000 kilotorques* difference between the top petrol and top diesel engines. Also the grandfathered diesel cars are waaaay too fast. People keep mentioning the blips of speed by Highcroft, but if you read Paul Truswell's maths after Sebring, it was the old R15++ that had the best pace at Sebring. Yes the AMR engine is early stages, Toyota may improve too, but it's not like the diesels sit around doing nothing.

[courageous]

Originally Posted by The Badger

They should be made to supply at least one team . Imagine what Gruop C would have been like with private Jags,Saubers,Toyotas and Nissans .

I think manufacturers should be forced to .

Trouble is they would just take the P like Mercedes did in proper GT1 days, reduce the size of the works team & loan out cars + factory drivers to a partner team.