[WEC] WEC 2023 Season - A new beginning!

[tomcug]

https://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/...fuji/10518816/
Weird issue for Proton, I saw live they just couldn't install Bruni in the car and were fighting with belts.

Originally Posted by Gerard C

As for "the" Porsche, what a first part of race they had. I was literally amazed.

I was the same. A car that was struggling mighty so far suddenly leading 2/3 of the race. In the end fuel mistake was costly, I think Kobayashi was unstoppable but without having to fuel save the entire race P2 was in reach.

[Gerard C]

Yep, sure, at one moment I was wishing for a full lap ahead. But with "ifs"… When you think about the hard work they did on a new car and fail for a "sucking" belt you see what "the devil is in the details" means.

As to the Jotas… its more ridiculous than anything. Cry or laugh? (thanks for the link haven't seen it before).

[Gerard C]

I'm a great fan of Corvette but I feel questionable is inappropriate: https://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/...-win/10518842/

[joeb]

I had to watch the race on replay here, and to my amazement I managed to not find out the result until i finished!

A dry race at Fuji with no safety car past the first lap, that pretty much assured an unusual result. Shocked by Porsche staying in the lead for so long, but had the feeling Toyota didn't seem that worried. I was surprised by the lack of pace from Ferrari, and I bet the other 3 Porsches are kicking themselves for not having clean races and being able to challenge.

Enjoyed the interview with Ben "Scott Dixon" Keating talking about how he was able to save fuel.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Adam43

The coverage wasn't showing the #50 as it was concentrating on the LMP2 battle. Maybe the onboard is uploaded at some point? Is it available on the WEC app?

The #50 did cross the line on that lap close to 3 other cars. It was less than 1.5s behind these cars:
Catsburg #33 Corvette -1.04
Fujii #777 Aston -1.30
Hanley #2 Cadillac -1.38

Could have been a strong tow?

Originally Posted by tomcug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6sNwoetA9s
No telemetry or steering wheel view for speed confirmation but at least we can try to find that moment. I will do later, after work

Here?

https://www.youtube.com/live/r6sNwoe...scECz2SCzZqwk0

5:59:46 is just as he enters the straight.

[PhilipR]

One more race and a looong wait until then

Fuji entertaining but Toyota win felt inevitable. Excited for next year when all these cars have 1 year racing under their belts and hopefully will be able to provide stronger challenge to Toyota

I still think LMH is better suited than LMDH due to inherent freedoms in the design and integration(unless you are Peugeot) but would be great to see LMDH challenging more

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Here https://www.youtube.com/live/r6sNwoe...scECz2SCzZqwk0

Is seems that the italian team, as for LM starting/resetting gestual procedure, has constant issues with the radio. After body language, they have now to use car-body language. From 4'40"

[tomcug]

Originally Posted by Adam43

5:59:46 is just as he enters the straight.

Sorry for late replay, I totally forgot about this Actually 1 lap earlier I think:

Why? Imo because the end of that long straight where obviously top speed is achieved is at the beginning of the lap so we're looking for where he starts the 225th lap, not where he completes it. He had LMP2 in front but I think too far from him to have a really good tow. Also it's funny how no one even mentioned this 333 SP tribute speedtrap record, at least I didn't see on DSC, S365 and motorsport.com. Like no one even noticed or everyone assumed it's telemetry glitch.

[Adam43]

I assumed it was a tribute to Graham Gooch.

Depends where the speed trap is.
I looked for when he was near other cars that could have caused that.
Although even with a tow it strikes me as unlikely.

[GT3_Fan]

What will happen to all of these GTE cars now that their life span in top level racing is about to end?

[Coach Ep]

They'll end up in private collections and trickle down to national series.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by GT3_Fan

What will happen to all of these GTE cars now that their life span in top level racing is about to end?

Same thing as the older ones, Masters Endurance/LM Classic in Europe and HSR/SVRA in the US. And other series that may allow detuned or harder tired versions of the cars to run more. And some collectors just put them away and take them out for track days or just an art collection

[tomcug]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Although even with a tow it strikes me as unlikely.

Seems so. Still there's no correction to the maximum speed report so I think it will remain there even if they didn't really hit 333 kph
BTW Pierson will have a chance to drive the GR010.
https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...rive-hypercar/

[J Jay]

Edit - tomucg provided an earlier link

No big surprises in the selections. Still, I am going to have to read the articles twice over to fully comprehend that a 17-year-old will be driving a GR010.

If you're good enough, you're old enough. Surely Pierson will be (is being?) courted by manufacturers for as long as UA aren't in the top class.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Edit - tomucg provided an earlier link

No big surprises in the selections. Still, I am going to have to read the articles twice over to fully comprehend that a 17-year-old will be driving a GR010.

If you're good enough, you're old enough. Surely Pierson will be (is being?) courted by manufacturers for as long as UA aren't in the top class.

I haven't followed everything he has done up till now, but he has some wins in P2 and not good results in the IndyNXT series which I think he is returning to in 2024. He must feel like a pretty lucky kid to get to drive a GR010!

[broadrun96]

He's done well in everything he's driven and another of what people would cry about being a sneaky silver soon

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

He's done well in everything he's driven and another of what people would cry about being a sneaky silver soon

He's on the list for potentially being upgraded to gold next season, so the ACO are onto that one (unlike Hanson, where they waited until he/Albuquerque won literally everything before upgrading him).

It will reduce his options, but I doubt it will stall his rise. UA will have a job keeping him if they don't find a LMDh deal in the near future.

[Mike E]

WEC Full Access video for Fuji

https://youtu.be/v_FrsyJ6N_U?si=ftb8gvGXwFE0GDPP