A Friend Remembered A Tribute to Mike Bell 2021 Calendar

Simmi · 8 Dec 2020, 11:58 (Ref:4021559)

Welcome! As a t*rd sandwich of a year comes to a close - here's a new thread to hopefully provide what it says in the title - a place for good news and excitement as new manufacturers are rumoured and hopefully commit to sportscar racing at the highest level in WEC and IMSA.

Will Hypercar and LMDh balance perfectly? Not sure - but let's leave it for another thread.

Audi's announcement last week generated a mere whimper on the forum so this could be a place to talk about that. Looks very customer focussed which is super exciting if we see multiple teams getting involved.

Listening to Graham Goodwin on the MP Podcast - they are still firmly expecting Porsche to come, possibly with an announcement coming soon.
EDIT: It's already in the French press (via forumer Tique) - https://www.ouest-france.fr/sport/24...n-plus-7077619

Honda and Hyundai strongly rumoured. Plus the pinch of salt Ferrari rumours that won't go away.

Hopefully Alpine will convert this grandfathered P1 effort into something that actually fits the new regs at some point too. Not sure how long the Glickenhaus commitment is but it's super exciting if you ask me.

I know we've been hurt before - but is anyone else seriously excited about this? Grids could be huge in only a couple of years...

Mike E · 8 Dec 2020, 13:16 (Ref:4021570)

It is exciting. 2023 could see Toyota, Audi, Porsche, Honda and Peugeot battling to get ahead of Glickenhaus!
And surely Alpine/Renault have an eye on the LM centenary in '23 as well? How about a second car for Alonso and whoever his team mate is then?
And there could be significant variety in GT as well if they switch to GT3.

chernaudi · 8 Dec 2020, 15:54 (Ref:4021583)

I think the problem with the Audi announcement is that one, Audi/Audi Sport didn't play it up much (it played second fiddle to the Dakar EV/hybrid vehicle effort in the press release), and we'll have to wait until 2023 to see what Audi Sport does. Maybe gives them time to evaluate a LMDH or maybe a LMH program depending on what fits what they're going for (LM wins or IMSA success, or both).

TF110 · 8 Dec 2020, 16:37 (Ref:4021585)

Im looking forward to the new cars. They will be 2000mm wide again and a lot longer. Interested to see how they look and what kind of engines they produce. Lmdh is not really something that I love to see but if more competition is here I can live with.

Pandamasque · 8 Dec 2020, 16:58 (Ref:4021591)

Why will the cars be "a lot longer"? Also, why would anyone be looking forward to that? Are racing stretch limos all the rage these days, like in F1?

Quote:

Originally Posted by chernaudi

I think the problem with the Audi announcement is that one, Audi/Audi Sport didn't play it up much (it played second fiddle to the Dakar EV/hybrid vehicle effort in the press release), and we'll have to wait until 2023 to see what Audi Sport does. Maybe gives them time to evaluate a LMDH or maybe a LMH program depending on what fits what they're going for (LM wins or IMSA success, or both).

It could be a customer oriented programme a-la Cadillac DPi. Which could be a good thing!

Simmi · 8 Dec 2020, 17:33 (Ref:4021607)

I'm convinced the Audi project will be heavily customer focused. From how it was positioned in the press release, to what we're hearing from sportscar journalists, to the fact it appears to have been signed off in parallel to a Porsche programme.

It's super exciting - especially for a whole crop of drivers who are either sitting on the sidelines or just starting their sportscar/single seater careers.

TF110 · 8 Dec 2020, 17:59 (Ref:4021615)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pandamasque

Why will the cars be "a lot longer"? Also, why would anyone be looking forward to that? Are racing stretch limos all the rage these days, like in F1?

It could be a customer oriented programme a-la Cadillac DPi. Which could be a good thing!

Max length is 5000mm in the rules. Currently they are around 4700mm iirc. That length isn't unprecedented in sportscars or prototype class history F1 being limos these days has nothing to do with it.

**joeb** · 8 Dec 2020, 18:27 (Ref:4021624)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simmi

I'm convinced the Audi project will be heavily customer focused. From how it was positioned in the press release, to what we're hearing from sportscar journalists, to the fact it appears to have been signed off in parallel to a Porsche programme.

It's super exciting - especially for a whole crop of drivers who are either sitting on the sidelines or just starting their sportscar/single seater careers.

And on top of this, there are teams that are looking to currently move in to LMP2 to get experience in protos ahead of a potential step up from there. I think WRT was a team to recently do this. So there is interest from manufacturers and interest from teams in running the cars, that has to be a positive sign!

Pandamasque · 8 Dec 2020, 23:21 (Ref:4021654)

Quote:

Originally Posted by TF110

[...] That length isn't unprecedented in sportscars or prototype class history [...]

Any examples?

TF110 · 9 Dec 2020, 00:23 (Ref:4021663)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pandamasque

Any examples?

The McLaren f1 GTR longtail was 4.9+ meters in length.

Napolis · 9 Dec 2020, 02:09 (Ref:4021678)

Our engine is on the Dyno. Parts are arriving every day. A number of fantastic drivers want to drive for us.
A major manufacturer is interested in our LMH platform. Today 2 major multi nation companies approached us about sponsorship. You never know...

**joeb** · 9 Dec 2020, 02:35 (Ref:4021680)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Napolis

Our engine is on the Dyno. Parts are arriving every day. A number of fantastic drivers want to drive for us.
A major manufacturer is interested in our LMH platform. Today 2 major multi nation companies approached us about sponsorship. You never know...

That is a perfect example of the thread title - positivity. Can't wait to see the car assembled and hear the announcements from the team. For years we fans have been lamenting the lack of the small manufacturer or coach builder participating in upper level motorsports. If your team doesn't perfectly fit that spirit I don't know what does.

chernaudi · 9 Dec 2020, 04:43 (Ref:4021689)

And a technical point. The long wheelbases on current LMP cars (and basically those designed since 2005/06) is largely due to aero regs.

Let's just take the Audi R10, which had the longest wheelbase for a LMP1 car (claimed by Audi to be similar to the first generation Audi Q7 SUV) until Audi Sport designed the R15 (which at the time had a wheelbase as long as or even longer than F1 cars of the period). Yes, the diesel V12 was much longer than the V8 out of the R8, but it was far from the only factor. A longer wheelbase makes a car more stable in direction changes and down straightaways, it makes it easier to package the tub and mechanicals within the wheelbase as well, which helps with weight distribution.

But the long wheelbase (which I believe is also the case for F1 cars) is also very largely governed by overall length requirements vs front/rear overhang. We have to remember that post 2004 LMP1s were limited to 1000mm front overhang and especially 750mm rear overhang. However, length (4650mm) and until 2014 width (2000mm) remained the same. So hence, wheelbases got longer to counter the overhang chops while keeping the cars overall as long as possible.

CTD · 9 Dec 2020, 05:13 (Ref:4021691)

Could the wheelbase discussion go to the future regulation thread instead of making a hijack if this thread on the very first page!?

Great idea for a thread Simmi, I really hope we can keep this thread clear of any negative bickering.

Great news Jim! I really looking forward to see the final setup for you car, teams and everything involved.

canaglia · 9 Dec 2020, 08:30 (Ref:4021705)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pandamasque

Any examples?

maserati mc12 gt1 was deliberately made 5.1m long in a period where all other gt1 cars were in the range of 4.5-4.7m and less than 2m wide.