[LM24 Race] 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours Race Thread

[Jam3s]

The Ford penalty is a strange one. They have strategy software that plugs directly into the live alkamel timing feed and presents the data in a glaring fashion including driver times etc. Very strange mistake for them to make.

The P2 issue doesn't surprise me as the teams are always looking for ways to improve fuel flow and take advantage of grey areas of the rules.

[Mekola]

Eh... Not in humour...

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by ederss7

Toyota fans, simply ignore some people saying "but there was no competition and etc" and celebrate a well deserved victory.
But don't use the argument saying "Audi also didn't have competition" because Audi never had such a big advantage as Toyota had this year. That's a fact.

I really don't care. For me, the argument (if that's what it is) is pointless. Toyota won and they hugely deserved it. It's time IMO to end the 'no competition' jibes.....

[Mike E]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I really don't care. For me, the argument (if that's what it is) is pointless. Toyota won and they hugely deserved it. It's time IMO to end the 'no competition' jibes.....

Agreed. You have to be in it to win it.

Porsche/Audi/Herbie/Chitty Chitty Bang Bang etc get no credit for not turning up. And to say Toyota won against no opposition shows a lack of appreciation for the history of the race generally, and Toyota's history in the race specifically.

[EffectiveSprinkles]

And they actually had opposition. If they had the same issues as say Porsche last year, Rebellion would have won.

[XtC24]

I know it is completelly pointless as the conditions were different (also SZ, flags and all) but just for fun:

Porsche last year managed to beat LMP2 doing 367 laps.
G Drive did 369 this year
But they got DQ after all
Alpine did the same 367 laps I tough..

[bobec]

Originally Posted by EffectiveSprinkles

Indeed, Audi had a far bigger advantage most years.

LOL. You serious?

[bobec]

Originally Posted by XtC24

I know it is completelly pointless as the conditions were different (also SZ, flags and all) but just for fun:

Porsche last year managed to beat LMP2 doing 367 laps.
G Drive did 369 this year
But they got DQ after all
Alpine did the same 367 laps I tough..

Yeah, let's remember that the fast Porsche got a terminal engine failure while set to win by a much bigger margin, and the delayed Porsche ended up winning.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by bobec

Yeah, let's remember that the fast Porsche got a terminal engine failure while set to win by a much bigger margin, and the delayed Porsche ended up winning.

And there you have a 24hr race.

[bobec]

Originally Posted by Maelochs

Like two years ago, you mean ...

Haha, true. But still I feel it was different. 2016 was a new car, and if I understand correctly, they felt forced to introduce that new car one year early.

In 2017 everyone talked about the massive heat and that many failures were expected (and they did happen).

For 2018, Toyota had no need to develop the speed of the car anymore, and just had to concentrate on reliability, serviceability, and survivability. And it seems they did just that:

This year, in an attempt to outwit the so-called curse, Toyota has taken a somewhat unorthodox approach to its preseason preparations. It is conducting drills to practice the unexpected.

“We decide the radio fails, and we see how the driver and the team react,” said Vasselon, the team technical director. “We cause fake problems.

“We spent a lot more time dealing with unplanned situations, unplanned repairs, unplanned problems. We really took time for the team to put them in situations that are not normal, because this is where we failed. For example, we say we have suddenly broken the rear-right drive shaft.”

“We have failed on problems that were unusual,” he added. “The team has not handled perfectly these situations. Some of them were difficult to handle, but you can always do better.”

So it seems they have taken this stuff a lot more seriously than before. And crucially, in my opinion, it was really the only thing they needed to concentrate on.

Originally Posted by Maelochs

Much as I like the cutting-edge stuff ... not that it is anymore, anyway ... I would have been just as happy if the whole hybrid experiment had been jettisoned before it began.

As amazing as "1000 brake horsepower" might sound, taken alone ... add in the reality of the cars and the racing and suddenly it seems a bunch of non-hybrid P1s focusing on maximum power and fuel efficiency, quick repairability, and let teams try some variety ... maybe a car which can go an extra lap per stint due to variable tuning, smaller cars with smaller engines and slightly more fuel relatively to larger-engined cars making more power, higher top end or better drive out of corners, but lower overall fuel allotment ....

Cheaper to build, more options, more potential variety, different strategies .... and more teams competing for the win.

Of course, I am not imagining all the ways that could go wrong. oh, well.

I agree. And I don't mind the hybrid, as long as it is implemented in a way which allows for sustainability and fairness (between different techs and even privateers), and yes, stability and consistency in the rules.

Also agree on the variety. I even wish Formula 1 would allow for different engine configurations, but I suppose they think it is easier to "control" spending when there is only one engine layout allowed.

[S griffin]

So there's a shock, LMP2 winner excluded. Let's see how the appeal goes

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by bobec

Yeah, let's remember that the fast Porsche got a terminal engine failure while set to win by a much bigger margin, and the delayed Porsche ended up winning.

That was last year's race and ten hours in, overall leader Toyota #7 had a clutch failure and couldn't make it back to the pits and retired, such is Le Mans. Imagine, if something like that had happened this year, we'd never hear the end of it, as it is they won the race and they beat the track.

[bobec]

Would any of you consider this TS050 a high-nose design? Though the actual nose is pointed down, the front cover is positioned higher compared to their pre-2017 design, and also compared to the 919 LM cars

[chernaudi]

Borrowing from another site, here's a quote talking about the advantage that Audi Sport with the Audi R8 and in '03 the Bentley Speed 8 had over the nearest true full-on privateer effort:

"Audi/Bentley beat the top opposition car gaps of 24, 23, 16, 17 and 18 laps for the first 5 years. It didn't get close until Audi was using an outdated car that was further hampered by penalties for being outside the latest regulation."

So it can be argued that Audi Sport had at least as big an advantage over the privateers as Toyota this year. It also happened in the Porsche days, too. Like 1981 when the Porsche 936 beat the 2nd place Rondeau by nearly 15 laps. So it happens when you have 1, maybe 2, factory teams vs the privateers.

As to the Toyota, it's call it a low-high nose like what the Audi R8 and R10 had.

[Peter Mallett]

Soooo. Did everyone enjoy the race then? #askingforafriend.

[Aysedasi]

Yep. Enormously. But I also enjoyed the 7 days leading up to it as well....

[bobec]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

Borrowing from another site, here's a quote talking about the advantage that Audi Sport with the Audi R8 and in '03 the Bentley Speed 8 had over the nearest true full-on privateer effort:

"Audi/Bentley beat the top opposition car gaps of 24, 23, 16, 17 and 18 laps for the first 5 years. It didn't get close until Audi was using an outdated car that was further hampered by penalties for being outside the latest regulation."

So it can be argued that Audi Sport had at least as big an advantage over the privateers as Toyota this year. It also happened in the Porsche days, too. Like 1981 when the Porsche 936 beat the 2nd place Rondeau by nearly 15 laps. So it happens when you have 1, maybe 2, factory teams vs the privateers.

The difference for me is that Audi showed up with a brand new car and concept in 2000, not a perfected car with a technological advantage (hybrid). Also, there was at least some manufacturer-backed competition - Cadillac, Bentley, Panoz..

Originally Posted by chernaudi

As to the Toyota, it's call it a low-high nose like what the Audi R8 and R10 had.

Interesting. It reminds me more of the original 2009 R15.

[bobec]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Soooo. Did everyone enjoy the race then? #askingforafriend.

I enjoyed GTE-Pro, and the Toyotas battling each other. Also seeing Fred

[Akrapovic]

http://theracingline.net/2018/media/...photo-gallery/ huge photo gallery.

[chernaudi]

Originally Posted by bobec

The difference for me is that Audi showed up with a brand new car and concept in 2000, not a perfected car with a technological advantage (hybrid). Also, there was at least some manufacturer-backed competition - Cadillac, Bentley, Panoz..






Interesting. It reminds me more of the original 2009 R15.

Nose ducts are like the R15, but the actual nose is more bullet shaped like the R10 or the Bentley Speed 8.

As for enjoying the race, the coverage on Velocity was better than I expected. At least it wasn't like Fox Sports after Speed Channel got re-branded and I had to jump back and forth between two channels.

And I guess that some of you will find this kind of strange, but watching this race was like 2006 for me when Audi won with the R10. Like Audi, Toyota had the fastest car, but there was still the "what if" factor that often can crop up in these long races.

This year, I feel that Toyota won because, like Audi and Porsche before them, they mastered the "what if" and the "not if but when" issues that crop up. How they handled when Kamui missed pit in on what was supposed to be his in-lap to me showed that they planned for such a contingency. That's what one of the big advantages that Audi and Porsche had in the past. There's really never such a thing as a perfect race at Le Mans, but it's how you handle issues, minor or major, when they pop up that wins you the race. Such as when the Toyotas both got penalties as well. There was no panic on the part of the team on those occasions, too.

[Akrapovic]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2ZsJErP4cY Video of the crazy lapping cars.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2ZsJErP4cY Video of the crazy lapping cars.

That was pretty nutty. Thanks for posting.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2ZsJErP4cY Video of the crazy lapping cars.

Blimey, I don't remember seeing so many cars all bunched up like that, at Le Mans before.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2ZsJErP4cY Video of the crazy lapping cars.

Amazing - and rather beautiful to watch too......

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2ZsJErP4cY Video of the crazy lapping cars.

you have to be impressed they pulled that off-all of them.