Endurance Racing News Thread

Grim.

The 2014 LMP1 Porsche has made its first appearance at Weissach

Killinator

Grim. wrote: »

The 2014 LMP1 Porsche has made its first appearance at Weissach

Give it lick of paint in gulf colours and it'll do

SniperSight

Car stickered up and ready to hit the road tomorrow...

CaptainFreedom

SniperSight wrote: »

Car stickered up and ready to hit the road tomorrow...

Nice, wish I was going this year - was media last year and sat in the massive paddock building for most of the 24H.

frostie500

On the way in the morning! I'll try and post up a few bits and pieces throughout the week that might not be in news elsewhere and some photos and other bits and bobs

Frank Bullitt

Some rumblings on twitter of a team not racing and the cars being repossessed or something?

Anyone else hear something similar?

Grim.

Gintonious wrote: »

Some rumblings on twitter of a team not racing and the cars being repossessed or something?

Anyone else hear something similar?

yeah it was the lotus lmp2 team run by Colin Kolles, the cars them selves weren't repossessed but all spare parts and engines were leaving the team with just the tubs.

porscheman

Some good information on this thread that will be updated untill monday http://www.backroads.ie/forums/showthread.php?8888-And-So-to-the-2013-Le-mans-24-Hours

Grim.

Ouch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OoDLXlUA6Q

Grim.

1st qualifying on eurosport now, even if you're not into sports cars you should watch this, lmp1 cars at le mans at night are amazing to watch.

frostie500

Couple of pics from this evenings session:

michael.dublin

this is going to be GREAT, go AUDI No2.... GO Tom GO

frostie500

Was out watching for most of Qualifying last night (bad timing in the first session of the week meant that I only got to Indianapolis once the red flag came out!) but a few things to note. The Audi is super comfortable and has an abundance of grip through the medium speed corners whereas the Toyota drivers were super aggressive and clearly having to hustle the car to get it to do what they wanted. It will be interesting to see if this was because of track conditions and hopefully as the surface rubbers in they'll improve

michael.dublin

Frostie500 do you think Toyota can go all the way and win, like if they have no accident over the 24 hours race?
have to aggre with you, toyotas drivers are super aggressive, and i do like to see this, it is going to be a good race

frostie500

michael.dublin wrote: »

Frostie500 do you think Toyota can go all the way and win, like if they have no accident over the 24 hours race?
have to aggre with you, toyotas drivers are super aggressive, and i do like to see this, it is going to be a good race

I think it's very early to draw conclusions about anyone at the moment. We've had two days of running (the test day and yesterday) so we have some idea of the pace of the cars but I think that it will only be tonight that a true picture starts to emerge.

Personally I think that Audi has the pace, consistency, strategy and reliability to win this and that Toyota will need to rely on Audi making some mistakes which has happened in the past.

The number 8 Toyota has the best driver lineup in the race for my money (in terms of the abilities, speed and experience of each driver) but obviously Audi have such good chemistry in their cars between the drivers and it's ultimately that which gives them the edge.

Too close to call at the minute for me but I'll try and get some stuff onto the forum as the session evolves. Might be worth following me on twitter (@SteveEnglishGP) for anyone interested because I'm going to try and post some thoughts from trackside (what cars are looking good and some pictures) if the coverage is good down at Mulsanne, Indianapolis and Arnage

michael.dublin

well enjoy the race, it is all about that

frostie500

Few photos from this evenings session. Quick note though that the night session starts at 930 now instead of 10

Larbre34

Good man yourself Frostie. Where are you staying? First year in in a long time i cant make it, having a lads BBQ to watch it. Bleu Nord veteran here

michael.dublin

if only i was down in le mans, well dublin and eurosport will have to do LOL, and now Frostie500 update, thanks

frostie500

Raceday morning, bright and sunny! Eight hours to the start! Not sure how active ill be here today but between this and twitter ill do my best to get a few bits and pieces to everyone

Grim.

could barely sleep last night i was like a kid at Christmas, this is the only race that has this effect on me, only half an hour to go!

Ghost Train

Pity eurosport not free to air... Do have it in Germany though, better than nothing. Hope it's a good race, doesn't look very sunny there

Grim.

Ghost Train wrote: »

Pity eurosport not free to air... Do have it in Germany though, better than nothing. Hope it's a good race, doesn't look very sunny there

English coms for you here http://direct.sharp-stream.com/radioshow.mp3

frostie500

Ghost Train wrote: »

Pity eurosport not free to air... Do have it in Germany though, better than nothing. Hope it's a good race, doesn't look very sunny there

Was spitting rain until about an hour ago and pretty wet this morning but it's not too bad now. Bit cloudy and a decent wind to blow it away for the opening stint hopefully!

Ghost Train

Grim. wrote: »

English coms for you here http://direct.sharp-stream.com/radioshow.mp3

Cheers, they usually have better commentary anyway

Ghost Train

Some great close racing, would be great if this sort of thing lasted into the race

Grim.

massive crash for the aston

frostie500

Grim. wrote: »

massive crash for the aston

Yeah, gonna be a bit of delay with this safety car. Shame because the first three laps were superb. Looked more like a touring car race rather than a 24 Hours! Impressed by the speed of the Rebelion initially to keep pace with di Grassi's Audi.

It was raining pretty hard (here on the pit straight) once the race started but it's now a very light drizzle. Interesting though that the Toyota's looked much more comfortable.

Grim.

not overly surprised by Toyota's pace atm more Audi's lack of pace

Zcott

Grim. wrote: »

not overly surprised by Toyota's pace atm more Audi's lack of pace

Classic Audi tactics. Hope the Toyotas don't race off into the distance and break down, Peugeot style.

frostie500

Fuel sensor issue with the #48 Murphy Prototype that required a change of ECU

Ghost Train

Pity safety car out so long, will be interesting to see if any change of pace when racing resumes

Sitec

Audi looking strong

frostie500

Sitec wrote: »

Audi looking strong

Very early in the race though, not even three hours on the clock, and with scattered showers in the air here I wouldn't rule anything out. Toyota changing tyres could make a huge change to the outcome of the first half of the race. Audi will have to change at next stop, in a about 7 laps time.

I'll be out trackside from six o'clock onwards so won't be here until later tonight (probably around half ten or so) but I'll try and post a few pics onto Twitter and some observations of the cars etc.

Grim.

RIP Allan Simonsen terrible news

ARGINITE

Grim. wrote: »

RIP Allan Simonsen terrible news

+1

There were reports that he was fine.

Sitec

Shocking stuff, I know it looked like a bad accident but people survived a lot worse.

Grim.

ARGINITE wrote: »

+1

There were reports that he was fine.

****ing Carlton Kirby talking ****e again with out knowing the facts :mad:

CaptainFreedom

ARGINITE wrote: »

Reports on Eurosport that the Aston driver from the earlier crash has died.

Yes he has - RIP Allan Simonsen - 1st race fatality since 1986. RIP. Id interviewed him last year, good guy

CaptainFreedom

Sitec wrote: »

Shocking stuff, I know it looked like a bad accident but people survived a lot worse.

Motorsport is Dangerous - someone killed at VLN4 today too

InTheTrees

Watching on Speed in the US.

Go Number 48.

Murphy Prototypes.

Anyone know anything about them?

Grim.

Great Video of Allan Simonsen doing what he did best, driving the nuts off a GT car.

Infoanon

I was reminded earlier that today would have been Dan Wheldons Birthday - then the tragic news came through from Le Mans about Allan.

Motorsport gives unbelievable highs and tragic lows - Allan Simonsen RIP

Drummerboy08

Very sad to see, puts a massive damper on what was otherwise a cracking start to the race.

Personally I didn't think it was as bad as it looked, but I haven't seen the incident properly so I'll wait before I comment again.

Rip.

Larbre34

Even without seeing a full replay the distorted condition of Simonsen's Aston showed that massive forces must have travelled through the car on impact, huge likelyhood of injury despite all the safety restraints. The commentators suggested a bunch of cars in front of him may have blindsided him to some hazard resulting in him spearing off at the gradual right turn at Tertre Rouge.

A dreadful day, taken all the joy out of watching it. Thankful at least that its so rare these days. RIP Allan

Inquitus

Larbre34 wrote: »

Even without seeing a full replay the distorted condition of Simonsen's Aston showed that massive forces must have travelled through the car on impact, huge likelyhood of injury despite all the safety restraints. The commentators suggested a bunch of cars in front of him may have blindsided him to some hazard resulting in him spearing off at the gradual right turn at Tertre Rouge.

A dreadful day, taken all the joy out of watching it. Thankful at least that its so rare these days. RIP Allan

He got out of shape all on his own and the car almost went perpendicular into the barriers, horrible accident.

Tragedy aside, its good to see Audi get some problems in the past 45mins and now with Audi 1, Toy 2,3 we have a race.

frostie500

It's always tough when we hear of anyone paying the ultimate price for racing but unfortunately every driver and every rider knows the risks once they tighten up the chinstraps. Motorsport is a dangerous sport and today we got another tragic reminder of that with both accidents. We take a lot for granted in the sport with regards to safety and given the last two years have seen rallying, Indy Cars, MotoGP, Superbikes, F1 and Sportscars all effected by deaths and serious injuries it is clear that once again we need to take stock of the situation. God speed to Allan and thoughts go out to his family, friends and team but at least here he is doing what he loved from Thursday evening

Veloce

Media reporting that after the accident he was conscious and talking to medical staff. Didn't think it looked that bad either.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/06/22/us-motor-racing-mans-simonsen-idUSBRE95L0A920130622

RIP.

InTheTrees

Last I saw The Irish car was in 12th place in p2. Thats up two places from a few hours ago. They've changed drivers too.

I'm curious. Nobody knows anything about them? "Murphy Prototypes"? There's a big Irish flag on the bonnet.

InTheTrees

Massive crash with number thirty. Driver was okay and walking around. The car is done though.