The Sportscar and Endurance Thread

AxelP800 · Post by **AxelP800** » 20 Jan 2016, 07:15

http://m.speedcafe.com/2016/01/20/late- ... -v8-scalp/

Whatever FIA. Whatever.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 20 Jan 2016, 15:35

I still don't understand the class system. Never had. To me, (which while I admittedly don't follow sportscars like I do other series, I DO ollow the ALMS err...USCs...er TUDOR series quite a bit), and to me it breaks down like this:

Platinum: God-Tier - Kristenson, Pruett, etc.
Gold: ????
Silver:????
Bronze: Scrubs - Dempsey, LMPC drivers, Me.

Otherwise I have no clue what the differences are. Seat time, I imagine?

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 20 Jan 2016, 19:14

Wallio wrote:I still don't understand the class system. Never had. To me, (which while I admittedly don't follow sportscars like I do other series, I DO ollow the ALMS err...USCs...er TUDOR series quite a bit), and to me it breaks down like this:

Platinum: God-Tier - Kristenson, Pruett, etc.
Gold: ????
Silver:????
Bronze: Scrubs - Dempsey, LMPC drivers, Me.

Otherwise I have no clue what the differences are. Seat time, I imagine?

The FIA website has the criteria listed in a pdf on this page: http://www.fia.com/fia-driver-categorisation

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 22 Jan 2016, 18:42

Simtek wrote:
Wallio wrote:I still don't understand the class system. Never had. To me, (which while I admittedly don't follow sportscars like I do other series, I DO ollow the ALMS err...USCs...er TUDOR series quite a bit), and to me it breaks down like this:

Platinum: God-Tier - Kristenson, Pruett, etc.
Gold: ????
Silver:????
Bronze: Scrubs - Dempsey, LMPC drivers, Me.

Otherwise I have no clue what the differences are. Seat time, I imagine?

The FIA website has the criteria listed in a pdf on this page: http://www.fia.com/fia-driver-categorisation

I have been meaning to right a blog post on this for quite some time, in fact, since before the Nissan LMP1 announcement.
Platinum is basically the very best drivers, many of whom are ex F1 like Max Chilton, Andre Lotterer, Gianmaria Bruni, Mark Webber, Sebastien Buemi and Anthony Davidson to name some examples. Gold features pro drivers who are still very good but might not have the experience or results. notable drivers include the likes of Pipo Derani, Karun Chandhok and Fernando Rees for example.
Silver is the most confusing class as it features a mixture of driver coaches who are being paid by Bronze drivers to help them get better such as Jeff Segal, pros with less experience or results compared to a Gold driver such as Matthias Lauda, the very best gentleman drivers such as Simon Dolan and David Heinemeier Hansson and pro drivers who have been downgraded due to age such as Scott Pruett, Eric van de Poole, Martin Brundle, Jan Lammers and Stefan Johansson to name some examples. :deletraz:

is also a silver rated driver. Finally, there are Bronze drivers like Patrick Dempsey. Most of these actually fund the cars they are racing such as Ed Brown, Jose Ibanez, Duncan Cameron and Roald Goethe for instance. There are also some utter scrubs in this class like Tracy Khron, Kekio Ihara and Vadim Kogay to give some examples. Hope this goes some way to helping make sense of driver ratings

AxelP800 · Post by **AxelP800** » 31 Jan 2016, 04:59

Moving to Sunday at Daytona, we have the 10th full course caution. A PC car got stranded inside the West Hairpin. BR01 SMP of Aleshin is now multiple laps down thanks to issues, but my biggest disappointment is DeltaWing, having led 20+ laps, crashed into a ded PC car on turn 1. It was already dark and the PC's lights were off, Meyrick didn't see the car and wham. Game over.

Ford GTLM is not dominating at front, one car has multiple puncture, other issues, they're not battling for GTLM glory now. For an eternity first time, a LMP2 car is actually leading DP cars, courtsery of Shank's Ligier HPD. 14 hours 41 minutes to go, back to green!

12 minutes later...

NOOOOO! THE SHANK HAS STOPPED!!!! :cry:

nome66 · Post by **nome66** » 31 Jan 2016, 19:48

nooooo Babini in the Lambroghini!!!!

anyways. race is over. i'm happy that a Honda won and Ganassi with his hype-train of 4 cars across 2 classes did not

AxelP800 · Post by **AxelP800** » 01 Feb 2016, 02:32

That was a great Daytona 24! Happy to see LMP2 wibs Daytona

PC class however is like a grid filler now.
But those GTs, LM and D oh my God. I can't blink my eyes for the final 20 minutes.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 01 Feb 2016, 12:04

Glad to read that Katherine Legge in the DeltaWing showed promise - just hoping that they can turn that promise into race results this year. And Rubens Barrichello in second place.

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 02 Feb 2016, 12:38

dr-baker wrote:Glad to read that Katherine Legge in the DeltaWing showed promise - just hoping that they can turn that promise into race results this year. And Rubens Barrichello in second place.

Katherine had the best race of her career, in my opinion (and likely most everyone else's). Once the gremlins of unreliability seemed to have ended the DeltaWing finally showed its true potential. If it weren't for the stalled car it rammed into, which it had no lights on by the way, the DeltaWing would likely have won the Rolex 24. Either way, Katherine Legge was definitely the driver of the race.

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 05 Feb 2016, 14:31

Some interesting points here from the press conference.

1. 60 cars will be taking part this year.
2. Alex Wurz will be the Grand Marshal.
3. SAFER barriers now at the Porsche Curves.
4. 44 entrys in ELMS with 15 LMP2 cars, 20 LMP3 cars and 9 GTE cars.
5. Of the 20 LMP3 cars, 19 are Ligers, the other is the Riley of Murphy Prototypes.
6. Courage are back in the ELMS with a BR01.
7. John Booth and Graeme Lowden are taking Manor to the WEC.
8. 9 LMP1 cars, 10 LMP2 cars, 7 GTE Pro cars and 6 GTE am cars for the WEC making a total of 32.
9. For Le Mans, this becomes 9 LMP1 cars, 22 LMP2 cars, 14 cars in both GTE Pro and GTE am and Garage 56 for a total of 60.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 05 Feb 2016, 14:46

So the question is, how long before LMP2 becomes de-facto LMP1? There's enough cars in that class alone to justify a whole series for themselves!

Post by **mario** » 05 Feb 2016, 20:17

roblomas52 wrote:Some interesting points here from the press conference.

1. 60 cars will be taking part this year.
2. Alex Wurz will be the Grand Marshal.
3. SAFER barriers now at the Porsche Curves.
4. 44 entrys in ELMS with 15 LMP2 cars, 20 LMP3 cars and 9 GTE cars.
5. Of the 20 LMP3 cars, 19 are Ligers, the other is the Riley of Murphy Prototypes.
6. Courage are back in the ELMS with a BR01.
7. John Booth and Graeme Lowden are taking Manor to the WEC.
8. 9 LMP1 cars, 10 LMP2 cars, 7 GTE Pro cars and 6 GTE am cars for the WEC making a total of 32.
9. For Le Mans, this becomes 9 LMP1 cars, 22 LMP2 cars, 14 cars in both GTE Pro and GTE am and Garage 56 for a total of 60.

I wonder if the decision to expand the grid was taken in order to accommodate Ford's desire to run four cars in the GTE category in an attempt to win that category by sheer force of numbers.

AndreaModa wrote:So the question is, how long before LMP2 becomes de-facto LMP1? There's enough cars in that class alone to justify a whole series for themselves!

Well, we will have to see what impact the upcoming regulation changes for 2017 will have on the LMP2 category, though there is still a great deal of uncertainty over the changes (the head of Ligier pointed out that the ACO hasn't even agreed on the maximum dimensions of the car, let alone more detailed parts, which is costing them business as teams wait to see what the rule changes will be).

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 05 Feb 2016, 22:00

mario wrote:
roblomas52 wrote:Some interesting points here from the press conference.

1. 60 cars will be taking part this year.
2. Alex Wurz will be the Grand Marshal.
3. SAFER barriers now at the Porsche Curves.
4. 44 entrys in ELMS with 15 LMP2 cars, 20 LMP3 cars and 9 GTE cars.
5. Of the 20 LMP3 cars, 19 are Ligers, the other is the Riley of Murphy Prototypes.
6. Courage are back in the ELMS with a BR01.
7. John Booth and Graeme Lowden are taking Manor to the WEC.
8. 9 LMP1 cars, 10 LMP2 cars, 7 GTE Pro cars and 6 GTE am cars for the WEC making a total of 32.
9. For Le Mans, this becomes 9 LMP1 cars, 22 LMP2 cars, 14 cars in both GTE Pro and GTE am and Garage 56 for a total of 60.

I wonder if the decision to expand the grid was taken in order to accommodate Ford's desire to run four cars in the GTE category in an attempt to win that category by sheer force of numbers.

There was going to be an expansion in garages for this year anyway but most people, myself included, reckoned on it being 2 more for this year and the other 2 garages next year.

Post by **mario** » 06 Feb 2016, 23:12

roblomas52 wrote:
mario wrote:
roblomas52 wrote:Some interesting points here from the press conference.

1. 60 cars will be taking part this year.
2. Alex Wurz will be the Grand Marshal.
3. SAFER barriers now at the Porsche Curves.
4. 44 entrys in ELMS with 15 LMP2 cars, 20 LMP3 cars and 9 GTE cars.
5. Of the 20 LMP3 cars, 19 are Ligers, the other is the Riley of Murphy Prototypes.
6. Courage are back in the ELMS with a BR01.
7. John Booth and Graeme Lowden are taking Manor to the WEC.
8. 9 LMP1 cars, 10 LMP2 cars, 7 GTE Pro cars and 6 GTE am cars for the WEC making a total of 32.
9. For Le Mans, this becomes 9 LMP1 cars, 22 LMP2 cars, 14 cars in both GTE Pro and GTE am and Garage 56 for a total of 60.

I wonder if the decision to expand the grid was taken in order to accommodate Ford's desire to run four cars in the GTE category in an attempt to win that category by sheer force of numbers.

There was going to be an expansion in garages for this year anyway but most people, myself included, reckoned on it being 2 more for this year and the other 2 garages next year.

Sorry, I should have been clearer with my comment - I was aware of the plans to expand the grid from 56 to 58 cars as part of the ACO's longer term plans, but was under the impression from the ACO's earlier announcements that they were phasing in the expansion to 60 cars because construction work was still continuing on the new garages.

As an aside, does the ACO still intend to call the experimental race car the "Garage 56" entry? Or are they going to change it to a "Garage 60" entry now that the grid has expanded?

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 08 Feb 2016, 19:44

mario wrote:
roblomas52 wrote:
mario wrote:I wonder if the decision to expand the grid was taken in order to accommodate Ford's desire to run four cars in the GTE category in an attempt to win that category by sheer force of numbers.

There was going to be an expansion in garages for this year anyway but most people, myself included, reckoned on it being 2 more for this year and the other 2 garages next year.

Sorry, I should have been clearer with my comment - I was aware of the plans to expand the grid from 56 to 58 cars as part of the ACO's longer term plans, but was under the impression from the ACO's earlier announcements that they were phasing in the expansion to 60 cars because construction work was still continuing on the new garages.

Yeah, that is what the initial plan was, until the announcement last week.

mario wrote:As an aside, does the ACO still intend to call the experimental race car the "Garage 56" entry? Or are they going to change it to a "Garage 60" entry now that the grid has expanded?

Yes, it will still be called the "Garage 56" entry.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 09 Feb 2016, 16:04

roblomas52 wrote:Of the 20 LMP3 cars, 19 are Ligers, the other is the Riley of Murphy Prototypes.

So met the new LMPC.....

MorbidelliObese · Post by **MorbidelliObese** » 09 Feb 2016, 17:20

I must admit the Ligier numerical domination of LMP3 in ELMS isn't great, but it's still a step up from LMPC in the same way that F3 is a step up from.... well pretty much every other junior single seater series on the planet, even if it is virtually all Dallaras itself.

Still annoyed at LMP2 being ruined for 2017 though, guess I'll have to just enjoy it as much as I can this year.

Izzyeviel · Post by **Izzyeviel** » 09 Feb 2016, 21:57

Didn't realise this year's garage 56 entry would be a quadruple amputee.

Good luck to this dude: https://twitter.com/flemans2016

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 11 Feb 2016, 15:23

Incredible, good on this guy and on the ACO for making it happen.

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 29 Feb 2016, 12:42

Looks like Stevens is staying with Manor after all, albeit in WEC
http://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/stev ... 16-676322/

golic_2004 · Post by **golic_2004** » 18 Apr 2016, 11:54

Audi take a thrilling win away from Porsche
http://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/silv ... er-688149/

or did they?
http://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/audi ... ck-688244/

and the other Porsche bins it from the lead. I don't see it as anyone's fault but just terrible timing.
http://www.motorsport.com/wec/video/mai ... 52914/?s=2

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 18 Apr 2016, 15:36

golic_2004 wrote:Audi take a thrilling win away from Porsche
http://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/silv ... er-688149/

or did they?
http://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/audi ... ck-688244/

and the other Porsche bins it from the lead. I don't see it as anyone's fault but just terrible timing.
http://www.motorsport.com/wec/video/mai ... 52914/?s=2

Yeah, I saw it on the big screen at Luffield from where I was down at Woodcote and I think that it was a racing incident as well but with more of the blame being apportionable to Brendon Hartley.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 09 May 2016, 03:01

Now, I'll admit to not following ELMS too closely, especially now that I've just found out that a guy who was two years above me in school and I have known since I was about eight years old (not very closely, mind) is now racing for Murphy Prototypes: https://motorsport.ie/2016/04/17/faith- ... type-elms/

Jealous? Me? Pfft, come on!

Oh, what might have been...

AxelP800 · Post by **AxelP800** » 28 May 2016, 16:36

Meanwhile 3 hours in ADAC 24 Hours Nurburgring is in chaos. After sunny start and 5 laps, storms came then hails and snow came, as cars crashes in Addenaur and blocked the track. Now after the restart the road is like ice, now fog and mist come and rains again.

Nurburgring strucks again

Izzyeviel · Post by **Izzyeviel** » 30 May 2016, 00:21

I'm rewatching the 2013 Le Mans 24 hours. How sad/bored am I?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLMaIiBCKnc If you want to join me. There's others available too.

Izzyeviel · Post by **Izzyeviel** » 30 May 2016, 23:38

AxelP800 wrote:Meanwhile 3 hours in ADAC 24 Hours Nurburgring is in chaos. After sunny start and 5 laps, storms came then hails and snow came, as cars crashes in Addenaur and blocked the track. Now after the restart the road is like ice, now fog and mist come and rains again.

Nurburgring strucks again

Explains this video then. https://streamable.com/2ooz

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 15 Jun 2016, 10:58

Time for the Le Mans preview for 2016! All classes will be ordered by car numbers.

LMP1
LMP1 have only have 9 cars in it but they really are at the top of what can be achieved with regards to innovation. Porsche, ByKolles and Rebellion have been tinkering with their cars and Toyota and Audi have brought brand new cars to the series for this season. A season where despite reductions in how much fuel can be used per lap, the 3 manufactures all have power figures which are considerably north of 1000hp. Some people reckon that all 3 manufactures have power figures north of 1200hp. For Le Mans, due to the nature of the circuit and with it subsequently having an FIA Grade 2 license, the LMP1 cars from Porsche, Audi and Toyota will be limited to a mere 1000hp. Rebellion and ByKolles will be unaffected by this.

Porsche (#1 and #2)
Porsche return with an unchanged driver line-up which sees Mark Webber, Timo Bernhard and Brendon Hartley carry the #1 on the side of the car as the reigning champions. Marc Leib, Neel Jani and Romain Dumas will be at the helm of the #2 Porsche 919 Hybrid which has undergone a through evolution over the winter to the point that most of it had been improved. The 2 litre turbocharged V4 remains as does the 8MJ, lithium-ion battery hybrid system. The motor on the front axle has been improved, as has the KERS system which harvests energy which would be otherwise wasted as heat under braking. There is also a second energy recovery system which harvests exhaust gasses. There have been some reliability issues so far this season, especially at Spa to the point that Porsche have reverted to last years battery. Overall, the package to beat last year looks like it will be the package to beat this year but anything can happen.

ByKolles Racing (#4)
ByKolles return with a slightly changed driver line-up and new tyres for this season after they, like Rebellion made the switch to Dunlops for this season. As for the aforementioned driver line-up Simon Trummer stays on and is joined by Oliver Webb and, Pierre Kaffer, who is back from his duties as a works driver for Audi in the R8 GT3. There have been a number of developments for ByKolles during the off season which includes the development of a new chassis with a revised front suspension set-up. In fairness, the car has been dramatically better over the opening rounds of the WEC although there are still a few little reliability niggles compared to the Rebellions and I fear this might be the weakness for the team.

Toyota Gazoo Racing (#5 and #6)
Toyota return with a whole new car for the this season and one of the biggest changes comes in the form of the powertrain. Gone is the supercapacitor and the 4 litre NA V8 and in its place is a 2.4 litre twin turbocharged V6 and a lithium-ion battery as a means of storing hybrid energy from the front and rear motor generators. The suspension kinematics have been changed, as has the aero. The #5 features 2014 WEC champions, Anthony Davidson and Sebastien Buemi alongside Kazuki Nakajima. The #6 features Mike Conway and Stephane Sarrazin now joined by ex AF Corse driver, Kamui Kobayashi. This is due to the retirement of Alex Wurz although he will be at all of the rounds as the nominated reserve driver and brand ambassador. There have been some teething troubles with the all new car but the pace is there and they could still pull a surprise.

Audi Sport Team Joest (#7 and #8)
Audi go into the season with a car called the R18 e-tron quattro but in concept, it is as fundamentally different as you can get compared to last year’s car. For example, the gearbox has been changed and is now has 6 gears compared to the 7 which last years car had. Other changes include a change from a flywheel to a lithium-ion battery as a means of storing the hybrid energy, an increase in hybrid power form 4MJ to 6MJ, a new monocoque which has been moved backwards with the stated aim being to allow more air to flow through the car. Then, there is the aero itself which looks insane because it was designed to try and help get more air under the car to increase underbody downforce. As for the driver line-ups, Andre Lotterer, Marcel Fassler and Benoit Treluyer will be in the #7 and can never be discounted. In the #8, Loic Duval, Oliver Jarvis and Lucas Di Grassi will take on the driving duties. The car has also been the most reliable of the hybrid LMP1 cars this season so far which should bode well over the 24 hours.

Rebellion Racing (#12 and #13)
Rebellion Racing also joined ByKolles in making the switch to Dunlop rubber for this season and they also have a fantastic looking car. The #12 sees Nicolas Prost and Nick Heidfeld return alongside Nelson Piquet, Jr for the opening 3 rounds with Mathias Beche taking over for the rest of the campaign. The #13 sees Dominik Kraihamer and Alexandre Imperatori return alongside Matheo Tsucher who impressed in the last 2 rounds last season. The start of the season for Rebellion has been Leicester City like to use a football/soccer analogy in the sense that nobody expected them to be doing as well as they have done. A pair of 3-4 results overall in the opening 2 rounds with the #13 ahead of the #12 on both occasions have led to some predictions that another podium could be on the cards for Le Mans if the hybrids suffer reliability woes again.

LMP2
LMP2 sees all of the WEC teams running the Gibson built, Nissan V8 for this season and Dunlop tyres. The additional entries for Le Mans see a Honda engine for MSR and Judd engines for 2 teams. This and the fact that anyone of the teams could get podiums at every round means that there could well be fireworks in this class.

So24 ! By Lombard Racing (#22)
So24! By Lombard Racing are running a Judd engine, the only Ligier to be doing so after Khron Racing replaced theirs for a Nissan. The car also has one of the best paint schemes on the field in my opinion with the white purple and orange design. The highlight of the driving talent is the silver rated Vincent Capillaire who raced last year for Signatec Alpine and is very rapid. Alongside him are bronze rated drivers, Jonathan Coleman and Erik Maris, who competed alongside Ligier boss Jacques Nicolet. The car has a chance for a good result. However, a lot of luck and attrition will be needed for a top 10.

Panis Barthez Competition (#23)
The new team formed by the former F1 driver Olivier Panis and World Cup winning goalkeeper, Fabian Barthez has a good car and a solid lineup. Fabian Barthez has raced at Le Mans previously, in 2014 in a LMGTE am Ferrari 458 and came 9th in class that year. The pro drivers in the car are the ever quick Paul Loup Chatin, who is one of the quickest drivers in the ELMS and young Timothe Buret, who was racing in the Pro Mazda championship last year. The team has had an ok start to the season with a 9th and a 7th although the car has been quick in the hands of Paul Loup Chatin. I think the car has a chance for a podium but that will depend on the consistency of Barthez as the gentleman driver.

Algarve Pro Racing (#25)
The most noticeable thing about this entry is that there is a knight of the realm behind the steering wheel in the form of Sir Chris Hoy. The 6 time Olympic cycling champion and reigning ELMS LMP3 champion will be making his Le Mans debut this season. Alongside him will be team owner, Michael Munemann and the reigning Renault RS01 champion, Andrea Pizzitola. The start to the season in the ELMS has been steady with a 10th at Silverstone and a DNF at Imola. I think the chances of a podium are slim although a top 10 is achievable if others hit issues..

G-Drive Racing (#26 and #38)
Romain Rusinov and the G-Drive sponsorship is back for another season for the reigning LMP2 champion in the WEC and recently demoted from gold driver. There are however, many differences. Firstly, Jota Sport are providing the technical support as well as helping to sort out the logistics. Secondly, the awesome black and orange livery is now on an Oreca 05 whereas last year, it was on a Liger JS P2. Finally, the driver line up has changed with the inclusion of factory Audi driver Rene Rast and ex GP2 driver Nathanael Berthon snapped up after his performances at Murphy Prototypes last season. Since Silverstone, Will Stevens has been announced as the replacement for Nathanael Berthon for Le Mans only. The #38 car features former Caterham F1 driver, Geido van der Garde alongside GP3 driver Jake Dennis and Simon Dolan, who is one of the fastest of the true gentleman drivers. Both cars, the Ligier for the #26 crew and the Gibson for the crew of the #38 have incredibly strong line-ups and had very good seasons so far, especially the #38 which is leading the ELMS. They will be hotly tipped for the class win.

SMP Racing (#27 and #37)
The 2014 WEC champions are back, this time with the fast and very good looking BR01s for a second time at Le Mans. The aim of the team is to win and I think this is reflected in the driver line-up. The #27 contains 2 drivers whose surnames begin with “M”. Firstly, Mikhail Aleshin, the Russian who is racing Indy Car this season will be alongside Maurizio Median and the evergreen Nic Minassian who is as revved up as ever. The #37 contains the first Russian to get a podium in F1, Vitaly Petrov, Kirill Ladygin and reigning Le Mans and LMGTE Am champion at Le Mans, Victor Shaytar who I thought was very good at Estoril in the final ELMS round last season.

Pegasus Racing (#28)
Pegasus racing is going to be bringing it's Morgan back to Le Mans this year and again, without the upgrade kit. The main focus will be maximising the drive time of the silver rated drivers, Leo Roussel and Ines Taittinger of the Taittinger Champaign dynasty, whose godfather is former McLaren driver Phillipe Alliot and Remy Striebig, who is a bronze rated driver. The team will be relying on attrition and consistency from the drivers to get a good result.

Extreme Speed Motorsport (#30 and #31)
Extreme Speed Motorsport return for another year with many changes behind the scenes and one of the most memorable pre-seasons in memory with wins at Daytona and Sebring. That was with the upgraded HPD engine but as that fails to meet WEC regulations, the team have switched to the Nissan V8. As well as this, the team have gone into a technical partnership with OAK Racing. As for the drivers, Scott Sharp, Ed Brown and Johannes van Overbeek jump from the #31 to the #30 with the #31 now home to Ryan Daziel, Chris Cumming and Pipo Derani, who played a decent part in the historic wins in Florida. The #31 has finished 2nd in both rounds of the WEC this season whereas the #30 has an 8th and a 5th to its name. Personally, I think the #31 could well be a contender this year whereas a top 10 would be a good result for the #30.

Eurasia Motorsport (#33)
Eurasia Motorsport scored in a big way when they announced that Tristan Gormmendy would be driving for them this season with the Frenchman being one of the fastest pro drivers in the ELMS this season. Alongside him is Dutchman, Nico Peter de Bruijn and China's Pu Jun Jin. The team retired from the opening round of the ELMS but made amends by getting a 5th at Imola. A good result is possible for the team but I think they will struggle to get a top 5 due to the strength of the competition.

Race Performance (#34)
Race performance are the reigning LMP2 champions in the Asian LMS and this subsequently meant that they got an automatic entry for drivers Nicolas Leutwiler of Switzerland and the Japanese ex F1 driver, Shinji Nakano. Alongside them will be James Winslow, the Brit who saved the life of a fellow driver after an accident during an F3 race at Sentul, Indonesia. I think the team have a chance at a top 10 result but I think a little bit of attrition may be needed for this to occur.

Signatech Alpine - Baxi DC Racing (#35 and #36)
The 2014 ELMS champions are back for a second season in the WEC and have expanded to 2 cars for this season. The #35 is being raced under the Baxi DC Racing moniker and David Cheng will be stepping up to the full WEC season after the success in Asian LMS saw him and his DC racing team win the LMP3 championship. Alongside him will be his long time co-driver Ho-Pin Tung and Nelson Panciatici rounds out the line-up in that car. The #36 sees former Peugeot and Toyota LMP1 driver Nicolas Lapierre as the stand out name on the entry list; the Frenchman having impressed in LMP2 in the Le Mans winning KCMG and for Thiriet by TDS at the end of the ELMS season. Alongside him is Stephan Richelmi, who won a race in the Blancpain Sprint series last year and in the Monaco GP2 sprint race and Gustavo Menezes; who is stretching the definition of a silver driver about as far as it is possible to. The #36 could well be one to keep an eye on this year especially with the team coming off the back of a win at Spa, coupled with the strength of the line-up makes them one of the favourites. As for the #35, I think they have a good chance at getting a top 10 and that will be achievable, no doubt about it.

Krohn Racing (#40)
Tracy Krohn's eponymous team are back for another Le Mans in the Ligier and this time, they have engineering support from Greaves Motorsport. The star of the driver line-up is again Joao Barbosa, the Portuguese driver who races for Action Express Racing in IMSA. Alongside him is Nic Jonsson, the Swede who has raced alongside Tracy Khron at every Le Mans 24 Hour race since 2006 and has a decent turn of speed to boot. Finally, there is the team owner who is a quick driver on a good day and ultimately, the teams chances will depend on that.

Greaves Motorsport (#41)
Greaves return once more with a strong line up but with a different car after the venerable Gibson was replaced by a Ligier. The driver line-up is an interesting one as it contains IMSA stalwart, Memo Rojas and last years WEC champion, Julien Canal as the ameteur driver in the car. The second pro driver is believed to be Nathanael Berthon although Jon Lancaster drove for the team on test day after Kuba Giermaziak ran into sponsorship issues. The team have a history of entering strong line-ups and in a class this competitive, this will be a benefit to them.

Strakka Racing (#42)
After a difficult 2015, Strakka return with an unchanged driver line-up and the same car they had for the season post Le Mans. Nick Leventis, the team owner, struggled to get to grips with the Gibson chassis but he seems to have got past that phase. The driver line-up also includes Danny Watts and Jonny Kane for what is a very strong and experienced line-up indeed. They know how to win and they will be fired up to do so after the difficulties of last season with the Dome chassis.

RGR Sport by Morand (#43)
Rodolfo Gonzales has put together a team with a very strong driver line-up. Rodolfo is a quick silver rated driver and driving the car alongside the Mexican is Bruno Senna who is returning to the Le Mans for the first time since he was a factory Aston Martin driver in LMGTE Pro during 2013 and 2014with one race for Oreca in the 01 in 2009 for good measure. As well as that, there is Filipe Albuquerque who has been brilliant in his LMP1 exploits at Audi. Looking after the car is Benoit Morand's team as it is part of push to promote the latest edition to the WEC schedule, the 6 Hours of Mexico City, which Gonzales is promoting. This entry is another which has aspirations for a win and given the driver line-up, this is a genuine possibility

Manor WEC (#44 and #45)
This was the one of the biggest stories of the off season, John Booth and Graeme Lowdon announcing that they were going to enter an Oreca 05 in the LMP2 class. Graeme Lowdon has said that they were pleasantly surprised over the potential of the series from a commercial point of view, so they announced they were going to enter a second car. This was however, just a bit too late for a second entry and Le Mans so the #44 will be the only car competing at Le Mans. Tor Graves is the only one of the full season drivers in the #44 racing at Le Mans for Manor and he will be Joined by former British F3 runner up, Matt Rao and former F1 driver, Roberto Mehri, both of whom are jumping over from the sister car. The driver line-up is a strong one and a win is well within the realm of possibility.

Thiriet by TDS Racing (#46)
Thiriet by TDS racing are coming into the race on the back of a strong start to the season in the ELMS, despite an accident at Silverstone when the team had shown that they were going to be one of the teams to beat in practice and qualifying. The drivers in the car are Mathias Beche, who is on loan from Rebellion and one of the quickest pros in the class; Ryo Hirakawa, who races for Lexus in Super GT and Pierre Thiriet, who is one of the best gentleman drivers around and is the heir to a frozen food company. The team has been quick all season and is one of the favourites for a win.

KCMG (#47)
Last years LMP2 class winners are back with the same line-up that won at COTA in 2014. this means that Matt Howson and Richard Bradley are back to defend their title and alongside them will be the works Nissan driver, Tsugio Matsuda, who will be wanting to drive something which qualified faster and is more reliable than his Nissan LMP1 was last year. This is going to be a dark horse for the win with a strong line-up in a class with many strong line-ups

Murphy Prototypes (#48)
The ever popular team owned by Greg Murphy is back but with more of an American flavour. This is because Ben Keating, who drove the Viper Exchange SRT Viper last year has come back to Le Mans but in an LMP2. Alongside him is long-time co-driver, Jeroen Bleekemolen who is quick in just about anything he is put in and Marc Goosens. The car is being sponsored by Gas Monkey Garage from the popular Discovery Channel show, Fast N' Loud. I think that the reletive lack of prototype experience may hurt the teams chances of a win but a top 5 result is still a realistic target for the team.

Michael Shank Racing (#49)
The IMSA stalwarts were the first of the traditional DP runners to make the switch to an LMP2 and this was the reason why. Factory Audi GT racer, Laurens Vanthoor joins the team for their first attempt at the great race alongside team regulars, John Pew and Ozz Negri, Jr. the car has been shaken down after the accident on Test Day when something broke sending Negri, Jr into the wall just before the second chicane on the Mulsanne Straight. Having said that, the team are a well prepared outfit and there was no damage done to the tub, which was used earlier in the season by ESM Racing en route to wins at Daytona and Sebring, although they had the 3.5 litre HPD engine in the back at the time which is not allowed at Le Mans. Although I think the teams comparative inexperience may hinder them slightly, I still think a top 10 is possible.

LMGTE Pro
LMGTE Pro sees some big changes for this year as the cars get a little bit more power, a little bit less weight and a lot more aero. The class contains 14 cars for this year and all of them could quite conceivably end up winning. The Prologue test revealed nothing in terms of form as everyone appeared to be sand bagging in order to hide their true performance.

AF Corse (#51 and #71)
AF Corse arrive with a pair of brand new Ferrari 488 GTE's for this season with the twin turbocharged, V8 powered racer replacing the screaming 458. The new 488 takes full advantage of the new aero regulations with a rear diffuser which can be best described as comprehensive although having said that, it fits in with the proportions of the car rather well in the mind of the author. As for the drivers, Gianmaria Bruni is back to spearhead the #51 and he is joined by James Calado with the Brit jumping over from the #71 after a breakout season for the ex GP2 race winner. Allesandro Pier Guidi has impressed in IMSA this season and has been selected to join the team in the #51 for Le Mans. Davide Rigon remains in the #71 but he is joined by another Brit for this season in Formula E, GP2 race winner and reigning WEC LMP2 champion, Sam Bird. Andrea Bertolini joins the team in the #71 for Le Mans, adding a huge amount of experience to that line-up. Both cars have very strong line ups and if there is enough reliability ,both the #51 and the #71 could be real contenders for the win.

Corvette Racing (#63 and #64)
Corvette Racing return thanks to last years class win. The car is a redeveloped version of the car which won last year to make use of the new aerodynamic regulations, a lighter car and with the engine delivering more power as per the changes to increase the gap between the GTE cars and there GT3 counterparts. The #63 contains Jan Magnussen, who suffered mechanical failure in qualifying last year and caused irreparable damage to the car. Alongside him is Antonio Garcia and Ricky Taylor, one of the Taylor brothers and off the back of a win at Detroit. The defending winners from last season in the #64 are Tommy Milner, the second Taylor brother, Jordan Taylor and the test driver for the Pacific F1 team in 1995, Oliver Gavin.

Ford Chip Ganassi Team UK (#66 and #67)
The arrival of the Ford GT into the WEC has raised eyebrows for a number of reasons. Firstly, there is the fact that the street car is not even on sale until the autumn and then there is the way the thing looks and this is because of the race car upon which the street car is based upon. All of the other cars in the class are done the other way around. The design team quite literally had the rules for the race car open whilst they were designing the road car. The engine is a 3.5 litre, twin turbocharged V6 which has been seen in the back of the Chip Ganassi Racing DP. As for the drivers, the #66 is being driven by Olivier Pla, Stefan Mucke, who has switched over from Aston Martin Racing and Billy Johnson, the American who done a lot of the development work on the car. The #67 is going to feature Andy Priaulx who is driving something other than a BMW for the first time in over a decade with Marino Franchitti also in the car for the full season. Joining them for the first 3 rounds is Harry Tincknell.

Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA (#68 and #69)
Ford have also brought along both of their full season IMSA entries. The #68 features Joey Hand and former BMW driver, Dirk Muller being joined by Sebastien Bourdais, who has made multiple appearances at Le Mans in the past. The #69 is being driven by former Corvette driver, Ryan Briscoe with Scott Dixon and Richard Westbrook who drove that epic final stint at Laguna Seca to maximise the fuel mileage and consequently win. This is an important year for Ford with it being 50 years since the first win for the GT40 in 1966 and they will want to win.

Dempsey Proton Racing (#77)
Dempsey Proton Racing have moved up into the LMGTE Pro class for this season to fill part of the void left by Porsche Manthey Racing. That said, there will be a lot of factory technicians to help give the reigning class champion, Richard Lietz and team-mates Michael Christensen and Philipp Eng the best possible chance in their revised Porsche 911 GTE. The Porsche is interesting in that its rear engined layout means that the new aero regulations are going to be not as effective on the cars as it would be on other cars in the class.

RISI Competizione (#82)
The American team run by Giuseppe Risi with a long standing relationship with Ferrari has had 3 class wins in the past. This year, they will be hoping to add a fourth with the new Ferrari 488. There is some incredible talent on the driving line-up in the form of Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander. The other driver in that car is Mattheo Malucelli. A driver whose last race for the team ended up in a ban from IMSA. Whether he makes another mistake on an even bigger platform will be the determining factor.

Porsche Motorsport (#91 and #92)
Porsche Motorsport will be running the cars this year as the factory takes a year out to develop the highly anticipated successor to this years Porsche 911 RSR. Having said that, there is plenty of talent on order when it comes to the driving talent. The #91 features 2015 IMSA champion Patrick Pilet, 2015 Le Mans winner Nick Tandy and a newcomer to the Porsche line-up in the form of Kevin Estre. The #92 features another Le Mans winner in the form or Earl Bamber and joining him will be Jorg Bergmeister and Frederic Makowiecki.

Aston Martin Racing (#95 and #97)
Aston Martin Racing returns with a 2 car effort this season with revised driver line-ups and new Dunlop tyres which have been developed for the car. With regards to the outward profile of the car, the first thing which is noticeable is the rear diffuser which is massive and sticks out of the rear bumper by a fair distance. The V8 Vantage GT3 also features some aero tweaks around the front in the form of a new front splitter and some canards on the bumper. As for the driving line-up, the #95 sees Darren Turner boarding “The Dane Train” with Marco Sorensen and Nicki Thiim with the #97 seeing Richie Stanaway and Fernando Rees being joined by Johnny Adam. It will be interesting to see how the Dunlop tyres can play a part in how the car performs this season.

LMGTE Am
The LMGTE Am class may only have 13 cars in it, however there are some incredibly strong line-ups within the class. It is also worth remembering that the cars in the LMGTE Am class have to be at least one year old, hence why the Ferrari 458 is still being used.

Larbre Competition (#50)
After trying to get a car into LMGTE Pro and having had some of the worst luck of any team during the races last year, Larbre Competition are back with the Corvette C7.R and a much changed driver line up. Paulo Ruberti has been ruled out with a back injury which was sustained whilst driver coaching at Hockenheim and he will be replaced with Jean-Phillipe Belloc. Pierre Ragues will be returning to the team he drove for at Le Mans in LMP2 in 2014. Alongside them will be Japan's Yutaka Yamagishi who has raced in Super GT in the past.

AF Corse (#55 and #83)
This could well be the final time we hear the screaming V8 of the Ferrari 458 at Le Mans and it is thought that the car being used in LMGTE Am this year for the #83 is a LMGTE Pro car from last season so it should be rather quick indeed. As for the driving talent, the #55 will be featuring Duncan Cameron, who is a solid and capable Bronze rated driver and his driver coach, Matt Griffin. Alongside them is Aaron Scott who is the teams silver rated driver. The #83 consists of the African-born Rui Aguas of Portugal who is as quick as ever, Emmanuel Collard who will be making his 22nd consecutive Le Mans start this year and the recipient of the Gentleman Driver of the Year award for 2015, Francois Perrodo. This line up will be going into the season as one of the favourites based on the form which was shown last season.

Team AAI (#57)
The team from Taiwan are back, once again, with support from Prospeed competition. The car though, is last years Corvette C7.R. It also has a new livery on it compared to last year and one which I think suits the profile of the car rather well indeed. Spearheading the driver line-up is the vastly experienced Johnny O'Connell and joining him will be Oliver Bryant, who is perhaps better known for his exploits in historics and Mark Patterson who is a very quick bronze rated driver. I think the team stand a good chance in what is a tough class.

Formula Racing (#60)
The ELMS stalwarts and reining GTE champions from Denmark are making their first attempt at Le Mans with their trusty AF Corse run, Ferrari 458 and an all Danish driver line-up. Leading the driver line up is Mikkel Mac Jensen, the young 23 year old who has a big future ahead of him in sportscar racing and alongside him is Christina Nielsen, who won at Sebring this year to give the new Ferrari 488 its first win in competition and Johnny Lausen who was alongside Mikkel Mac Jensen in the ELMS last year.

Clearwater Racing (#61)
One of the most successful teams in Asia are competing at Le Mans for the first time thanks to winning the GT class of the Asian LMS over the winter. This may be the teams first time at Le Mans but they are taking it seriously. McLaren factory driver Rob Bell will be leading the charge in the teams AF Corse prepared Ferrari 458 with team owner Mok Weng Sun as the bronze driver. Japan's Keita Sawa joins the team for his Le Mans debut. This car could well be one to watch as a contender for the win.

Scuderia Corse (#62)
The surprise 3rd place finishers from last year are returning with the same driver line-up and a Ferrari 458. The car is owned by Bill Sweedler and he is joined by driver coach, Jeff Segal and NBCSN IndyCar commentator, Townsend Bell.. The team from the west coast of America won the IMSA GTD class last season and are a very strong and experienced trio of drivers who having got the podium last year, will be motivated to go out and to win.

KCMG (#78)
KCMG's entry is a little bit of an oddball to say the least because of the fact that the reigning LMP2 champions at Le Mans and runners up in the class over the full season last year have entered a car in LMGTE Am. Part of this is to guarantee them their automatic entry at Le Mans this year in LMP2, coming as a result of the win last year. As for the driving talent behind the wheel, factory Porsche driver Wolf Henzler will be as quick as ever. Alongside him will be Proton Racing boss Christian Ried and Joel Cammathias with the Swiss driver having been confirmed for Le Mans.

Gulf Racing UK (#86)
Gulf Racing UK are the only team at Le Mans this year to be running the iconic Gulf Racing colours as a result of Aston Martin Racing changing their colour scheme for this year. They raced in the ELMS last season where they won the opening round at Silverstone and picked up a further podium at Estoril to end the season in 4th in their class. The driver line-up for this entry looks rather strong indeed with multiple GP2 race winner Adam Carroll alongside Porsche specialist Ben Barker and team owner Mike Wainwright completing the trio. They will be a fan favourite for sure!

Abu Dhabi - Proton Racing/Proton Competition (#88 and #89)
Abu Dhabi - Proton Racing are back and looking to build upon last year which was not what the team had expected. Khaled Al Qubaisi is back for the third year and he is joined by Patrick Long, who is the only North American Porsche factory driver. Alongside them is the 2014 WEC LMGTE Am class champion David Heinemeier-Hanssen who is one of the fastest silver rated, gentleman drivers around. They have a strong line up and I am sure that they can put on a strong showing. The Proton Competition car is sponsored by Weather Tech thanks to Cooper MacNeil and he is joined by his full season team-mate in IMSA, Leh Keen. Marc Miller is the teams bronze driver, returning after racing the Riley Motorsports SRT Viper last year.

Aston Martin Racing (#98 and #99)
Aston Martin Racing return with just one car for the unchanged line up of the ever rapid, Pedro Lamy, Mathaias Lauda and Paul Dalla Lana who is one of the quickest bronze rated drivers in my opinion. What happened in the off season was of the most interest as Aston Martin Racing announced a new technical partnership with Dunlop. One of the issues the team had after Le Mans was that, as well as the BOP, the Michelin tyres they had, the development was being led by the likes of Porsche and Ferrari so the result of this was that they had a front engined car having to use tyres that were designed more in mind of mid and rear engined cars. The #99 is headlined by Gary Hirsch who drove for Greaves in LMP2 last year and was … joining him in the Beachdean Ice Cream sponsored car is the company founder Andrew Howard, who won the 2013 and 2015 British GT Championship and is also the chairman of Wycombe Wanderers and Liam Griffin, the managing director of the family minicab business, Addison Lee. The pair of amateur drivers in the #99 will put it at a slight disadvantage compared to the #98 but they are both very strong line-ups.

SRT41 By Oak Racing (#84)
Possibly the most heart-warming story of all this year at Le Mans is the one of Frederic Sausset. Having lost both arms and legs to a bacterial infection a couple of years ago, he set out to try and compete at Le Mans. The technology used in the Morgan Nissan is clever in the sense that it allows his team-mates, Christophe Tinseau and Jean-Bernard Bouvet, to drive the car as they would normally. The seat insert Frederic has levers connected to the pedals which allow him to operate them with his thighs and the brakes are power assisted with ABS also on the car. The steering is done via a prosthetic limb on Frederic's right arm which plugs into an attachment on the steering wheel and the gearbox has a setting to be run as a full automatic. Neither gearbox mode has a clutch so it is impossible to stall, even after a spin. Finally, there is how Frederic gets out of the car in an emergency. The seat is forced upwards by a button operated, compressed air canister and Frederic rolls himself out of the car. This is a truly remarkable project and thanks to a lot of people including Audi boss Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich, Oreca's Hugues de Chaunac and Jacques Nicolet of Onroak being three of the biggest names involved, it has become a reality.

watka · Post by **watka** » 15 Jun 2016, 11:48

Very comprehensive and informative read. Thanks!

Izzyeviel · Post by **Izzyeviel** » 16 Jun 2016, 20:40

Caption time! :shock:

Post by **Londoner** » 16 Jun 2016, 21:01

Seems legit.

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 18 Jun 2016, 15:33

Le Mans started behind safety car, just like Monaco. Because wetness.

Izzyeviel · Post by **Izzyeviel** » 18 Jun 2016, 22:02

Tracy Krohn is the Sportscar version of Pastor.

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 19 Jun 2016, 07:12

Been a really interesting race, really pleased Toyota have been so competitive, just under 6 hours left, can they finally break the curse?

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 19 Jun 2016, 12:58

sswishbone wrote:Been a really interesting race, really pleased Toyota have been so competitive, just under 6 hours left, can they finally break the curse?

Nope, just reinforce the belief that they are in fact cursed :cry:

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 19 Jun 2016, 12:59

No, that did not just happen, tragic for Toyota unbelievable.

FMecha · Post by **FMecha** » 19 Jun 2016, 13:18

Instant ROTR for the Toyota curse, then? :cry:

sswishbone · Post by **sswishbone** » 19 Jun 2016, 14:08

That ending was almost as tragic as Carlos Sainz Sr in 1999 at Great Britain rally when he retired 100 metres from the finish. Absolutely unbelievable, Ant Davidson said it best on twitter when he replied "I literally have no words"

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 19 Jun 2016, 15:12

Yeah, tragic. I was waiting for something like that to happen, but not like that. Terrible for Toyota, I've been wanting them to win Le Mans since they came back in 2012. The wait goes on!

Great race though, and so close for much of it. I was surprised by Audi's lack of competitiveness, and their mechanical trouble. With the #5's demise their string of podium finishes since 1998 at Le Mans goes on though!

Dj_bereta · Post by **Dj_bereta** » 19 Jun 2016, 15:49

1997 Hungarian Grand Prix again and Arrows had a Japanese engine in that year too.

Peteroli34 · Post by **Peteroli34** » 19 Jun 2016, 15:56

AndreaModa wrote:
Great race though, and so close for much of it. I was surprised by Audi's lack of competitiveness, and their mechanical trouble. With the #5's demise their string of podium finishes since 1998 at Le Mans goes on though!

Since 1999 Audi didnt race race at Le Mans in 1998

You have to feel sorry for Toyota leading most of the race and to retire on the final lap. Do we know what actually went wrong with the car