[WEC Race] 2015 WEC Round 6 - 6 Hours of Fuji

[Ephaeton]

Schedule

Entry List

Spotter Guides - Andy Blackmore (PDF/JPEG)

Streaming* - WEC Stream (video, paywall), Radio Le Mans (audio)

Timing & Results - WEC Live Timing, Alkamel Systems Timing Results

Weather

WEC Standings

FRC 2015 - WEC Round 6: Fuji Thread

For Timezone conversion fun:

• Quali: Oct 10th, 13:40 (GTE)
• Quali: Oct 10th, 14:10 (LMP)
• Race: Oct 11th, 11:00 + 6h + FL

*Free streaming links will be posted during the weekend as they become available.

[Ephaeton]

Interesting statement from Alex Hitzinger (Porsche P1) - (we can expect a different race to COTA) "Denn dass in Fuji weniger Abtrieb benötigt wird, kommt dem aerodynamischen Setup unserer Mitbewerber grundsätzlich entgegen. Allerdings werden wir unsere Aero-Abstimmung auch auf das geringere Abtriebsniveau anpassen." (Fuji's requirement for a lower downforce setup benefits our competitors. However, we will adjust our aero for the lower downforce as well).

Kind of confirms Hindy's comment during COTA where he said it was Porsche who was running the highest downforce of them all.

[rich07]

Yojiro Terada is Grand Marshal of the event. Good move by the WEC.

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/t...l-for-6h-fuji/

[andy_b]

Spotter Guide will be up in a few hrs (by the end of North American day)

[TF110]

Should be a good race, no weather expected but you never know at Fuji. Looking forward to seeing if they can break into the 1:24's in lmp1. Hopefully we get some info on what Toyota has in store for 2016 and beyond!

[chernaudi]

The ACO published revisions to their 2016 rules, but of note is Article 6.9.5 of the ACO's technical regs, which take effect this weekend:

http://www.fia.com/file/34642/download?token=QUDSEC8u

This seems to be, awkward English wording aside, aimed at Porsche's fiddling with their refueling receptical and fuel tank inlet, and also seems to make what Porsche has done basically illegal from this weekend onward until the end of the 2016 season.

[Spyderman]

You don't know this for sure.
See my post in the regulations thread.

[Ephaeton]

Task for Fuji: remember to compare Porsche refueling times vs. the competition and compare that to the COTA state.

[Spyderman]

Just for reference: Overall time spent in pits.
COTA
#7 Audi made 7 pit stops for a total of 507.516 seconds giving an average pit stop time of 72.502 seconds
#8 Audi made 7 pit stops for a total of 539.946 seconds giving an average pit stop time of 77.135 seconds
#17 Porsche made 7 pit stops for a total of 519.151 seconds giving an average pit stop time of 74.164 seconds
#18 Porsche retired
Audi Quickest.

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by Spyderman

Just for reference: Overall time spent in pits.
COTA
#7 Audi made 7 pit stops for a total of 507.516 seconds giving an average pit stop time of 72.502 seconds
#8 Audi made 7 pit stops for a total of 539.946 seconds giving an average pit stop time of 77.135 seconds
#17 Porsche made 7 pit stops for a total of 519.151 seconds giving an average pit stop time of 74.164 seconds
#18 Porsche retired
Audi Quickest.

This is including full-service stops, so the comparison is skewed. What we actually need to know is refuelling time without tire/driver changes.

[Spyderman]

Originally Posted by Victor_RO

This is including full-service stops, so the comparison is skewed. What we actually need to know is refuelling time without tire/driver changes.

Yes I know, but the implication by many that were dancing on Porsche's grave, was that they were quicker than Audi due to their pit stops (which included refueling). what I'm showing is that their advantage in pit stops is marginal and changes from race to race.

[tigas]

Originally Posted by Spyderman

Yes I know, but the implication by many that were dancing on Porsche's grave, was that they were quicker than Audi due to their pit stops (which included refueling). what I'm showing is that their advantage in pit stops is marginal and changes from race to race.

That could be because Joest is known for banging very good full service pitstops - they can make up the fueling time loss on the rest of the pitstop.

[Ephaeton]

Facts & Figures: 6 Hours of Fuji

[chernaudi]

Various forecasts are now suggesting possible rain during race-time on Sunday.

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

Various forecasts are now suggesting possible rain during race-time on Sunday.

Which is better than no weather! (see above)

[Ephaeton]

brought to you by your kind amalgamation service (and His Name Be Nigel):

Originally Posted by MyNameIsNigel

A couple of interesting shots of the Audi R18's engine cover highlighting the recent modifications (which I believe have been raced at Austin):


(source: FIA-WEC Facebook page)

It's a bit surprising to see those revisions on the package that will apparently be raced at Fuji considering that cooling requirements are likely less pronounced in Japan.

No sign of the Porsche package yet.

Originally Posted by MyNameIsNigel

Looks like Porsche have brought the HD package to Fuji:

[MyNameIsNigel]

I guess some update is necessary

Originally Posted by MyNameIsNigel

So, after all, both Audi and Porsche have brought different aero packages to Fuji.
New front fenders:

"Old" version in the foreground / new version in the background:

(source: DSC)

Originally Posted by MyNameIsNigel

Based on this recent DSC report, Porsche have actually brought both packages to Fuji and still appear to be undecided as to which package will be raced. Both solutions will apparently be tried during FP1.

[TF110]

Free practice has started and theyre in the 1:24's already with Lotterer. Looks likely theyll be doing 1:22's in qualifying.That 1:24 is only 6 seconds off the fastest F1 lap at Fuji.

[chernaudi]

What configuration are the Audis and Porsches in at this stage? Anyone know?

[chernaudi]

Both Audis seem to be in the higher downforce spec judging by top speed, which is equal to that of the #18 Porsche which was confirmed to be in higher downforce spec.

Also of note is that the #17 Porsche was 7-8mph faster into the speed traps than both Audis and the #18 was, but was no faster in terms of lap time.

[Ephaeton]

Porsche's #17 beat Audi's morning time by 0.037 secs, Hartley posted a fastest 1:24.460. This is looking to be a closer weekend for Porsche & Audi. Hopefully
Sadly this article (german) doesn't say which of the configurations Porsche ended up deciding on (lower DF or higher DF). It seems the #17 was running the lower DF pkg in FP1 by its top-speeds. Al Kamel classifications aren't up yet, so I can't look at Porsche's top speed..

[Ephaeton]

It's a pity we can't go by the top speeds as the Al Kamel Max Speed thing is looking across all sessions. Or rather, we don't know what the #17 did in FP2 as it was fastest in FP1 (top speed wise, not lap time wise).
By the top speed improvements though, it looks like the #7, #8 and #18 were trimmed to a lower DF pkg than in FP1

FP1 top speeds (kph):
#12 - 314.9
#13 - 314.0
#17 - 314.0
#1 - 307.7
#2 - 306.8
#4 - 306.8
#7 - 302.5
#8 - 300.0
#18 - 300.0

FP2 improvements:
#12 - 316.7
#7 - 312.1
#18 - 312.1
#1 - 309.5
#8 - 303.4

[Ephaeton]

Interesting: failure to interpret, obviously. The Porsche cars went quicker (top speed wise) but it seems they decided on the Higher DF pkg:

MST (GER) states that:

Originally Posted by MST

Unterm Strich schlug das Pendel zugunsten eines relativ hohen Abtriebniveaus aus, wofür das Team eine geringere Höchstgeschwindigkeit auf der Geraden in Kauf nimmt.

(Ultimately, the higher DF pkg did better [in the comparison], with the team accepting its lower inherent top-speed on the straight)

Originally Posted by Romain Dumas

Der Trend geht klar in Richtung höherem Abtrieb.

(Clearly the trend points to using the higher downforce package)

[Rennen]

Originally Posted by TF110

Free practice has started and theyre in the 1:24's already with Lotterer. Looks likely theyll be doing 1:22's in qualifying.That 1:24 is only 6 seconds off the fastest F1 lap at Fuji.

Last years Toyota pole was 1.26.88...Rain dance needed then !

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Rennen

Last years Toyota pole was 1.26.88...Rain dance needed then !

Well rain is predicted for Saturday evening going into Sunday. Probably won't help Toyota in qualifying but it could well shake up things in the race.

As long as it isn't like the downpour from 2013 I don't think anyone would mind a bit of precipitation to spice things up a bit.