[WEC] WEC 2023 Season - A new beginning!

[Mike E]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

Couldn’t they just heat the tyres to a lower temperature? They don’t have to be heated to 95C etc, even if they were heated to 50C it would be better than nothing at all.

This is the F1 approach. Already down to 70 degrees max in the blankets.

But the drivers are not keen.

It's also not just the issue of energy consumed to heat the tyres. It's also lugging the ovens around the world. 'Only' heating to, say, 50 degrees is even more pointless if you have already invested in the freight (in terms of money and energy).

https://www.racefans.net/2022/10/28/...ot-of-crashes/

[Mike E]

More driver comments here

https://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/...ed-6h-spa.html

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Mike E

It's also not just the issue of energy consumed to heat the tyres. It's also lugging the ovens around the world. 'Only' heating to, say, 50 degrees is even more pointless if you have already invested in the freight (in terms of money and energy).

https://www.racefans.net/2022/10/28/...ot-of-crashes/

Very few people will realise the impact of transporting tyre ovens/heated blankets.

Almost everyone will see a hypercar spear off at Tertre Rouge due to cold tyres. How much will the ACO back themselves in the face of a potential (multiple?) PR disasters?

[Mike E]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Very few people will realise the impact of transporting tyre ovens/heated blankets.

Almost everyone will see a hypercar spear off at Tertre Rouge due to cold tyres. How much will the ACO back themselves in the face of a potential (multiple?) PR disasters?

They will spear off well before Tertre Rouge

[Mike E]

Also, Alpine are really treading water, aren't they? Have the LMP2 super teams raised the bar that much?

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by Mike E

They will spear off well before Tertre Rouge

First chicane on the Mulsanne is my concern. Sharp turn into the barriers.

[J Jay]

What about the hill after the Dunlop chicane? We've seen that you don't even need cold tyres to have a serious accident there.

[CTD]

I would not say that certain corners are more prone to accidents due to cold tires. All corners are prone, if the drive does not factor in the cold tire and goes in too fast.
Honestly, I am certain this is just a run in period where the drivers need to familiarise themselves with the low grip levels and factor it in.
Now they know the bill to pay for underestimating the cold tires and will be more careful at Le Mans. (At a minimum in respect for the duration of the race and not being the one crashing out of the 100th year anniversary)

[broadrun96]

EXACTLY what he said

[JT240Z]

I agree 100%. IMSA has been running for years without tire warmers. The drivers know how to deal with it and do. It's a learning curve that must be overcome. It's just one factor that will be needed to be addressed if WEC and IMSA will ever be unified.

[seanyb505]

Originally Posted by Mike E

They will spear off well before Tertre Rouge

Originally Posted by Simmi

First chicane on the Mulsanne is my concern. Sharp turn into the barriers.

Originally Posted by J Jay

What about the hill after the Dunlop chicane? We've seen that you don't even need cold tyres to have a serious accident there.

I'm thinking the crest near the end of mulsanne. Going to see a number of cars flying a' la Mark Webber/Peter Dumbrek. Tires won't be sticky enough to keep them stuck to the road!

[Coach Ep]

Meanwhile, down on memory lane...

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...re-warmer-ban/

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/i...-daytona-cold/

(check the publishing dates!)

[Adam43]

brilliant!

[Mike E]

Those are a good read. So they should just knuckle down and work it out.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by seanyb505

I'm thinking the crest near the end of mulsanne. Going to see a number of cars flying a' la Mark Webber/Peter Dumbrek. Tires won't be sticky enough to keep them stuck to the road!

But there's very little of the crest left there now since they shaved it down.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Meanwhile, down on memory lane...

https://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/...re-warmer-ban/

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/i...-daytona-cold/

(check the publishing dates!)

Go dump that in the comment section of Racer where every tire expert seems to think Michelin had no idea and the tires were designed SOLELY to be used with tire warmers. They also seem to think the tires are warmed in a magic toaster that takes up no space and uses no power at all

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by seanyb505

I'm thinking the crest near the end of mulsanne. Going to see a number of cars flying a' la Mark Webber/Peter Dumbrek. Tires won't be sticky enough to keep them stuck to the road!

The cars didn’t take off because of lack of tyre grip!

[J Jay]

It's comforting to tell the drivers to get on with it, but unless a driver as good as Bourdais (who isn't known for whining) is flat out wrong, his comment implies that there is a significant difference in the behaviour of the IMSA & WEC tyres below operating temperatures.

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Go dump that in the comment section of Racer where every tire expert seems to think Michelin had no idea and the tires were designed SOLELY to be used with tire warmers. They also seem to think the tires are warmed in a magic toaster that takes up no space and uses no power at all

Originally Posted by Sebastien Bourdais

And the biggest issue here is the fact that Michelin did not design those tires to function without the use of tire warmers. Lots of people think they understand but they don't. It's the most terrifying experience as they only start to give some grip once they get above 50C...

I'd give at least some credence to this particular "tyre expert".

[broadrun96]

Michelin directly contradicts that with their statements of working on the tires with knowledge of the lack of tire warmers. Oh and the sheer number of cars that DIDN'T fire off the track at every stop, that screams blaming your tools

[Aysedasi]

If the tyres are cold, you can't push so hard until you warm them up. Simples. Drivers and teams may have to learn that. (Why am I even saying that? They should know that already.....).

[broadrun96]

SShhhhhh, the drivers are the experts, we are supposed to sit here and allow them to tell us and not have an opinion

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

If the tyres are cold, you can't push so hard until you warm them up. Simples. Drivers and teams may have to learn that. (Why am I even saying that? They should know that already.....).

Drive to the conditions as they are, not as you wish them to be.

[chernaudi]

This is years ago, so it may be outdated, but I thought the only tire warming allowed at LM and the WEC was placing the tires in warm ovens rather than F1-type tire warming blankets?


IMO, a bit of a different deal than the F1 tire warming, because in the time you took the tires from the oven (which I think each tire maker their own set up, and it was communal among teams), to the garage area they'd have lost much of their temp anyways. Not to mention that I believe the practice wasn't used (or at least uncommon) in the ALMS days.

[Steve McQ]

Let's not forget that at Spa the road was cold AND moisty. Once really dry, cars were able to perform relatively normal while all temperatures were still quite low. To me it seems there is too much of a gap in Michelin's catalogue between wet and dry weather tires, a gap that was actually opened by the tire warmers ban.


Let's have the "slick/intermediate" tire back !

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Steve McQ

Let's not forget that at Spa the road was cold AND moisty. Once really dry, cars were able to perform relatively normal while all temperatures were still quite low. To me it seems there is too much of a gap in Michelin's catalogue between wet and dry weather tires, a gap that was actually opened by the tire warmers ban.


Let's have the "slick/intermediate" tire back !

Yeah, a better inter is definitely in the best interest of the cars. Hate watching them tear up wets but slide off when there's still stream running across the line.