IMSA USCC in 2016 and 2017

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by joeb

Is Park Place done?

Nope, I'm just a forgetful *******, and sadly as they usually do well I just forgot they'd been running.

[JLGarcia]

This oughta cause a fun amount of consternation and conniptions.

[Dyson Mazda]

Which driver is that?

[MoMedic9019]

Originally Posted by Dyson Mazda

Which driver is that?

It's Cooper MacNeil. Don't read anything into it.

[FormulaFox]

Originally Posted by MoMedic9019

It's Cooper MacNeil. Don't read anything into it.

Cooper MacNeil sporting a racing suit with Chevy Corvette logo. I'm pretty sure that's why it's supposed to "cause a fun amount of consternation and conniptions."

[JLGarcia]

Originally Posted by MoMedic9019

It's Cooper MacNeil. Don't read anything into it.

It's the internet- we should read lots into everything.

I'm disappointed so many people missed the Fall Line hat, though.

[MoMedic9019]

Originally Posted by FormulaFox

Cooper MacNeil sporting a racing suit with Chevy Corvette logo. I'm pretty sure that's why it's supposed to "cause a fun amount of consternation and conniptions."

Okay. Cool story.

[DeezPutz]

Originally Posted by JLGarcia

This oughta cause a fun amount of consternation and conniptions.

His face is enough to bother me.

[FormulaFox]

Slightly under the radar due to the shock of Audi's end of an era announcement has been the unveiling of the Oreca 07

Got to say I'm genuinely surprised. I was expecting an evolution of the 05, not a car that looks like they put the nose of the Toyota P1 onto a Ligier.

[chernaudi]

Still no idea where the rad ducts are.

[Makaze]

Just put Penske colors on it.

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by FormulaFox

Slightly under the radar due to the shock of Audi's end of an era announcement has been the unveiling of the Oreca 07

Got to say I'm genuinely surprised. I was expecting an evolution of the 05, not a car that looks like they put the nose of the Toyota P1 onto a Ligier.

Killer job on the nose, I prefer it to the Ligier

It's aggressive and meaningful

[carbsmith]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

Still no idea where the rad ducts are.

The radiator ducts are in exactly the same place as they have been since 2014 since the forward part of the sidepod is still nearly identical to the 04, how they're getting any decent air flow I couldn't tell you.

[TF110]

Maybe through the opening in the nose or there's ducting from the openings in the front fenders below the headlights?

[MoMedic9019]

It comes up over the nose and spills down the side.

[chernaudi]

Ducts in the nose and below the headlights are way too small to be rad ducts. And going by the renders and press photos, the area between the nosebox and front fenders is continuous until the seem to reach the top of the sidepods. Granted, there's no really good side or rear quarter view shots looking into the trailing sections of the front fenders.

EDIT: I checked out some of the renders, and it looks like the bodywork between the nosebox and front fenders does run continuously up to the sidepods and seems to connect to the sidepod leading edges.

And there's no big holes/intake in the front bodywork (a la Bentley, Audi, Toyota, Porsche, Ligier) for air to enter. I'd guess right now that they're probably getting air from the extraction of air from the front diffuser. Lola and BMW tried that, but with mixed results.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

I checked out some of the renders, and it looks like the bodywork between the nosebox and front fenders does run continuously up to the sidepods and seems to connect to the sidepod leading edges.

And there's no big holes/intake in the front bodywork (a la Bentley, Audi, Toyota, Porsche, Ligier) for air to enter. I'd guess right now that they're probably getting air from the extraction of air from the front diffuser. Lola and BMW tried that, but with mixed results.

That's what I was thinking also, from under the car, via splitter.











L.P.

[Ospi]

Yep, it's fed from under the splitter. The small ducts on the nose are just brake cooling.

[chernaudi]

Lola and BMW did that circa 1998, with mixed results due to air temp and cooling issues. Granted some of the stuff that Audi for example have done with diffuser strakes and vortex generators with conditioning diffuser airflow might help, but the Audi R18 and R15 series all also had huge amounts of air going over the top of the front diffuser and into the rad ducts.

[BrentJackson]

Am I the only one that thinks that today's announcement that Audi is withdrawing from the WEC is a massive opportunity for IMSA?

The WEC's top class is now entirely at the mercy of Toyota's commitment - there are two manufacturers left, and Toyota has a history of pulling out after close failures. There is no new interest in the class, factory or privateer, and none is incoming, and major changes to the class are unlikely right now. Thus, all it would take is a bit of reliability issues on the part of Porsche and Toyota entries to see one of the psuedo-spec LMP2s on the overall podium at Le Mans. Is this really what the ACO wants? We all know the answer to that is no, but where is the new interest in the sport going? In GT cars, aside from Ford's high-profile (and somewhat politically-charged) return, it's all in GT3. In prototypes, its with the DPi, because it allows factories and privateers to race straight up.

If IMSA has any ambition (a maybe), they'll call up Ginetta and one or two American chassis manufacturers (pick from Coyote, Swift or Crawford) and give them the go-ahead on LMP2/DPi chassis, and when P1 hits that nasty wall known as reality, then IMSA can make its own destiny rather than have the ACO dictate it.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by BrentJackson

Am I the only one that thinks that today's announcement that Audi is withdrawing from the WEC is a massive opportunity for IMSA?

The WEC's top class is now entirely at the mercy of Toyota's commitment - there are two manufacturers left, and Toyota has a history of pulling out after close failures. There is no new interest in the class, factory or privateer, and none is incoming, and major changes to the class are unlikely right now. Thus, all it would take is a bit of reliability issues on the part of Porsche and Toyota entries to see one of the psuedo-spec LMP2s on the overall podium at Le Mans. Is this really what the ACO wants? We all know the answer to that is no, but where is the new interest in the sport going? In GT cars, aside from Ford's high-profile (and somewhat politically-charged) return, it's all in GT3. In prototypes, its with the DPi, because it allows factories and privateers to race straight up.

If IMSA has any ambition (a maybe), they'll call up Ginetta and one or two American chassis manufacturers (pick from Coyote, Swift or Crawford) and give them the go-ahead on LMP2/DPi chassis, and when P1 hits that nasty wall known as reality, then IMSA can make its own destiny rather than have the ACO dictate it.

Not gonna happen. They have the 4 constructors and DPi to fill the P class. More than enough variety and stability to satisfy them for the top class.






L.P.

[chernaudi]

And both IMSA and the ACO have their heads so far up their own asses that both classes might be dead by the time Audi would want to come back.

But hopefully that will make rules sensible for all like about 15 years ago.

[FormulaFox]

Originally Posted by BrentJackson

There is no new interest in the class, factory or privateer, and none is incoming, and major changes to the class are unlikely right now.

Actually, there is a good chance of serious changes to LMP1 being forthcoming, and the privateers are waiting to hear the details. There are several groups(many of them manufacturers who lost out in the LMP2 chassis limit matter) interested in possible privateer LMP1 efforts for 2018, but the overwhelming majority of them are contingent on what changes in the rules - they by and large want a rules package that makes it possible to build a competitive privateer entry with varying opinions on the importance of hybrid power in managing such - about half of the programs are unlikely to materialize regardless of what changes as a result(half, however, will still mean a decent amount of entries, so the ACO needs to make VERY sure they don't drop the ball here and lose most of the interested parties).

The initial draft of the rules has been promised to be in the hands of the interested parties by the end of the 2016 WEC season, and at that point we should begin to get a clearer picture of what interest will be like for 2018. (or get an idea of how much the ACO is going to screw things up)

Though the public probably won't be hearing any details of the proposed changes at least until Le Mans.

The Audi withdrawal underlines the importance of privateers - you need them around and ready to take up the slack when the manufacturers have to pull back, whatever the reason for it may be. Despite my issues with how it's being handled, DPi kind of has this built into it - as long as IMSA doesn't screw things up.

[WolfsburgRS]

Originally Posted by JLGarcia

It's the internet- we should read lots into everything.

I'm disappointed so many people missed the Fall Line hat, though.

I'm pretty sure Fall Line has done prep for his BMWs in SCCA. I remember seeing that a couple years ago, I think on his instagram account.

[joeb]

Action Express put out a press release saying they are retaining all 4 drivers for next year. It was a pretty amazing piece because it was decently long, but never once mentions what car they will be driving! Gotta keep that DPi under wraps for a bit longer I suppose....