Guardian article

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by miatanut

Le text

Now you see, I agree with most of you've said, but not the initial premise. As you've pointed out F1 is doing very well dragging itself through the mud, so I don't see the need for any particular subset of motorsport fans sportscars, rallycross, touring cars, whoever - to bother sticking the boot in. There is a line to be drawn between constructive criticism and flat-out moaning, and if we're honest the latter is seen just as often as the former.

Let's enjoy what we've got and will hopefully continue to receive rather than waste time on lawn-gazing (is this the right phrase?).

Edit - Chiana beat me to it, but the WEC isn't immune to equalization either. At least in the case of F1 it is a concerted effort to highlight the driver. The ACO has no such excuse.

[ger80]

I see us not being able to get into the WEC paddock anymore if you guys keep on hyping WEC - just enjoy it for yourself and don't try to convert your friends, neighbors and colleagues please

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by Chiana

You're saying sportscar racing isn't trying to make all the cars equal? In WEC alone you'll have

LMP1 - EoT
LMP2 - (by 2017) immensely spec-ified every way imaginable so... ...
LMGTE - heavy race-by-race performance balancing & rules breaking waivers & political behind the curtain fights

+ Forgot to add

LMP1 factory-privateer balancing
Theoretical BoP in LMP2 - and by 2017 with the spec regs mandatory BoP at Le Mans between American and WEC cars/engines
Controlling the gaps between all the classes
(If you count it) Some questionable driver categorizations which may lead to exploitations

[Rodger Davies]

Chiana, you are spot on.

Everything F1 is doing wrong at the moment seems to be exactly what the ACO and FIA are trying to do with the WEC.

Will enjoy the races I can whilst I can before we go back to square one.

F1 has a plenty strong enough brand to survive, just as Le Mans does; my critique isn't going to make one iota of difference.

[miatanut]

Originally Posted by Chiana

You're saying sportscar racing isn't trying to make all the cars equal? In WEC alone you'll have

LMP1 - EoT
LMP2 - (by 2017) immensely spec-ified every way imaginable so... ...
LMGTE - heavy race-by-race performance balancing & rules breaking waivers & political behind the curtain fights

Admittely what they've achieved with P1 is much better than feared, and the fact they (factory cars) can only modify EoT changes once a year is a blessing, but still it's not perfection.

It's true that F1 is all about trying to make the drivers the stars, and you have the stupid Super Mario gadgets + entertainment tires + more-and-more spec components in the cars + when someone comes up with innovations they usually get banned. But there is technically no real balancing factor. Mercedes 2014-2015, RBR 2011-2013 and Ferrari 2002/2004 are living proof of that, just to give some examples of more recent domination periods.

What WEC does have supreme ruling over F1 of course, is the technological factor (in P1) and road car elements

I was talking in terms of P1. With GT, sportscar racing has had success ballast forever, but GT isn't about pushing technology. P1 is. With P2 everybody gravitated towards a particular engine, and my understanding is most of the cars use the same chassis, so initially what happened was organic, although the rules may have helped that along.

In the case of P1, EoT is to try to make diesel/petrol balancing more transparent. No diesel, no need for EoT. F1 doesn't have diesels, so it doesn't need EoT.

Is there any balancing for how many cylinders your car has? No.

Any balancing for whether it's turbo or non-turbo? Only in a general sense where everybody is given the same menu of options to decide how they want to build their car. The fact Toyota runs an atmo V8 while the others are turbos, yet they won the championship, indicates that table is very well constructed to the point most of the competitors, upon making their assessment, concluded turbo was the way to go and yet the team that seemed to be at a disadvantage won.

The energy recovery options are aimed at encouraging teams to go big, and that is no secret. It's that way to push the technological development. Pushing the technology, you could win, or you could break.

Do you get an advantage based on which energy storage approach you choose? No.

In F1, there isn't any need for equivalencies, because the rules specify/design the car. Since everybody is building the same car, of course they are all very close together. So F1 likes to say 'Everybody builds the car to the formula.' That was true 30 years ago, but now, everybody builds the car to a specification.

In WEC, everybody builds the car to a formula.