[WEC Race] 6 Hours of Shanghai

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by PascaLM

In the contact between 38 and G-Drive, I think it's Ho-Pin Tung's fault, not Muller's. It was impossible to brake and overtake while being close to the right side of the track.

I agree with that. Muller could've left more room, but then Tung would've had to lift more anyway, so the result would've been Tung behind.

Also agree with cg7aa. I don't normally enjoy Shanghai, but the tyre restrictions made the race better. Really really enjoyed that race. My favourite Shanghai race by some distance.

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I personally really enjoyed that race. If that's what 18/19 will be like, sign me up.

I think we often forget that Lopez is still a multi-class rookie. Yeah he's now a year in, but experience is king and he doesn't have that yet. He's super fast, but when your first real multi-class racing attempt is LMP1, it's a huge step. The mistakes (especially the last one) were pretty daft, but he'll learn.

I doubt he'll be back with Toyota next year though considering the possible availability of some of the soon-to-be-former Porsche P1 drivers (Lotterer for instance) and Alonso for LM.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

I doubt he'll be back with Toyota next year though considering the possible availability of some of the soon-to-be-former Porsche P1 drivers (Lotterer for instance) and Alonso for LM.

Lotterer is looking towards privateer lmp1's. Doesn't seem like he's on Toyota's radar. Apparently Lopez was under the weather, that's not an excuse for his incidents, but it only takes one to ruin a race. I doubt Toyota wants to fire him because of his rookie season not going so great. We'll see, if they even stay.

[Damian Baldi]

Originally Posted by cg7aa

Bruno Senna's form in the last 3 or so races has simply been incredible! It's like a light-switch has just been flipped on, lovely to see.

Totally agree, this year has been great for him, and it shows how good he is.

[carbsmith]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

I doubt he'll be back with Toyota next year though considering the possible availability of some of the soon-to-be-former Porsche P1 drivers (Lotterer for instance) and Alonso for LM.

You'd think but they keep bringing Lapierre back for some reason.

[Akrapovic]

Here's some more things to think about. Again, formatting is probably broken on this one.

» The extremely high tyre wear provided an extra dimension to the race. Cars in all classes had to double stint rubber, and conserving tyres was key. The extreme degradation created huge rubber build up off the racing line, narrowing the track significantly.

» The TV timing graphics had a small, but significant change for fans. The gaps on the ticker displayed the gaps between cars, rather than the gap to the leader (class, or overall). The change means that the ticker is now more useful, usually giving a time rather than the gap in laps. Good change!

LMP1 – Mistakes were costly

» Toyotas performance advantage over Porsche was sizeable. Despite some early lap dramas, the TS050s were 1-2 only 33 minutes into the race.

» The gap really started to climb after the first set of pit stops. The Toyota appeared to handle the tyre wear better than the Porsche, which magnified the speed advantage

» Unfortunately for Jose Maria Lopez, his mistakes were very public and costly. The #7 was lucky to get away without a penalty after a tangle with the #26 G-Drive LMP2 car. Whilst recovering, the #7 was run off the road by a Ford taking his normal racing line.

» The biggest was yet to come as the #7 made heavy contact with the #91 Porsche. The contact damaged the left rear suspension of the Toyota, ending Toyota’s slim hopes of taking the Manufacturers title. It also ended the #91s chances of a GTE Pro win – the #91 was on the tail of the leading #67 Ford at the time.

» It’s often forgotten that whilst Lopez has bags of experience, none of it is in multi-class racing. The fastest car he’s raced before this was in GP2 over a decade ago. It perhaps would have been wise to develop a driver in LMP2 before LMP1, but that ship has sailed. On the assumption that Toyota remains in WEC, Lopez will enter the season with more experience and be a real force to be reckoned with.

» The LMP1s managed good fuel mileage at Shanghai. We’re used to seeing 45-50 minutes, but the cars managed 55 minutes comfortably.

» Shanghai was the first time we’ve really see the LMP2 top speed become an issue for the LMP1 runners. The long back straight gave the LMP2s a good long run at the hybrids, which were hitting their maximum velocity relatively early on the straight.

» The #1 Porsche suffered the only reliability issue of the day. The throttle was sticking open slightly during corners, forcing some minor offs which looked like driver errors. The car slowed on the back straight and after a reset resumed the at racing speed.

» Clinching both titles gives Porsche a clean sweep of 2017 – Le Mans, Drivers Championship and Manufacturers Championship. This is the third straight sweep for Porsche – winning both championships and Le Mans in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

LMP2 – Drama goes the way of Rebellion

» The LMP2 result swings the title battle towards Rebellion. The #31 now leads the championship for the first time since Spa, and has the momentum going into the final race.

» The #31 victory was helped by another set of super stints from Bruno Senna. The Brazilian pulled a 3 second gap on lap 1, and 40 seconds by the time he handed the car to Canal. The car was again the fastest when Senna got back in the car for the finish.

» It was a similarly successful day for the second Rebellion. The #13 was lucky to get away unpenalised after a first lap incident, but put in a strong race after that. Silver driver, David Heinemeier Hansson drove an incredible two stints, holding off Platinum rated Professional drivers.

» Whilst Rebellion took podiums, it was a bad day for the championship leading Jackie Chan DC Racing team. Both cars were involved in multiple incidents, leaving the cars 4th and 8th in class.

» Gommendy in the #37 had an off track moment trying to pass the #24 Manor around the outside of T1/2. Whilst getting back on track, the #37 made contact with the #24 and spun. 15 minutes later, the #37 was attempting to lap the battling GTE Am Ferraris. The LMP2 car made contact with both Ferraris, sending all 3 off the road.

» A couple of hours later, with David Cheng at the wheel, the #37 collided with the Jean Eric Vergne in the #24 Manor. Both cars spun and continued.

» The Mighty 38 had a not-so-mighty day. After an initial off at the start, the team settled down and set about burning through the silver driver time early in the race. 2 Hours in, the #24 Manor spun out the Jackie Chan car, costing around 5-10 seconds.

» The biggest incident came with the #26 G-Drive car. Ho Pin Tung was attempting to pass Nico Muller down the inside of T1. The cars were overlapped, but not massively and Muller turned in. The cars made contact and left the road. G-Drive suffered a puncture, whilst the #38 got away lucky with no damage. Opinion is divided on who is at fault, but the stewards decided it G-Drive would be punished for the incident and gifted the Russian squad a drive through penalty.

» You probably gathered from above that the #24 Manor also had a rough day. In addition to the previous incidents, the #24 also spun the #97 Aston Martin. Damage sustained to the Manor required a pit stop, and the stewards gave them a 10 second penalty for their troubles. The day was complete when the car stopped in pit lane with 45 minutes to go – suspected to be out of fuel.

» The Russian merry-go-round that is the G-Drive car placed two new drivers alongside Rusinov for Shanghai. ELMS Champion Leo Roussel and DTM star Nico Muller filled the seats.

» Nico Muller was impressive on his LMP2 debut. The car was the fastest in the field during the early race recovery. The late incident with Ho Pin Tung soured a strong debut run.

GTE Pro – Damage control by Ferrari

» We’ve become used to seeing AF Corse running at the front, with Ford struggling. Shanghai was a reversal in fortunes, with the #67 running strongly, matched only by the Porsches. Ferrari were in damage control mode, whilst Aston Martin had no match for the others.

» The leading #92 Porsche suffered a rare and sudden engine failure. The car failed to accelerate out of the hairpin, and oddly did not pit. The engine then stopped on the pit straight, and the car was rolled up into the gravel. Why the car didn’t pit, and why the driver chose to abandon the car in the gravel is a mystery.

» Ford had another issue with one of the doors. Despite a redesign, the #66 had the driver side door come open, with the driver seemingly unable to close it. Once rectified in the pit stop, the issue did not occur again.

» The #91 was a serious contender for the victory before the incident with the Toyota. The incident caused a puncture and put an end to the #91s chances of victory. Fortunately, pit stops were due and the car had only a third of a lap to get back to the pits. This allowed the #91 to retain second place.

» The Ford lacked the top speed to make effective passes on the Porsches. They were forced to muscle around them, but once around could pull away with ease.

» In an attempt to conserve tyres and make up some ground, Ferrari tried some unusual tyre strategies. At one point only the left sides were changed, and they also tried new fronts combined with scrubbed rears.

» The Auto-BoP system still leaves a lot to be desired. The Aston Martin could in no-way compete with the rest of the field, whilst the Ferrari also struggled.

GTE Am – Completely different to Pro

» Whilst Astons struggled in Pro, they dominated in Am. The #98 looked comfortable at the front and came home over a minute ahead of the second and third placed cars.

» The incident with between the Am Ferraris and the #37 LMP2 car changed the championship dramatically. The #61 Clearwater Ferrari was relegated to fourth, and the #54 Spirit of Race Ferrari retired. This elevated the two Porsches into second and third.

[TF110]

Toyota would only have a minuscule chance at the constructors championship even with a 1-2. It would extend it to Bahrain, but then, even if they 1-2'd Shanghai and Bahrain, Porsche would have to not show up in order for Toyota to win. They award points for 75% of the race iirc, so both Porsche's would have to dnf? That hasn't happened all year, but strange things can take place!

About Lopez, he was out of two races at the beginning of the year. So his experience with traffic is lacking, but he was very fast. He just needs more time. Unlike Lapierre, he hasn't had LMP2 or even GTE experience.

[kobefly]

Does anyone have the stat of how many overtakes does a LMP1 car do at any race of the season?
It is a piece of information I have been looking for unsuccessfully for a while.

[Damian Baldi]

Originally Posted by kobefly

Does anyone have the stat of how many overtakes does a LMP1 car do at any race of the season?
It is a piece of information I have been looking for unsuccessfully for a while.

You could calculate it from the results. Count the laps on the Gap column and you will get the total. Of course some cars had lose their laps at the pits, but it gives you an idea how many passes the winner made.

http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Res...e_Hour%206.PDF

[kobefly]

That is a good way to get an estimate, thanks.
However, if someone has the exact number for any race I will appreciate it.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by Damian Baldi

You could calculate it from the results. Count the laps on the Gap column and you will get the total. Of course some cars had lose their laps at the pits, but it gives you an idea how many passes the winner made.

http://fiawec.alkamelsystems.com/Res...e_Hour%206.PDF

A pretty good shout. As you say, you over count with the ones in the pits, but also miss the ones that the leader had to overtake twice because they pitted soon after overtaking the backmarker letting them past again.

Then there is the actual for position racing overtakes, but those will be very low in comparison.

[MaskedRacer]

The GTE race was fantastic. I was happy to see it be a Ford/Porsche battle for the win as supposed to what has been typically AF Corse Ferrari vs Aston Martin.

Stupid Lopez he ruined the race for the 91 Porsche. I do think the 92 was the fastest car on the day before their issues. By the way we saw some close racing without any artificial full course yellows....get the idea IMSA. You don't need these artificial wave arounds for your endurance races.

[MaskedRacer]

Will the Bahrain 6 hour race have the 2nd half of the event running in the dark like in past years? I hope not. I can't watch night racing except the Daytona 24. Those headlights are blinding on the screen. I'll have to shut it off at sunset and just skip to the last lap otherwise..at lease visually.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by MaskedRacer

The GTE race was fantastic. I was happy to see it be a Ford/Porsche battle for the win as supposed to what has been typically AF Corse Ferrari vs Aston Martin.

Stupid Lopez he ruined the race for the 91 Porsche. I do think the 92 was the fastest car on the day before their issues. By the way we saw some close racing without any artificial full course yellows....get the idea IMSA. You don't need these artificial wave arounds for your endurance races.

Well, there was one full course yellow... but it only lasted for a half a minute or so.

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by TF110

Well, there was one full course yellow... but it only lasted for a half a minute or so.

Very true indeed! The best and most important part is everybody holds position. That is what I HATE about safety cars. It does not bother me as much in a 2 hour 40 minute IMSA race but any 6 hour or longer race. Its a devastating thing. The integrity of the nature and events that happens during the course of endurance races must be protected.

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by MaskedRacer

The GTE race was fantastic. I was happy to see it be a Ford/Porsche battle for the win as supposed to what has been typically AF Corse Ferrari vs Aston Martin.

Stupid Lopez he ruined the race for the 91 Porsche. I do think the 92 was the fastest car on the day before their issues. By the way we saw some close racing without any artificial full course yellows....get the idea IMSA. You don't need these artificial wave arounds for your endurance races.

Like for a baseball on track you mean? (in Mexico)

[Akrapovic]

What's artificial about a bit of debris rolling out? FCYs dont close up the field, so I don't see how that's artificial.

[Coach Ep]

Little pieces of debris should not require any type of full course neutralization (that's NASCAR stuff). Easy as that.

A lot of FCYs in the WEC nowadays is for stuff that was always dealt with under local yellows - and can still easily done under local yellows. Not really anything different or better than IMSA, especially when considering the difference in number of cars on track (aka 'track density') for both series. For what it's worth, IMSA's FCY procedure is far from my favorite either...

[Akrapovic]

But the race wasn’t neutralised in the traditional sense. So it can hardly be called artificial. People say things are artificial when it's done to close up cars to create excitement. WEC doesn't do that so it isn't artificial at all.

There's no downside to using the FCY to deal with something that would be local yellow before. Its safer and doesn't effect the race and certainly isn't artificial.

The WEC and IMSA FCY systems are nothing alike. One slows cars and maintains gaps. The other puts them behind a safety car. If WEC goes to SC then yes the gaps close but not under FCY and the SC wasn't used for the baseball.

[chernaudi]

Sadly I don't think we'll see very many local yellows at any road course race again. Everyone's covering their rear ends after the Jules Bianchi deal. Even though what happened was partly Jules' fault (not slowing enough for a local yellow and the track conditions), the FIA didn't cover themselves with glory either.

I'd rather see slow zones, but the ACO are reluctant to use them outside of Le Mans.

[TF110]

You ever run over a child's toy? Even those little pieces of plastic can dent your car just leaving your residence. Imagine a baseball at 150kmh. That has potential to be deadly. If you watch baseball at all, you see pitchers get hit with a batted ball, it can be life-threatening if hit in the head. I imagine they played it safe for good reason in Mexico.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by TF110

You ever run over a child's toy?

Don’t bother. I stopped doing this as it’s not worth the crying and being shouted at by the parents.

[Adam43]

The non SC car methods work for me. As they are generally better I’m OK with them using them a little bit more. Safety is improved and it keeps the disruption and unfairness to a minimum.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Don’t bother. I stopped doing this as it’s not worth the crying and being shouted at by the parents.

It's even worse when you miss the toy and run over the child. There tears and shouting and ambulances and everything. So much drama. Well worth the Full Course Yellow

[Coach Ep]

nowadays overprotectiveness and extreme desire for safety have pretty much created the same environment in WEC and IMSA, it's just the FCY procedures that are different. I don't see how that makes either one of them better or worse than the other, both throw in a neutralization as soon as someone farts....