[LM24] Le Mans 2018 Entry List Speculation

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by nobster

is it ridiculous considering not running when you don't know why your car had crashed and you want answers first?

And potentially couldn't get spares.

There was a very real possibility of DragonSpeed not running, or moving down to LMP2.

[S griffin]

Yes, it's hard to find spares in this day and age. I wouldn't have been surprised to see them not running or moving to a different series

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by EffectiveSprinkles

Really? To me it seemed ridiculous they were even considering not running.

To race, you need a car, and with the investigation into the accident ongoing, no spare, an SMP BR1 badly damaged and potentially in need of tub repair or replacement (although I think they have a spare), Dallara needing to fit a new build into their schedule etc etc, my gut feeling was that the time frame was simply too tight for them to return in LMP1 for Le Mans. Absolutely delighted that I was wrong!

Not a subject for this thread, but I'm wondering what financial arrangement needed to be reached before the replacement car went into build, in terms of who (suppliers/team) is incurring the cost of what.

[S griffin]

Yeah, the accident damage was a bit much. It would have been hard to find the time to do all the repairs and safety checks, especially with Dallara. It’s a good job for them they at least managed to get everything sorted in time for Le Mans

[Graham Goodwin]

Post Spa - SMP did have a spare tub - Dragonspeed did not - to run in LMP1 two things needed to happen - a new chassis to be supplied - and major reassurance that the accident investigation found some answers and that those answers got a full response from BR Engineering and Dallara - it seem that all those boxes were ticked

[Hans Stuck Fan]

Not sure if it’s been posted but I can’t see Manu Collard on the entry list. End of a streak that started in ‘95?

[Aysedasi]

That's true, I've not heard his name mentioned at all. Nothing on his website.....

[Lutzvic]

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/l...r-at-test-day/

good news

[GT6]

Well they were at Spa, but we all know what happened there, but certainly looks more hopeful.

[Mike E]

Some entry list stats for your enjoyment...


Driver gradings

Platinum 81 45%
Gold 36 20%
Silver 38 21%
Bronze 25 14%



'Pro' 117 65%
'Am' 63 35%


Rookies 39 22%



Le Mans race starts

Most experienced crew
#64 Corvette 38 starts
(#63 Corvette has 37 starts, for an amazing team total of 75. Only the 4 car Porsche team has more starts in a single team, and that's really two teams.)


Least experienced crew
#37 JCDC Oreca 0 starts
(Honourable mention: #81 BMW has a single start across its 3 drivers)


Most starts by a single driver: Jan Lammers - 23 (excl 2018). This puts Jan 6th on the all time list, which will become joint 5th when he takes his 24th start.

Emmanuel Collard also has 23 starts but unfortunately is not in this year's race.



Average number of starts for the whole field: 4



Top 5 nations represented
France 34 drivers

UK 30 drivers

USA 18 drivers

Italy 12 drivers

Germany 10 drivers



Previous winners
Overall winners

10 (Bamber, Bernhard, Dumas, Duval, Fassler, Jani, Lammers, Lotterer, Rockenfeller, Tandy)

Class winners (excl overall winners)

33 (I think this is right)





https://1drv.ms/x/s!Anwb-fR18n4xjPQuMTy1joybFLAfDQ

[Adam43]

Good job

[Aysedasi]

Yep, great research there Mike!

[Simmi]

Extremely late to the party but just to echo - very nice stats and research Mike. Showed me I had a couple of errors in the document I'd put together which is really useful. For future reference I think there were 34 class winners. Babini won GT back in 2001 I believe. Hope you enjoyed the race!

It's interesting because every single driver who won this year was a first-time class winner at Le Mans. Pretty cool.

[Mike E]

Noted, thanks!

Is it time to start next year's thread?

[Aysedasi]

Whenever you like Mike!