[LM24] OK, So What Do We Talk About Between Last Year's Le Mans and Next Year's.....?

[Simmi]

I don't really understand what the document is saying? More than 56 cars are allowed to compete on the circuit at the moment there just isn't the garage space.

[GT6]

It would be interesting to see how they could increase the garage space but unless they do some very expensive changes it is very doubtful that 64 cars could compete

[Simmi]

Seeing 62 cars in the Porsche Carrera Cup race this year was awesome. But as a fan I'll take any extra cars I can get. Even if it's 57 cars I'd take that.

There really isn't a lot of room to play with though. They could squeeze a couple more in but if they want to do something bigger they really need to think carefully. A bit like adding an extra plane to the WEC freight, you have to weigh up whether it's worth it.

[bella]

i think we saw this year that filling a le mans grid isn't always the easiest thing. the number of drivers willing to do some learning and pay for a seat versus the number of seats available don't quite match up.

[GT6]

I think that there is no problem if teams are given enough notice to fill the grid with GT cars but is that really what we want?

[bella]

quite. i mean, they're an important part of the sportscar scene and a big part of le mans but... it's not very inspiring is it!

they also still have to find drivers with the relevant budget to pay for it, and therein lies the problem. no matter how much notice you have, a driver either has the wedge to pay for it or he doesn't. same with teams. it all comes from the same people.

the growth is probably in lmp2, as long as the young drivers coming in accept that they will have to fund a couple of years of that. they're not handing out cheap or free drives to any old midfield tugger.

[Gingers4Justice]

Every year though, some very good entries get turned away. It's a lot easier to get sponsors and drivers on side if you can show them a confirmed entry in February.

I wouldn't say no to more cars, but the biggest issue for me would be the increase in the amount of slow zones and safety cars with the inevitable increase in incidents.

And if you're adding more GT cars into the equation, I can't ever see a qualifying session staying green for its entirety again.

[GT6]

And if you're adding more GT cars into the equation, I can't ever see a qualifying session staying green for its entirety again.[/QUOTE]

A bit like this year then, although they were not always caused by uncompetitive gt cars

[bella]

perhaps they could do it by having say, 15 lmp2 entries on the grid, and they confirm 18, and you have to qualify during the test session. granted, that leaves it a bit late for anyone who fails to qualify but it's long enough to see who drops out for budgetary reasons and who doesn't.

[Giba]

Originally Posted by bella

perhaps they could do it by having say, 15 lmp2 entries on the grid, and they confirm 18, and you have to qualify during the test session. granted, that leaves it a bit late for anyone who fails to qualify but it's long enough to see who drops out for budgetary reasons and who doesn't.

Didn't they used to do that? If they did then I can't remember why they stopped doing that

[isynge]

Originally Posted by bella

perhaps they could do it by having say, 15 lmp2 entries on the grid, and they confirm 18, and you have to qualify during the test session. granted, that leaves it a bit late for anyone who fails to qualify but it's long enough to see who drops out for budgetary reasons and who doesn't.

There's something I quite like about there being a genuine contest to qualify, and with test day now being so close to the event it might work in terms of building excitement.

What happens however if you end up with 18 quality entries, all funded on the basis of a run at the main event, and sponsors who have booked their chateau accommodation, the catering, the hospitality etc, and you have to have three 'losers'. If one of the big spending teams, who presence is never really doubt (Alpine, Jota, TDS etc) has a complete mare at test day (nasty engine fire at wrong bit of track, big off etc) do we just accept that 'that's racing' and have them miss the event? I'm not sure we'd find too many takers for that.

Much like I said in the run up to this years event, I can't help feeling that tighter coordination between the ACO and the teams on the waitlist would be a huge benefit, especially those that notionally have the capacity to run a second car would help minimise the prospect of there being a gap, especially if the ACO decides to leverage the overall brand value of the 24 Hours and made an offer akin to "buy a premium hospitality package for the race and we guarantee it, and your livery, will go to ensure the race's longevity - this could mean signage on a car if we need to support a late entrant, or facility named after you on circuit" - with a bit of creativity I'm pretty sure many things are possible.

[bella]

i can understand why pre-qualifying like that wouldn't be popular, but it's a little more transparent than just nominating entries. i think they should keep guaranteed entries for elms champions and the winners of the previous year's race. everything else would benefit from everyone being in the same boat, imo.

Originally Posted by isynge

Much like I said in the run up to this years event, I can't help feeling that tighter coordination between the ACO and the teams on the waitlist would be a huge benefit, especially those that notionally have the capacity to run a second car would help minimise the prospect of there being a gap, especially if the ACO decides to leverage the overall brand value of the 24 Hours and made an offer akin to "buy a premium hospitality package for the race and we guarantee it, and your livery, will go to ensure the race's longevity - this could mean signage on a car if we need to support a late entrant, or facility named after you on circuit" - with a bit of creativity I'm pretty sure many things are possible.

i agree with that. even down to things like clarity between teams and the aco with driver and staff availability. otoh, it's blatently obvious why nobody would want to have that kind of a situation! the risk would surely be too high of drivers, engineers and sponsors jumping ship...

i mean, the example of alpine who had a second entry that needed a spot on the le mans grid to fly is a great demonstrator of what's currently wrong. drivers were in place, but the budget wasn't there once it was clear they'd only be on the reserve list and it was withdrawn. shooting one of your main national flag flying teams in the foot like that seemed distinctly backwards. on the other hand i can understand how they'd be keen to make sure there was a bit of diversity between teams, especially pre-season when it wasn't clear how poorly supported the wec lmp2 class would be.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Giba

Didn't they used to do that? If they did then I can't remember why they stopped doing that

Yes. Just think back to 'Noel's Le Mans Dream' in 1997.....

I can't remember why they stopped it either!

[Giba]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Yes. Just think back to 'Noel's Le Mans Dream' in 1997.....

I can't remember why they stopped it either!

I'd never heard of that as it was in the early years of watching Le Mans for me but point taken

[ascarracinguk]

Originally Posted by Giba

I'd never heard of that as it was in the early years of watching Le Mans for me but point taken

that was with the Panoz GT1 wasn't it? one of my altime favourite cars

[GT6]

The programme was surprisingly good and the struggle to qualify, against the lotus, I think,was very good

[Aysedasi]

Very good. I recorded the two parts (on VHS of course at the time) and transferred it to DVD some years ago.

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Very good. I recorded the two parts (on VHS of course at the time) and transferred it to DVD some years ago.

Didn't it used to be on youtube as well? Shame it was taken down

[Aysedasi]

Probably. It was a BBC programme IIRC and they're generally pretty hot on the copyright stuff.

[Matra-simca]

Originally Posted by ATLFalconsFAN

Next June cannot come soon enough! I have the bug and I have it bad! I love that I am so in love with Le Mans. I love that I can't totally put my finger on what I love most about it, or that I can't properly describe the feelings that it creates inside me. All I can ever tell anyone is that it is a magical place. The camaraderie amongst the various nationalities of spectators, the sense of excitement building up to everything.

I've only been twice, but plan to keep going as long as my wallet allows it. However in the two times I have been I am always struck by my excitement when the first qualifying session begins. Both times I have sat in the grandstands at the Ford Chicane and both times I felt a stirring inside, a feeling that there was nowhere else on earth I would rather be, that this was the place I was meant to be and a feeling that I wish I could bottle up for those other 51 weeks of the year.

What other moments really do it for you guys?

Okay, now some questions for those that have done the full week before. 2015 will be my first time to do both scrutineering and the autograph session. I am a planner and love thinking things through way in advance so that I can start looking forward to them. How early do you guys suggest getting to scrutineering to secure a good spot? What would be considered a good spot. Anyone care to do a primer for someone who has never done it before, things to do and expect and plan for? Is it feasible to stand there for both days and experience every part of it? Does it get tedious? How big do the crowds get for the autograph session? How early do people get in line for their favorite teams, which team usually has the longest line? It was funny that at COTA this year Audi for the only time I could recall did not have the biggest line. I got in line for Porsche about an hour before it started and there were about 30-40 people in line before me. By the time the session started there were a good 300 people in line.

Been feeling the same way for many a year. There is no cure!

Todd

[Simmi]

Bit of a random question, but us Porsche/Martini fans have often lamented the alcohol advertising laws in France.

So does anyone know how Rebellion were able to run Arctic Velvet logos during the race this year?



They didn't run the logos at Spa or the test day. Small logos appeared at scrutineering and then from Thursday onwards the large logo was on the fin.

Upon investigation this is the company: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Velvet

Any ideas?

(Copyright warned pic removed)

[GT6]

i think they knew what would happen if they put them on display early so a little underhand adding them later kept the sponsors happy and after all they are paying to keep the car on track

[ATLFalconsFAN]

Here's a question I just thought of:

Do you need a general enclosure ticket to attend the autograph session on the Tuesday evening? I won't be getting my ticket until Wednesday. I'm assuming you don't need one, but you know what happens when you assume...

[Aysedasi]

If its in the circuit, yes, I would assume so. We had a wander around the tribunes a couple of years ago on the Tuesday and had to show tickets - or maybe it was just our membership cards - not sure....

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

If its in the circuit, yes, I would assume so. We had a wander around the tribunes a couple of years ago on the Tuesday and had to show tickets - or maybe it was just our membership cards - not sure....

I'm sure you would need tickets - bare in mind the campsites will already have people in them. Otherwise anybody could stroll in? I don't know this for certain, but I would imagine you need tickets to get into the circuit from the moment the circuit's own campsites are open.