[WEC] 2015 WEC Discussion

[WMUCarGuy]

Originally Posted by AFCORSE51

Gianmaria Bruni has 11 wins since 2011...most of ANY driver in the WEC, in ANY class..last year as many of you know, the #51 won LeMans with no garage issues at all, only time was for the scheduled brake pad change. This year with Fisichella and Vilander back with AF CORSE for LeMans, I see no other way any other team can beat this team...AF CORSE will be running the new 488 next season, I just hope we dont see them struggle while its developed, the 458 struggled a couple of seasons when it took the reigns from the 430. The engineers in Maranellodo their homework better than the rest. LeMans in 2013 was a disaster for the #51, the ACO had the 458 so restricted it was so far off the pace and had no chance to win...

Gimmi may be the most successful driver in WEC, but the 24 hours of Le Mans is a whole different beast. Yes, they are a favorite, for sure, but no one is unbeatable at Le Mans, with as many variables as there are. Plus you can never count out Corvette Racing!

[Damian Baldi]

If we look at the LMP1-L or privates, the only close thing to compare is Spa. If we compare Rebellion performance in 2014 and ByKolles in 2015 we could say that both are very close. Rebellion arrived to Spa in 2014 with both new cars without other previous race, while ByKolles arrived to Spa with a very modified car since Silverstone (new gearbox, new suspension and new aero).

Let's see:

Rebellion Spa 2014
Best Qualy time was 2.09.4 with the only car that completed a lap.
Best Race time was 2.08.9 (the other car got 2.13.2 before retire)

ByKolles Spa 2015
Best Qualy time was 2.06.5
Best Race time was 2.09.1

Meanwhile for 2015 Rebellion will be using the AER engine (same as ByKolles), but I can't say if they modified the car more than to put the new engine. Rebellion has the advantage to have two cars and more experience, while ByKolles car looks fragile and never finished a race. So, we will have to wait for Le Mans test to see how close is one to the other.

[Deleted]

ACO might've heard me... us moaning about the lackluster support action for WEC as there is some actual historic racing besides Porsche Cup at Nurburgring 6 hours
http://www.dailysportscar.com/2015/0...-for-2015.html

There's other kinda positive stuff there too, but... Shanghai AsLMS race - the whole 3 hours of it - is in the morning before 6 hour race... on Sunday... yeah... makes sense... how hard would have been to merge that sub 10 car grid into WEC again and not really loose any faces.

[Artur]

http://www.racecar-engineering.com/n...mp1-programme/

Let's look at it financially-wise, BMW made 6.2 billion dollars in profit, last year. For reference, Nissan made only 850 million dollars, Mercedes/Daimler's 2014 profit was only 1.24 billion dollars meanwhile VAG and Toyota have net profits in the double digits billions and their 2015 has been on the rise of what was already a very healthy 2014

[Ospi]

Originally Posted by Chiana

ACO might've heard me... us moaning about the lackluster support action for WEC as there is some actual historic racing besides Porsche Cup at Nurburgring 6 hours
http://www.dailysportscar.com/2015/0...-for-2015.html

There's other kinda positive stuff there too, but... Shanghai AsLMS race - the whole 3 hours of it - is in the morning before 6 hour race... on Sunday... yeah... makes sense... how hard would have been to merge that sub 10 car grid into WEC again and not really loose any faces.

I fear them having aslms supporting in Fuji will harm rather than help that series though. Where will their entries come from? Certainly not elms teams, not Asia gt. They really need to move it to a 3 round winter series.

[chernaudi]

WEC Championship picture can't be forgotten with LM. #7 Audi trio extended their points lead in the Drivers' title hunt. Audi also got a healthy points haul even without the win, while Porsche's win helps make up for the #17 not scoring points at Silverstone.

Audi should be good at the Nurburgring and COTA, while the Tilkedromes might favor Porsche depending on what Audi might have up their sleeve strategy and aero-wise (high downforce LM kit for the Tilkedromes, or low drag sprint kit).

Toyota, though, are probably out to lunch while work begins on the TS050.

[TF110]

People said the same thing in 2013 about Toyota, yet they were faster than Audi in the last 3 races and wouldve won them all but for a puncture at Shanghai. The reasoning was the same too, they'll have to use funds to concentrate on "next year's car".

We also heard that Audi were no longer focusing on '13's car so thats why Toyota caught up. But then 2014 came and Toyota was faster. So its not impossible to think Toyota can improve the car over the summer and challenge for wins while simultaneously developing 2015's TS050. But it wont be easy. Lets first see what regulation changes they do to slow the cars down!

[cokata]

I expect to see everyone now adopt the wing mirror design of the Audi. It's a straight drag reduction with no impact on the downforce.

[Articus]

Originally Posted by TF110

People said the same thing in 2013 about Toyota, yet they were faster than Audi in the last 3 races and wouldve won them all but for a puncture at Shanghai. The reasoning was the same too, they'll have to use funds to concentrate on "next year's car".

We also heard that Audi were no longer focusing on '13's car so thats why Toyota caught up. But then 2014 came and Toyota was faster. So its not impossible to think Toyota can improve the car over the summer and challenge for wins while simultaneously developing 2015's TS050. But it wont be easy. Lets first see what regulation changes they do to slow the cars down!

Being realistic here Toyota won't be working on the TS040 much longer. In a financially constrained world, things that don't make financial/strategic sense for winning Le Mans next year, don't happen. There is no point. What they need is a new car/powertrain concept. The max potential of the TS040 has been realized as everyone has already said.

[ger80]

Totally agree - the focus now is to get ready for Silverstone 2016.

[deggis]

Again time to realize how awful this summer gap to Nurburgring is. This just needs to fixed for 2016. Flyaway round - maybe not, but I don't totally buy the "teams need time to stackup spare parts etc" reason. TUSC is racing in two weeks, ELMS is racing in four weeks from now. If it is financially hard, so is also letting all of this positive PR generated by the big event vaporize as weeks go by.

[chernaudi]

There's the WEC-sanctioned test at the Nurburgring at the end of July. Even then, that's still a month until the actual race weekend.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Articus

Being realistic here Toyota won't be working on the TS040 much longer. In a financially constrained world, things that don't make financial/strategic sense for winning Le Mans next year, don't happen. There is no point. What they need is a new car/powertrain concept. The max potential of the TS040 has been realized as everyone has already said.

Seemed to me they improved the car through Le Mans. Its just like 2013 when lots of people said they wouldnt be challenging for wins after Le Mans and there was no use in continuing to put resources in 2013's car with 2014's rule change. Even if they dont fight for the win, they arent going to give up because Le Mans is over and concentrate solely on 2016. Thats not how the team works. If you go back to 2013, they continued working on the car with developments for 2014. With the way the rules work, the regs change after Le Mans and stay until LM 2016. Imo, thats a great time for all teams to make developments that would be beneficial for next year. With Toyota it might be a little different because the change in power unit, but fuel flow, weight etc. all will be the same.

[Articus]

Originally Posted by TF110

Seemed to me they improved the car through Le Mans. Its just like 2013 when lots of people said they wouldnt be challenging for wins after Le Mans and there was no use in continuing to put resources in 2013's car with 2014's rule change. Even if they dont fight for the win, they arent going to give up because Le Mans is over and concentrate solely on 2016. Thats not how the team works. If you go back to 2013, they continued working on the car with developments for 2014. With the way the rules work, the regs change after Le Mans and stay until LM 2016. Imo, thats a great time for all teams to make developments that would be beneficial for next year. With Toyota it might be a little different because the change in power unit, but fuel flow, weight etc. all will be the same.

On the contrary....

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Articus

On the contrary....

I dont buy that. Theres a big difference between focusing on 2016's car and giving up completely on the current car to design next year's. Im not sure if you're suggesting theyre done trying to win in 2015? No team does that until a certain point in the year before they switch over all development. I dont see how its this soon. Theres still a championship to play for, no matter the standings. Plus it seems like the 2016 car is in its early stages,with the drivetrain yet to be finalized.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by TF110

I dont buy that. Theres a big difference between focusing on 2016's car and giving up completely on the current car to design next year's. Im not sure if you're suggesting theyre done trying to win in 2015? No team does that until a certain point in the year before they switch over all development. I dont see how its this soon. Theres still a championship to play for, no matter the standings. Plus it seems like the 2016 car is in its early stages,with the drivetrain yet to be finalized.

I don't think they are giving up necessarily, but I do feel they know there is little to be had against Audi and Porsche the remainder of this year. As far as your other point, they don't have the championship to play for this year, yes there are a lot of races left but hard to score enough points to not finish 3rd.

[ger80]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

There's the WEC-sanctioned test at the Nurburgring at the end of July. Even then, that's still a month until the actual race weekend.

Will that be a public event?

[deggis]

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/w...merican-races/

http://www.racer.com/wec-le-mans/ite...rack-officials

[Coach Ep]

Every time I read about WEC and it's 'desire' to become a success in the US I feel like throwing up, Neveu and the FIA are so cocky about where they race it's unbelievable, if you want fans to show up at your races and make your event(s) a big hit there are multiple options to go, Sebring obviously being #1 (plus Road America, Road Atlanta, etc.)!!!

Instead they opt to continue struggling at Texas' premier parking lot....

[Snips1]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Every time I read about WEC and it's 'desire' to become a success in the US I feel like throwing up, Neveu and the FIA are so cocky about where they race it's unbelievable, if you want fans to show up at your races and make your event(s) a big hit there are multiple options to go, Sebring obviously being #1 (plus Road America, Road Atlanta, etc.)!!!

Instead they opt to continue struggling at Texas' premier parking lot....

They (WEC) do a very good job. Why should Audi, Porsche, Toyota, Nissan, Aston Martin, Ferrari spend millions of euro on their factory teams, just to race at a track which is at club level facility at best? That's not how you want to show your product to potential customers/investors or business partners.. If the other tracks would like them to race there, maybe they should upgrade their facility from club level facility to world class facility. Just like they have done at Spa, Silverstone, Monza, Imola, Barcelona, Interlagos, Nurburgring, Hockenheim, Monaco, Paul Ricard, Le Mans, Red Bull Ring, COTA, Brno, Qatar, Bahrain, Suzuka, Fuji, Abu Dhabi, Indianapolis, Montreal etc.

Adapt or die.

[Pandemonium]

Originally Posted by Snips1

They (WEC) do a very good job. Why should Audi, Porsche, Toyota, Nissan, Aston Martin, Ferrari spend millions of euro on their factory teams, just to race at a track which is at club level facility at best? That's not how you want to show your product to potential customers/investors or business partners.. If the other tracks would like them to race there, maybe they should upgrade their facility from club level facility to world class facility. Just like they have done at Spa, Silverstone, Monza, Imola, Barcelona, Interlagos, Nurburgring, Hockenheim, Monaco, Paul Ricard, Le Mans, Red Bull Ring, COTA, Brno, Qatar, Bahrain, Suzuka, Fuji, Abu Dhabi, Indianapolis, Montreal etc.

Adapt or die.

Very well said. +1

[Coach Ep]

If FIA/WEC want to establish a successful presence in NA they should have started at a solid base with a known reputation - not at unknown territory for sportscars racing.

Don't make it sound like you're interested in fans when all you care for is reveling in corporate mania....

[seanyb505]

Originally Posted by Snips1

Adapt or die.

Same could be said for WEC trying to grow their NA footprint. Not saying go to Sebring or the whole series and Championship will fail, just that both sides of the equation could do with some adjusted thought patterns.

[TF110]

A lot of people went to Austin last year. I dont understand how anyone thinks its failing. I get that the series doesnt run in your favorite track, but thats a harsh reality you need to face. All we hear is Austin is a parking lot and has heaps of runoff. Yeah its not the most scenic, but until Sebring or Road America etc. bring their facilities up to the fia's 'standards', you're stuck with f1-style "parking lots".

[August]

Going to Sebring (or another classic American sports car track) might be the best way to increase WEC's popularity in the States. That's what I think WEC should do, you can keep the COTA race for hosting American corporate guests then.

But I'm afraid neither WEC or IMSA have the will to make that happen. Even if WEC accepted Sebring as a track, they probably wouldn't want a joint race with another series and I can just imagine IMSA don't want WEC to take the limelight in one of their premier races. I guess Sebring would upgrade their facilities if they really wanted to get WEC and would need upgrading but with NASCAR/IMSA owning it now, WEC isn't in their focus. The only good thing about that is having no fear of Tilke being hired to "improve" the track.

I almost dislike the WEC schedule even more than F1. After you leave the European tracks (even which are turned into parking lots), you finish the season on four Tilkedromes of which China and Bahrain have nothing else to give to the series than money. Meanwhile one prestigious sports car races Sebring and Petit are just regional championship rounds.