[WEC Race] 2014 WEC Round 6: Shanghai

[joeb]

This is happening this weekend. Some things to ponder:

Will the Lotus get put back together in time?

Will ESM be able to make a nice showing with their HPD's?

What will GTEAm look like without AF Corse?

Will Porsche or Audi be able to get in front of the Toyotas?

[Victor_RO]

No, yes, AMR walkover, only in qualifying (if at all).

[ger80]

Cheers mate for setting this one up
Is that Lotus No supported by evidence?

[Rodger Davies]

I don't think I can adequately express the amount of apathy I feel towards this race.

[GT6]

Well it will be live on motors tv on freeview in the uk for those interested

[Simmi]

Not going to be able to watch this on Sunday which is a bit gutting so I'll be avoiding spoilers until at least Tuesday.

Hoping for a bit more of a contest at the front of the race.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by Rodger Davies

I don't think I can adequately express the amount of apathy I feel towards this race.

I can

[Canada ALMS fan]

You nailed it Chiana. Probably why the AF Corse gentlemen drivers in Am didn't want to spend the money to go. Still, it IS 6 hours of racing for the WEC we get to enjoy.

[Rodger Davies]

Originally Posted by Chiana

I can

Touché

[TF110]

The rain may appear in a lot of the sessions. The track is already green, itll be even more so with showers predicted for today (friday) and the morning of race day. Despite the lack of enthusiasm from some, I like this track. Two similar turns appear but with opposite functions; turns 1-2 and 11-12.

[Purist]

I don't deny that taking power from the LMP2s, in particular, has caused significant problems. However, TF110, we saw in the BSS races in Slovakia that even a 20-meter-wide track isn't enough when guys think they can go for it without any real consequences.

Yes, Slovakia Ring itself has gravel traps, but these drivers have now run on so many other tracks with the tarmac run-offs, and done so for enough years, that those bad habits and behaviors have crossed over into places where they cannot get away with them.

A critical mass has been reached in the upper echelons of motor racing, and we are seeing the product of that in the form of degrading driving standards. This has even trickled down the ladder at least as far as F3, where we saw a third to half of the field ignoring yellows at Spa, resulting in a horrendous pile-up on the approach to Pouhon!

(Spa itself presents a conundrum of inconsistency within a single circuit, where some parts of the track afford massive amounts of freedom to get away with almost anything, whereas in other areas, there's no reasonable way to ever add "enough" run-off space. And then they try to add curbs and speed bumps to prevent short-cutting, which just results in cars that really over-shoot getting launched into the air. In fact, it was just such an incident that caused the yellow that was ignored, leading to the aforementioned pile-up.)

As to Shanghai, there are corners and sequences I like, but the whole lap doesn't fit together to create a unified and satisfying whole. And again, the surroundings, for the most part, are so bloody far away that I CAN'T see enough usable frames of reference to allow the cars to look as spectacular, fast, and agile as they damn well ought to be!

(It isn't about opinion. It's about being able to perceive something I have a great passion for with my own senses. I should be able to do that without somebody else telling me that I ought to be satisfied with its current state, just because they say so.

The state of affairs shouldn't deteriorate to the point where that somebody telling me what I ought to like is the only direct sensory input I can get. It hasn't reached that point yet, but I honestly fear, if certain recent trends in circuit design continue, that such a point could be reached.)

[TF110]

I thought we were talking about the wec, not blancpain? I havent seen much of the track limit abuse. What I have seen is that there have been incidents where run off areas have and have not helped. Silverstone for Audi comes to mind for an instance of the latter.

[Purist]

Sorry, I get a little worked up about some of that, and if another series offers an apt example of what I'm talking about, I'll use it.

I just want the sport to remain within my sensory capacities to take it in and enjoy it.

I hope Lotus gets the car ready in time. It's quite a striking machine when you see it, and that AER lump is no slouch, clearly.

The factory cars will get up to a pretty good clip on the back straight. It might not be Fuji top-end, then again, that right-hander onto it is a lot quicker than the final turn at Fuji.

(I'll humor you a bit, TF110. I like the T1-4, T7-8, and T12-13 complexes at Shanghai. Turns 9-11 and 14-16 are too angular; they pinch the racing line and inhibit the circuit's overall flow. I'd prefer if Turns 5 and 6 were of different profiles than they are, but they don't bother me all that much.

At Shanghai, the smog, coupled with the massive scale of the pit buildings and grandstands, plus the comparatively texture-less paved run-offs, is extremely disruptive to my brain's ability to extrapolate depth; I don't have the aid of vision from a second eye anymore to give me true depth perception.)

EDIT: As to the Audis at Silverstone, the gravel at Stowe stopped the #2 before it hit anything. The #1 was quite probably going faster than the #2 when it went off, and was in a place that is normally an acceleration zone. Both cars snapped on the driver; I wonder if the Quattro system was giving them trouble in the wet. The #1 was also on slicks, and on a section of track that had seen the addition of run-off with the change to the Arena GP Circuit. So, don't look at me on that one. Anyway, the #1 took a comparatively glancing blow, and was able to drive away, once situated on solid ground.

[TF110]

Toyota already down in the 1:49's in practice 1. Getting close to last year's qualifying times.

[TF110]

P2 was shortened by a red flag due to fog and rain affecting visibility!

[tux]

Support races for the weekend look good. Audi R8 LMS cup, Formula Renault & a local gt series.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by TF110

Despite the lack of enthusiasm from some, I like this track.

You do?

Originally Posted by TF110

Dont really care for Shanghai.

[Acid09]

No idea what's supposedly bad about Shanghai. The drivers seem to like it and as I recall there was a very decent crowd last year.

Looking forward to the race

[isynge]

Originally Posted by Acid09

No idea what's supposedly bad about Shanghai. The drivers seem to like it and as I recall there was a very decent crowd last year.

Looking forward to the race

Likewise, I don't object to the track, the crowd's been decent, and it's a fantastic city, to say nothing of the fact that the people who pay for the WEC want a Chinese presence.

Timing of whole thing might make watching it a bit of an unlikely aspiration for me, but I'm certainly intending on giving it a bash.

[GT6]

Originally Posted by isynge

Likewise, I don't object to the track, the crowd's been decent, and it's a fantastic city, to say nothing of the fact that the people who pay for the WEC want a Chinese presence.

Timing of whole thing might make watching it a bit of an unlikely aspiration for me, but I'm certainly intending on giving it a bash.

It is live on motors TV and then repeated again at 6 on sunday morning so will watch it then

[isynge]

Originally Posted by GT6

It is live on motors TV and then repeated again at 6 on sunday morning so will watch it then

Pragmatically the 0600 reshowing might be a touch more realistic...

[Paradise City]

It's on Motors from 02:30 - 09:30 is it not?

[Purist]

I just wish the Twitter and Facebook buttons would quit coming up in front of part of the timing screen.

Clearly, I'm not paying enough attention, as my two previous posts should have been in the WEC 2015 thread. Good grief.

[Hawkwood]

Originally Posted by Paradise City

It's on Motors from 02:30 - 09:30 is it not?

Indeed it is!
Though it's 2.30-6.00 and then 6.00-9.30.
I'm recording it for Sunday afternoon viewing, and nearly missed the end bit.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Chiana

You do?

Shanghai, as in China, its location. But the track is decent.