Le Mans 2013
 

Looking forward to this weekends storied event........Go 'Jake' ......yeah there wasn't much wind blowing today !!

:chevy

Feel like a kid again! Can't wait.... :D

http://gmauthority.com/blog/2013/06/...ns-with-video/

If you ever get the chance, go to Lemans. the atmosphere is like nothing else. I got the chance to go twice, the second time I got hooked up and was able to hang in the Corvette corral at the track.

Our boys in yellow are going to have run a perfect race to make up the speed deficit they give up to the Astons. I believe their experience, and efficiency can help make that up, but there is much less room for error this year. 11 hours to green flag...

:thumbs: The Vette boys are scratching their heads, they were over 4 seconds quicker during the test 2 weeks ago, in the low 55's-high 54's, now the best is mid 58's, so there's something they're missing on the setup. Hopefully they'll figure it out by Race day. It would be great to see the C6R go out with a LeMans win in it's last season before we change over to the C7R.

in car cams on speed.com! got fridge full of speed energys gonna be a great weekend

Im ready for it, Good luck Corvette Racing. :flag:

:thumbs:

Watching it on Speed now:rock:

wiki says a driver was killed today!!!

this.....

The race started at 15:00 (CEST) on Saturday 22 June. On third lap of the race, Dane Allan Simonsen lost control of his No. 95 Aston Martin in the Tetre Rouge corner and impacted the barriers. Simonsen later died from his injuries.[1]

I am streaming both Corvettes right now is there any way to change to the front camera?

Wow. I know Aston Martin had crashed but didn't know he died.

:yesnod::(

I've been watching for some time and it looks like they switch from time to time. Wish they would just stay on forward view.

Incidentally, it looks like the Astons can pass the Vettes at will on most straights. Bummer.

Sad news.
Here's how it happened:


Looks like he went head on into one of these trees behind the rail.

What place is Corvette running now?

Anybody have a link to live streaming please...RIP on the crash...:sadangel:

6th. The Astons are kicking ass.

Streaming:
http://www.24h-lemans.com/live/en/

Corvette Racing Streams:
http://stream.speedtv.com/corvette

stream in post #9 above

What's the meaning of the different race categories (ie lmp1, lmp 2, GT, and Pro-am!?)

Corvette I believe is carrying a weight penalty. The other cars maybe running faster but we have a long way to go. I think Corvette racing has a strategy. The strategy is not to have the fastest fast car but to survive the race.

That my friend means they've learned the Le Mans experience.... :thumbs:

Different categories (prototypes, production cars, different allowances in terms of engine and chassis specs, etc....)
I'm sure you can google the exact breakdown of the different categories.

The way the Aston Martins are passing the Corvettes makes me believe they have been lapped a few times.

Yup. If they last, it's gonna be tough to beat.... even with the added chicane, to break the Hunaudieres straight away and slow them down a bit, it still leaves them two nice chunks of straight where they can eat Corvettes up....

The Corvettes are running 7 and 9 in GTE Pro, the gap has remained the same for a while now, the Aston is two laps ahead of the Corvettes, appears the Porches are running good also. Two Ferraris are also in front of the vettes.

The restrictors have really hampered the 'Vettes,which is a pity. Plenty of race left though.

2 laps ain't peanuts, I reckon.... but it's all about who sees sunrise with a motor still running , so the race is young indeed.
GO VETTES!!!

:lurk:

At least we're kicking the crap out of the Vipers.

Why are the Aston Martin's so much faster then the Vette's?Are they still being given unfair advantages like they were given in the past?? Because they are cry baby's...:toetap:

They did an interview with the Program Manager for Corvette Racing. He basically said that they gauges what the C6Rs would do based off last year's qualifying times, which they had a draft for all the straights. So basically, they had a super fast qualifying last year, and now they're being hindered by restrictions.

Speaking of restrictions, and for those who want to dig deep, here's the official regulation breakdown for the GTE class:

http://www.24h-lemans.com/wpphpFichi...ons-lm-gte.pdf

By the time you're done with it, we should have a winner... :rofl:

In order to win you have to finish. I'm betting on Corvette.

Well said. We have 12 hours to go and ANYTHING can happen until the race is over. Last year Corvette was leading mid way but the rear wheel came of because it wasn't tightened correctly during a pit stop.

Aston Martin and Porsche were both given larger restrictors on the intake, and Porsche was given a weight break and an increase in fuel capacity. The European teams all had the chance to run the latest Michelin compound tires the last 2 races in Europe while Corvette got to run the for the first time on Thursday, plus Corvette was given a smaller restrictor and a weight penalty. Nothing like stacking the odds a bit, there has been a lot of talk in the paddock of sandbagging on the pare to both Porsche and Aston Martin in prior races to get the concessions, now they're both showing their hand. Lot of time left though, stay out of trouble and be ready to run hard the last 3 hours.

What a load.. What has happened to the " race what ya brung " Attitude?
Hamstringing your foe to give yourself a chance is pathetic.
Go Vette!!

Second Aston Martin car crashed.

i'm at work and have no way but here to keep up. how's team corvette doing? how mmuch time left? it should be getting close.

running 5 and 6

18 92 Run LM GTE Pro PORSCHE 911 RSR LIETZ R. PORSCHE AG TEAM MANTHEY M 298 59.068 3:56.145 3:55.453 208.4 21
19 97 Run LM GTE Pro ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE V8 MÜCKE S. ASTON MARTIN RACING M 298 1:04.859 3:57.246 3:55.934 208.0 22
20 91 Run LM GTE Pro PORSCHE 911 RSR PILET P. PORSCHE AG TEAM MANTHEY M 297 33 Laps 6:19.440 3:55.323 208.5 23
21 71 Run LM GTE Pro FERRARI 458 ITALIA VILANDER T. AF CORSE M 295 35 Laps 3:59.329 3:56.338 207.6 22
22 74 Run LM GTE Pro CHEVROLET CORVETTE C6 ZR1 GAVIN O. CORVETTE RACING M 294 36 Laps 3:57.569 3:57.569 206.5 23
23 51 Out LM GTE Pro FERRARI 458 ITALIA FISICHELLA G. AF CORSE M 294 20.949 4:08.511 3:56.630 207.3 22
24 73 Run LM GTE Pro CHEVROLET CORVETTE C6 ZR1 GARCIA A. CORVETTE RACING M 294 1:04.379 3:58.410 3:57.061 207.0 22
26 53 Run LM GTE Pro SRT VIPER GTS-R GOOSSENS M. SRT MOTORSPORTS M 289 41 Laps 4:00.023 3:57.460 206.6 26
34 93 Run LM GTE Pro SRT VIPER GTS-R WITTMER K. SRT MOTORSPORTS M 284 46 Laps 4:05.843 3:59.006 205.3 24
36 66 Run LM GTE Pro FERRARI 458 ITALIA JMW MOTORSPORT D 284 3:56.870 5:28.299 4:00.056 204.4 25
38 75 Out LM GTE Pro PORSCHE 911 GT3 RSR PERRODO F. PROSPEED COMPETITION M 282 2:10.010 4:15.820 4:03.071 201.9 22
46 99 Ret LM GTE Pro ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE V8 MAKOWIECKI F. ASTON MARTIN RACING M 248 82 Laps 4:27.722 3:54.639 209.1 19
48 98 Ret LM GTE Pro ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE V8 AUBERLEN B. ASTON MARTIN RACING M 221 109 Laps

Chevy running 4th #74 and 6th #73.

It doesn't look good for the vettes to win... Oh well, go C7Rs next year. Just started watching again, what's the yellow for? Let them race, only 50mins left.

No it doesn't. Unless there is some sort of mishap. Looks like rain, crashes, pit stop mistakes has helped Chevy move up a a few slot.

In order to win, you must survive.

73 =4

74= 6

After briefly moving to 5th, Gavin pitted, and sat out 2 laps and went back out for the checker. Not sure if there was a car problem or if team Corvette decided 7th was as good as 5th. Final was 4th and 7th.

GTE Pro PORSCHE 911 RSR LIETZ R. PORSCHE AG TEAM

GTE Pro PORSCHE 911 RSR PILET P. PORSCHE

GTE Pro ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE V8 MÜCKE S. ASTON MARTIN RACING

GTE Pro CHEVROLET CORVETTE C6 ZR1 TAYLOR J. CORVETTE RACING

GTE Pro FERRARI 458 ITALIA VILANDER T.

GTE Pro FERRARI 458 ITALIA

GTE Pro CHEVROLET CORVETTE C6 ZR1 GAVIN O. CORVETTE RACING

GTE Pro SRT VIPER GTS-R GOOSSENS M. SRT MOTORSPORTS

SRT VIPER GTS-R WITTMER K. SRT MOTORSPORTS

GTE Pro FERRARI 458 ITALIA JMW MOTORSPORT

GTE Pro PORSCHE 911 GT3 RSR PERRODO F. PROSPEED COMPETITION

GTE Pro ASTON MARTIN VANTAGE V8 MAKOWIECKI F. ASTON MARTIN RACING

Wearing it proud:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/c...n/5d02acd4.jpg

I watched a hour of it yesterday and the final 30 minutes today. This was the first non NASCAR race I have ever watched and I did it only to see how the Vettes were doing. That had to be the most boring race I have seen. Everything about the race was foreign to me. From the relaxed pit stops, the red flashing brake lights, to what looked like the cars coasting across the finish line. Then on the podium there's 10 drivers being honored and nobody really seems to be happily celebrating and they're all wearing flower wreaths. Ghey.

What a contrast from NASCAR were they bump, bang, and dump each other at 200 mph, and the winner whips into victory lane, someone slams a 12 pack of beer on the roof, and everyone is high fiving.

At least the Vettes finished respectable, and ahead of the viper :lol:

:iagree:

The Vettes were screwed it looked like, but they soldiered on.

Well,all things considered,we did ok. RIP to the ASTON DRIVER..

To each his own, but I feel NASCAR is a waste of time. If you have never watched any real sports car racing, you cannot judge it by simply watching the little you did.
The difference in NASCAR and Le Mans or any of the ALMS and WEC events is night and day. I was once a NASCAR loyalist but that stopped when it went from a true race event to an entertainment event. It seems it is all about the corporate image now.
As far as the coasting over the finish line. that is usually due to the fact that the lead car has built up a lead where they have the luxury and it is almost a tradition at Le Mans to have that photo at the finish line. Le Mans is one of if not the most iconic race in the world and the amount of teams that compete as well as the amount of viewers is most likely the largest in the world.

Hey, I happen to watch every single NASCAR Cup race, but you trying to judge sports car racing with your small amount of exposure is like if I watched only the Daytona 500 race this year and then judged NASCAR based on a few minutes worth of that race. And that Daytona was hands-down the most boring race that I have ever watched. Period. But I didn't stop watching NASCAR and I don't judge a racing series by only viewing roughly 6% of one race.

Like BWF07 said, they have just finished RACING FOR 24 FRIGGIN HOURS STRAIGHT. And it is taking place in France and is dominated by European teams. So of course it isn't going to be exactly like what you see in the USA.

You are of course entitled to your opinion and you are free to watch or not watch whatever races you want. But it might behoove you to try and have a little bit more of an open mind before you go making rash judgments, both of types of racing and of things in life in general.

:cheers:

Maybe you missed it, but a driver died at the race this year, and hence no one was really in the mood celebrate.

Another thing you might have missed is that is was raining hard over portions of the track at the finish. At that point, if you've worked 23.5 hours to build up a 1 lap lead, you don't risk it by flying forward over the last 30 minutes. Definitely different than a 2 hour race. I'm sure the NASCAR drivers go full out in the rain....oh wait....

But yes, if you enjoy (and millions of people do) two hours of bumping and drafting in technology as old as any of us in the forum (hey at least there is fuel injection now), this race isn't for you. Just like NASCAR isn't for me (but it is for many).


Also, if you really do have an interest in sports car racing but didn't like the 24 hour type races, I might suggest you try to catch some of the shorter American Le Mans Series races (or Grand AM), as many of those are 2 and half hours or so, and as such, you will get the quick pit stops and the race to the finish that you like, but on a road course with multiple classes driving at once.

Good points, and I agree with NASCAR becoming corporate and more pussified than decades ago. But this le Mans, I don't know man, it was not entertaining. I saw only a handfull of passes. But admitadly I only saw a small percentage of the race. The cars are autos and sound like rice. I'll take a Daytona/Talladega race anyday.

I guess I'm just not into road courses.....:cheers:

Then make sure you don't watch the NASCAR Cup race at the Sonoma ROAD COURSE today!:banghead::rofl:

As I said to each his own. As far as you judgment of Le Mans compared to NASCAR, again an hour and half of a 24 hour race is know way to try and judge an event that you truly have know idea of what is going on to start with (no disrespect intended).

I was saddened to hear anyone was killed at Lemans. But I also watched some of the race and was wondering how come the Corvettes, and Vipers for that matter were so slow behind the Astons and Porsches. Just the opposite of street machines. Then I read about all the penalties and restrictions to the Corvette team and I think no wonder. They were lucky to finish 4th. But the real task is trying to explain that to my wife. :rofl: She cannot understand why they bother and I wonder why myself.:(

This.

I trust you gents, and valid opinions. I just gave my initial thoughts of what I observed in the first non NASCAR race that I've seen. I'll watch some of next year Le Mans, mostly to see how the Vettes do, and maybe the race as a whole will be better and more entertaining.

Bon joure

My daughter and her family lived in France for 3 years. Even though Lemans is dominated by European teams, Corvettes are very well known and liked in France. After all, Chevrolet was a Frenchman. :thumbs:

By the way, Nascar....gimme a break. Opps, another left turn! How exciting..

Probably nobody was really all that happy. One of their colleagues was killed at the beginning of the race.

As for everybody grouping together to come across the finish line the race had already been settled by the time the clock ran around to 24 hours all they had to do was not screw up for the last hour since their competitors were too far behind.

The only place you see NASCAR banging fenders is on the slower tracks. When they start running the speeds the LeMans cars were running they don't bump either. Too risky to do anything but bump drafting which occurs on road courses as well. If you put them in a 24 hour race they wouldn't bang fenders at all since that is good way not to finish a race. A car may be able to be banged around for 3 or 4 hours but not 24.

NASCAR has an issue with boring races as well since they don't emphasize the difference in makes like they used to, the tendency to throw a yellow flag when one car gets a large lead (remember the old days when the winners would lap everybody including the 2nd place car?), the fact they have trouble turning right and even when they do in two races they eliminate the most challenging portions of the tracks. Almost forgot, they are afraid to run in the rain.

Bill

And Corvette had poor qualifying times this year. So hopefully next year that will translate to the Corvettes getting fewer restrictions and they'll be able to cruise on by the Astons as easily as the Astons passed the Vettes this year. Then of course Aston will complain that the Corvettes were given an unfair advantage! LOL Where does it end??

It wasn't clear to me what was up with those lost 4 seconds. Were the lost seconds after the restrictions were put in place or before? The Corvette crew was commenting about how their times were down so much and they couldn't put their fingers on why. I got the impression they weren't referring to the restrictors but something else in addition to the restrictors. Sounds like Corvette was doubly screwed before the race even started.

:cheers:
Fair enough. I think we can all agree that us Vette Enthusiasts are already looking toward the next race/next year's LeMans!

But our troubles are obviously paled in comparison to the loss of A. Simonson. RIP:sadangel:

The Corvettes lost time before the additional weight, and then also had the weight put in. The Corvette's were slightly below mid-pack during practice and got a weight penalty (I have no idea why, if they already were well behind). To be fair, the Aston's also got a weight penalty and the 911's a restrictor increase, while the Vipers got less weight and a bigger fuel tank.

I heard the announcers discuss that this was the Corvette's first run on the European endurance car tire, and that they needed time to dial the car in to the tire. I have no idea what the deal is with the tire other than it is a Le Mans spec tire, but the interview with the Corvette team seemed to indicate the same thing.

Good Job Dlinderman ..*cheers*

Yeah the vettes looked slow this year, I did not keep up with the restriction placed on every car, but it looked like the Astons had no problem passing them. I think this might due to what some posters pointed out as the weight penalties and restrictors imposed on the vettes.

Coasting across the finish line looked pretty weak to me. It was as if they had decided that the battle was over and it was agreed who had won long before the race was over. Weak.:thumbs:

Yeah and you sir are god's gift to all things motorsport and those guys who just finished racing FOR 24 FRIGGIN HOURS STRAIGHT are weak.

:crazy:

Not getting into the pi$$ing contest here, but hearing from someone enjoying watching cars going around a circle for hours, that traditional road racing is boring.... can't help but crack a smile here.
Good new is there's enough variety of entertainment out there to make everyone happy. :cheers:

Of course the TV experience (as with every sport) doesn't come close to walking the track, going from turn one to the Tertre Rouge, standing in the middle of the Hunaudieres and watch them go by you at 300mph (that part was even more fun before the chicane was put in place to limit the speed to something under 400mph ;)), crossing to the inside of the track on the Dunlop bridge and walking the paddocks.

It was an intense edition, unfortunately tarnished by the loss of a young man.

Corvette will do better next year I'm sure! :thumbs:

I watched as much of the race as humanly possible. Also noticed there was a BIGGER emphasis of Corvette's history AT Le Mans during commercial breaks compared to last year. C4 and C5 GrandSport name plate got part of its heritage from C3's racing AT Le Mans.

I thought the coverage and the race itself was excellent when watching all classes. Remember this is a 8 plus mile track and the weather varied at different parts. Around 4:00 am, the cars in the higher classes were crashing left and right when it started down pouring. The second crash is what knocked Aston Martin out of the lead around the same time. The first Aston Martin crash was unfortunate (RIP). AM has even temporarily taken their website down due to the drivers death.

I think 2011 was more fun to watch because Corvette won and the team was battling for the lead with Ferrari, Aston Martin and Porsche not to mention the car was faster.

This year the Corvette team had to go to work and grind it out, moving from the tenth position to 4th. It was a slow process.

Snake will be there in 2014 to cheer on the C7R at Le Mans.

I love NASCAR. Lived in Daytona for awhile.

The cars in LeMans do more miles in one race than the entire NASCAR season. One engine. To finish is a great accomplishment. It's about endurance more than flat out speed and rubbing. More importantly is MOST of the cars are closer to stock than Stock cars and the tech goes directly to manufactured cars we drive everyday.

A few things about the finish at Le Mans and the so called coasting across the finish line. On most occasions the top teams have a comfortable lead so they back off a little, but on the final lap or so (depending on the advantage over the second place car they will slow down to allow their other team cars to catch up so they are all in the finish line picture. Many times you will also see of class cars try and bunch up with the top finisher. This is of course based on the amount of lead they have over their opponent.

I have seen at time in Le Mans where a certain class leading car does not have a great advantage over second place car and they need to push right to the finish. Also for those that watch NASCAR you need to remember this in multi class racing so there are 4 different classes racing at the same time on the same track for 24 straight hours.

I would also suggest for those diehard NASCAR fans, to tune into an ALMS race this year and watch the complete race. They talk about the great drivers of NASCAR, but watch the drivers in ALMS and see how they can turn left and right while fighting with cars in their own class, being overtaking by a much faster prototype or passing a slow GTC car.

Next as for the Corvette and performance issue. I am not aware of any added weight, as I understand it they were 15 Kg lighter then the weight mandated in the ALMS series. What I did hear, is that although they always run on Michelin tires, they were given a compound they have never run before in the ALMS series. These were the ones that the WEC ( the World Endurance Series)teams which were the top runs in the GT class this year run have been using. So with the bad weather and limited testing at Le Mans the Corvette team started off handicapped. Now they may have had other restriction and maybe weight was added, but I do know that they were originally set to weight less then they do min ALMS.

Gees, I used to be one of NASCAR's best supporters, but in my opinion, they're now in the same league as WrestleMania.

It really bothers me when Toyota is portrayed as a performance vehicle running an OHV V8...which is certainly a race derived engine since they have never had a push rod V8. I don't suppose you could buy any of the engines over the counter at GM or Ford either, but at least they have a heritage to something they once made.

Sorry, but that statement is not accurate.

The overall winner Audi #2 prototype completed 348 laps at a distance of 8.469 miles per lap for a total of 2947.2 miles. Not bad, especially given the roughly five hours of caution/safety car laps.

NASCAR Cup cars race a total of 36 races in a season, with the average race being approximately 300 miles (rough estimate, I admit). Even with my unscientific and likely underestimate of the average race distance, that is over 10,000 miles in a season for the NASCAR Cup cars. Of course, they rebuild the engines after every race.

I don't know why we are going on and on about sports cars versus stock cars. I enjoy all types of racing, some more than others on certain tracks at certain times, but variety is good to have. I just like to clarify when people make incorrect assumptions about different types of racing.
:thumbs:

I agree with you on the mileage, but if you factor in the record number of full course cautions, the slower pace due to weather the total miles that would have been driven under past races, would have been a lot more miles and the big point is, they do it with the same engine and drive train. I was once a big NASCAR fan, but I have lost all respect for it over the past 4-5 years. I have nothing against those that like it, but for me I would not waste my time watching it.
What really started this discussing was the post about how boring the 24 hour race was to one member, that has never watch a 24 hour race from Le mans or any sports car race and he was basing his opinion on watching the first hour and the last half hour. He said he thinks that the banging and rubbing in NASCAR is much better racing and he really likes the Daytona and Talladega races.

That was real sad about Simonson. What is puzzling is that the AM still looked like one after it stopped. The C6R had a brake fail a few years ago in FL and it slammed into the wall at high speed. From what I remember the car finished the race also. AM should look at safety as a driver should not lose their life for going a little wide.

Corvette Racing did look slow compared to the others. Probably not all restrictions but they sure didn't help any.

You cannot judge how one accident to another, there are many factors in the outcome. I will say, however that the AM yesterday seemed to have bent a lot more then other chassis and they may (and I am sure they will) look at the chassis for any issue that may have caused it to deform as it did.
I as well as many other send out our prayers to the Simonson family on their lose.

Some crashes are puzzling indeed in their impacts on the driver.
You see cars flying in the air, rolling over 6 times on landing, catching on fire, and the driver trotting away afterwards, and some very mild looking crashes of cars hitting a wall sideways but staying complete and on its wheels, and the driver losing his life. Bummer indeed.
Le Mans has gotten as safe as it can get though throughout the years.
The trigger point (toward increasing safety) was the Mercedes accident of 1955 ejecting Levegh who got killed on impact. The car litterally took off and exploded, throwing projectiles on fire in the crowd (no fence then) and killing 83. I wasn't born then, but my parents had friends at the track that year, they were lucky not to have been on the path of the wreck, but they were obviously traumatized by the horror of the scene.
It took decades before Mercedes would finally come back to the race.

The only problem limiting what can be done with respect to safety is at the very spot where Simonson lost control: The track meets a chunk of road that is actually part of the public roadways, closed for the race every year. The Hunaudieres straightaway is just a road that takes you to the village of Mulsanne, the rest of the year.
Side anecdote: The terra cota building that I'm sure some of you have seen (very quickly) to the left of the straight away, feet away from the road / track when cars were filmed hitting 300mph, is a restaurant that belongs to a friend of mine. (not far from where they were showing some guys playing petanque at one point of the coverage...) :D
Despite the cat litter and the guard rail before the trees bordering the road at this very spot, it proved fatal for Allan. RIP.

Well said, but I do believe there were a few contributing factors to this unfortunate accident that took a life. The actual accident was filmed from the dash cam of the #74 Corvette. It shows the Aston Martin got both tires on the drivers side in the blue paints area just off track. That painted area can be extremely slippery when wet and all the weight of the car was shifted to that side of the car in the curve and that along with the fact that the Corvette was closing fast on the AM, may have had some factor also in the driver losing a little concentration on his racing line as he was also watching the closing of the Corvette,
With that said, we all know that driving a car at high speeds is a dangerous business and this can happen at any time. On the other hand this was the first fatality in 27 years at le Mans and lets hope it is the last.

Ah NASCRAP fans

Relaxed pit stops = safety, someone will eventually die in NASCAR because of their terrible form of pit stops, mark my words

Flashing brake lights, they dont actually flash, its because of the frequency between the HD TV and the LED's in the lights.

Cars coasting across finish line, its called tradition,

No one seemed happy because 3 laps into the race, a driver was killed.

So its ghey that the winners get flowers? really?

NASCAR is a joke, its funny a fan of NASCAR would complain about passing and bring up Daytona and Talladega when Daytona was a single file joke.

That is the bottom line about racing. And every pilot knows it.
You are right about the crash (and btw for those interested in seeing how it happened, I posted the youtube clip of the Corvette cam shot on the first page of this thread).
He did go wide on the connection the the straightaway and lost traction on the blue paint.

BWF07: Did you ever go to the 12hrs of Sebring? Does it work like Le Mans with a mix of prototypes and production cars? How do Corvettes do there?

IMSA gave Corvette season-long weight penalty addition as well. Le Mans rules allowed them to be 25kg lighter, but Le Mans added in 10kg last week -- that's the odd part, because they weren't fast in practice, so why the addition? That said, it's all a big formula, because each car has different weight and different restrictor requirements to "balance the power". The Aston's were set up to do well, being allowed to be 25kg less than the Corvette's, having a bigger restrictor, and a taller wing. If they weren't faster, they were bad engineers at that point.

Corvette won at the 12 Hours though most WEC teams did not participate

Cool. Thanks!

:iagree: But the AM car has a wicked sudden lost of control problem. First the fatal accident on lap 4 and the car 99 accident with 5 hours left. Both cars snapped back when the drivers were applying power after a turn in the wet. Neither accident was at near top speed otherwise we might have two dead drivers.

aston martin!
 

now "we" lose to aston martin! aston martin!

they won if you mean second and fifth place


20
GT #62 Risi Competizione Gianmaria Bruni 1:58.815 20

21
GT #4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin 1:58.934 21

22
GT #97 Aston Martin Racing Stefan Mücke 1:58.990 22

23
GT #007 Aston Martin Racing Pedro Lamy 1:59.208 23

24
GT #3 Corvette Racing Antonio García 1:59.348 24

25
GT #93 SRT Motorsports Jonathan Bomarito 1:59.430 25

I guess I had the wrong expectations in watching lemans for the first time. I caught the last hour thinking that would be some hard racing to the finish line. Turns out tbat the previous 23 hours had a lot to do with that. I guess I can chalk it up to much like an NFL game that is a blowout in the 4th quarter and the winning team is coasting so to speak. Thanks for the lesson on lemans and I will tune in next years with a better understanding and be pulling for the vettes. Cheers.

Yes I have been many times and yes there are actually 5 different classes running at the same time there are three prototype classes, P1, P2 and PC plus two GT classes the GT and the GTC. The difference in ALMS and WEC is there is no PC class and there is no GTC class. The PC class in a spec prototype class called Prototype Challenge and the GTC class is a class of spec type Porsche, where as the GTA class in Europe is a class that is made up of one year old or older GTE class cars and in the GTA you are only allowed to have one professional driver and two as they call them gentleman drivers.

I did see the Le Mans BoP after I posted, but I believe that they were originally set to be at the minimum weight of 1245Kg and then had 15Kg added on June 6th. Whereas in the ALMS series they started the year off with a 15Kg additional weight and then they received an additional 15Kg so in their ALMS series they are carrying 30Kg over the minimum weight.
Also at Le Mans the Aston martin's were given a weight break of 20Kg and the Porsches 35Kg, so the AM only weight 1225Kg and the Porsche 1210Kg. That is why it looked like the Corvette's were dragging an anchor.

Not sure where these figures are coming from, but Corvette won the GT class outright this past year at Sebring, passing the Ferrari with about 17 minutes left in the race. I believe those are the 2012 results. The Ferrari did finish ahead of the Corvette in 2012, but because it was a WEC car, the Corvette took the top points in the ALMS series as WEC cars cannot earn ALMS points when only running in 1 or 2 races, same as the ALMS cars cannot earn points at Le mans.

Don't wait until next year, checkout some of the ALMS races. You live in Wisconsin see about attend the race at Road America or watch the petit Le Mans from Road Atlanta in Oct. it is a 10 or 1,000Km race. One thing you will need to know, is all the cars that you saw at Le Mans will not be in the ALMS races. Le mans is a combined WEC and ALMS event.

You never know what will happen in this race.It's one of those you need to watch as much of as possible and record the rest...I mean,from the first 5 minutes to the last hour anything can happen and it does!!:thumbs:

Not sure where these figures are coming from, but Corvette won the GT class outright this past year at Sebring, passing the Ferrari with about 17 minutes left in the race. I believe those are the 2012 results. The Ferrari did finish ahead of the Corvette in 2012, but because it was a WEC car, the Corvette took the top points in the ALMS series as WEC cars cannot earn ALMS points when only running in 1 or 2 races, same as the ALMS cars cannot earn points at Le mans.[/QUOTE]


you are correct Sir! - that was 2012, 2013 below - first and eleventh this year


15 21 1 GT 4 Oliver Gavin / Tommy Milner / Richard Westbrook 2:00.216 333
16 20 2 GT 62 Gianmaria Bruni / Olivier Beretta / Matteo Malucelli 2:00.348 333
17 31 3 GT 17 Wolf Henzler / Bryan Sellers / Nick Tandy 2:01.549 332
18 27 4 GT 55 Bill Auberlen / Maxime Martin / Jörg Müller 2:01.176 330
19 29 5 GT 91 Ryan Dalziel / Dominik Farnbacher / Marc Goossens 2:00.057 329
20 26 6 GT 48 Bryce Miller / Marco Holzer / Richard Lietz 2:01.290 329
21 19 6 PC 7 Tomy Drissi / Rusty Mitchell / Chapman Ducote 1:56.802 326
22 28 7 GT 56 Dirk Müller / Joey Hand / John Edwards 2:00.691 321
23 22 8 GT 97 Darren Turner / Stefan Mucke / Bruno Senna 1:59.780 318
24 33 1 GTC 22 Cooper MacNeil / Jeroen Bleekemolen / Dion von Moltke 2:07.015 315
25 35 2 GTC 45 Nelson Canache, Jr. / Spencer Pumpelly / Brian Wong 2:07.402 315
26 34 3 GTC 30 Henrique Cisneros / Marco Seefried / Sean Edwards 2:07.496 314
27 37 4 GTC 11 Mike Hedlund / Jan Heylen / Jon Fogarty 2:07.320 314
28 36 5 GTC 66 Ben Keating / Damien Faulkner / Craig Stanton 2:08.245 313
29 32 6 GTC 27 Patrick Dempsey / Andy Lally / Joe Foster 2:06.933 311
30 39 7 GTC 10 Michael Avenatti / Andrew Davis / Bob Faieta 2:07.768 311
31 42 8 GTC 99 David Calvert-Jones / Eric Curran / Lawson Aschenbach 2:09.689 309
32 38 9 GTC 44 Pierre Ehret / Alexandre Imperatori / Brett Sandberg 2:08.179 309
33 23 9 GT 007 Paul Dalla Lana / Billy Johnson / Pedro Lamy 2:00.996 307
34 25 10 GT 93 Jonathan Bomarito / Tommy Kendall / Kuno Wittmer 2:00.679 303
35 41 10 GTC 31 Carlos Gomez / Mario Farnbacher / Kuba Giermaziak 2:07.658 301
36 14 7 PC 81 Mirco Schultis / Patrick Simon / Pierre Kaffer 1:55.769 286
37 10 5 P2 01 Scott Sharp / Guy Cosmo / David Brabham 1:53.502 281
38 40 11 GTC 68 Al Carter / Kevin Estre / Carlos de Quesada 2:06.550 269
39 24 11 GT 3 Jan Magnussen / Antonio Garcia / Jordan Taylor 2:00.525 213
40 30 12 GT 23 / Townsend Bell / Leh Keen 2:02.202 209

what an awesome race. toyata's sandbagging got them a sweet advantage over the Audis. right at the beginning, when Audi couldn't pull away and toyota was nipping at 1st place!!

The corvettes need the C7R. The C6R is getting fairly dated and having a hard time keeping up.

Whether it's the Daytona 500 or LeMans, as long as the AHD (Authorities Having Jurisdiction) attempt to "level the playing field" with ever-changing and unevenly-applied restrictions, regulations and assorted other douchebaggery, the racing will suffer. Leave the racing to the racers . . . They are the ones taking the risks, and they are the ones who will know what they need to do to win. History is replete with artificial attempts to make the races "more competitive", and few if any of these ruses has ever had the desired intent. Let the boys (and girls) run, let's see whose car is really faster, better handling, more reliable, etc.

Having said all that, a very heartfelt BRAVO to this years LeMans effort by the Corvettes. They did well under difficult circumstances. The tragic loss of a fellow competitor cast a pall over the race, but in true racer fashion, everyone soldiered on. Here's looking forward to the C7R, less interference by sanctioning bodies foreign and domestic, and a drag race from the final corner to the checkered flag. Now, THAT's racing!

I might agree with you on the Toyota's possible have an advantage, but we will never know because of all the full course cautions.

As for the Corvette being dated, is incorrect. It was nothing more then the BoP and a new tire they had no data on. First off Corvette Racing was given an additional 15Kg of weight bring the weight up to 1260Kg whereas as the Aston Martin was given a 20kg weight reduction and the Porsche was given a 35Kg weight reduction bringing it down to 1210Kg. Also Michelin released a new 2013 tire to the WEC cars (Aston Martin and I believe Porsche) for the April race in at Spa, but did not bring it to America for the ALMS race in May at Laguna Sega, so therefore Corvette Racing had no data as to how the tire would work on their cars and to make matters worse, the amount of test and qualifying was hampered by the inconsistent weather at Le Mans this year. So as you can see Corvette racing was behind the 8-ball from the get go.

the contaminators said that the C6R was having it's budget moved towards the building the C7R. if GM wanted to Get testing on tires and other things i really doubt they would struggle renting a track and getting a few hundred sets of tires. Any way it's good marketing if the C7R can massively outperform the C6R. so it would make sense that gm would suck a little bit of performance out of the C6R.
if you watched the interviews with the Corvette team principals they seemed to be in no big rush to go for the win. That's what leads me to believe that something was a cooking.

The new C7R has to be almost finished by now. I wish someone would get some spy shots of that car.

Don't forget the origins of Le Mans.
This started as an equivalent to the US Open, where the only requirement for competitors, aside from qualifying, was to bring a fully street legal car to the track.
The focus was comparing performance and endurance of sport cars sold to the public. Then the technological progress made on cars, prompted AHD to create the prototype class, and mix them up together, and I agree that since then, we have seen too many convoluted regulations around the weight-power ratio, some of which can be debated in terms of their merit.
With that said, I for one, think that SOME of these regulations are a good thing: Without a limitation in the parts you can change throughout the race, you might just as well hand the trophy over to the factory with the most available cash before the racing begins.
The "Endurance" meaning would then be completely lost if you gave me 10 motors to complete the race. I think everyone agrees with that.
I also think fuel and tire limitations are a good thing, because I like the idea of transfer of technology from the race track to my own vette.
The pressure applied on Manufacturers to consider efficiency in addition to performance, has a great impact on the cars you and I drive everyday, and this is what the Le Mans spirit has always been about, and to some extent always will be about.

:cheers:

The question on the tires, was not that they did not have the money for testing, it was that the tires were not made available to any Michelin team from the US until they arrived in Le mans. As for "Corvette team principals they seemed to be in no big rush to go for the win", was because they knew they were not as fast as the Aston Martins or the Porsche that were WEC cars due to the fact of the tires as well as the added weight to Corvette and reduced weight to the Aston and Porsche WEC teams. So it was much more prudent to run consistently and have both cars finish and just maybe those running ahead of CR would have issues and drop out as did happen to the leading AM around the 5 hour to go mark.

As far as the idea that the C7R outperforming the C6R is really not an issue. Seeing the C7 will be out in the market place for more then 6 months before the C7R turns a competitive lap on the track. Beside the street version of the C6 is nothing like the C6R, except for the frame and a few other item. The engine is not even available in and model of the current C6 and they are going to be using that same engine design they have now in the C7R with the exception of the DI. So I am not believing that they are simply going through the motions this year and spend the majority of their 2013 budget on the C7R .

The team manager agreed with you, despite what the announcers said. When he was interviewed, he stated that there preparations have been 100% the same as previous years, and that the C7 was being designed by the design team (at Pratt and Miller), and the track team had nothing to do with the design, other than the input of what works and doesn't based upon the experience with the current car.