Sportscar/GT (and Le Mans) Rumours and Repetition

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Koenigsegg

The same Dutch commentators are also reporting that there are 3 teams looking to buy a Dodge Viper SRT GTS-R for ELMS, including one Dutch team.

RaceArt maybe???

Bring back Zwaan's Racing.

[Coach Ep]

Audi Sports' freshly resigned technical director Howden ‘H’ Haynes might be back in the arena before you know it:

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2014/1...ars-or-f1.html

[JoestForEver]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Audi Sports' freshly resigned technical director Howden ‘H’ Haynes might be back in the arena before you know it:

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2014/1...ars-or-f1.html

Oh come on! First Kyle, then H? I don't know what's going on for them. On strategy, really few good call has been made this year.

[chernaudi]

They both work for Progressive Motorsport, and H is a founder and part owner of the company.

Since he refers to sportscars (Velox ran cars for Audi Sport UK in 2004), could this be a way of attempting to start up an Audi "customer" team in the future, or could a semi-works program take the place of a full factory team to some degree?

Oddly, it actually seems with the new Audi Sport HQ near Inglostadt, it'd seem more like Audi wanting to place as much under one roof for their race programs, but could that also make managing a semi-works private team easier?

[wewantourdarbyback]

I was thinking it may have something to do with Veloqx getting in on the act. maybe an excuse for Audi to run four R18s for even more security.

[Coach Ep]

Stuff like this is said more often than once but it sounds so much more creditable 10 years down the road.

Sam Li, Veloqx Motorsport's Team Principal, confirmed : "The Veloqx Group takes pride in its business success. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that we stay true to our original plan to build the team over time and secure a long-term and significant 'works' project. Through a combination of external commercial factors, it has proven impossible for Veloqx to follow its motorsport business objectives in 2005.

"In the absence of a programme next year, it will be very hard to retain the services of some of the world's most talented people. Therefore, it is with much sadness that we take the decision to close our motorsport activities for the time being. There is 25 years or more ahead for Veloqx to mount another challenge to secure the overall Le Mans title, the only victory that eluded us in 2004. The most sensible approach is to conserve our resources and maximise our profitability in other areas of the Group and return at the most appropriate time.

source: http://www.motorsport.com/alms/news/...om-motorsport/

Might they be taking over the Audi program after 2015???

[Deleted]

Think that's putting 1 and 2 together and getting 16.

Anyway, there was this bit on WEC award ceremonies

The Gentleman Driver of the Year Award went to G-Drive Racing’s Julien Canal for his first season in LMP2; the French driver, along with Olivier Pla and Roman Rusinov, claimed four victories and seven pole positions in 2014.

How exactly can a man who in his teens started karting, then competed in Formula Renault for numerous years followed by many national & international sportscar championship drives, as well as winning GT1 once + GTE-AM twice at world's biggest motor race, can be considered as gentleman driver? Did they just look at his driver rating and said "oh he's silver and his team was the most successfull in this pro-am category so I guess he's the number one gentleman driver"

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Chiana

Did they just look at his driver rating and said "oh he's silver and his team was the most successfull in this pro-am category so I guess he's the number one gentleman drive"

Yes.

[wewantourdarbyback]

The Gentleman driver class is for his ranking. How else would you suggest they mark people as "gentlemen"? Random selection? Your own personal feeling?

[Simmi]

I'd have given it to DHH probably.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by wewantourdarbyback

The Gentleman driver class is for his ranking. How else would you suggest they mark people as "gentlemen"? Random selection? Your own personal feeling?

Saying that all the drivers in the Silver class are 'gentleman drivers' by definition would be immensely stupid as that particular categorization classifieds wide range of people with different status. Way more than any other.

Now, Bronze is different thing.

[MoMedic9019]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

They both work for Progressive Motorsport, and H is a founder and part owner of the company.

Since he refers to sportscars (Velox ran cars for Audi Sport UK in 2004), could this be a way of attempting to start up an Audi "customer" team in the future, or could a semi-works program take the place of a full factory team to some degree?

Oddly, it actually seems with the new Audi Sport HQ near Inglostadt, it'd seem more like Audi wanting to place as much under one roof for their race programs, but could that also make managing a semi-works private team easier?

Seems most logical right? Nothing is off the table from what I've been told. Which, one could assume, involves a GTE Audi R8...

Or no Audi anything...

My bet is firmly loged in a "customer" R18 though.

[TF110]

Maybe the G56 Audi project?

[gustavobamba]

Originally Posted by TF110

Maybe the G56 Audi project?

Curious… i was thinking the same

Could it be Fuel cell tech????

[TF110]

Toyota hopefully dont want to be second to claim a hydrogen fc race car. Especially with them being first to release a road car with that. Could be a big deal!

[gustavobamba]

Audi are serious about fuel cell to:

http://fuelcellsworks.com/news/2014/...ransportation/

[Graham Goodwin]

Originally Posted by TF110

Maybe the G56 Audi project?

No - if Veloqx do this they'll do it to win

[TF110]

Guess we'll wait and see!

[JoestForEver]

Then Team Joest and Team Veloqx in the LMP1-L from 2016 while Audi taking the role of Oreca/Onroak maybe?
Teams still fighting for overall victory, Audi selling customer cars, saving budget, promoting their brand and avoiding intra-VAG battle, win-win situation.

[MagVanisher]

Audi promoting their brand while acting as a consultant for both Team Joest and Team Veloqx in LMP1-L (which the class itself will merge with LMP1-H next year) is hard since they can't put hybrid systems to those privateers according to the rules.

I think it's best for Audi to support both privateers and battle Porsche on instead of stepping down to LMP1-L.

[isynge]

Originally Posted by MagVanisher

Audi promoting their brand while acting as a consultant for both Team Joest and Team Veloqx in LMP1-L (which the class itself will merge with LMP1-H next year) is hard since they can't put hybrid systems to those privateers according to the rules.

I think it's best for Audi to support both privateers and battle Porsche on instead of stepping down to LMP1-L.

Could we see Audi play something a little bit clever and apply the same technical nouse to building an LMP1-L that they have with everything else they've done - emphasising the Ultra low weight approach and building something that exploits the sort of rules breaks the LMP1-L category has had to build something that in notionally private hands could win at Le Mans?

Right now we really don't have much of a benchmark about what the true pace of LMP1-L is - with all respect for Rebellion and CLM, there's such a gulf between them and the factories that I suspect much in the same way as Audi always said in pre-hybrid era all that was needed to beat them was a properly funded petrol project, is the same true with LMP1-L vs the works hybrids?

[Mal]

With all the cloak and dagger hype around the Honda / McLaren / Button / Alonso / Magnussen deal in F1 and the growing speculation that Alonso wants to do Le Mans in 2015 my wishful stab in the dark wonders whether there is a surprise announcement coming from Honda regarding a P1 sportscar programme to run alongside the F1 engine programme.

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Mal

With all the cloak and dagger hype around the Honda / McLaren / Button / Alonso / Magnussen deal in F1 and the growing speculation that Alonso wants to do Le Mans in 2015 my wishful stab in the dark wonders whether there is a surprise announcement coming from Honda regarding a P1 sportscar programme to run alongside the F1 engine programme.

Surely not this year, unless Honda have kept it remarkably well hidden. Even for 2016- that would require a serious amount of resources (although nowhere near the F1 side of things I would imagine). Would Honda be fighting equally on both fronts? I'm not sure how useful a "toe-in-the-water" LMP1 effort would be - despite the similar philosophies there's not a lot of similarity between F1 and P1 hybrid power units. It just seems too distracting for me.

But I'd be all for it if it did come to pass!

[rdjones]

It appears that Max Chilton has been offered a P1 drive for next year:-

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/27...his-own-future

[Acid09]

If that reserve role would maybe give you a possibility of a race seat then I might take it, but I think at this moment in time Marussia’s my best bet. If not, we’ll have to try accepting the offers in LPM1 and DTM.

Wow, he couldn't sound less excited if he tried, huh?

I don't get these drivers, they rather spent another wasted season at a F1 back marker team than driving for a manufacturer at Le Mans? Really?

F1 drivers seem to be as brainwashed about their series as F1 fans are, it's absolutely amazing to see the weird priorities of some people.