[WEC Race] 2014 FIA WEC - Round 1 - Silverstone

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by Starfish Primer

Some great pics:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lemanslive

These are great! Thanks

[Simmi]

Really enjoyed the race from trackside. It fell away quite quickly as a contest but it was just great to see these cars in the flesh, as always.

Just about dried out. We stayed deep into the podium ceremony and realised the rain wasn't going to stop. As others have said, it was absolutely smashing it down.

The Porsche grew on me each lap. Had to laugh when they fired it up ahead of the race but I'm really glad they got a podium. Happy to see the #8 win and hopefully Toyota can kick on.

Managed to get right up close to a wrecked #2 car which was novel.

[hcl123]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

Only consolation for Audi today was fastest race lap. Car is undoubtedly quick in the dry, but strategy and mistakes--be it driver error, car set up issues, or a mix of both--killed their day.

Hopefully the get things right in Spa.

Common thread so far: if a race has been rain shortened, a Toyota has won. I wonder if they'll be doing a rain dance this year, because they're like Jeff Burton was in NASCAR--when a race was shortened by rain, like Jeff, Toyota has been in the right place at the right time. But today they did get there by performance to position themselves to be at the right place at the right time.

And for the first time ever, Toyota are leading the manufacturer's title race, though this season is only one race old and it's a long season.

Yup! that car really flies on the corners... no wonder it got trouble on wet, the mistakes were induced, i think its hard for a driver to grasp and get use to the grip and corner speed on dry... and translate that for wet... exaggeration is a very probable outcome.

For Spa and La Sathre i think the setup will be somehow different... now they have corner speed, something that plague them all the 2013 season, now they must find a suitable straight speed.

[PascaLM]

Originally Posted by Starfish Primer

Some great pics:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/lemanslive

Great ! Many pilots and mechanics in action.

[isynge]

Superb weekend, and while the race, if we're being honest, might not have been a classic, there was enough to entertain throughout, and take the edge of what was, at times, a deeply cold experience (self inflicted wound, I brought a lighter weight summer fleece to go under the goretex, won't make that mistake again).

Big takeaways? The Toyota is a very ugly car, but it looks enormously impressive on the track, and warranted the results it brought home. Was struck by how off the pace the Porsche felt in the first couple of hours - early days in the programme, but at no stage did it feel like the bar for new P1 factory entrants had been insurmountably raised. Audi? Nice car, but proof once again that when pushed beyond their comfort zone cracks can appear.

Great to see so many familiar faces around the busy track - among what felt, certainly at the start, like a very big crowd - certainly larger than I've seen previously at Silverstone sportscar races.

2014's got off to seriously impressive start - roll on Spa.

[TheNewBob]

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

Surprised there's even a debate about the race being called off - I guess TV pictures didn't do it justice. There was a ridiculous amount of standing water even on the racing line on the pit straight.

It was incredibly hairy driving home as well - took me over an hour to get home when it's normally a 35 minute job.

The rain just kept getting heavier and heavier - was at its worst about 20 mins after they stopped the race.

The M1 heading north afterwards was horrendous until reaching the Lutterworth/Jct 20 area. Once I hit the A46 it was almost completely dry!

Great entertainment, wish the field was a little bit larger though. For a first time out I think Porsche were fairly impressive, but its difficult to tell who may be on top come June, I think Toyota will be pretty gutted if they miss out this time round.

[PascaLM]

Originally Posted by TheNewBob

I think Toyota will be pretty gutted if they miss out this time round.

Yes and Toyota would maximise their chances if they entered three cars. Difficult to win Le Mans with budget restrictions.

[TF110]

Great race in the first couple of hours. Toyota winning was worth waking at 4am to see. Audi may have had the cornering speed but we didnt see any Audi go through continuous representative stint lengths. Toyota was able to do 28-29 laps. Porsche was able to do that amount as well. GTE was good but its still a little one sided towards Porsche. Spa cant come soon enough. I think Audi will need to work on their top speed if theyre going to take the win there.

[outnumbered]

Entertaining day - a few driver and strategy errors from Audi, which was unexpected. Good first outing for the 919. Great battles in P2 and GT. Lots of memorable sights and sounds. I just love the noise of 458s on the pit-lane limiter !

I was disappointed that rain stopped play. I'd really prefer that the cars were able to run better in heavy rain, given the same thing happened with ELMS last year.

Those of you complaining about driving back home in that downpour should have tried being on a motorbike like I was

DPP_3416 by tw_tvam, on Flickr

DPP_3402 by tw_tvam, on Flickr


DPP_3388 by tw_tvam, on Flickr

[eps]

Originally Posted by eps

I think the Toyotas will prosper on Sunday although Audi are doing what RBR have been doing in F1, they're the slowest in the straight parts but quickest in the twisty bits. I don't think we've seen ultimate pace from any of the LMP1s yet.

The Porsches did look really quick out of the corners.

A great day, sunshine but with a bit of a chill. Much better weather than last year though.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by eps

Good call. I agreed with that.

[Mr Pink]

Really enjoyed the few hours I watched on TV, the Toyotas look so impressive! The way it shot past GT's coming out of corners almost looked unreal.

Le Mans is going to be so good this year!

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Mr Pink

the Toyotas look so impressive

Yep , but that nose is horrible . Glad they wont have that in France .

[Rennen]

Glad I made the effort to go watch today, it was worth getting soaked for!

And believe me it was right to red flag the final 20 mins...they were aquaplaining! The result would still have been the same! Well done to Toyota! You threw it away Audi, and yep Porsche is a coming!!!

[hcl123]

Originally Posted by TF110

Great race in the first couple of hours. Toyota winning was worth waking at 4am to see. Audi may have had the cornering speed but we didnt see any Audi go through continuous representative stint lengths. Toyota was able to do 28-29 laps. Porsche was able to do that amount as well. GTE was good but its still a little one sided towards Porsche. Spa cant come soon enough. I think Audi will need to work on their top speed if theyre going to take the win there.

That would be the most easy i think... that engine is barely audible even from inside (not used to be like that at all, must be reving real low! ), easily they could put over 700hp as in the time of the V12 lol... the problem will be the fuel flows and the handicapped fuel tank capacity ->real hard time having both!( real uber power and less fuel consumption than all P1 on track)...

Porsche is also looking for the best tune ups, with a proved car and a really aggressive driver with "cart blanch", they could have taken the 2th place, it was not only on strike distance, for some laps Webber was second... that car can consume notoriously less on wet conditions due to much less displacement engine... but not ready yet, Webber never took a real chance, and wisely i think, the risk of not finishing with a brand new car not known well yet, would had been the most probable outcome if the risk of a serious bet had taken place.

[TF110]

Toyota #7 was only near that Porsche because he was caught out by the safety car and switched to the wrong tire when the #8 chose the right one. Porsche had a good race and speed, but they weren't in real contention to the 2nd position.

[hcl123]

Webber was in front of #7 for 2-3 laps... after a pit stop... then was #20 pit time... very good for a debut.

[hcl123]

Picture of the day...




don't move honey ... the #7 winner is coming

[joeb]

Originally Posted by hcl123

Picture of the day...




don't move honey ... the #7 winner is coming

That is a classic pic that I will never forget!

[Spyderman]

Originally Posted by hcl123

That would be the most easy i think... that engine is barely audible even from inside (not used to be like that at all, must be reving real low! ), easily they could put over 700hp as in the time of the V12 lol... the problem will be the fuel flows and the handicapped fuel tank capacity ->real hard time having both!( real uber power and less fuel consumption than all P1 on track)...

Porsche is also looking for the best tune ups, with a proved car and a really aggressive driver with "cart blanch", they could have taken the 2th place, it was not only on strike distance, for some laps Webber was second... that car can consume notoriously less on wet conditions due to much less displacement engine... but not ready yet, Webber never took a real chance, and wisely i think, the risk of not finishing with a brand new car not known well yet, would had been the most probable outcome if the risk of a serious bet had taken place.

Due to low down-force package on a track like Silverstone, the Porsche's tire ware was not as good as either Toyota or Audi (see consistency in qualifying times)
Neither Webber or any other driver stood a chance.
However - Next is Spa. We should get a better idea of the performance between the cars.

[Le Vieux]

Some morning-after reflections......

I guess we all spend the winter just longing for the first race of the season. Speaking personally, no matter how bad the race may be, it still marks the start of a new year of racing and that's always welcome.

Various problems and triumphs. Worst case scenario is that Audi have something fundamentally wrong with their rear suspension, Porsche really don't have the pace and Toyota only looked good because the others didn't.

Best case scenario: come mid-June, Audi have sorted out whatever problems they had - whether it was driver error or tyres or suspension and Porsche find a touch more speed.

Elaviel and Ayse: Getting out of the car parks was no problem at all. Just a short time queuing and straight out on to the old A43. Almost as good as getting away from Arnage Corner after LM. Driving home? No problem, my "chauffeur" took me to my front door!

Gingers4 Justice: Kettering (I assume you don't mean Nottingham) to Silverstone in 35 minutes? It's got to be a good 30 miles. Averaging around 51mph when there are two 40mph and then two 50mph stretches round Northampton, if I remember correctly.
Tut Tut! ;-)

Rain. Yes, horrendous at the end and as many have posted, equally bad getting home. I'm only thankful that we had over five hours of racing before it arrived. Red-flagging is undoubtedly because of potential legal reasons. I'd sooner see them race no matter what - they can always go more slowly if they don't like the conditions.

The bus service around the circuit. Generally very good, although it suffered from the wait-for-20-minutes-then-three-come-at-once syndrome. It seems that not everyone understood how it worked. Someone got on "our" bus at Woodcote and enquired if it went to Luffield - which it did, but it would have been quicker to walk back the couple of hundred yards than drive all the way round the circuit.

[Spyderman]

Originally Posted by Le Vieux

Best case scenario: come mid-June, Audi have sorted out whatever problems they had - whether it was driver error or tyres or suspension and Porsche find a touch more speed.

I'm not sure that Porsche are lacking speed (top speed figures bare that out). I'm sure they will be closer to the others at Spa.

[rich07]

Well I just saw a brief 30 second coverage of Webbers debut on one of the nightly news programmes, good to see some coverage-poor old Brabs didn't get a mention here in Australia after he won with Peugeot in 2009 .

Ignorance is bliss isn't it.....

[Peat]

I don't understand why Porsche 'don't have' a high downforce body? I understand that they want to win Le Mans, but considering the amount of time they have had to test, I would have thought they would have thrown a bit more behind thier WEC effort... anyway:

Still in the process of drying out.

Much better spectator experience than previous years, Silverstone really upp'ed their game (they needed too). Racing was good, the LMP1's off the hairpin were mighty, batting away the GT's. Very impressive to watch.

I think, had it been dry, Audi would have walked it. They seemed so serene in qualifying (trackside) whereas the others really looked 'on it' that i felt they would have it well under control in the race. It really fell apart for them, surely after 2 laps of losing 25s each you would throw in the towel and get onto wets? What a mess.

[PascaLM]

Originally Posted by hcl123

Picture of the day...




don't move honey ... the #7 winner is coming

Here is a gentleman in the true sense of the word.