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

[wdave0]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Fair post.

5 hours out of 6 green is far, far better than TUSCC has for their season to date (37.66 hrs) without rain! I sure wish the dollar exchange rate was better.

[rwindle]

This year WEC and ELMS swapped the rain-induced Red Flag ending.

Overall a good race, not an excellent one ... thumbs up to Porsche for a strong initial race ... two thumbs up to Toyota for a 1,2 finish. The LMP2 field appeared to be in disarray from my perspective compared to yesterday's ELMS P2 field, just my perspective. 5mm ride height increase made quite a difference for the Aston Martins. Audi will recover.

I don't have an issue with Race Control ending the race due to the rain creating dangerous track conditions. I've raced Production and Formula cars in torrential downpours here in middle America and track conditions can most definitely reach a point where there is no logical reason to continue ... whether you're an amateur or pro driver.

[bentley speed 8]

Originally Posted by NelisB

I get the idea the 458's got pretty shafted in the BOP process. Really hope they get a bit more lenient BOP for the next rounds.

I think so too, but they also had some bad luck, especially in AM (fires, penalties, etc)

[hcl123]

I think this is going to be the standard procedure for when rain conditions are real bad... kind of wet wet lol -> Red Flag

The major problem is not being pussy or safety over concerning... its the liabilities... doesn't take much speed for someone to get hurt badly, and up until now everything went with good sport spirit, everybody knows when a driver signs in, he signs for risks for even his life... until some more upset relative starts to sue, and create jurisprudence, like air traffic control responsibles its going to be very hard on race directors...

[seanyb505]

Really glad I randomly woke up in time to watch, and that what I did see was mostly worth watching. While simply stating my desire for more cars on track won't resolve the issue, the track did look barren at times.

Concluding thoughts:
-Cautions looked to be handled quite excellently. For TUSC to see this but continue with their style will show they do care more about rubbin' is racing, fans love restarts, contrived race scripts, and general deaf ears to what makes sports car fans different from their typical fan base.
-The race really looked like it could favor Audi if they had made a different tire choice early on. It was sad to see both crash out, but fascinating to watch Treyuler work to get back in it. No doubt the next 7 days will be critical for them.
-Impressed with the quality of the Toyotas. They deserved this win.
-Excited for things to come from Porsche. While P1 attrition gave them a podium, there were bursts of speed that I believe will develop into a true contending outfit.
-Every time there was a GTE battle, it seemed it was only a matter of time before the 911 would make the pass. I still can't tell if this is due to car or current BOP. Maybe the 36 hours of Florida is still influencing my thoughts.
-I agree with the previous posts of the online camaraderie. Whether you paid or not felt like whether you root for Audi or Toyota. Minor disagreements, but all in all we were happy to be watching.
-Ready to do it all again in 13 days!

[Lagunaseca_4life]

So I only got to watch the second half,all three hours of it. And it was great! Bummer the audis crashed out but all the greats must fall someday.either way it was great,better than anything TUSCAR has had,way better than long beach and I was there!yes red flag sucks but at least ther was a race compared to Fuji last year. Now on to spa! Only thing is I just realized its on the tusc laguna weekend and I'll be at laguna and the hotel wifi sucks.....damn!

Congrats Toyota!

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by NelisB

I get the idea the 458's got pretty shafted in the BOP process. Really hope they get a bit more lenient BOP for the next rounds.

Think so?

Most weight
Only car without restrictor break - which itself is smaller than others
Only car with decreased capacity in fuel tank
Only car with no apparent waivers (after the wideness rule change)

Yet the 458 still was able to pull off from the Porkies in straights. That car would win every single race it entered were there no unfortunate handicaps, Porkie and AMR have nothing for it

Aston Martin crying about the BoP change in ride height is funny considering they're now running on the same level as EVERYBODY ELSE, not in extra luxury as usually. Feels funky being equal (in one area) for a change, buddy? But I'm sure their rioting and sandbagging will pay off with the committee prior Le Mans...

[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.

[PascaLM]

I hope that Audi will communicate about their issues because it's the first they lose all their cars by themselves. No Ferrari, no Peugeot for a help.

[MyNameIsNigel]

Congrats to Toyota. A solid race and fully deserved 1-2 finish. Well done to Porsche for their first podium. A shame that we did not get a chance to see the Audis fight longer at the front. The pace was promising. Hard work ahead in order to build the new cars for Spa.

[chernaudi]

While it lasted, there was a good scrap up front between Audi and Toyota. If Spa is a dry race, with the pace being good for all three cars and with the close racing between Audi and Toyota, should Porsche come on song, the sprint races in dry weather with a clean race could be serious contests.

[Speed-King]

Cautions looked to be handled quite excellently. For TUSC to see this but continue with their style will show they do care more about rubbin' is racing, fans love restarts, contrived race scripts, and general deaf ears to what makes sports car fans different from their typical fan base.

Well, there is this:

alex wurz ‏@alex_wurz 3h
Well well, the safety car now took the slim chance to get leaders. So focus shifts to secure P2 and obviously hope the sister car stays P1

The one Toyota got shafted pretty badly by the SC for Treluyer's accident and lost a lap... not a big deal as they didn't lose a place and it was between team mates anyway, but had this been between cars from different manufacturers and maybe something of a tighter battle, I think some people would've been very unhappy about the lack of a waveby.

[PascaLM]

About Tréluyer, it seems that the rear left wheel had slippered on the wet border of the track as he was braking.
Benoît said that he possibly made a mistake but was surprised by the unusual reaction of the car.
About Di Grassi, his car went off on a rather wet surface.

[lms]

Originally Posted by rwindle

The LMP2 field appeared to be in disarray from my perspective compared to yesterday's ELMS P2 field, just my perspective.

speaking of lmp2 what the hell happened to the field? just a couple season ago nearly 1/3 if the field were lmp2 in both wec and elms. anyway. it was a good race.

[MoMedic9019]

Originally Posted by Holt

Not sure if serious

100% serious.

[ger80]

Originally Posted by lms

speaking of lmp2 what the hell happened to the field? just a couple season ago nearly 1/3 if the field were lmp2 in both wec and elms. anyway. it was a good race.

and now the majority is in ELMS - just cheaper to run I think

[chernaudi]

LMS is a continental championship--smaller area to travel, less difficulty with customs within the EU, less logistics to worry about, and thus cheaper for smaller teams.

[TheNo1F1Fan]

Finally Makowiecki won that race. Woohoo!

[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.

[Bandicoot17]

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.

Yeah the motorway home visibility was insanely poor.
Got back to the car park and it was ankle deep by my car, I imagine there would have been a few areas on the track like that.

Toyota's car looked the best racecar to me, great off the corners and faster than the Audi, but didn't seem to lose too much in maggotts/becketts area.

[Gingers4Justice]

Well done Toyota, for an Audi-like performance. Great to see the 8 finally come good! This program looks to have finally come of age...I hope they don't pull out after hitting targets this season.

The Porsche is a beautiful machine, and I'm not sure how much better the #20's day could have been. A near faultless race, and possibly the only factory car not to have spun at some point?

GTE entertained as ever...

Massive thumbs up to the new rules, and a massive thumbs down to both the weather and Audi. Together they robbed us of a potential classic.

Plenty of promise in that opening race though!

[ger80]

Originally Posted by Bandicoot17

Yeah the motorway home visibility was insanely poor.
Got back to the car park and it was ankle deep by my car, I imagine there would have been a few areas on the track like that.

Toyota's car looked the best racecar to me, great off the corners and faster than the Audi, but didn't seem to lose too much in maggotts/becketts area.

sounds like the rain we have in Brum now...
I watched the last part of the race on TV and it didnt really look that bad, so must be the pictures.

[chernaudi]

As far as Audi are concerned, sometimes the old saying of s... happens comes true for everyone. You can only draw from the luck bank for so long before you have to make a deposit or pay the piper.

If this was a dry and clean race, it could've been a real showdown probably.

[Bandicoot17]

Originally Posted by ger80

sounds like the rain we have in Brum now...
I watched the last part of the race on TV and it didnt really look that bad, so must be the pictures.

Yeah I'm on the outskirts of Brum and it was pretty much consistent the whole way back. Terrible weather.
It never does look as bad on the pictures!!

[Starfish Primer]

Some great pics:

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