[WEC] 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship

[deggis]

Originally Posted by Gulf

Jalopnik (not the most reliable source) is reporting that the FIA will require climate control because of drivers passing.

Attempt to be humorous, but the cockpit temperature does have a maximum limit and this is an old rule.

[wewantourdarbyback]

The solar power report is true though.

[wewantourdarbyback]

Originally Posted by Beetle

Good news on the CoTA front, and WEC in general: http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/oa...two-car-squad/

The Oak cars are for TUSCC are they not?

[ger80]

Originally Posted by deggis

Or maybe not... I did not see this:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114441



Also, Neveu directly admits Montreal is a possibility:

Originally Posted by GT3.14

The WEC is trying to move to a winter schedule where Le Mans is the season finale. So we would have one three month break after Le Mans but the rest of the year for racing instead of two three month breaks like we have now.

I think Le Mans should be the start of the season, people talk about Le Mans now and will be interested if the next race is in 4 weeks. Like Daytona is the start of Nascar...

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by ger80

I think Le Mans should be the start of the season, people talk about Le Mans now and will be interested if the next race is in 4 weeks. Like Daytona is the start of Nascar...

A huge part of the reason for doing this is that they want to keep entries throughout the year. Having Le Mans as race one would make it far too easy for teams to disappear.

[Maelochs]

Daytona is the start of NASCAR, but in NASCAR people really care about who ends up as champion, and winning at Daytona isn't that big a deal. In sports cars, winning at Le Mans is everything and no one much cares about who wins the points race.

There is something to be said about opening with a big event to get everyone paying attention, but I don't think opening with what is by a huge factor your biggest event always works out---what keeps people coming back when they have already seen the best?

Impossible dream, but sensible plan, would be to open with Sebring---big enough to mean something, not big enough to overshadow Le Mans (nothing is.) Silverstone and Spa are historically significant track (in the short history of sports car racing) but aren't Big Events ... they are lead-ups to Le Mans; whereas Sebring is an Event in its own right.

The other suggestion I would make (more realistic, less exciting) would be to open with a nine- or ten hour race somewhere. If the season started in July or August just about every track in the world would be available weather-wise, so the only issue would be scheduling.

If the season started later, Southern Hemisphere tracks could be considered. Nine Hours of Bathurst? (Not Bahrain or Abu Dhabi, please.)

A Big Event to kick off the season would help a lot particularly if the season had ended with Le Mans in June. Something to reinvigorate the audience, something readily promotable, something to make people say, "I'd pay to see that."

[isynge]

Somewhat bemused by the LMP2 points standings post Le Mans (E-I link in French).

SMP racing move to the head of the table thanks to stumbling round distantly in the first two rounds, and profiting from G-Drive and KCMG non finishing at Le Mans - so it looks like they scoop essentially a double points "win" at Le Mans despite coming home 37th and what looks like 12th in class. Not sure this casts the way the WEC works in a great light - surely a better idea to classify the ELMS runners as 'one-off' WEC entrants - which who knows, might inspire a team that got a very solid result (Jota? TDS?) to possibly run at some subsequent WEC rounds.

I've no objection to Le Mans being a double points round and this distorting the title when it's deserved (e.g. Oak dominated Le Mans last year, so fair enough that they get a result that skews the championship in their favour), but SMP getting something like this after coming home 53 laps behind the class winner? Seriously?

[FstrthnU]

Originally Posted by isynge

Somewhat bemused by the LMP2 points standings post Le Mans (E-I link in French).

SMP racing move to the head of the table thanks to stumbling round distantly in the first two rounds, and profiting from G-Drive and KCMG non finishing at Le Mans - so it looks like they scoop essentially a double points "win" at Le Mans despite coming home 37th and what looks like 12th in class. Not sure this casts the way the WEC works in a great light - surely a better idea to classify the ELMS runners as 'one-off' WEC entrants - which who knows, might inspire a team that got a very solid result (Jota? TDS?) to possibly run at some subsequent WEC rounds.

I've no objection to Le Mans being a double points round and this distorting the title when it's deserved (e.g. Oak dominated Le Mans last year, so fair enough that they get a result that skews the championship in their favour), but SMP getting something like this after coming home 53 laps behind the class winner? Seriously?

Well, a DNF is a DNF. I feel that SMP deserves the points for bringing the car home in one piece. This is the World Endurance Championship after all.

[isynge]

Originally Posted by FstrthnU

Well, a DNF is a DNF. I feel that SMP deserves the points for bringing the car home in one piece. This is the World Endurance Championship after all.

A DNF is indeed a DNF, but so is a distant 12th still a distant 12th...

[chernaudi]

Well, Audi got both of their cars trashed at Silverstone and are now only 1 point behind Toyota in the manufacturers' championship because of their 1-2 and Toyota's troubled LM. Things can swing that quickly now.

[Lagunaseca_4life]

Should lead to a pretty Epic second half wec no??

Alms' enduros were worth double points too.

[FstrthnU]

http://www.racer.com/wec-le-mans/ite...-lease-program
Dodge considering leasing the Viper GTS-Rs for WEC

[Salamus]

Good for variety that's for sure!

[Lagunaseca_4life]

Originally Posted by FstrthnU

http://www.racer.com/wec-le-mans/ite...-lease-program
Dodge considering leasing the Viper GTS-Rs for WEC

That's interesting, I was wondering why justin bell mentioned seeing her during his midnight shenanigans.

That could be good news for wec gte-pro or even am.could force corvette to do the same,even though that's what larbre wanted to do.i just hope it doesn't affect their Imsa program.

Viper back at Le Mans again.....yes please!!!

[isynge]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

Well, Audi got both of their cars trashed at Silverstone and are now only 1 point behind Toyota in the manufacturers' championship because of their 1-2 and Toyota's troubled LM. Things can swing that quickly now.

Indeed - but Audi got a 1-2 result and a big score because they, well, won, and came second too.

My quibble with a big points haul for SMP is that they were thoroughly trounced by 11 other LMP2 cars.

In LMP1 I'll readily agree, it makes for a fascinating end to season, where Toyota really does have to go for it to salvage something from the season. LMP2, sure it means Oak or KCMG now have the incentive to go out there and win every round (perfectly feasible), but do SMP have to do anything other than trundle around slowly and carefully and just pick up points to become LMP2 champions?

Still not sure this sits right.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by isynge

Indeed - but Audi got a 1-2 result and a big score because they, well, won, and came second too.

My quibble with a big points haul for SMP is that they were thoroughly trounced by 11 other LMP2 cars.

In LMP1 I'll readily agree, it makes for a fascinating end to season, where Toyota really does have to go for it to salvage something from the season. LMP2, sure it means Oak or KCMG now have the incentive to go out there and win every round (perfectly feasible), but do SMP have to do anything other than trundle around slowly and carefully and just pick up points to become LMP2 champions?

Still not sure this sits right.

This is the same type of issue that arose when there were combined WEC/ALMS grids. a team could finish 8th in class but get first place ALMS points because the top 7 were WEC cars. It was a bit of a mess, especially at Sebring which was also a round with extra points awarded.

[TheMightyM]

Originally Posted by joeb

This is the same type of issue that arose when there were combined WEC/ALMS grids. a team could finish 8th in class but get first place ALMS points because the top 7 were WEC cars. It was a bit of a mess, especially at Sebring which was also a round with extra points awarded.

The situation at Sebring was different, as it was both an ALMS race and a WEC race. Le Mans is just a WEC race, albeit one with an augmented field.

[jasonjessica09]

LMP2 for the remaining WEC races will be sad. Might as well pretend they are not even there. 2015 should see a huge renaissance for that category though with the all pro format and the influx of coupes coming in. I like that Ligier. Instantly my favorite LMP2 car now. With the classes becoming all coupes I would prefer to call it GTP1 and GTP2 now.

[deggis]

There's an easy, obvious fix for that points mess but probably doesn't fit well with the "everybody wins" mentality.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by deggis

There's an easy, obvious fix for that points mess but probably doesn't fit well with the "everybody wins" mentality.

What do you propose as the easy fix?

I would say if you run Le Mans (or any other WEC race) you should get WEC points, regardless if you are a full season entry or not.

[deggis]

Originally Posted by joeb

What do you propose as the easy fix?

I would say if you run Le Mans (or any other WEC race) you should get WEC points, regardless if you are a full season entry or not.

Exactly. I bet the full season teams would opposite this. Or alternatively let the non-full season entries "eat" their points according to the actual finishing order but do not make them visible in the championship standings.

[Articus]

So the Austin WEC round "Lone Star Le Mans" is going to be a big bash between WEC and TUDOR. A full day of racing. TUDOR to start. WEC to close. What are the chances a Tudor entrant wants/is allowed to run the WEC event? (I'm looking at you Corvette). Or have no teams shown interest in that?

[jasonjessica09]

Originally Posted by Articus

So the Austin WEC round "Lone Star Le Mans" is going to be a big bash between WEC and TUDOR. A full day of racing. TUDOR to start. WEC to close. What are the chances a Tudor entrant wants/is allowed to run the WEC event? (I'm looking at you Corvette). Or have no teams shown interest in that?

I think to see any team/car overlap is next to zero. Some drivers will run both races. But the dream to see Corvette, Dodge Vipers, and BMW Z4's in the WEC races: none I guess. I hope I'm wrong, still I don't see it.

It will be fun to compare qualifying lap times though. It better not rain on Friday of that weekend then.Remember in 2013 the ALMS qualifying session got rain so it ruined the chance to compare with the WEC qualifiers.

[Articus]

In general, the TUDOR GTLM class has bigger restrictors and less weight than the WEC equivalents. Ferrari running 1 restrictor in TUDOR but two in the WEC.

[Purist]

I think Montreal could work, but I would do a 3-hour/500km race there. Though GA ran there, it was only two classes, and the speed differentials were much smaller.

There are three main trouble areas I see with the circuit. The first is basically Sector 1, plus a little bit extra. That is, it will be tricky from past start/finish all the way through the exit of Turn 7. The second issue is that bend before the hairpin, where Kubica went for his ride in 2007; somebody getting bumped out by a faster car there could be in for a world of hurt. Finally, you have the chicane at the end of the lap. There could be problems with collisions in the braking zone, but the bigger issue may be policing. What do you do when an LMP1 overruns the chicane, and overtakes a GTE or LMP2 in the process? Bypassing traffic that your direct competitors will have to subsequently deal with, due to leaving the circuit, sure seems like "gaining an advantage" to me.

I don't see the upside of running a winter season. Apart from the Le Mans focus, it seems like that would complicate things with venue scheduling. I suppose the Middle East would be open, if they don't all implode here in the coming months. Also, air quality is especially bad in China in winter. Also, even the big Australian and South American series run to the Northern Hemisphere seasonal calendar, and I don't think that's by accident.