2015 24 Hours of Le Mans Racing (June 13-14)

[auaq]

Looking forward to seeing one of the greatest racing in history of motorsports the 24 Hours of Le Mans racing coming up this weekend. We have three manufacturers going head to head with their awesome 1000+ hp cars equipped with energy recovery systems and batteries along with diesels and gasoline powered cars, turbo or NA, enough to propel these cars up to about 220mph or more on the famous Mulsanne straight. I thought about supporting the Porsche boys but after seeing how good the Audi's were yet again with their package at Spa I'll probably root for them once more. Porsche's have got the supreme straight line speed while the Toyota's will have step up their game and the Audi's will just play along conservatively but consistently as always.

Also, a lot of great racing from the GTE-Pro and GTE-AM series as well. Lot's of close battles for prolong period of time.

This is going to be fun.

- - - Updated - - -

Also, forgot to mention that to look out for Nissan's LMP1 GTR!!!

[m3fuz]

I think Porsche is fielding 3 919s which will be nice. I realize LeMans is much more than SPA, but it would be nice to see the same meaningful racing late that we did in Belgium.

[RidgeBack]

I think Porsche is fielding 3 919s which will be nice. I realize LeMans is much more than SPA, but it would be nice to see the same meaningful racing late that we did in Belgium.

I think the racing will get closer towards the end of the race when all the strategies combine for a similar finish time.

www.fiawec.com will have live streaming (you may have to pay for it)
and
www.radiolemans.com will have live commentary by two great guys.

So watch the stream while listening to the radio live.

Will be watching as much as possible.

Oh and the Nissan GT-R Nismo had a pretty bad practice session. So don't expect too much from them. It'll be Audi/Porsche > Toyota >>>> Nissan IMO

[danny123]

I feel bad for the Nissan guys. I hope at least one car finishes.

[auaq]

I feel bad for the Nissan guys. I hope at least one car finishes.

This will be their first year at LeMans with the GTR, so it will most likely be a development year just like every new team that participates in this racing event. There is not much to be expected from them except for continuous developments and seeking longevity in this entire 24 hour race. If they do return here once more next time around we might see some battle but again it will be another development year before they can truly mount any challenge to the big horsepowers in suits and ties.

[danny123]

Just worried being this far off pace. I know it's a crazy new concept and and still very early, but when Toyota and Porsche arrived they weren't nearly that far off. If next year comes and they haven't made any significant gains to the front runners how long will the program last, or how long will it take for them to get rid of the current engineering staff and use a platform that works.

[bawareca]

My opinion is that Nissan are not serious at all and are just looking for some publicity and a marketing campaign like Mazda Skyactive prototype. What makes me think so:
-driver line-up (probably not bad drivers, but what kind of development these guys could do)
-dropping the electric drive for the rear(the concept may have worked as AWD, but is doomed with FWD only)

[auaq]

It will be interesting to see how the FWD works on the GTR. It also has electric drive to the rear wheels so technically speaking it is an AWD prototype.

[danny123]

My opinion is that Nissan are not serious at all and are just looking for some publicity and a marketing campaign like Mazda Skyactive prototype. What makes me think so:
-driver line-up (probably not bad drivers, but what kind of development these guys could do)
-dropping the electric drive for the rear(the concept may have worked as AWD, but is doomed with FWD only)

I was thinking this as well... Car has seen a lot of exposure from car shows to TV. However it's not good PR if the car is a pig around the track. I know a lot of people that are working sorry living on that team so I wish them luck.

[RidgeBack]

My opinion is that Nissan are not serious at all and are just looking for some publicity and a marketing campaign like Mazda Skyactive prototype. What makes me think so:
-driver line-up (probably not bad drivers, but what kind of development these guys could do)
-dropping the electric drive for the rear(the concept may have worked as AWD, but is doomed with FWD only)

The only benefit to no motor on the rear is the tire savings. I watched a vid yesterday where they explained that the rear tires should last 8-9 stints. This would save them time in the pit stops (probably 20 or so seconds). But with the front tires doing everything (braking 80%, steering, acceleration) I think their fronts are going to degrade pretty quickly.

Also they said because the rears do hardly any work, if it rains they'll be able to run the full wets until the track is dry enough for slicks. Thus bypassing the need to stop for inters on the rear.

But yeah, I think they missed the boat when they "opted" not to drive the rear wheels.

[bawareca]

It will be interesting to see how the FWD works on the GTR. It also has electric drive to the rear wheels so technically speaking it is an AWD prototype.

It may still have the motors/generators in the rear , but they will be disabled. Pure FWD. 22 seconds per lap slower than the P1.

[auaq]

Yes, that is correct. It will partially be used while the fronts will do all the hard work.

[bawareca]

From what I read the rear drive will be permanently disabled.

[auaq]

http://www.f1technical.net/news/2007...2f534811c9d1b7

[Charlie]

Yes, that is correct. It will partially be used while the fronts will do all the hard work.

They were having serious reliability issues in pre-le mans testing with the hybrid, so they have disabled it outright for Le Mans, the car is running FWD only, and only on the gas engine.

[auaq]

I see. I wasn't aware of that.

[auaq]

Looks like I won't be able to keep up or be able to follow LeMans this weekend as I've got a small BMW friendly meet up and shall be providing some help to a few fellow members here ...

Will try to update myself at times but may download this race in the future.

[bawareca]

You can download the race, or watch it half hour at a time, but any friendly BMW meeting beats any race any day, even 24hrleman.

[m3fuz]

Does anyone know of free live streams for the race? Fox isn't even showing the start of the race and I'm not interested in paying them $10 to watch it on my iPad.

[RidgeBack]

check reddit/r/wec

There's thread there with stream details.

- - - Updated - - -

Best stream I've found so far:

http://henno.info/

then select StreamUP -WEC on the top left drop down list : High Bitrate

[gary88]

I actually paid for streaming on the WEC site, $11 for 24 hours is not bad. Great coverage.

- - - Updated - - -

Webber in first

[RidgeBack]

I actually paid for streaming on the WEC site, $11 for 24 hours is not bad. Great coverage.

- - - Updated - - -

Webber in first

Yep, I was pretty excited when the Audi came in to pit and he inherited the lead.

Been great racing so far.

[gary88]

Looks like Nissan is the McLaren Honda of LMP1

[RidgeBack]

Looks like Nissan is the McLaren Honda of LMP1

Sooooo bad I have to laugh they're laps behind the GT Pros, laps.

11 odd laps behind the LMP1s and laps behind the some GT cars.

Imagine how far behind they'd be without the 2 SCs.

[badmonkey]

watching a live stream on Fox Sports

Amazon Fire Stick, Fox Sports app, race coverage, several in car