Le Mans 24Hr 2015

[Susimi]

It's almost that time of year again! Whose getting excited for it? I know I am.

 

Who do we think is gonna take the overall win? I think Porsche have a pretty good chance at taking a win. Toyota they just don't seem to be able to match the pace, and it's anyones guess as to how the Nissan entry is going to go. No prizes for guessing who the favorites are to win though.

[SalesmanSean]

I'm very intrigued by that Nissan, it seems like a very boom or bust proposition with that one.  I'm hoping for boom, because I would love to see that innovation rewarded, but there's an awful lot of uncertainty there.

[Susimi]

Yes it really is a boom or bust proposition for Nissan.

 

Skeptics are saying it will not work, will not be succesfull, but then Nissan must have seen some potential in it for them to enter it. I can't see they would just make something and then throw it in the mix hoping for the best. Then again they did that with the Deltawing...

 

It's an eye-catching design though and I really hope that it is competitive.

[G. David Felt]

We'll probably see the ugly Ferrari wins again.Wonder how long a company can survive on old style, stuck in the stone age.

[Susimi]

The AF Corsa team? I seriously cannot understand how they can still be allowed to compete because every year, without fail it seems, they manage to cause a crash.

 

2013 one of their cars ran into the Toyota at the end of the Mulsane straight, sending it literally flying into the wall

 

2012 another of their cars crashed into a passing Audi sending it into the gravel & smahing into the tyre walls just past the Dunlop bridge.

[ccap41]

I LOVE this kind of racing. I love the 4 different classes all racing at the same time. There is so much high end tech with the prototypes and then "street turned race" in the lower GT classes. I actually just wish they raced more ad it was covered better, more like NASCAR was covered. I understand that is unrealistic but that's what I want..lol

 

Oh jeez.. the AF Corsa Ferraris.. I agree with you Susimi. They are always causing accidents. I feel like more than the two incidents in the past 3 years than you said also.

[Susimi]

Not sure where you're from ccap41, but over here the channel Eurosport usually has 24 hour coverage of it which is fantastic really because 10 odd years ago they only had hourly updates and something like 2 hours live coverage at most. The coverage got better over the years but it's only the past three years that we have had 24 hour coverage.

 

I love the night time racing. I really do, I really love seeing the lights all flooding the track and the way it feels like everything else has stopped runing, everyone else has gone to bed while these guys are continuing to drive in the small hours. It's a feeling I'm having difficulty describing and it probably sounds weird but yeah, I love the night racing!

 

Are there any cars you miss seeing at Le Mans? I miss all the open top prototypes that were in abundance years ago. My favorite of which has to be the Panoz entries. Lovely cars. I also miss the old Dodge Vipers.

[ccap41]

I live in the US and you are right in that the past few years the coverage has gotten much much better. Here I think it is FS1 or 2(Fox Sports 1/2). I think part of it is they don't race every week to the intervals and remembering drivers/teams is dificult as well.

 

Oh I love night racing as well! (I've never done it) but I love to watch it!

 

I do miss the open top prototypes as well. It seemed like one year they all realized the same aero benefits(or regularions...) and moved to the closed cockpit. Ahhh yes, the old red and white vipers, with the yellow lights!

[oldshurst442]

Obviously Im rooting for the Corvettes.

Also...is the Ford GT entering this year or next?

Because Ill be rooting for the Ford GT as well.

And Viper.

 

But...that Nissan....HOORAY FOR FWD!!!

Im super excited for this FWD Nissan, maybe if Nissan could be competitive with this design, FWD will finally get some respect from the RWD snobby crowd, Maybe "wrong wheel drive" punch lines could be a thing of the past.

 

Nissan do this for your FWD brothers!!!

 

 

 

 

[Thed]

Win or not, wrong wheel drive is still wrong wheel drive.

Edited June 3, 2015 by Thed

[oldshurst442]

Win or not, wrong wheel drive is still wrong wheel drive.

Yo, this is me when I read your comment

 

Then I had to digest it real good to come up with an appropriate response....  

 

 

At first I was like...

 

 

*SIGH* Yeah...well...FWD is what I prefer in Quebec...okay?

RWD is what I REALLY want....

[Thed]

 

Win or not, wrong wheel drive is still wrong wheel drive.

 

*SIGH* Yeah...well...FWD is what I prefer in Quebec...okay?

RWD is what I REALLY want....

 

 

Not my fault you live in Canada! It's 68 degrees outside, perfect weather for, say, a RWD sports car.

[Susimi]

They're doing the practice sessions some time during next week.

 

I can't wait to see how that Nissan does but I'm trying not to get too optimistic so that I don';t get disapointed if it does rubbish. Here's hoping for good things anyway!

[Frisky Dingo]

I don't expect much from Nissan. I highly doubt they'll have neither the pace of Porsche and Toyota, nor the reliability of Audi.

 

That said it's really anyone's race. Anything can happen in 24 hours, and history has shown us more than once an underdog can pull it out from under the favorite. It'd be hard to bet against Audi with their track record, and yet Porsche and Toyota have to be close to ironing out their kinks by now. And they both have faster cars. AF Corse is sure to take out somebody on the way to their win. If Corvette or Porsche can't pull it out from under them. Which I hope they do. 

[Susimi]

Deep down I feel the same about the Nissan entry. I am hoping that they, the underdog with a lot against them, rise out on top to claim a Le Mans win first time out but this is wishful thinking. Realistically I think they will be battling with the privateer teams in LMP1 class and not even bothering the Audi's, Porches & Toyota.

 

If we stick with the script, I think it will be another Audi win. I saw some of the Spa 6 hour race and saw that one of the Audi's overtook a Porsche on the outside of one of the S-turns and if they can do that sort of thing, then I just can't see anything else getting close to them. Mind you, the Porsches had better pace on the straights.

 

You literally made me laugh out loud with that AF Corse comment!

[Susimi]

Has anybody been watching he practice and qualifying sessions?

 

Porsche with their 919 look to be a really big competitor against Audi this year. When I switched off last night The Porches had the top places followed by the Audi's and then the Toyota's. The Nissan GT-R LM's? They were running times that were putting them in the last positions of the LMP class, behind the privateer teams. I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up for it. Oh well.

 

Down in the GT classes the Astons looked to be putting times faster than the Corvettes. And check out that Aston Matin art car. That thing looks georgous!

 

There's more qualifying sessions later on today.

[El Kabong]

Corvettes, Vipers, Ford GT... it would be nice to see them all do well.

But realistically I think Audi will snag the overall win, again... boooooooring.

And I gotta root for Ken Bowlby-not necessarily Nissan, but definitely Bowlby. Because weird.

[ccap41]

Has anybody been watching he practice and qualifying sessions?

 

Porsche with their 919 look to be a really big competitor against Audi this year. When I switched off last night The Porches had the top places followed by the Audi's and then the Toyota's. The Nissan GT-R LM's? They were running times that were putting them in the last positions of the LMP class, behind the privateer teams. I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up for it. Oh well.

 

Down in the GT classes the Astons looked to be putting times faster than the Corvettes. And check out that Aston Matin art car. That thing looks georgous!

 

There's more qualifying sessions later on today.

I haven't been watcing any practice or qualifying sessions. I don't think they are even televised here.. I'd love to watch but I don't even think I can here.

 

What channel are they on?

[William Maley]

 

Has anybody been watching he practice and qualifying sessions?

 

Porsche with their 919 look to be a really big competitor against Audi this year. When I switched off last night The Porches had the top places followed by the Audi's and then the Toyota's. The Nissan GT-R LM's? They were running times that were putting them in the last positions of the LMP class, behind the privateer teams. I knew I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up for it. Oh well.

 

Down in the GT classes the Astons looked to be putting times faster than the Corvettes. And check out that Aston Matin art car. That thing looks georgous!

 

There's more qualifying sessions later on today.

I haven't been watching any practice or qualifying sessions. I don't think they are even televised here.. I'd love to watch but I don't even think I can here.

 

What channel are they on?

 

 

I know Fox Sports 1/2 will be doing the race coverage here in the U.S. They don't do any of the broadcasting of the practice or qualifying. I've been mostly listening to Radio Le Mans coverage.

[Frisky Dingo]

Porsche has the pace to win, it's just going to come down to whether they are reliable enough to go the distance.

[Susimi]

I'll be honest, I am really surprised with how qualifying has gone.

 

I saw both the Audi's and the Porches competing at the Spa endurance race and as I previously mentioned, one of the Audi's performed a fantastic move past one of the leading Porches. After seeing that I thought that there was no way Porsche would be able to challenge them for the pole position, but the reality is all there to see.

 

I think we're in for a fantastic race this year.

[El Kabong]

Corvettes, Vipers, Ford GT... it would be nice to see them all do well.

But realistically I think Audi will snag the overall win, again... boooooooring.

And I gotta root for Ken Bowlby-not necessarily Nissan, but definitely Bowlby. Because weird.

...and then I looked a bit closer at the announced date for Ford's return to Lemans.

Oy vey.

[ccap41]

^ yeah... next year..

 

Anyway, I saw this posted on another forum from somebody.

 

US TV COVERAGE:
Saturday, June 13th
8:30am-11:45am -FS2
7:00pm-8:00pm -FS1
11:00pm-12:20am -FS2
Sunday, June 14th
3:30am-7:30am -FS1
7:30am-9:00am -FS2
9:00am-9:30am -FS1
 

[El Kabong]

*L* no man, I'm not going to pile on... I just need to read closer. The year of development is actually a great idea because anyone who goes to Lemans for their debut is asking for trouble these days. That's part of what makes Ken Bowlby's Nissan so fascinating.

[ccap41]

Oh definitely, I assumed that if there was an entry for this year there would have been either spy shots of it oooooor they just hid testing very well because, like you said, you can't go in this raw. giggidy.

[Susimi]

There have been talks of Ferrari entering a prototype car for a few years now.

 

Either they have been entering it in the parrallel universe Le Mans race, or the project was scrapped, still in development, or is still in talks.

[oldshurst442]

Its finally here.

Im about to erase some recorded stuff on my DVR so I could make room for this 24 hour race.

I have an older DVR so unfortunately...some things may have to go...

[oldshurst442]

Well, I just realized that Canadian TV services SUCKS REAL BAD!!!

NO!!!! they dont SUCK.....WORDS CANT DESCRIBE WHAT PIECES OF SHYTES THEY REALLY ARE!!!

 

:cussing: :cussing:

 

:fiery: :fiery: :fiery: :fiery: :fiery:

 

 

 

Speed Channel became FOX SPORTS 1, or something like that...

Well...none of the major Canadian TV satellite providers offer FOX Sports 1...

 

That is awright because last year, the race was broadcast on a channel that SHAW direct offered us...

 

This year, the dumb, arrogant, greedy, money grabbing whores that is Canadian TV.....dont offer ANYTHING for us to watch the race...

 

 

Every year...I recorded the race and watched it at my own pace...

*SIGH*

 

I hate the CRTC

I hate the monopoly that is Canadian TV services!

[Susimi]

UK tv is not that far off on the horrible scale. Granted we get Eurosport for free but that's about it as far as sports channels go. The Formula 1 broadcasts used to air on the BBC or ITV (both are basic channels) but now they broadcast about 75% of the season on a channel that you need a subscription for. The other 25% of races are shown on the BBC.

 

There was a sort of "freelance" channel that broadcast all the Nascar races a couple years ago that were all free to watch but the next year they turned it into a pay-per-view service. Was really quite dissapointed

[oldshurst442]

UK tv is not that far off on the horrible scale. Granted we get Eurosport for free but that's about it as far as sports channels go. The Formula 1 broadcasts used to air on the BBC or ITV (both are basic channels) but now they broadcast about 75% of the season on a channel that you need a subscription for. The other 25% of races are shown on the BBC.

 

There was a sort of "freelance" channel that broadcast all the Nascar races a couple years ago that were all free to watch but the next year they turned it into a pay-per-view service. Was really quite dissapointed

I think its the British Commonweath way of doing business...and its rubbish...good for the toilet

Edited June 13, 2015 by oldshurst442

[ccap41]

Yeah I'm pretty pissed myself. The start was on this morning ~9-1145 and then nothing till 7 tonight?!? But I think it's covered from then till the finish. Wtf? How is there no coverage from 12-7?????

[Frisky Dingo]

Go here-

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x10uqt7_24h-inside-the-2015-le-mans-24-hours-tv-channel_sport?start=1325

 

 

They are live streaming it.

[Susimi]

Looks like the Aston art car has retired and the Larbre competition Corvette too. Really disapoiting as I was hoping the art car would at least get a podium finish. The Corvette retiring was somewhat suprising as usually it takes a tank to stop them from finishing. My hopes rest on the remaining Corvette and the Astons to prevent a Ferrari win in the GT classes.

[Susimi]

With under an hour to go two Porsches are leading the LMP1 class and the remaining Corvette is leading the top GT class. In the second GT class one of the Astons was leading but he has just, not 5 minutes ago, crashed into the tire barrier at the last chicane.

[Susimi]

Well, another Le Mans is over with. I really enjoyed it this year and enjoyed the battle between the Audi's & Porches much early on in the race, but I'm a bit disapointed the Toyota's or Nissan's were not competitive. Roll on 2016!

 

What did you guys think of it?

[El Kabong]

Congratulations to Porsche and Chevrolet on their wins. Good to see the Corvette C7.R take the big one.

[Susimi]

I was pleased with the Corvette win too. They were going into it as sort of the underdogs after the other one crashed during practice.

 

After the checkered flag dropped they showed a shot of the lone Corvette crossing the line, and I don't know why but it was quite moving.

[ccap41]

Extremely disappointed in the saturday coverage. I think I wanted a whole hour and a half of it. 10ish-1145. Then it wasn't on until 7 and I wasn't home then.

[Susimi]

Man that sucks. Did they show coverage of the finish at least?

 

Broadcasters really need to show more of this race. It's a great event.

[ccap41]

Man that sucks. Did they show coverage of the finish at least?

 

Broadcasters really need to show more of this race. It's a great event.

They did but I wasn't up for it..

 

I was super disappointed once I saw nothing was on from noon till 7 on saturday. Why cover it over night but not during the day?  Of course it will be hard to get good ratings at those times.

[Frisky Dingo]

I was happy that Porsche won. And in a manner that was the opposite of what everyone expected. The Audis were actually faster in the race, but had mechanical issues. The Porsches- two of them, anyway- were bulletproof. Bravo to them.

 

Shame to see Aston lose both class wins that they had a virtual lock on.

[Susimi]

I was really shocked to see the lead Aston just got head first into the wall with something like 45 minutes of the race remaining. It was like it lost complete control.

 

The Audi reliability issues were a sort of sods law thing I thought. Audi are known for reliability and they ended up having all sorts of problems during this one.

 

As they say, Le Mans is a cruel mistress sometimes...

[ccap41]

^ maybe Audi took a page from their street cars.