2018 ACO 24h of Le Mans

[MonteCristo]

Bottom post of the previous page:

Entry list Le Mans 2018

Decent amount of LMP1s, but good luck losing this one, Toyota.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Entry list Le Mans 2018

Decent amount of LMP1s, but good luck losing this one, Toyota.

Yep, they are the only LMP1 Hybrids from what I can tell.

[Cheeveer]

I'm not counting out the privateer LMP1's. Rebellion know what they are doing, and Manor are a professional bunch. They were in F1, remember. I just hope ByKolles can catch a break this season.

[erwin greven]

Non Hybrid systems... or simply said: nothing to fail. And as Cheeveer noted, Rebellion and Manor are professsionals. Also the normal aspired LMP1's are much faster than LMP2 cars.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Toyota simulating random problems in Le Mans testing

With all the BoP and other issues seemingly favouring Toyota this year Vasselon has made an odd claim as the team concentrates its testing on simulating failures to ensure the team handles said failures in a better manner than they have perhaps done in the past.

The part of his statement to which I refer is more or less saying that the principal competition this year is not the opposition so much as the race. I guess you could read that as being a bit of a modern day "To finish first, first you have to finish" type of statement.

They certainly seem to realise that failure to win this year will be the ultimate embarrassment and one would imagine would lead to the team having to fall on its sword so to speak and walk away without having taken the big one.

There seems to be no reduction in effort or any signs of complacency in their lets say comprehensive programme of preparation and testing. I guess that is the territiry that comes with having come so close to winning with top competition and now having to ensure the win with at best average competition.

Toyota has revealed it has been simulating random failures in its testing programme in order to better prepare itself for this year's Le Mans 24 Hours.

Technical director Pascal Vasselon explained that his team has been trying to improve the way it handles unexpected issues during the 2018-spec TS050 Hybrid's opening tests at Aragon.

That push follows the technical problems that have cost Toyota clear shots at Le Mans wins in the last two years.

It famously lost victory in the World Endurance Championship showpiece with three minutes to go in 2016 due to a turbo problem, while a clutch failure and a front axle-motor issue accounted for the hopes of its two leading cars in last year's race.

"What we've changed really is the way we prepare Le Mans," Vasselon told Autosport. "We spent a lot more time dealing with unplanned situations - unplanned repairs, unplanned problems.

"We really took time for the team to put them in situations that are not normal, because this is where we failed. For example, we say we have suddenly broken the rear-right driveshaft.

"We decide the radio fails, and we see how the driver and the team react. We cause fake problems.

"We have failed on problems that were unusual. And the team has not handled perfectly these situations. Some of them were difficult to handle, but you can always do better."

Vasselon added the lack of factory competition in the LMP1 class this season has changed Toyota's approach, particularly as the performance levels of its privateer opposition remain unknown.

"Le Mans is a challenge in itself," he said. "In the last four years, we could have won three times [2014, '16 and '17], but we lost because we had issues that we did not manage properly.

"This year, we just go to fight Le Mans, not directly our competitors. That's our challenge."

Vasselon also revealed that the reduction in the TS050 Hybrid's fuel capacity to 35.2kg (down from 44.1kg in 2017) meant Toyota would be targeting 11-lap stints at Le Mans.

"We will do three laps less [than in 2017], so we will do 11 laps," he said. "We will have seven or eight more pitstops more [over the course of the race]."

Toyota will continue its test programme next week at the Algarve circuit in southern Portugal.

https://www.autosport.com/wec/news/1343 ... in-testing

[Ian-S]

Even if they turned up with ten cars, they'd still find some inventive way to not win.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Jenson Button in talks for Le Mans LMP1 drive.

Auto Hebdo are reporting today here that 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button is in talks with SMP Racing about a potential debut appearance at the Le Mans 24 Hours in their BR1 AER LMP1 in 2018.

 If the deal came together it would see Button teamed with Mikhail Aleshin and Vitaly Petrov in the #11 car that finished the 30 hour WEC Prologue test earlier this month with the fastest non-hybrid time, and indeed topped the times of all LMP1s when taking into account Toyota’s ‘unrestricted’ running on the first day of the test.

It would also mean that he would likely be seen for the first time in public aboard the car at the Le Mans Test Day on 3 June, an appearance at the opening round of the FIA WEC at Spa is unlikely as there is a direct clash with the 500km Super GT race at Fuji.

Button’s early season race and testing form in his factory-backed GT500 Honda suggests that he will be a title contender this season in Japan.

If the SMP Racing deal comes to fruition it will see a remarkable clash between two ex-F1 World Champions in the LMP1 class at Le Mans this year with Fernando Alonso confirmed at Toyota Gazoo Racing. 

And it would be the first of two appearances for Button on the full Le Mans circuit this season with his appearance in a JD Classics entered Group C jaguar already confirmed for July’s Le Mans Classic!

It would, incidentally, be the second time that Jenson has appeared on a major 24 hour race entry, he was one of the drivers in a Rafanelli entered FINA BMW touring car (alongside David Saelens and Tomas Enge) that ‘dnf’-ed in the 1999 Spa 24 Hours, the car sidelined by a fuel leak.

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2018/04/1 ... acing.html

[Everso Biggyballies]

Button now confirmed for LM 24 hour in LMP1.

Jenson Button has now confirmed he will not only be participating at Le Mans, but also his participation in all bar one round of the WEC, the first round at Spa next week, which he will miss due to a clashing Japanese SuperGT round.

The 2009 Formula 1 world champion will pilot one of SMP Racing’s Dallara-built BR1 LMP1 machines alongside former F1 driver Vitaly Petrov and fellow Russian Mikhail Aleshin.

Button is expected to contest every round of the FIA WEC season apart from next week’s opening round at Spa, which clashes with his full-time Super GT commitments.

Confirmation of the Brit’s maiden attempt at the Le Mans 24 Hours will see the 38-year-old go up against his former McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso, who will also be making his La Sarthe debut for the factory Toyota LMP1 team.

“As you can imagine it’s always been a dream of mine to race at Le Mans, I think it’s every driver’s dream to take part and hopefully go on to clinch that win at Le Mans, and I’m definitely no different,” said Button.

“My team-mates will be Aleshin and Petrov, who I know very well from his racing in F1, and Mikhail from his IndyCar exploits.

“We go to Le Mans to fight for the win. Every driver aims to win every race they go in for, but I think we really do have a good chance of being competitive at Le Mans.”

SMP Racing will field a sister LMP1 entry for Russians Egor Orudzhev, Matevos Isaakyan and ex-Toyota LMP1 driver Stephane Sarrazin.

[erwin greven]

Time table Le Mans Classic 2018

[erwin greven]

[erwin greven]

Le Mans 24 Hours Preview, Part 1: GTE Am

Could the best racing come from GTE's 13-car Am class this year?


With the Le Mans Test Day now behind us, the countdown to the 86th running of the Le Mans 24 Hours has now reached its final stages.

DSC’s proud tradition of producing one of the most in-depth previews to the race continues now, with a four-part piece, covering every car from every class, team-by-team. What can we expect from this year’s race? Who are the favourites? What storylines should you be keeping an eye on?

Find out all that and more, right here, starting with Part 1, which covers all the runners and riders in the hotly-contested, 13-car GTE Am class.

This year, there’s a few notable additions and omissions. The class, as in recent years, is hotly-contested and oozing talent. While we do have the addition of the new Porsche 911 RSR to the mix, what’s not on the entry are any Corvettes, meaning the entire class is made up of Ferrari 488s, Aston Martin Vantages and Porsche 911 RSRs. There’s also no Dunlop representation this year, all the teams opting for Michelin. There’s still variety, but maybe not as much as we’re used to.

Nevertheless, with a wide array of top pro drivers, budding young talents and well-versed gentlemen drivers, GTE Am promises to be worth following throughout the 24 hours.

Full article

Le Mans 24 Hours Preview, Part 2: LMP2

Just how far up the order will the P2 winner reach in 2018?

LMP2 looks set to be a story of three chassis makers, and two tyre brands with Dallara, Ligier (Onroak) and Oreca going head to head once again in a 20 car grid composed of three Dallara P217s, an octet apiece from each of the French chassis makers plus a single Alpine A470-badged Oreca.

On the tyre front, it’s five Michelin-shod teams trying to take on the dominant Dunlops with both tyre suppliers bringing new product to the season. Dunlop has been addressing wet weather issues of the past and bringing their traditional ground-pounding long run resilience, Michelin proving already to have one lap sparkle.

Since last year the rule makers have moved to allow both Dallara and Ligier to try to close the gap to the Oreca that dominated on pace in 2017. In qualifying trim the G-Drive Oreca pole sitter managed a 3:25.3, astounding pace fromm a P2 car, if conditions support it the cars should be even faster this year.

The Test Day gave the first opportunity for back to back public comparison on how they had done with the updates to the aero kit that the teams are only allowed to race at Le Mans.

The Oreca still topped the times, but the gap has narrowed, and over longer stints the conclusion was perhaps that the gap may have closed a little more.

 Neither Dallara nor Ligier has nailed it, but in the right hands there could be more of a race on pace than in 2017!

That will be helped by some big name additions to the entry on the driver front, Juan Pablo Montoya and Paul Di Resta will make the United Autosports Ligiers hustle and the rapid Pastor Maldonado will do likewise in the Dragonspeed Oreca. The class includes eight ex-F1 drivers, a pair of overall Le Mans winners, multiple class winners and champions from a variety of series.

After the extraordinary reliability from last year’s class that saw a P2 car almost take the win, and a pair make the overall podium – what does 2018 hold in store?

This is a race within the race that you’d do well to pay attention to!
Full article


Le Mans 24 Hours Preview, Part 3: GTE Pro

What happens when Ford, BMW, Porsche, Aston Martin, Corvette and Ferrari factory teams race in the same field at Le Mans? We're about to find out!

This year’s GTE Pro field is absolutely stacked, new cars, new stars, and 17 entries make this arguably the most interesting, can’t-miss category in the race, with six factory teams set to go hammer-and-tongs all week.

The key though, as ever, will be BoP. 2016 was a very controversial year for GTE and its BoP formula, after Ford dominated the field, prompting a seismic change in the system used. It proved to be a positive change in 2017, the race using a separate system, the Le Mans-specific BoP making for an incredible race in which all the factories involved were able to fight up front.

What sort of race will 2018 bring? It’s hard to say at this point, especially after the disparity on display at Spa in the WEC season opener, where Ford and Porsche had a clear upper hand. Whether politics were indeed at play there, there were some miscalculations, in part due to the new machinery in the class, is a question without an answer. A senior source from a manufacturer explained to DSC that only Ford and Porsche had ‘agreed’ to push to the limits of their cars pre-Le Mans, though whether that’s true or not remains to be seen.

With that in mind, we all hope that what we see at Le Mans, the most important GTE race of the year, is close, hard-fought racing, between some of the world’s best drivers, in some of the world’s greatest looking, and sounding cars.

If that happens, this this has the potential to be an all-time classic.
Full article

[Everso Biggyballies]

Its crept up quick. Cant believe it is on next weekend.

[Cheeveer]

17 cars in GTE Pro is mouth watering. Gonna be epic, unless BoP becomes an issue.

[Cheeveer]

Also, what streaming options to choose? I've used to the WEC app the last few years, but it is more expensive than Eurosport Player. It does however have the onboards (which ES P doesn't have?), but ES P has the natural sounds option IIRC. That makes ES P more compatible with Radio Le Mans in a better way than the WEC app. But ES P has some bad reviews on its Chromecast feature, and no Chromecast is a deal-breaker for me.

It's a mess.

What do people recommend?

[Everso Biggyballies]

@Cheeveer sorry I cant help. @erwin greven is the man for that I think.

I have not even looked at streaming tbh, because looking at my TV Guide, our Eurosport channel is covering every practice and qualifying session as well as the full race all live. Plus additional Le Mans programming during the lead up when practice and qualy is not on live. I feel very spoilt, even if the onboards are lacking. (That's why I happily pay my $26 per month premium for all sports programmes.)[/remorse]

[erwin greven]

Like@Everso Biggyballies i can watch all practices, qualifications and race on Eurosport.

Live programmering Eurosport TV
All CET. BT is one hour earlier. EST is 6 hours earlier.
Woensdag 13 juni 18:15-20:10 uur (E1) (Wednesday)
Woensdag 13 juni 22:00-00:10 uur (E1)

Donderdag 14 juni 19:00-21:15 uur (E1) (Thursday)
Donderdag 14 juni 22:00-00:10 uur (E1)

Zaterdag 16 juni 09:00-10:00 uur (E1) (Saturday)
Zaterdag 16 juni 11:30-12:30 uur (E1)

Zaterdag 16 juni 14:45 uur – zondag 17 juni 15:15 uur (E1+E2) (Saturday and Sunday)

but for @Cheeveer i will keep looking for streams. Also i love to watch races on pc instead on TV.

Note for Dutch viewers. RTL7 also will broadcast the race.