[2023] WEC Season Random news

[erwin greven]

The full entry list of the WEC 2023 season!!!

13 Hypercar entries (LMH/LMDh)
11 LMP2 entries
14 LMGTE-Am entries


Vanwall with Jacques Villeneuve!! @Star will be pleased!

[DoubleFart]

Blimey, 4 Porsche entries!

[Star]

Vanwall with Jacques Villeneuve!! @Star will be pleased!

Thanks for letting me know @erwin greven Much appreciated. I have to say I looked through the list of drivers names and there were quite a few other former F1 drivers I recognised in amongst them.

[Everso Biggyballies]

I see Giovinazzi is back in a full time World Championship Ferrari race gig, not in F1 of course, but in one of the (WEC) red 499P Hypercars.

[MonteCristo]

So who is everyone pinning their stripes to?

Got to go for JV, even though the car won't stand a chance. Have a soft spot for Pug. Also want Caddy to go well.

And I'm still on team "Anyone but Toyota".

[Michkov]

Can't say I've anyone in particular to root for. I'm interested how Toyota fares now that they got some competition. At least Peugeot should be able to run with them.

[erwin greven]

And I'm still on team "Anyone but Toyota".

If they still win races, good on them!

They gave Audi some competition in the first year of the LMP1-H class, by bringing the car one year earlier than they originally planned. And it was not their fault, first Audi and then Porsche left. Yes. they won a lot of races after that, but they also showed that it is not always sheer pace but reliability & strategy is the winning combination. Glickenhaus was the fastest car at Monza last year. But they and Peugeot lacked the reliability.

[MonteCristo]

And I'm still on team "Anyone but Toyota".

If they still win races, good on them!

They gave Audi some competition in the first year of the LMP1-H class, by bringing the car one year earlier than they originally planned. And it was not their fault, first Audi and then Porsche left. Yes. they won a lot of races after that, but they also showed that it is not always sheer pace but reliability & strategy is the winning combination. Glickenhaus was the fastest car at Monza last year. But they and Peugeot lacked the reliability.

My gripe harkens back to the CART days and them leaving the series for the IRL. But having someone to cheer against always helps things!

Hopefully Peugeot has worked on both their pace and reliability.

[erwin greven]

My gripe harkens back to the CART days and them leaving the series for the IRL. But having someone to cheer against always helps things!

The same i will always feel against any Chip Ganassi team/Ford since Le Mans 2016

As a Peugeot driver, I cheer for my Peugeot team!!!

I hope they will be very competitive.

[MonteCristo]

My gripe harkens back to the CART days and them leaving the series for the IRL. But having someone to cheer against always helps things!

The same i will always feel against any Chip Ganassi team/Ford since Le Mans 2016

As a Peugeot driver, I cheer for my Peugeot team!!!

I hope they will be very competitive.

Heck, Ganassi ran Toyota in IRL. So I'm happy to pile-on against any Ganassi sportscar effort .

[erwin greven]

Door Open to M8 GTE Return, Say Walkenhorst Motorsport
German squad set to make car choice for auto-Le Mans invitation


The M8 GTE, achieved its greatest victory at the 2020 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.

After winning the 2023 Asian Le Mans Series GT Championship, Walkenhorst Motorsport have a dilemma.

The BMW M4 GT3 with which Chandler Hull, Nicky Catsburg, and Thomas Merrill won the title with, is not eligible to run the 24 Hours of Le Mans until 2024 – when GTE cars are phased out in favour of GT3.

Team manager Niclas Königbauer told DSC that the longtime BMW Motorsport customer squad will take up the automatic invitation for Le Mans as Asian Le Mans Series champions.

They would be limited only to an entry in the LMGTE Am category, ruling out the possibility of running an LMP2.

Königbauer said that against a tight deadline to declare their entry after winning the championship, that the team are open to running the BMW M8 GTE, which has not competed at Le Mans since 2019.

However, the M8 achieved only meagre results in the 2018-19 WEC “super season” with a pair of second-place podium finishes as their high mark. The best result for the car in two entries at Le Mans was sixth in 2019.

If the M8 is unavailable, then Walkenhorst would certainly consider entering with a manufacturer other than BMW. Ferrari, Porsche, and Aston Martin have customers in both the upcoming FIA World Endurance Championship and European Le Mans Series, and Corvette Racing are entered in the WEC with their Chevrolet Corvette C8.R – where Catsburg is set to drive for the full season.

https://www.dailysportscar.com/2023/02/ ... sport.html

[Everso Biggyballies]

This should be in a 2023 Le Mans 24hr thread, as it is specific and important info to that event. No thread yet so I have put it here.

21 FEB.2023
In an attempt to influence the rankings a little less as has been the case in the past, the ACO has decided to review the safety car regime procedures. On an initial read it seems to me like an awfully complex system they are planning, and one that is uneccessarily so. I can see what they are trying to achieve / avoid but it is so involved F1 would be proud of it and its implementation..

Maybe it will seem less so in practice than it appears it will be on paper. Maybe another read through will make it easier to follow.

Personally I always thought the triple SC system worked fine in its previous simpler form, and in addition the "Slow Zone" procedure works well for the nature of the track.. This new procedure can only increase the length of SC periods by extension of the new restart process and preparation. It seems at first read that there will be an awful lot of penalties given for restrt breaches that might happen due to confusion. Maybe I am over reacting and it will make sense to those that will be on the pit wall dealing with it.

Radio comms between driver and pitwall will have to be very specific to avoid issues.

I hope it isnt more about "improving the show" and as a result making things a bit contrived.

Im feeling at this stage "If it aint broke dont fix it!"

24 Hours of Le Mans – The Safety Car procedure completely revised!


When the race director decides, three Safety Cars will be deployed from their respective positions with their orange lights on. They will take to the track regardless of the position of the leading car in the general classification. All the cars must form a line behind the Safety Cars, with a maximum distance of less than five car lengths apart.



Overtaking is prohibited (except in exceptional circumstances) and until the cars cross the Line or, in specific cases, the Safety Car line relating to the Safety Car they are following, when the green flag is waved.



The green light at the pit exit will be on when the last car in a line of cars following a Safety Car has crossed the Safety Car Line 2, to allow all cars that are at the pit exit to take the track at an appropriate speed, and join the line behind this safety car.



After the last car leaving the pit lane has exited, the pit lane exit light will turn red again.

REGROUPING OF THE THREE PLATOONS!
When the Race Director determines that it is safe to regroup the cars behind a single Safety Car, the message ' Incident clear – Prepare for Merging ' will be displayed on the timing screens. The pit lane entrance will be closed, and Safety Car B and Safety Car C will turn on their green lights and then the cars positioned behind Safety Car B and Safety Car C will overtake their respective Safety Cars to rejoin as quickly as possible but without compromising safety or overtaking each other until they join the line behind Safety Car A.



From then on, and until the end of the Safety Car procedure, any car entering the pit lane must inform the Race Direction via the official messaging system. Any car entering the pit lane after the pit lane entrance has been closed will only be permitted to rejoin the track when the last car in line following Safety Car A has crossed Safety Car Line 2 a new time.



At the Race Director's discretion, a Pass-Around may be authorized for any car having the leading car in its category positioned behind it in running order. All cars taking part in the Pass-Around must, throughout the procedure, remain in good order with respect to each other, in the order initially established behind Safety Car A.



When the Race Director determines that it is safe to proceed, the message ' Prepare for Pass-Around ' will be posted on the timing screens.

The procedure will be organized as follows:



All cars must remain on the left side of the track.


When the green Safety Car Safety Car lights are on, the message ' Go for Pass-Around ' will be posted on the timing screens.


All cars eligible for the Pass-Around must pass the line of cars and Safety Car A on the right-hand side, in a safe manner and respecting the established order. Having done this, they will continue, as quickly as possible, without compromising safety, and take up position at the rear of the line of cars following Safety Car A.


It is the Competitor's responsibility to determine if their car is eligible for the Pass-Around . Penalty for Pass-Around in case of non-eligibility: Stop & Go for a time equivalent to two laps of the race.

DROP-BACK
When all the cars form a single file behind Safety Car A, and when the Race Director determines that it is safe to do so, the message ' Prepare for Drop Back' will be posted on the timing screens. All cars must remain on the left side of the track.



Once this is done, the message ' Drop Back LMP2' will be posted on the timing screens. The procedure will be organized as follows:



The LMP2 category cars will line up on the right of the track then the rest of the cars, in line and without overtaking each other, will pass the line of LMP2 category cars to take up position behind Safety Car A.


When the cars in the Hypercar and LMGTE categories have passed the cars in the LMP2 category, the latter may move to the back of the line of cars behind Safety Car A.


Once this is done, the message ' Drop Back LMGTE' will be posted on the timing screens. The procedure will be organised.


The LMGTE category cars will line up on the right of the track and then the rest of the cars, in line and without overtaking each other, will pass the line of LMGTE category cars to take up position behind Safety Car A.


When the cars in the Hypercar and LMP2 categories have passed the cars in the LMPGTE category, the latter may move to the back of the line of cars behind Safety Car A.

EXCEPTION FOR THE LAST 60 MINUTES OF THE RACE: The Regroup, Pass around and Drop back procedures will not be used in the last 60 minutes of the race. In this case, the message ' Article 14.7.1 will apply' will be posted on the timing screens.

.https://www.endurance-info.com/auto/art ... ment-revue

[erwin greven]

[Everso Biggyballies]

So, Toyota on pole for Portimao 6 hour today, having been upset by Ferrari in Sebring qualy..... and Peugeot, despite getting closer(-ish) to the pace, it seems in trouble again.

[erwin greven]

Watching the race at Eurosport 2 (eurosport player)