Wasted (sorry, used my time wisely 
) half of last weekend watching about 2/3 of the Le Mans 24 hr live on Stan Sport, very enjoyable on my new 55" TV. Invited old mate over for Sunday morning to watch the night racing, he loved it too, an event that has rarely been available on Australian TV.
First time I have watched more than a glimpse of the event, one of my favourite races since I was well into sports racing cars in the late 1960s - Gt40s, Ferrari, Porsche, etc.
Good that that the corner names have remained the same over the years, made it seem very real to me. I think most of the track layout is pretty well unchanged too, except for the chicanes in the Mulsanne Straight which were put in many years ago.
Compared to old photos and movies, the pit straight buildings and grandstands are very large and modern., and the track is well surfaced with good safety walls as one would expect these days with speeds over 300 km/hr.
There were many off-road excursions, some due to brake lockups, others due to car contact. No really serious crashes, worst I can remember was a side bump to a Corvette GTE class car on the straight, which was enough to bounce off one wall, slide across to the other and back to the first wall, car retired but driver unhurt.
I had to do my pre-race homework to understand the current classes, the old LMP1 top class prototypes are now replaced by the Hypercar class, only 5 were entered this year but it looks like there will be quite a few more come in over the next few years. The new class allows for some freedom in regulations surrounding engines and drivelines, there is a B.O.P system in place. The 2 Toyotas (3.5L V6 Twin Turbo petrol/hybrid 4WD) led the race from start to finish. Next fastest Hypercars were 2 Glickenhaus (USA "private" manufacturer, 3.5L V8 Twin Turbo petrol, non-hybrid, RWD), then came the Alpine (4.5L N/A V8, non-hybrid, RWD). Different design strategies, all fairly even performance with BOP. The Alpine was lighter at 900kg, the others were approx 1050kg.
Then there was the LMP2 class, 27 cars in the field, all built on Oreca or Ligier chassis/body, all with the same 4.2L V8 Gibson engine, and min 930kg weight, very competitive field.
Then the GTE classes, all road productions sports cars, Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin. GTE Pro class, 7 cars, one of which had Shane Van Gisbergen as one of 3 drivers, and the GTE Amateur class, 23 cars entered, similar cars with "amateur" drivers.
Only 8 cars retired, which was somewhat of a record.
All in all, very interesting race for me, with its history and its high speed sports cars running for 24 hours, incredible really.
Another interesting facet were the "slow zones" in the sections where a yellow flag was displayed, in which all cars slowed to 80 km/hr, which maintained the well earned gaps between cars, rather than bring out safety cars or red flags, although those are reserved for the more serious accidents or bad weather. Only one safety car was brought out in this years event as far as I know, which was good for the overall flow of the event.
It looked like the series is in a renewed growth mode with new regulations, and more manufacturers getting involved over the next few years.
Loved it!
Cheers.
) half of last weekend watching about 2/3 of the Le Mans 24 hr live on Stan Sport, very enjoyable on my new 55" TV. Invited old mate over for Sunday morning to watch the night racing, he loved it too, an event that has rarely been available on Australian TV.First time I have watched more than a glimpse of the event, one of my favourite races since I was well into sports racing cars in the late 1960s - Gt40s, Ferrari, Porsche, etc.
Good that that the corner names have remained the same over the years, made it seem very real to me. I think most of the track layout is pretty well unchanged too, except for the chicanes in the Mulsanne Straight which were put in many years ago.
Compared to old photos and movies, the pit straight buildings and grandstands are very large and modern., and the track is well surfaced with good safety walls as one would expect these days with speeds over 300 km/hr.
There were many off-road excursions, some due to brake lockups, others due to car contact. No really serious crashes, worst I can remember was a side bump to a Corvette GTE class car on the straight, which was enough to bounce off one wall, slide across to the other and back to the first wall, car retired but driver unhurt.
I had to do my pre-race homework to understand the current classes, the old LMP1 top class prototypes are now replaced by the Hypercar class, only 5 were entered this year but it looks like there will be quite a few more come in over the next few years. The new class allows for some freedom in regulations surrounding engines and drivelines, there is a B.O.P system in place. The 2 Toyotas (3.5L V6 Twin Turbo petrol/hybrid 4WD) led the race from start to finish. Next fastest Hypercars were 2 Glickenhaus (USA "private" manufacturer, 3.5L V8 Twin Turbo petrol, non-hybrid, RWD), then came the Alpine (4.5L N/A V8, non-hybrid, RWD). Different design strategies, all fairly even performance with BOP. The Alpine was lighter at 900kg, the others were approx 1050kg.
Then there was the LMP2 class, 27 cars in the field, all built on Oreca or Ligier chassis/body, all with the same 4.2L V8 Gibson engine, and min 930kg weight, very competitive field.
Then the GTE classes, all road productions sports cars, Ferrari, Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin. GTE Pro class, 7 cars, one of which had Shane Van Gisbergen as one of 3 drivers, and the GTE Amateur class, 23 cars entered, similar cars with "amateur" drivers.
Only 8 cars retired, which was somewhat of a record.
All in all, very interesting race for me, with its history and its high speed sports cars running for 24 hours, incredible really.
Another interesting facet were the "slow zones" in the sections where a yellow flag was displayed, in which all cars slowed to 80 km/hr, which maintained the well earned gaps between cars, rather than bring out safety cars or red flags, although those are reserved for the more serious accidents or bad weather. Only one safety car was brought out in this years event as far as I know, which was good for the overall flow of the event.
It looked like the series is in a renewed growth mode with new regulations, and more manufacturers getting involved over the next few years.
Loved it!
Cheers.
