Nissan to return to top-flight Le Mans racing in 2015 Nissan to return to top-flight Le Mans racing in 2015 | Autocar
good news! P1 is going to be great for a while. shame ALMS/GrandAm/TUSC went they way they did, would love to see those cars at Daytona/Sebring/Road Atlanta.
Nissan, Toyota, Audi, Porsche + privateers in the top class, with the freedom to engineer different solutions for powerplants and aero, racing around Le Mans, Silverstone, Interlagos, COTA, Spa + others... Not to mention incredibly competitive and exciting LMP2 and GT racing.... Formula what?
Exactly. We knew Nissan was joining the WEC in 2015 so this must be the announcement to get the media ready for a presentation at Le Mans. Anywhere Toyota goes, Nissan and Mazda usually follow. BHW
Not sure I want to see it judging by the other cars. Might hurt my eyes. The WEC Porsche has to be the ugliest racing car I have ever seen!!!
With F-1 teetering on the edge of obscurity, Indy Car constantly struggling to find traction, NASCAR a never ending bore fest and the U.S. version of sports car racing a complete joke, the WEC is offering what racing purists would consider the best alternative. While some question the hybrid and other technical aspects, the truth of the matter is if new power solutions aren't coming from racing, where will they come from? It reminds us of the Group C days where the fuel mileage of the cars had to be closely monitored as the FIA made them comply with a set amount of fuel per race. Many scoffed about "Racing on your fuel meters" at the time. While technically true perhaps, it also gave us some epic racing that saw an unprecedented factory involvement and stellar entry lists. At the same time, the manufacturers began to get with the electronics program and developed on board computers which monitored the fuel flow and other aspects which today we think as completely normal in today's road going cars. So, with the technical advancements going on currently in the WEC, hybrid power, four wheel drive, etc. we know that what they're learning now will filter down to the average family road car in the form of improved mileage, reliability and aerodynamic efficiency. Some may see the current cars as ugly (perhaps) but we have to know that they look this way for a reason as constant wind tunnel tests are showing the manufactures this is the way to go and as we see, they're all constantly tweaking their aerodynamics on a race to race basis. Frankly, I think they're all magnificent looking machines, rolling pieces of aerodynamic art, and then watching the races at Silverstone and Spa so far, the images from the sky and on board cameras showing the Toyotas, Porsches and Audis slicing through GT traffic, changing direction as if on rails, these cars are simply stunning to witness. What we're going to see at Le Mans this year is going to nothing short of legendary and when Nissan comes to the deal next year, it will only get better. BHW
I agree with you on the technical aspects and ideas, but there are two ways to make cars aerodynamic, the ugly way and the pleasing to the eye way. WEC and F1 have both chosen the extreme ugly way!! As you well know there are many ways to make a car aerodynamic. Make the rules so that teams and manufactures can do cars that look nice. Group C cars were very pretty looking In the long run I think it will hurt top line racing if they keep it up. Saying that maybe this generation likes very ugly. Look at all the ugly Toyota's you see on the street!!
