24 Heures du Mans 2017

I don't know if TV is killing motorsport, but allowing advertising on cars surely contributed.

It was in 1966, I think, that the FIA under commercial pressure relented and allowed "extra automotive" advertising on cars. Before, only advertisers connected to the car industry (gas, oil, batteries, plugs, shock absorbers, etc...) could advertise in racing, with stickers limited in size.

When the FIA allowed advertising, they open the door for tobacco sponsorship, etc... A very good way for very profitable corporations to offset their huge profit by running a large advertising budget to lower their tax bills. Oil companies, cigarette companies making huge profits could suddenly indulge in a bit of brand recognition at the cost of the Inland Revenue.

Within a few years, teams' budget doubled, then tripled, and money went flowing like a river in motor racing. Of course the advertisers wanted more than track side exposure and pressured TV channels to broadcast races. The rest is history.

So now, money is the lifeblood of motor racing, at all levels. Even in basic restricted competition, money makes the difference, to the point where some amateur clubs ban all advertising on cars to bring back some sanity.

 

Peugeot: "Not imperative to enter WEC".

Tavares: ?Not Imperative? for Peugeot to Enter WEC - Sportscar365

BHW

 

Ford Hit With Weight Increase, Power Reduction in Le Mans-Specific BoP - Sportscar365

 

20 kg more and a little less power in the whole RPM levels. Maybe 0.5 to 1 second of loss, although perhaps they recovered it with development, but the Ferrari certainly improved too.
The Porsches are going to be strong this year.

 

LeMans 2017 test day 06/04/2017
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Le Mans 24 Hours – Rubens Barrichello’s first rendezvous – a simulator test!

Any driver who has never raced in the Le Mans 24 Hours has to spend a day on the simulator to learn the specific characteristics of the Le Mans 24-Hours circuit

Today Friday 2nd June former F1 driver Rubens Barrichello discovered the 13.6-km Sarthe circuit during a training session on the AOTech simulator as required by the Le Mans 24-Hours sporting regulations in view of his first outing in the Le Mans 24 Hours on 17-18 June.

Any driver who has never raced in the Le Mans 24 Hours or who hasn’t taken part in the event in the last five years (all the races since 2012), is classed in the Bronze category or who did not compete in the 2016 race has to spend a day on the simulator to learn the specific characteristics of the Le Mans 24-Hours circuit.

The 24 Hours are always in the radar of any racing driver, I am really happy to be here and I think we can do fine.

This simulator session is obligatory no matter what the results of the driver in question. Thus even though Barrichello holds two records in Formula 1: starts in 322 Grands Prix between 1993 and 2011, and the fastest pole position ever achieved at an average speed of 260 km/h at Monza in 2004, he had to undergo this test to take part in the Le Mans 24 Hours.

He jokes about his rookie status with good humour: " If I am doing something new, I am rookie, and it makes me younger… (laughs) ".

The Brazilian had to take in the layout as well as the day and night-time racing conditions, traffic management between prototypes and GTs, the location of the marshals posts and the safety procedures: safety car interventions and Slow Zones, the partial neutralisation of sectors of the 24-Hours circuit in which the drivers have to maintain a reduced speed following a race incident. He also discovered a few random incidents like unexpected changes in grip, because the length of the circuit means that drivers may have to race on a track that can be both wet and dry due to localised showers in a sector.

After a first test session, the pilot expressed what he felt on the eve of Test Day : " I can have an idea of the track and also the traffic, the flags, the Slow Zones and so on. Night driving calls a bit of attention, and the Slow Zones are very useful because you don't lose three minutes in a complete lap. There are some points I got right, others I got wrong but it is better I do that in the simulator than on the real track. For me it is a good thing that my simulator session takes place in the same week as the Test Day. At the simulator, the guys are really well prepared to give you the right piece of advice, so I can play by the rules in race."

As for his ambitions regarding the race, he added:" The 24 Hours are always in the radar of any racing driver, I am really happy to be here and I think we can do fine.”

After each day’s training AOTech sends a report on each driver to the ACO. These enable the sporting management to keep a close eye on the evolution of the drivers in question during the test day.

Rubens Barrichello was the last of the 2017 drivers to take the simulator test at AOTech. After the session in the Parisian region he will head for the 24-Hours circuit for the test day on Sunday 4th June. He will drive the no. 29 Dallara-Gibson entered by the Racing Team Nederland in the LM P2 category. He will share the car with two Dutchmen Jan Lammers (who also had to take the simulator test earlier in the season as he had not raced in the Le Mans 24 Hours since 2011) with 22 starts in the Le Mans 24 Hours including victory in the Sarthe in 1988 in a Jaguar, and Frits Van Eerd.

The 85th Le Mans 24 will take place on Saturday-Sunday 17-18 June.

 

All 180 names have now been confirmed for the running of the 85th 24 hours of LeMans:

(PDF file)

http://bo.fiawec.com/assets/ressources/Pdf/2017/test-day-entry-list-24-heures-du-mans-2017.pdf …

 

Looking forward to this years 24h. What do you guys regard as the best website for al the latest news and updates?

Gr. Martin

 

maybe your missing a second page???? OR possibly they did not run????

but your right, I don't see them on the page you posted.

 

Hopefully this link works to the results of the test day.

http://assets.lemans.org/explorer/pdf/courses/2017/24-heures-du-mans/classification/test-day/test-day-24-heures-du-mans-2017-classification.pdf

 

yup....works for me.....saw them...thanks

 

The only thing I really don't like about 24-hour races is they are about 22 hours too long.

 

Here is the complete list:
Journée Test ? Vmax | Endurance info

The best 488 was the N° 51 and James Calado with 291,6.

 

Corvette and Porsche had the fastest times at the test day. The question is...who is showing their true speed and who is sandbagging.

 

I believe that in the mid-week we will see the potential of each one separately. I really want Ferrari to win this year.

I didn't like how Ford played the game last year.

 

...So no 458's anymore.

 

As do I with regards to Ferrari winning. On the Ford situation last year, it left a sour taste

but nonetheless it was a hard pill to swallow. Hopefully, this year the Ford GT will "pass"

without any.....ummmmm....bulls[cough]t.

That is correct, no more 458's.....488's this time (increase in bhp and ft. lbs.)