Looking forward to the great race. Here is the entry list. Any information on TV coverage yet?...
Looking forward to the great race. Here is the entry list. Any information on TV coverage yet? https://www.lemans.org/en/news/2018-24-hours-of-le-mans-the-entry-list-revealed/48249
Velocity will be covering the full 24 hours. Practice and Qualifying I believe are on the Motor Trend On-Demand app.
488 gte got 21 kgs weight increase than last year.. https://www.motorsport.com/lemans/news/initial-bop-gte-pro-class-released-1040607/
So approximately a 6-7 year old child as a passenger? Wow. (where does one go to sign a small relative up for this?)
I volunteer the kid who kept me awake on my way to Barrett Jackson in Vegas. Maybe he would shut up if he was terrified! Remember: Children should neither be seen or heard from - ever again. W.C. Fields
"Aahhh....yeassss...." However...he did reform..... http://www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/quote-yes-i-do-like-children-girl-children-about-eighteen-or-twenty-w-c-fields-137-78-19.jpg
Will I be required to fit into the child safety seat? I do think I can fit if I can stop the single malt for a few weeks!
Le Mans Test weekend starts tomorrow. Should be interesting to follow since it determine (to a point), the BOP for the race. As always, expect some sandbagging.
They did major work on the Porsche curves section with more runoff and Tecpro barriers, just finished a few days ago; essentially the 2nd half of the P curves where Marc Gene had that huge flying crash in a Peugeot LMP1 a few years ago. Visibility will also be improved, it was a bit of a tunnel, specially for P cars. http://www.autohebdo.fr/wec/breves/fin-officielle-des-travaux-aux-virages-porsche-194831.html Like Indy Le Mans has its idiosyncrasies and like any LM beginner Montoya and Alonso had to go a simulator near Paris to be educated about the Le Mans specific safety practices, multiple safety cars etc and they have now received their certificates, allowed to play Weather should be good this weekend at LM except perhaps Tstorms sunday PM.
Is it Alonso mania at Le Mans yet? It will be interesting to watch his progress during the test. It's Toyota's race to lose, they'd better be prepared. Tom Kristensen has been at Le Mans all week sampling some classic Le Mans challengers including a classic Bentley, Ferrari, Ford GT40 and Ligier Matra Simca that he's been posting on Instagram. Nice work if you can get it I suppose. The ACO's track improvements seem to be an annual thing. Hopefully, they'll get around to replacing the rotting pilings that are holding up some of the armco barriers that some drivers are so concerned about for the last 30 years. https://www.motorsport.com/lemans/news/safety-changes-to-the-track-and-neutralization-periods-for-the-24-hours-of-le-mans/?v=2&s=1&q=le+mans+track+changes BHW
'Can't get anything past you, eh? ('Only beeen known for over a year now... ) What "mania" is that? Pretty much only U.S. "race fans" fall for the bs. (danica comes to mind....) What will be interesting about his "progress" (whatever that is....) during the test? He's already been WC in more difficult circumstances.
Just proves that LeMans is going by way of Indy (but yea - I already knew that, just have to stir the pot a little )
Yes, Lorenzo, I write these things just to keep you up at night. As a former "WC" (that means water closet, yes?) and that he's on with the team which is the overwhelming favorite to win overall, the expectations would be that this is Alonso's race to lose. How he handles the pressure, and let's not mince words, the pressure at Le Mans is enormous no matter what you've won before. Progress will be how Alonso comes up to speed versus his Toyota Team Gazoo co-drivers Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima and team mates Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José María López. Personally, I think he's going to do fine. But, let him put a wheel wrong and watch the British media tell the world how his career is over. Think I'm kidding? There have only been a handful of drivers throughout history who've done Le Mans the first time, set fastest laps, won overall and been named "Man of the Race" by attending media. Tom Kristensen was one of them in 1997. BHW
Bad man! (woman?) (A) Don't flatter yourself (I know, an impossible feat)....you don't. (B) Overwhelming? Not. I figger 50/50 as there's gonna be two Toyotas, no? (C) Not when you're in the fastest and only cars that have a realistic chance of winning. (D) As AJ told Bob at the Rolex about not having driven a 935...."It's a race car." (E) Kidding? No. Mistaken? Yes. (F) Who cares? 'Just more bs hype. See (B) & (C). As per Forrest, "That's all I have to say about that."
It's all about traffic management, it takes just one misunderstanding, one amateur driver tired at the end of his stint deciding whether he lets the Toyota past or can take the apex, that is the biggest risk...I raced there at Le Mans Classic 10 years ago, that track is very narrow plus some places such as the approach to the Indianapolis corner and to the Porsche curves are very delicate to handle with speed differentials...That is one thing. Then debris, a puncture miles and miles before the pits, luck he cannot control. But Fernando did a perfect job at Indy and at Daytona so I don't see him putting a foot wrong. The question is what minor delays will place one Toyota in front of the other. But if Hulkenberg cn win first time out when there was real competition then Alonso can beat the other team car with his teammates if delays and pit times are about equal. I will be watching Montoya just as keenly, he did a fantastic job at Daytona winning several times so I am sure he will do some incredible stints in the Sarthe. I wish I could go but can't this year...
Porsche to run some old liveries in this years LeMans to celebrate 70yrs of sportscar heritage....remember these??
I never liked the pig one, but dang I need more pics of the Rothmans one! My favorite Porsche racing livery ever. Edit: https://newsroom.porsche.com/en/motorsports/porsche-motorsports-911-rsr-le-mans-24-hours-pink-pig-rothmans-historic-special-designs-70-years-sports-cars-factory-run-france-15564.html Looks awesome in Rothmans colors. I wish they would do a different color windshield visor/strip like yellow to really set it off retro like the #3 Rothmans 1982 winner.
Well, well, well. "Alonso improved on his 3m21.468s morning best in the afternoon with a 3m19.066s to leapfrog back ahead of teammate Kamui Kobayashi by almost a second." I guess he "progressed" okay, huh? https://www.motorsport.com/lemans/news/test-day-report-alonso-fastest-toyota-1044307/
Forgot: https://assets.lemans.org/explorer/pdf/courses/2018/24-heures-du-mans/classification/test-day/test-day-24-heures-du-mans-2018-classification.pdf
Love the comments by Alonso, Montoya and Button on how alien such a track was for them, how in awe of it they felt. JPM really loves it, he will be amazing, the other cars in that class better watch their mirrors
What else are they s'posed to say whilst promoting? The place sucks? 'Same as said about Daytona, Indy, Monaco etc. Hang up the hypedom. Aside from the the bs, when in the trenches, it's just another 8 miles of different tarmac to negotiate.... There are no other cars in the class of the Toyota; depending, of course, on good ol' BoP'ing. Juan in P2...we'll see.
Yes, thought Montoya's comments about how he had no idea "how cool Le Mans is" was kind of interesting. Of course, we know Montoya is always at home on high speed circuits so it should suit him well. Alonso fastest in the Toyota in the test. Interesting, since he was outperformed by his much younger team mates at Daytona. Perhaps here with more simulator training and testing, he'll have an easier time of it. But, as Marc points out, running at Le Mans in the traffic at night under different weather conditions, etc, no one may predict the outcome. Throwing this in as it's interesting, the ACO is going to upgrade the grandstand area above the pits for their Centennial. Of note in this is this: "Pit upgrades would also support the installation of liquid/gas hydrogen and energy efficient charging lines should this be required by the new 2020’s ACO set of regulations". http://www.dailysportscar.com/2018/06/03/major-grandstand-upgrade-planned-for-le-mans-centennial.html BHW