2024 Sportscar Thread (WEC, IMSA, NLS, GT World Challenge)

[freedman]

Cadillac DQd from the WEC race, that was almost a month ago, for non compliant bodywork

[airbusA346]

freedman said:

Cadillac DQd from the WEC race, that was almost a month ago, for non compliant bodywork

Also Vista AF Corse (LMGT3) have been fined 60,000€ (30,000€ suspended) for concealing operational personnel. They ended up submitting three different staff lists with engineers names appearing and disappearing (the first two were rejected by the WEC). The engineers were spotted working in the garage by an official and they then proceed to lie when confronted and the lies/dishonest behaviour continued during the stewards investigations.

[freedman]

So Ferrari get given more power and less weight via BOP

Then Qualify 1,2,3 at Imola

Also a dreadful decision by the race director to red flag the initial qualifying session with 2 minutes remaining. Flag was for the spun Vanthoor BMW, but he had recovered and was already back on track before the red was thrown

In Hyperpole, Hartley spun and was stationary for longer, no red flag…

[Truckosaurus]

freedman said:

So Ferrari get given more power and less weight via BOP

Then Qualify 1,2,3 at Imola

What a remarkable coincidence

[CLK-GTR]

Big first corner crash caused by the Isotta. Ferrari leading but Porsche and Toyota close behind.

BoP is a difficult one, it was clearly wrong in Qatar so they've had to make the Ferrari and Toyota quicker. The confusing one is Alpine. They had a big helping hand but still theyre nowhere.

[Dougthecat]

The first 5 minutes of WEC were more entertaining than the whole F1 race. Now moving into wet conditions.

[VladD]

Was a cracking race. Let's hope Spa is equally entertaining.

I'll be a Le Mans for the big one. Got to make the most of this golden era.

[TO73074E]

Dougthecat said:

The first 5 minutes of WEC were more entertaining than the whole F1 race. Now moving into wet conditions.

Agreed. A great race and the rain on parts of the track in the latter stages really spiced it up. I was glued to it for 6 hours. I recorded the F1 and the decision was justified, I watched Verstappen sail off into the distance, watched 5 more laps, fast forwarded to the end, switched off.

It's also telling that even after 6 hours of racing it can come down to the final few laps and 2 seconds between Kobayashi in 1st and Estre in 2nd, well a bit more after Estre's penalty.

Anyway, bring on Spa!

[antspants]

TO73074E said:

It's also telling that even after 6 hours of racing it can come down to the final few laps and 2 seconds between Kobayashi in 1st and Estre in 2nd, well a bit more after Estre's penalty.

Is this close a finish the norm in WEC?

This weekend was the first time I've ever watched a full race, previously I've switched it on mid-race and found it too confusing so turned off. Watching from the start, and having 6 hours to work out who is who and in what class, I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish!

[CLK-GTR]

antspants said:

Is this close a finish the norm in WEC?

This weekend was the first time I've ever watched a full race, previously I've switched it on mid-race and found it too confusing so turned off. Watching from the start, and having 6 hours to work out who is who and in what class, I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish!

Balance of Performance. The last race in Qatar was separated by 30 seconds after nearly 10 hours. Monza last year was 15s after 6 hours. The racing is much, much closer than F1 and its not the same car winning every race. With the breadth of manufacturers involved we are in a real golden era now.

[coppice]

I enjoyed the highlights and I love Imola . But why in God's name do they waste so much time showing every angle of the first lap shunt? I couldn't care less about who hit whom - I want to watch the people at the front racing each other.

[df76]

Imola was a great race, kept me entertained throughout. Not much coverage of the GT3 racing, but I guess that just shows how much action there was going on in the Hypercar class. Hope the race at Spa and Le Mans are both as good.

Definitely tempted to make a trip to Imola if it makes the 2025 calendar.

[boxedin]

coppice said:

I enjoyed the highlights and I love Imola . But why in God's name do they waste so much time showing every angle of the first lap shunt? I couldn't care less about who hit whom - I want to watch the people at the front racing each other.

Haver's eyesight isn't what it once was. ;-)

During every WEC round at some point I'll be watching and saying: 'nope, no contact there, carry on.'

To be honest, that shunt did need some clearing up on who tapped who first.

Having said all that, Havers et al are a better listen than Eurosport's EWC commentary team consistently droning on about how many GP races fit into 24/23/22/21/20...3/2/1 hours.

Imola though, a superb race, great venue.

[marcosgt]

df76 said:

Imola was a great race, kept me entertained throughout. Not much coverage of the GT3 racing, but I guess that just shows how much action there was going on in the Hypercar class. Hope the race at Spa and Le Mans are both as good.

Definitely tempted to make a trip to Imola if it makes the 2025 calendar.

I made the trip to Imola this year, after enjoying a trip to Monza last year.

I'd always had a bit of a 'thing' about Imola, thinking Monza was the 'proper' Italian circuit and Imola was just convenient for Ferrari, but in fact it's a far more interesting circuit (in the way Brands is more interesting than Silverstone) and has plenty of great viewing and photographing points.

The area around Bologna is also, generally, prettier than around Milan (although Lake Como was nice). I spent a few days in Rimini and took the train to Imola, if I went again, I'd probably stay closer to Bologna (maybe in Imola itself).

The GT3 race (at the front, at least) wasn't really very exciting - The BMWs dominated with the odd interruption from a Porsche.

I'd recommend a trip to Imola based on my experience.

M

[freedman]

marcosgt said:

I made the trip to Imola this year, after enjoying a trip to Monza last year.

I'd always had a bit of a 'thing' about Imola, thinking Monza was the 'proper' Italian circuit and Imola was just convenient for Ferrari, but in fact it's a far more interesting circuit (in the way Brands is more interesting than Silverstone) and has plenty of great viewing and photographing points.

The area around Bologna is also, generally, prettier than around Milan (although Lake Como was nice). I spent a few days in Rimini and took the train to Imola, if I went again, I'd probably stay closer to Bologna (maybe in Imola itself).

The GT3 race (at the front, at least) wasn't really very exciting - The BMWs dominated with the odd interruption from a Porsche.

I'd recommend a trip to Imola based on my experience.

M

Re the GT3s, it was rather that Porsche Manthey/Pure dominated, as they did in Qatar but made a bad strategy call on tyres, which lost then the race

[marcosgt]

freedman said:

Re the GT3s, it was rather that Porsche Manthey/Pure dominated, as they did in Qatar but made a bad strategy call on tyres, which lost then the race

Much like Ferrari.

Yes, I suppose they did, the Porsche was up near the front all of the time, I must admit, when I noticed a BMW nearly always had the leader's light on.

M