Expensive mistake at Lemans legends this year

[Agoogy]

2:22 in....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6zFFP029Ws

[fatboy69]

Shame to see the damage however it can be repaired - good to see both drivers ok, if not more than a little shaken up.

As for the Group C cars - my god they looked & sounded superb. The Mercedes just sounds brutal & exquisite both on the up- shifts & the down-shifts.

Sublime cars from a much missed golden era of sports car racing.

Maybe Group C at Le Mans is the way to go.......

[freedman]

Pretty poor piece of driving by Donovan in the Spice

[weyland yutani]

Shame about the crash but my god those Saubers

[Agoogy]

Do you think it normal then for racing cars of our era to be almost unbeatable?
For me those Saubers, the 956,the Mazda 787....LeMans racers that can't be bettered...

I wonder if the 'kids' of today will feel the same about the Audis etc...

[mollytherocker]

Agoogy said:

I wonder if the 'kids' of today will feel the same about the Audis etc...

I honestly think they will.

MTR

[egor110]

Agoogy said:

Do you think it normal then for racing cars of our era to be almost unbeatable?
For me those Saubers, the 956,the Mazda 787....LeMans racers that can't be bettered...

I wonder if the 'kids' of today will feel the same about the Audis etc...

Do the kids of today watch endurance racing?

[John D.]

mollytherocker said:

Agoogy said:

I wonder if the 'kids' of today will feel the same about the Audis etc...

I honestly think they will.

MTR

I missed Grp C in its heyday and I much prefer them to the modern prototypes. Something much cooler about them and they all have proper noise to go with them.

[John D.]

Terrible driving from the Spice car. He spun it on the rolling start off the first turn and then did that minutes later. Someone was a bit excited I think.

[mollytherocker]

John D. said:

mollytherocker said:

Agoogy said:

I wonder if the 'kids' of today will feel the same about the Audis etc...

I honestly think they will.

MTR

I missed Grp C in its heyday and I much prefer them to the modern prototypes. Something much cooler about them and they all have proper noise to go with them.

I completely agree BUT i've heard older gents talking about Bugattis and Bentleys in the same way. Its largely generational.

Imagine in say 30 years, silent electric (Or hydrogen/nuclear etc) cars lapping Le Mans and middle aged guys talking about the legendary Audi period, where the combustion engined cars ruled the world.

MTR

[John D.]

mollytherocker said:

I completely agree BUT i've heard older gents talking about Bugattis and Bentleys in the same way. Its largely generational.

Imagine in say 30 years, silent electric (Or hydrogen/nuclear etc) cars lapping Le Mans and middle aged guys talking about the legendary Audi period, where the combustion engined cars ruled the world.

MTR

Sounds dreadfull!

[fatboy69]

Group C was, I think, the best era ever for sports cars IMO. The sight & sounds of the Saubers, Mercedes & those sublime SIlk Cut Jaguars cannot be bettered for me.

I was at the SIverstone Classic last year & the opening lap of the Friday evening Group C sprint race, in the wet as dusk arrived was awesome.

Even my other half who is not a race fan said that they sounded superb.

As the ACO are a law unto themselves maybe next year they should run the race for Group C cars only!!!

Just imagine a grid full of 962's, Saubers, Mercedes, Jaguars, Lancia's etc streaming down the Mulsanne just after 3pm. The noise.....

Oh well. We can all dream & fantasise can't we?

[Crafty_]

I was listening to a motorsport magazine podcast today with Derek Bell from here: http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/multimedia/audio...

".. so anyway we were doing 246mph down the mulsanne, it was pretty quick.."
Sounded like he loved the group C era. Worth a listen.

[freedman]

fatboy69 said:

Group C was, I think, the best era ever for sports cars IMO. The sight & sounds of the Saubers, Mercedes & those sublime SIlk Cut Jaguars cannot be bettered for me.

I loved Group C, then again I loved Group 5 & 6 before it

However I dont think either can compare to the sight that was the 917/512 era

Cars that could run faster than F1 at Spa, running at insane speeds driven by drivers of the absolute highest quality, lots also in F1 at the same time

[MG CHRIS]

egor110 said:

Agoogy said:

Do you think it normal then for racing cars of our era to be almost unbeatable?
For me those Saubers, the 956,the Mazda 787....LeMans racers that can't be bettered...

I wonder if the 'kids' of today will feel the same about the Audis etc...

Do the kids of today watch endurance racing?

I do if you call a 19 year old a 'kid'.

[bravonovember]

what sort of speed are the group c getting down mulsanne now, i guess they don't rev them as high as they did.

[ccharlie6]

the fastest car out of all the races at le mans this weekend down the mulsannes was not the toyota or the audi R18 but... the sauber C9 at 340.5 km/h...bloody quick

[GravelBen]

John D. said:

Terrible driving from the Spice car. He spun it on the rolling start off the first turn and then did that minutes later. Someone was a bit excited I think.

Had a bit of help with that first spin though by the look of it!

[Scuffers]

bravonovember said:

what sort of speed are the group c getting down mulsanne now, i guess they don't rev them as high as they did.

you think?

they have had the benifit's of another 20 years development in engines/turbo's/ECU's etc....

[hornet]

I'm sure nostalgia plays a large part, but also the feeling that the cars from that era were built to go racing, not to be a marketing tool. That's not to say the current cars aren't impressive, as they clearly are, and heaven knows how fast they'd be going down the Mulsanne without the chicanes, but I can't get away from the feeling that they're marketing first, racing second, and it sort of undermines it for me.