WEC

[coppice]

WEC is fantastic this season , as good as I have ever known it. The hypercar formula has attracted entries from Toyota , Porsche, Glickenhaus , Peugeot and Cadillac. Oh, and the first works Ferrari sports car since 1973 .

The racing has been wonderful and the coverage on YouTube terrific , more grown up than the breathlessly frenetic world of F1. Emphasis is made of how much of a team sport this is. There are often in car live streams too - I watched one such from one of the Ferraris at dawn on Sunday at Le Mans . It was utterly mesmerising , some of the most evocative footage I have ever seen - and I've seen a lot !

Fuji this weekend . If you can tear yourself away from the Goodwood live stream , try WEC. You'll thank me .

[N0ddie]

I bought the yearly streaming pass. It truly is class. Can tune in and out as I see fit.

[richhead]

Good to know that people are watching our hard work

[coppice]

Good. But a couple of posts in 36 hours tends to confirm my fear that for many people that 'motor racing' means F1 , or occasionally BTCC . Oh , the power of live TV shows.

My one gripe about WEC is that there is no UK round - but there is naturally a race in that hotbed of racing heritage, Bahrain. I dare say MBS is behind that one .

[richhead]

coppice said:

Good. But a couple of posts in 36 hours tends to confirm my fear that for many people that 'motor racing' means F1 , or occasionally BTCC . Oh , the power of live TV shows.

My one gripe about WEC is that there is no UK round - but there is naturally a race in that hotbed of racing heritage, Bahrain. I dare say MBS is behind that one .

agree totaly, btw i work for a team involved not the wec.
agree there should be a uk round, there used to be, but im not sure silverstone see the value anymore, ive worked in wec/elms along time, and apart from lemans you see empty grandstands everywhere, always thought they should give tickets away, people would probably spend more on tshirts and burgers than the gate anyway.
However i quite like the kind of underground bit of it, when mainstream tv gets involved it usually ruins a sport.
But its an exciting time for sportscars, alot of car makers getting involved, my worry is what happens when they leave, like they did before.

[freedman]

richhead said:

agree totaly, btw i work for a team involved not the wec.
agree there should be a uk round, there used to be, but im not sure silverstone see the value anymore, ive worked in wec/elms along time, and apart from lemans you see empty grandstands everywhere, always thought they should give tickets away, people would probably spend more on tshirts and burgers than the gate anyway.
However i quite like the kind of underground bit of it, when mainstream tv gets involved it usually ruins a sport.
But its an exciting time for sportscars, alot of car makers getting involved, my worry is what happens when they leave, like they did before.

Even when sports cars was in the doldrums, back in 76/7 it got decent attendances here, at peak Group C it attracted more than the BTCC

Where has everyone gone?

[richhead]

freedman said:

Even when sports cars was in the doldrums, back in 76/7 it got decent attendances here, at peak Group C it attracted more than the BTCC

Where has everyone gone?

not sure theve been there for a few years, no idea why

[coppice]

freedman said:

Even when sports cars was in the doldrums, back in 76/7 it got decent attendances here, at peak Group C it attracted more than the BTCC

Where has everyone gone?

Times change. I attend lots of motorsport, most weekends in season , and what has been so noticeable since the advent of multi channel TV and social media is that the coverage is the sole driver of numbers attending .If it's on TV it must be good , but if it isn't .... So a very small crowd for most club racing and speed events and bloody thousands for the BTCC soap opera. People I talk to at BTCC and the odd F1 race I go to often have no awareness of any other form of the sport, and the Drive to Survive effect has made that even more pronounced.

I do like the 'right crowd and no crowding ' of the sort of event only kindred spirits attend and I dare say a WEC round would attract that more discerning audience . I've followed sports car racing since the days of GT40 s and T70s and this year has been every bit as good as the Ford v Ferrari wars , and much better than most Gp C ever was. Le Mans has always had its following of course, but I suspect a lot of that is down to the appeal of a lairy, Brits abroad beery weekend (my idea of hell ) ..


What really makes WEC stand out is the fantastic race summaries which are as good as any motorsport coverage I've ever seen , with Le Mans being a real highlight . I do hope we get a WEC round back in the UK soon. And if the great unwashed stay away I wil lose no sleep

[df76]

coppice said:

I do hope we get a WEC round back in the UK soon. And if the great unwashed stay away I wil lose no sleep

Unfortunately you can’t have one without the other, it doesn’t make commercial sense… but does make a trip to Spa a requirement, which is no bad thing (and they manage to get a decent crowd in).

[richhead]

not sure if we will see a return to the uk, but from what i heard last year, silverstone really wernt keen, and priced accordinlly, not sure if this has changed.
It is a big investment hosting a wec round, and if you cant make a profit then i dont blame them, personaly i would rather see it at a bit more of an older track like brands gp or donny, but not sure they have the safety standards, or as an aside, we uses snett for testing alot, as its a fast track, and the pit lane is ok. But again not sure if it would pass muster.

[df76]

richhead said:

not sure if we will see a return to the uk, but from what i heard last year, silverstone really wernt keen, and priced accordinlly, not sure if this has changed.
It is a big investment hosting a wec round, and if you cant make a profit then i dont blame them, personaly i would rather see it at a bit more of an older track like brands gp or donny, but not sure they have the safety standards, or as an aside, we uses snett for testing alot, as its a fast track, and the pit lane is ok. But again not sure if it would pass muster.

Apart from Le Mans, I can’t see that WEC would go anywhere but a Grade 1 circuit, and that’s just silverstone in the uk.

[richhead]

df76 said:

richhead said:

not sure if we will see a return to the uk, but from what i heard last year, silverstone really wernt keen, and priced accordinlly, not sure if this has changed.
It is a big investment hosting a wec round, and if you cant make a profit then i dont blame them, personaly i would rather see it at a bit more of an older track like brands gp or donny, but not sure they have the safety standards, or as an aside, we uses snett for testing alot, as its a fast track, and the pit lane is ok. But again not sure if it would pass muster.

Apart from Le Mans, I can’t see that WEC would go anywhere but a Grade 1 circuit, and that’s just silverstone in the uk.

I agree, but its a shame, as making silverstone suit F1 has ruined it alot.
The same is happening to spa and monza, i get the reasons, but alot of tracks are too sanitised now, would be great to see them at some of the old tracks, they were ok in the group c days, and the cars were alot faster then.

[freedman]

richhead said:

I agree, but its a shame, as making silverstone suit F1 has ruined it a lot.
The same is happening to spa and monza, i get the reasons, but a lot of tracks are too sanitised now, would be great to see them at some of the old tracks, they were ok in the group c days, and the cars were a lot faster then.

The cars weren't faster though

Group C may have been more exciting, as the cars weren't easy to drive and moved around a lot, and they were fast, but they weren't as fast around a lap as the current LMDH/Hypercars

[TO73074E]

It's my favourite form of motorsport at the moment. I've watched most of the races this season, although missed Fuji, and it's more exciting to watch than F1 by far. Not sure I always agree with the BOP changes or how severe some of them can be but it still provides plenty of good racing. It's definitely on an upward curve with more manufacturers joining which should attract more fans.

I'm not really bothered about the lack of a UK round as i'm not a huge fan of Silverstone. I'd much rather make the trip over to Spa/Portimao/Le Mans

[freedman]

TO73074E said:

It's my favourite form of motorsport at the moment. I've watched most of the races this season, although missed Fuji, and it's more exciting to watch than F1 by far. Not sure I always agree with the BOP changes or how severe some of them can be but it still provides plenty of good racing. It's definitely on an upward curve with more manufacturers joining which should attract more fans.

I'm not really bothered about the lack of a UK round as i'm not a huge fan of Silverstone. I'd much rather make the trip over to Spa/Portimao/Le Mans

Agree about BOP, I despise it, and all other methods of equalling the field or penalising success. Though as has been said before we likely wouldn't have the manufacturer input we currently see without it

[richhead]

freedman said:

richhead said:

I agree, but its a shame, as making silverstone suit F1 has ruined it a lot.
The same is happening to spa and monza, i get the reasons, but a lot of tracks are too sanitised now, would be great to see them at some of the old tracks, they were ok in the group c days, and the cars were a lot faster then.

The cars weren't faster though

Group C may have been more exciting, as the cars weren't easy to drive and moved around a lot, and they were fast, but they weren't as fast around a lap as the current LMDH/Hypercars

Sorry i didnt mean over a lap, im aware how quick the hypercars are, But they were seriously quick on the straight bits.

[FredericRobinson]

TO73074E said:

It's my favourite form of motorsport at the moment. I've watched most of the races this season, although missed Fuji, and it's more exciting to watch than F1 by far. Not sure I always agree with the BOP changes or how severe some of them can be but it still provides plenty of good racing. It's definitely on an upward curve with more manufacturers joining which should attract more fans.

I'm not really bothered about the lack of a UK round as i'm not a huge fan of Silverstone. I'd much rather make the trip over to Spa/Portimao/Le Mans

I did all 3 of those this year, all miles better places to watch than Silverstone, especially Silverstone at Easter, a cheaper, home round would be nice though, preferably Donington but there’s no chance of that.

[entropy]

richhead said:

freedman said:

richhead said:

I agree, but its a shame, as making silverstone suit F1 has ruined it a lot.
The same is happening to spa and monza, i get the reasons, but a lot of tracks are too sanitised now, would be great to see them at some of the old tracks, they were ok in the group c days, and the cars were a lot faster then.

The cars weren't faster though

Group C may have been more exciting, as the cars weren't easy to drive and moved around a lot, and they were fast, but they weren't as fast around a lap as the current LMDH/Hypercars

Sorry i didnt mean over a lap, im aware how quick the hypercars are, But they were seriously quick on the straight bits.

TBF in the WSPC-era, the latter days of Group C into the 90s, they mighty quick for contemporary thoroughbred machines and quick enough to qualify for an F1 race despite being heavier and having the same engine regs. They were the LMP1 hybrids of their day. To me the Jag XJR14 stood out for its change of direction.

[coppice]

I enjoyed the thunderous Sauber Mercedes C9 and , later , the screaming Peugeot 905 . I will admit to finding the current adulation of the ubiquitous Porsche 956 baffling . They looked ok , I guess , but that flat drone from the turbo six was dull , dull , dull . I saw a parade of them at Goodwood Members' Meeting and while I enjoyed the different liveries , they sounded , if anything, even duller than in period . I'd rather listen to the screaming N/A flat six in the Porsche 904/6

[richhead]

freedman said:

The cars weren't faster though

Group C may have been more exciting, as the cars weren't easy to drive and moved around a lot, and they were fast, but they weren't as fast around a lap as the current LMDH/Hypercars

And i worked on the old group c stuff, and am involved with the new cars, i will just say we had a good result in japan, so well aware of the differance, the new hypercars are night and day over a lap.