Endurance Season 2020 and Beyond

[Kchrpm]

https://racer.com/2021/08/30/audi-dr...-lmdh-program/

Audi will still compete in the WEC, but not IMSA.

[Rare White Ape]

Alpine is starting an LMDh program.

https://www.fiawec.com/en/news/alpin...from-2024/7166

[Rare White Ape]

Side note: I’ve had the opinion for ages that the top tier of endurance racing has been dead for a while now and it would be cool if the ACO just made LMP2 the top category. But that goes against my other opinion that teams and manufacturers should be free to engineer their own high performance cars under a freer rule set than what LMP2 offers.

This LMDh idea is a brilliant way to address that. The base chassis are from a limited supply, but teams are free to build their own engines and create their own external bodywork. I’m not sure how free they are in terms of aerodynamics but those are the two things that make the biggest differences in performance these days. Plus this really cuts costs and attracts plenty of manufacturers to the category.

The LMH class on the other hand, I think will either only have two or three manufacturers at any time putting in the expense and effort, or it will be gone within a few years. It had a very lukewarm start this year in the WEC with no competition to face Toyota and so far vapourware on the vaunted road car homologation front. It’s VERY free with its rule set, but also very expensive to enter.

The next five years will be intriguing.

[Freude am Fahren]

Petit Le Mans had a pretty exciting finish last night.

Spoiler:

Mazda came from down a few laps to win in their last race in IMSA.

Action Express and Wayne Taylor Racing were neck & neck in the championship. Basically fighting for 2nd, whoever is in front at the end of the race wins the championship. Nasr in the AE Cadillac took new rear tires only on the last stop. Ricky Taylor in the WTR Acura took all four. The race being later than usual temps were in the 40s and coming out the pits, everyone was struggling with grip. AE was especially sketchy because with warm, used fronts, and ice cold rears, they looked like when people poot food trays under the back tires of a FWD car to drift around parking lots Both cars had offs on their out laps, but eventually settled in with Ricky Taylor gaining consistantly on the AE car in 2nd. Road Atlanta being what it is, Traffic was a factor and it was really exciting to watch. On the last few laps, WTR was within 1-2 seconds, then Nasr got held up in T7, going on to the backstraight and Taylor was in the draft. He was a bit far going into 10, but sent it anyway (just like the commentator told him too, lol). Nasr defended* strongly. Really he just cut him off and froced him off on the inside going into 10a. Taylor going bounding and flying through the gravel trap and grass. Came back on track ahead of Nasr, but Nasr had the momentum. So they were like neck & neck going under the bridge, but the broadcast grabbed the front straight to showt he Mazda cross the line. Then the championship contendors came across the line, but at that angle, all you can see is headlights, and no one really knew who was ahead! It ended up being the Action Express of Nasr, but wow, really exciting last hour!

As for the move, at first I thought no way you can let Nasr get away with it, but on replay it looked like Taylor might not make the corner anyway. I think no matter the outcome (Taylor keeps enough speed to stay ahead, or what heppened), let 'em have it. That was confirmed in the interview with Taylor, where he didn't seem too upset, and when asked if he would have made the corner without the contact, he kinda smirked and didn't answer.

I really hope the new rules coming and new cars/manufacturer teams will pique my interest more. I used to be in love with ALMS. F1 was always secondary. But really ever since the merge, I've kinda lost interest, and I think it's mostly because the cars have always been what attracts me to motorsport, and the current DPi's and LMP2s are just so cookie cutter and boring and busy looking (yes, somehow both). I think the fact that ALMS allowed you to see the same cars/teams that were at Le Mans in the top category was also a huge draw for me. I'm so stoked we will finally see the same cars fighting at Sebring, Daytona and Le Mans soon. That hasn't been a thing since I started watching.

I'm gonna miss GTLM too. the GT1/GT2 categories have always been my favorites. The highet level of car, while still maintaining a link to road cars, even if at times only aesthetically. GT3 does provide crazy good racing though.

[Rare White Ape]

Hendrick Motorsports is entering the 2023 Le Mans 24 Hour.

…with a NASCAR Next Gen Cup Car.

TRUE FACT.

https://m.nascar.com/news-media/2022...entry-in-2023/

[FaultyMario]

Pechito's hit in Sebring looked harsh.

[Rare White Ape]

Underwhelming sounds, overwhelming looks...

[Blerpa]

This is about growing all of auto racing, not just one race.
Every Racing Series Should Take Le Mans Off

[FaultyMario]

Underwhelming sounds

This is as good as they're ever going to sound again.

I like the sound of the Honda F1 PU, btw.

[Rare White Ape]

The Bathurst 12-hour is on this weekend.

Here's how to watch it in various regions of the world: https://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/streams-tv/