Thursday, June 21, 2018

Le Mans Wrap Up

'bout time for another post, here it is,

 Le Mans Wrap Up!


LMP1

Image result for toyota ts050
(jalopnik.com)

In this year's LMP1, we had a great race between Toyota and Toyota. It's not like the reason Rebellion couldn't have won is because LMP1 is prohibitively expensive and requires world-class drivers, of which hardly any actually want to drive it ( because most are racing Power Wheels and calling it "Formula E". Also, now, there is a fuel limit for each driver stint. I'm pretty sure that there will soon be a mandated racing line, and passing nets a 10 second penalty. I have heard that regular gasoline LMP1 cars may be coming back however (I have also heard that this is the end of LMP1. Let's hope for the former.).

LMP2
 Image result for oreca 07
(oreca.com)

This year's LMP2 was actually quite heated! Although pretty much everyone used either an Oreca or a Gibson, it was pretty competitive. Two Jackie Chan DC cars crashed, making them do a lot worse than they were hoping. Interestingly, a bit of a scandal popped up surrounding another team, G-Drive. Apparently, they were using an illegal fuel-filler valve, helping to speed up pit stops.

GTE Pro
Image result for giant bmw m8 gte
(autosport)

This was a pretty good year for GTE Pro. Porsche won with their "Pink Pig" cars. The Ford GT's did meh, rather like last year. Dirk Müller and his co-drivers did the best out of the GT's, winning 3rd in his class. I think that they would be faster if they ran with V8's. The Corvettes did OK, with the #63 car doing a gratuitous burnout on getting 5th. This was also the first year that the BMW M8's ran.
GTE Am
Image result for GTE am
(motorsport.com)
The GTE Am was pretty normal this year. There wasn't anything especially interesting this year, aside from a couple crashes (everyone was OK). I think that despite the fact that LMP1 is expensive to enter, it is fantastic that small(ish) teams can race in the big time.

Here's hoping to a good Le Mans next year,

-Kailas

Saturday, June 16, 2018

Let Mans 2018

Remember...
Le Mans is happening right now! Find a good livestream and watch it!