Planet-9 Porsche Forum banner
  • NOTICE - Before adding photos to posts on Planet-9, please review: Posting Photos on Planet-9

10K views 76 replies 25 participants last post by  TerrySmith 
#1 ·
Anyone else getting psyched for this year's race?
 
#2 ·
Yep! I was wondering when we would start another thread on it. I can't wait.
 
#3 ·
Should be interesting strategy with "only" two cars a piece for Porsche (919) and Audi (eTron).... higher premium on needing both cars to "finish" to be competitive.
Then there was the issue of using "last year's battery" pack given the problems with the 2016 pack.

But the real story to watch will be how throughly the 911 RSR's get pounded by all sorts of cars -- and whether the Ford GT effort (Ganassi doesn't do things half way) takes the GTLE win. I have to admit, the Ford GT is a pretty fine car... not what I'd call production based, right?? Their web site offers a "configurator", al la Porsche.. but no options except a few "interior" looks, no prices, and no availability..

Well, if Porsche can't win, maybe I'll cheer for the blue-oval --- instead of the red horsey thing..
D
 
#5 ·
What I really enjoy is the number of the IMSA drivers and teams that participate. The GT classes are by far my focus. As others stated....love Ford coming back. Chevy, Ford, Porsche, Ferrari..............will be good. Gee I wonder why those Daytona prototypes don't participate being that they are the pinnacle of automotive technological development :).
 
#7 ·
Here are Fox's show times:

The race will be shown at the following times, ET:
Saturday, June 18
FS1: 8:30 AM to 2:00 PM
FS2: 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM
FS2: 6:00 PM to 6:30 PM
FS2: 7:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Sunday, June 19
FS2: 10:30 PM to 2:30 AM
FS1: 2:30 AM to 9:30 AM


Read more: Check out TV listings for 24 Hours of Le Mans | Autoweek

Wish I had FS2, but 5 1/2 hours at the start & 7 hours of the end isn't too shabby.
 
#8 ·
The real problem is that it looks like FS is offering great coverage, but FS2 is not available in all areas. eg in NM, FS1 is available via the cable carrier, but FS2 is only available via Directv, which many people don't get because they have cable. In this case there's no way to get FS2...
I ended up buying access via the WEC website. 10Euro for the race on my iPad. Seems like a deal.
 
#11 ·
Porsche sweeps top two spots in Qualifying 1

Error Page
 
#18 · (Edited)
Coverage is on FS2.

The radio broadcast on the Ford stream is excellent - a British station dedicated to racing. I left the computer on all night and would wake up and hear updates.

PORSCHE HAS JUST TAKEN THE LEAD!!!
 
#21 ·
We have all our opinion, but why should they have won? It's a race and they lost. Better luck next year. Close doesn't cut it.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Luck Is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity"

It's not the LeMans 23:54:00 race.

"You don't choose the race, the race chooses you" - Bob Varsha

Congrats Porsche!

Where do you buy those tee shirts?
 
#28 ·
The most significant thing here is NOT that Porsche took LMP1. They were expected to dominate as long as they run works cars in the prototypes. And surely over time, the technology from LMP1 will trickle down into production cars, although I thought the 919s sound terrible. In any case, the true thing to watch for the sports cars were the Ford GT in GTE Pro they took the top 3 of 4 spots.

THAT is dominating. FORD is back for real and the American cars sounded great.

991RSR days are over ... where is the 960????????
 
#32 · (Edited)
For anyone who thinks it is the 23 hours 55 minutes of Le Mans, this article from 2006 was influential to me about buying the Cayman and I think it still is an outstanding article. From TTAC Porsche Uber Alles

"Back in 2002, the redoubtable Brock Yates, late of Car and Driver, challenged Ferrari/Lamborghini (for the purposes of this article they are interchangable) to place in the top three in his annual One Lap Of America. He put five G’s on the barrel to back up his claim that they couldn’t measure up. "All the swooning about Italian iron fades away when the party gets rough,” Brock said. “When it comes to a hard-core street fight, they're as soft as mozzarella in the Tuscan sun." Perhaps that’s also why a Ferrari PR man once admitted that his customers are “an integral part of the development process.” ...

And then there’s Porsche.


There's an old racing expression: "To finish first, first you must finish." Porsche doesn’t just pay homage to it, they live it. The German company has dominated nearly every race series in which they’ve competed. More to the point, Porsche’s won the grueling 24-hour race at Le Mans sixteen times. That’s more than Ferrari and Ford put together. This phenomenal stamina is now built into every Porsche road car.


A while back, I was invited to speak to a local chapter of Porsche owners. I tried to explain the over-engineering that makes Porsche’s road cars so tough. For example, their engines and transmissions are built absurdly strong for their size. You will find more bearing area, big-ends and mains, for each liter of displacement in a 911 engine than in any other engine in production today. It’s an obscure technical point, but a telling one. You simply cannot buy a more robust high performance automobile. It’s a difference a skilled driver can feel.


... The Porsche Turbo is still the single most effective exemplar of the “everyday” supercar. It’s the only ultra-high performance automobile I’d jump into at a moment’s notice and confidently head for the other end of the country, or take to the supermarket to pickup a weekend’s supplies.


Is reliability the ultimate measure of a high performance car? Of course not. Otherwise, the Porsche Turbo would be in a class of one. In my opinion, in fact, it is. ... And it jibes with the age old question: what’s the world’s best car? Simple: The one that lives up to its promises."
 
#36 ·
If you follow Porsche on Facebook, here is what they said about the win over Toyota...and they posted a pic of the Toyota. Porsche is a class act!

"Competed together for 24 hours.
Head to head for 24 hours.
Gained our respect forever"

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sports car Race car
 
#39 ·
two things.
being an avid golfer, I was very interested in the US Open (in fact, I volunteer as a tournament rules official for regional and USGA tournaments in Northern Calif). So, I was really interested in the open,
But i set my clock to get up to catch the final laps of LeMans... which I did --- and glad to have done so to catch "that" drama.

My complaint on the race is the inept BOP for the LMGT cars. Hey, "our" 911 RSR's are old and suck... got it, but, they are pretty much based on a production car. The Ferrari is based on a car that you can buy, if you have the money. But, as far as I can tell, the only Ford GT's that exist are owned by Ganassi and his race team. They are not production cars, even though there is a sham of being able to buy one on the Ford web site -- its on their "configurator" --- but only options were renderings of a couple seat trim options and NO pricing, details, etc. As a golf tournament official, I'm called on to make a ruling on the FACTS, and the fact is the Ford GT is a purpose built race car. I remember the old "rule" at LeMans that the cars had to be able to carry two people and a suit case --- remember the "suit case" that was strapped to the rear of the tail section of the 917's?? I bet you can't get one of those in the Ford GT -- or the 919, Audi e-Tron, or Toyota hybrid either. But not being able to store an overnighter in a "production" based car is flaunting the rules. What happened to the requirements to homologate a model to be able to race in a series??

It wouldn't be that much of a stretch, in comparison, to claim that those Daytona Prototype "stingrays" should be allowed to race against the Fords. Both are purpose built, non-production cars, though use essentially "stock" engines.

I think Ford would have honored their "50th" anniversary of their GT40 wins with a car that was at least nominally homologated with production cars available for purchase.
OK, I yield the soap-box.
D
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top