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WEC this year looks almost like F1 2011 , where there is Audi AND the others.. since Peugeot Retired Audi Dominated - dominates and will dominate the championship ! Don't expect a win from Toyota in Le mans
However I don't see a big difference between the R18 ULTRA and the R18 E-Tron Quattron ( considering Race Pace )

RB_[Gnx] wrote:WEC this year looks almost like F1 2011 , where there is Audi AND the others.. since Peugeot Retired Audi Dominated - dominates and will dominate the championship ! Don't expect a win from Toyota in Le mans
However I don't see a big difference between the R18 ULTRA and the R18 E-Tron Quattron ( considering Race Pace )

Luckily in LMP2 and GTE Pro there are some interesting fights. I agree with you, AUDI is dominating this Championship but I think this is going to be a preparatory year for Toyota and for the Delta Wing as well. I think that the next will be more funny.

RB_[Gnx] wrote:However I don't see a big difference between the R18 ULTRA and the R18 E-Tron Quattron ( considering Race Pace )

Disagree, did you see the pace of the e-trons early in the race when the track was still reasonably wet? The Ultras were almost 4 sec slower than the e-trons! In the later stages, though, when the track was drying out, both were doing similar lap times. I want to see what the e-trons can do at Le Mans in three weeks time now, can't wait! However, without the presence of the 908 HDi, it ll be a dull race with the Audis dominating and racing amongst themselves

ds.raikkonen wrote:

RB_[Gnx] wrote:However I don't see a big difference between the R18 ULTRA and the R18 E-Tron Quattron ( considering Race Pace )

Disagree, did you see the pace of the e-trons early in the race when the track was still reasonably wet? The Ultras were almost 4 sec slower than the e-trons! In the later stages, though, when the track was drying out, both were doing similar lap times. I want to see what the e-trons can do at Le Mans in three weeks time now, can't wait! However, without the presence of the 908 HDi, it ll be a dull race with the Audis dominating and racing amongst themselves

Agree, I think that the 80th edition of Le Mans 24h wont' be spectacular like it would deserve.

italian wrote:Agree, I think that the 80th edition of Le Mans 24h wont' be spectacular like it would deserve.

Yeah, I hope the Toyota hybrids are quick enough to give Audi and the R18 drivers something to think about. Otherwise it ll be like watching MSC in the 2002 and 2004 season, catastrophically boring!

Well I think it is quite clear how it is going to be, Audi just cruising laps and the rest 2 secs slower

wesley123 wrote:Well I think it is quite clear how it is going to be, Audi just cruising laps and the rest 2 secs slower

Well, you never know, the R10s slower than the 908s in 2008, yet they won based due to excellent strategy. Let's hope someone will have a strategy which can stop the relentless advance of the R18s or else people ll be fast asleep by hour 2.

Interesting news from lemans.org about how the rules will be regarding hybrids.

Essentially, between "braking zones" the cars will be allowed to use 500 kJ of energy, to remove the possibility of holding down the boost button through the Mulssanne Straight I would imagine as well as costs.

http://www.lemans.org/en/races/24h/upda ... _7185.html

At the end it mentions the different rules regarding using the "ERS" between the Toyotas (rear electric) and the Audis (front electric) where the Audis need to be above a certain speed to use their ERS (much like the use of KERS in starts in F1). I am curious as to how this will affect the performance of the hybrids with these two different layouts, as Spa showed the E-tron's effectiveness in the wet, but perhaps the ever-presence of ERS for the Toyotas will enhance acceleration out of the corners.

Exciting stuff as the time draws closer and closer.

Maybe the most interesting thing will be watching the Delta Car performance.

italian wrote:Maybe the most interesting thing will be watching the Delta Car performance.

For me the interest here has been taken away by the fact that the Deltawing is running to its own set of rules and has been engineered to achieve a specific lap time; between an LMP1 and an LMP2... so don't expect any surprises here....

More discussions on Deltawing;

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10189&start=300

ds.raikkonen wrote:

wesley123 wrote:Well I think it is quite clear how it is going to be, Audi just cruising laps and the rest 2 secs slower

Well, you never know, the R10s slower than the 908s in 2008, yet they won based due to excellent strategy. Let's hope someone will have a strategy which can stop the relentless advance of the R18s or else people ll be fast asleep by hour 2.

Great comparasion, the 908 was a diesel and was pretty close in laptime. No one will come close in terms of laptime to the Audi's, then you can have an tactic that will be perfect, but then you wont even be able to fight the Audi's

italian wrote:Maybe the most interesting thing will be watching the Delta Car performance.

Perhaps they should try the other way round as well!

interesting prss release from Audi:-

https://www.audi-mediaservices.com/publ ... hkeit.html

Journée Test des 24 Heures du Mans (live timing)

Sunday June the 3rd, 2012

http://live.lemans-tv.com/fr/

The Delta Wing allready under 4 minutes after 8 laps. Audi e-tron Quattro nr.2 McNish run again after electrical problem.
http://radiolemans.0157.org/nplayer.php

Now on air : 6h Interlagos (5. Round WEC 2012)

http://www.sportlemon.tv/v-4/4/90/v-449088.html

Very good race til now. Toyota faster but Audi did use less fuel...