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Post by Carl on Jun 11, 2023 16:07:22 GMT
René, Congratulations on a great victory for Scuderia Ferrari! Your faith has been rewarded. Now you can breathe and smile again!
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Post by René on Jun 11, 2023 16:29:58 GMT
Grazie mille! Wow, that was a fantastic race, the most exciting Le Mans for years. There was really nothing between Ferrari and Toyota all the way to the end. After 23 hours it was 13 seconds between them, amazing. Ferrari was strong from the beginning of this season but made some operational and strategic errors. But this time they played it to perfection and only a faltering starter motor (or was it an electrical issue?) for the #51 sometimes made it unnecessarily exciting, not forgetting the spin that Pier Guidi had in the middle of the night. But the pressure was always there from the Toyota #8. The #50 Ferrari was not that lucky this time with an off and energy recovery issues but still finished a decent 5th. Cadillac had a strong race but came up just a little short compared to the Hypercars. Porsche and Peugeot eventually had a disappointing race but the Peugeot had more pace and reliability than most people expected. As Mikael pointed out, the cars look great. And during the first hours when Porsche and Peugeot were still in the mix, the images from all these different Hypercars together were just wonderful. I really enjoyed this one. Of course even more with Ferrari winning but even if they hadn't won, it would still have been a great race. Next year Lamborghini and BMW will join the Hyper class!   |
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Post by robmarsh on Jun 12, 2023 7:33:32 GMT
At last Rene, a Ferrari overall victory at Le Mans, something I have been waiting for since 1968 when I first read Anthony Pritchard's book. The first time in many a year that I actually felt bubbles of joy when watching Le Mans, took me back to the early 70s when sports/prototype racing was at its peak in my mind. So impressive to see Charles Leclerc there supporting the team, Carlos Sainz was noticeble by his absence.
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Post by René on Jun 12, 2023 10:43:07 GMT
It was fantastic and I'm glad you enjoyed it too Rob. I already felt those bubbles at Spa when I saw the Ferraris drive out of the pits for the first time, a great feeling. Winning Le Mans was a dream come true and I think Ferrari fans around the world shed a tear yesterday. Everyone who matters to Ferrari was there; Elkann, Vigna, Vasseur, Leclerc of course and I saw several familiar F1 faces in a 'behind the scenes' shot. No idea about Sainz. It is clear that Charles is really part of 'la famiglia'.  Enzo would have loved this.  |
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Post by Carl on Jun 12, 2023 16:32:33 GMT
Wonderfully compact racing cars, the present generation of endurance (hyper) cars - real racing cars! Something here to study for the Formula One regulation deciders/authors ...
Excellent observation, Mikael!
What may be missing in prototype design is the direct influence of Adrian Newey and the multiplication of wake turbulence. By comparison, prototype aerodynamics seem designed to allow close approaches. |
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Post by Carl on Jun 15, 2023 18:29:35 GMT
The writer of an article in today's Washington Post encountered Dutch fans at LeMans with luxurious accomodations in a campground near Tertre Rouge...
"As I walked through one camping area in a section of the track called Tertre Rouge, a group of fans from the Netherlands asked me to join them for a beer and kebab. Their setup featured a giant tent, a big-screen TV broadcasting the race — “I see it better from here!” one of them told me — speakers, and a refrigerator full of beer. “Every year, we do something a little better,” said Marcel Bollen, one of the group’s de facto ringleaders. “One time, we built a beautiful table, covered it with linen and candles, and had our friend dress like a butler and serve us.”
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Post by mikael on Jun 15, 2023 19:49:26 GMT
The writer of an article in today's Washington Post ...
A great article; thank you from the link, Carl.
What a brilliant fast-food stand! (Picture from the Washington Post article referred to).
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Post by René on Jun 21, 2023 16:09:58 GMT
One more time, to close this topic.  Notice that the #51 car is still dirty from the race! They should put it in the museum like that. |
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Post by mikael on Jun 22, 2023 6:41:58 GMT
Interesting to notice that even these highly electronically controlled racing engines anno 2023 cannot idle smoothly. When idling, they sound very much like the four-rotary Mazda 787B (with that "pop-pop-pop-pop ..." sound). Full-blood racing engines indeed :-)
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