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| 2018 Le Mans 24hr: Post-Race Breakdown & News | |
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|  | | June 22 2018 06:37:01 PM EST | |
| We waited a few days to make this post because we anticipated there would be a lot of info to came out post-race. We were right.
PRE-RACE:
Radio Le Mans interviews with Doug Fehan & Ben Johnson
Mobil 1 The Grid - How Corvette Gets Ready to Race
THE RACE:
Before Practice 1, the ACO issued a new BoP that among other changes, gave the Corvettes a 10kg weight increase. Come to find out this was due to Corvette Racing running at a heavier weight at the Test Day. After Qualifying, the ACO issued another BoP that gave back 5kg.
ARTICLE: Corvette Downplays BoP Weight Increase
Overall BoP was slightly in favor of Porsche, but we have had larger discrepancies in the past. The 63 Corvette actually ended up posting one of the quickest race laps in class late in the race. Aston Martin on the other hand got shafted big time. They were about 5 seconds a lap off pace.
As for the race, the 64 Corvette had several issues including suspension failure and a overheating issue that ultimately took them out of the race.
The 63 Corvette ran a perfect race. Fuel, tires, and no accidents. At the end of the race, the 63 crossed the finish line 5th in class. But it doesn't stop there.
The GTE-Pro race was effectively over after 4hrs of racing when a safety car split the leader from the rest of the GTE-Pro field and gave the winning Porsche a 2 minute lead over the rest of the field with 20 hours to go. All they had to do was manage the race and coast to the finish.
ARTICLE: GTE-Pro Teams Frustrated by Safety Car Impact
To top everything off, for 2018 the pit stop rules changed for Le Mans. GTE-Pro cars were given a 14 lap max stint length, as well as the ability to change tires while refueling. This effectively takes all strategy out of the race and everyone pits at the exact same time every 14 laps. Saving fuel is useless because you have to pit regardless per the rules. Pushing tires an extra stint to save time in the pits is useless since you now have all the time in the world to change them while refueling.
ARTICLE: Fehan - Regs Have Led to “Almost Preordained” Racing
Monday after the race, news came out that the 4th place Ford GT had been given an 11-lap plus 1:23.499 penalty due to one of their drivers not meeting the 6hr minimum drive time rule. This moved the #63 Corvette up to P4.
ARTICLE: No. 67 Ford Loses Fourth in GTE-Pro Due to Drive Time Infraction
Corvette Racing Official Press Release - Le Mans 2018
Photo by Dailysportscar
THE FUTURE OF CORVETTE RACING:
Per Doug Fehan's speech at the 2018 NCM Bash earlier this year, Pratt & Miller are currently working on the next generation race car. We know for a fact that whatever it is, it will be raced. The real question is when will we see it and when will it start racing. A Lot of this is down to timing. Obviously, the production team needs to reveal the next-gen product before that product can go racing. Secondly, you have to go through the steps to homologate the new car before it can compete on track.
Due to the WEC's 2018-2019 "Super Season", the rules may not allow a new car to compete at Le Mans in 2019 since that race is still part of the current season.
FIA WEC "Super Season Info"
Theoretically, if the next-gen Corvette is revealed at the Detroit Auto Show in January of 2019, with the start of the 2019 IMSA season starting a week prior in Daytona for the public test day, a new car wouldn't be able to be publicly shown on track. Also, would it make sense to race a new car in IMSA, and race the old car at Le Mans? Marketing wise, probably not. Therefore we may have the old girl (C7.R) for at least 1 more season.
ARTICLE: Fehan, Corvette Racing Waiting On New Regs & Product To Move Forward
Photo by GM
CORVETTE RACING IN THE WEC:
Fan are always asking: When will Corvette Racing race in the WEC? Well, some interesting news came out today. Corvette Racing will be taking a car to compete in the 6hrs of Shanghai! This endeavor will be funded by Chevrolet Shanghai GM.
The main reason for Corvette Racing's absence from the WEC is funding. The current team that runs is the IMSA series is fully funded and ran under the Chevrolet North America banner. A WEC team would need to be funded and ran from one of Chevrolet's other branches, such as Europe or China. This is also how other manufactures, such as Ford and Porsche orchestrate having 2 separate 2 car teams in 2 different series. Example: Ford Racing USA does IMSA and Ford Racing UK does WEC.
ARTICLE: Corvette Racing Confirms 6H Shanghai Entry
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