Quote from Rappa Z :

Ferrari says they would consider a LMP1 campaign using a derivative of their turbo V6 F1 engine.

Audi, Porsche, Nissan, Ferrari .. would be nice

Quote from ACCAkut :

Audi, Porsche, Nissan, Ferrari .. would be nice

You forgot one other Japanese manufacturer that at least is currently participating and is all but confirmed to participate beyond 2014, unlike Nissan who will keep avoiding competition in the maximum PR, minimum risk exhibition class.

Would be nice for Nissan to commit fully to an LMP car.

Also, any word on a possible Peugeot return? would like the see some form of 908 back.

Quote from (-Mark-) :

Also, any word on a possible Peugeot return? would like the see some form of 908 back.

I really doubt it. PSA has already Citroen brand in WTCC and WRC(which seems to be fading out though), also whole PSA sales are pretty much down, so it is down to current economical situation...

Quote from Rappa Z :

Ferrari says they would consider a LMP1 campaign using a derivative of their turbo V6 F1 engine.

This could be awesome.

Oooooh I'd love that to happen

As long as there are more manufacturers in the mix, it's all good news IMO!

The last time Nissan had any success in a racing championship with Multiple factory teams outside of Japan would have to be 1999 in BTCC.

The last time they went for the overall class at Lemans was a joke.

Quote from Mustafur :

The last time Nissan had any success in a racing championship with Multiple factory teams outside of Japan would have to be 1999 in BTCC.

The last time they went for the overall class at Lemans was a joke.

Will be nice to see how the Deltawing fairs in the TUSC Prototype class. Since they will be up against LMP2's, DP's etc.

Also, what's the point of the PC class. Just beef them up and offer them in the P class.... since they are identical they would be fairly easy to balance with the rest of the prototypes i think.

I sorta get the difference in GTLM and GTD but it's pretty pointless. Let's be honest there are no amateurs anymore. It's all about being able to afford a ride. Two classes would be hell of a lot easier to follow than 4.

Also, looking at the schedule, why do some classes not race in certain rounds? Seems kind of silly to me.

4 classes means 2 more with a top podium spot. IMO its easier to find sponsors if the chance to appear somewhere as the top car in class is higher (pretty sure there is more thought behind the 4 class system, but this just came to my mind)

Quote from TypeRacing :

I really doubt it. PSA has already Citroen brand in WTCC and WRC(which seems to be fading out though), also whole PSA sales are pretty much down, so it is down to current economical situation...

I wasn't particularly thinking of a Peugeot backed team, but maybe just a team using the 908, the Oreca did a few years ago

Regulations have changed so the 908 is no longer eligible...Bruno Famin, Peugeot Sport boss and former 908 programm technical director said that Peugeot might be back in some international championship in 2017, especially with the help of Carlos Tavares, new PSA president and the one that relauched Alpine at renault.

That could be WRC or WEC imo. In the same interview Famin said that he felt that Le Mans was tasting unfinished for him.

Quote from ACCAkut :

4 classes means 2 more with a top podium spot. IMO its easier to find sponsors if the chance to appear somewhere as the top car in class is higher (pretty sure there is more thought behind the 4 class system, but this just came to my mind)

Everybody wins! Often I wonder if this category of racing is really a professional sport at all. Especially WEC with the in-class sub-championships.

Quote from MoMo92i :

Regulations have changed so the 908 is no longer eligible...Bruno Famin, Peugeot Sport boss and former 908 programm technical director said that Peugeot might be back in some international championship in 2017, especially with the help of Carlos Tavares, new PSA president and the one that relauched Alpine at renault.

That could be WRC or WEC imo. In the same interview Famin said that he felt that Le Mans was tasting unfinished for him.

Link/what interview?

Well it was discussed a while ago on Endurance-info sourcing a german website. I would try to find that back but usually I look at this forum to have fun reading all the false rumours going on and makes me laugh.

Interesting idea pertaining to Ferrari...

With the FIA planning to place a budget cap on F1 teams, Ferrari could potentially divert their excess funds to a WEC effort. This effort uses and develops an engine built as close to F1 spec as possible (they said they wanted to use a derivative anyway). Ferrari can then take the WEC engine development and dump it back into the F1 car, allowing them to work on the engine without billing it to their limited budget.

edit: Here's some basic assumptions maths I did.

Quote :

So I was looking around Reddit earlier and someone mentioned that Ferrari would be in full support of giving double points to Abu Dhabi because any extra exposure for the track is extra exposure for Ferrari World. In all honesty, probably true but only because it's a good marketing decision. Cheeky, but the exact cleverness you would expect from Ferrari.

Then I thought about the budget cap and how Ferrari must certainly be adamantly opposed to it. Maybe, they aren't opposed though. Maybe, thanks to the WEC, they have already found a loophole. Indeed, I think they have.

Assume Ferrari has a budget of £250 million ($411 million), a fortune that is actually less than their known 2003 budget. Lets say the FIA set a budget cap of £120 million ($147 million), massive compared to the £25 million ($41 million) car planned in 2009. This leaves Ferrari with £130 million ($214 million) to spend on a rumored WEC effort. For reference, Audi is estimated to spend between £125-£180 million ($205-296 million). So Ferrari could easily fund a decent WEC effort with their leftover F1 budget.

Here's where the the fun begins. Ferrari said they want to run their WEC effort on a F1 derived engine. So, what if they use and develop a F1 engine (as close as they can get, at least) like they did with the 333SP? Well, Ferrari develops that as-close-to-F1 engine in the WEC, then shares all their development with the F1 team, free of charge. Now the F1 team has millions of dollars worth of engine development, but not one cent of it is on their budget. The top teams currently spend roughly £79 million ($150 million) on engine development each year. This means Ferrari could operate on a budget that would easily be over 60% of their original budget (my maths say this could be as much as 80% if Ferrari continued to spend £79 million, but this would lead to reduced development on the rest of the WEC car). Compare that to the 52% the FIA rules specified. As an added bonus, not one other team in F1 has a WEC effort (and maybe 2 or 3 could ever afford it), so Ferrari is left as the only team able to use this loophole.

It's all crazy and based on many assumptions, I know, but I find it hard to believe this hasn't crossed their minds in Maranello.

Well you ain't gonna have an F1 sister engine in WEC because the rules would exclude it. You either have a hybrid or a diesel or you FO. Basically...

Quote from BlueFlame :

Well you ain't gonna have an F1 sister engine in WEC because the rules would exclude it. You either have a hybrid or a diesel or you FO. Basically...

You can run anything you want basically. An F1 engine would be very competitive. Expensive yes, but that is why engine rules are only fully open to manufacturer teams.

Yea cos an F1 engine is gonna use that little fuel..... you'd have to restrict power then, making it completely useless.

It clearly says that 2014 car must be a hybrid.

Quote from BlueFlame :

It clearly says that 2014 car must be a hybrid.

You've got to be joking. That would exclude an F1 engine how?

Quote from JackDaMaster :

You've got to be joking. That would exclude an F1 engine how?

I'm sure WEC regs exclude using KERS system from the turbine otherwise Audi would have already been doing it.

Quote from BlueFlame :

I'm sure WEC regs exclude using KERS system from the turbine otherwise Audi would have already been doing it.

You don't have to spool the turbo in an F1 engine. In fact I'm willing to be that 90% of the time F1 teams won't be spooling the turbo using the KERS anyway.

Quote from JackDaMaster :

You don't have to spool the turbo in an F1 engine. In fact I'm willing to be that 90% of the time F1 teams won't be spooling the turbo using the KERS anyway.

This is the most retarded thing I've ever heard.

The whole point of a turbine is for it to rotate increasing the pressure pulling more and more gas through the engine. You have to spool it at some point it doesn't just start rotating at a reasonable speed from nothing.

And there's multiple videos and images showing a kers system connected via the rotation of the turbine shaft. Nobody is "spooling a turbo" from a KERS system. It's the kers system that's charged via the rotation of the turbine. God knows why you even suggested that.

Quote from BlueFlame :

This is the most retarded thing I've ever heard.

The whole point of a turbine is for it to rotate increasing the pressure pulling more and more gas through the engine. You have to spool it at some point it doesn't just start rotating at a reasonable speed from nothing.

And there's multiple videos and images showing a kers system connected via the rotation of the turbine shaft. Nobody is "spooling a turbo" from a KERS system. It's the kers system that's charged via the rotation of the turbine. God knows why you even suggested that.

Not sure you read past the first sentence of my post but anyway. I know how a turbo works, there's a reason that I said that 90% of the time they wouldn't use the KERS (MGU-H) to spool the turbo.

And anyway, why wouldn't they spool the turbo using the KERS (MGU-H)? It sure beats turbo lag. I mean the MGU-H has **** all else to do seeing as you can't use it to drive the wheels directly.

And anyway. In case you forgot, there are two KERS systems on the 2014 engines. You can, obviously using witchcraft, just disconnect the MGU-H and VOILA, you have 1 (one) eligible engine for WEC.

Quote from JackDaMaster :

And anyway. In case you forgot, there are two KERS systems on the 2014 engines. You can, obviously using witchcraft, just disconnect the MGU-H and VOILA, you have 1 (one) eligible engine for WEC.

Yea and as I said, how you gonna get the fuel milage out of it? You would have to restrict power out put by delaying the valve timing and leveling out the cam profile. Which would be much easier by just making a new engine. F1 engines are designed to run as little MPG as possible within a 300km window. Obviously it needs no explaination that WEC races are a bit more than 300km :P

In regards to turbo lag obviously they'll just have an ECU setup to trail throttle like they do anyway.

Quote from BlueFlame :

Yea and as I said, how you gonna get the fuel milage out of it? You would have to restrict power out put by delaying the valve timing abit and leveling out the cam profile. Which would be much easier by just making a new engine.

Or, you know, inject less fuel.