How come so few teams compete in the LMP1 class of Le Mans?

Budget. To compete, now, it takes insane amounts of money.

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>>14158073
That's because they keep tightening the regulations and keep pushing all the Hybrid shit

It all lead to this monstrosity (pic related)

>>14158066
That was the best carnation of the R18. No electric bullshit drive, and a whole body because turbulence holes over the wheels weren't a regulation thing yet

>>14158118

I still think that a front-engined LMP1 could work under the current regulations and maybe even 2017's new rules (Unless the ACO outlaw them or something).

The problem with the Nissan was that the project itself was running about a year behind schedule, there was no money to develop the car, the hybrid system was a pile of junk that didn't work and impacted EVERYTHING on the GT-R LM Nismo (Braking systems, Suspension Geometry, Tire choices, Horsepower and Fuel Economy were all negatively impacted because of not having a working hybrid system) and there were something like only 40 people on the entire team (In comparison, Manor-Marussia are considered to be the smallest team in F1 but have 150 full-time staff)...

In short, Nissan fucked right up with the whole project, but the concept could be competitive.

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>>14158669
They should have just made it front engine rwd, that way they wouldn't have to make it so complicated

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>>14158118
>tightening the regulations and keep pushing all the Hybrid shit
>It all lead to this monstrosity

>implying nissan isnt just fucking retarded

>>14158701

The issue there would be fitting in a physical driveshaft and keeping the car's center-of-gravity down.

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>>14158723
What he said

>>14158732
The driveshaft is usually one of the lowest sitting components of a car. That wouldn't change the center of gravity by much, maybe even improve it

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>>14158736

The Deltawing was just something that Nissan sponsored and supplied engines to; The car was built and designed in 'murrica.

Pic Related, on the other hand, was their take on the Deltawing concept and it failed to last 5 laps at Le Mans.

>>14158750

Good point.

>>14158701
the entire point of the car was to dodge regulations that where gimping the amount of down force they could have on the front
>>14158669
has the main problem
they dicked around too much trying to decide on implementation of the kers that by the time they made up their mind the suppliers did not have time to deliver

>>14158736
>>14158766
Never forget

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDLm-4D5UlE

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>>14158750
no room that low
>muh areo
they were talking about using portal axels just avoid turbulence in the side tunnels

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>>14158066
>LMP2: Different variety of basically the same car.

But that's wrong

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>>14158798
It might be a shit car but that video still brings many feels.

Imagine being in the drivers shoes.
>Doesn't care about what kind of car he drives, just happy to be part of the legendary Le Mans.
>Then some fukboi in a Toyoda crashes you by "accident"
>Spend 2 hours trying to fix it so you can finish the race, or at least bring the car home to pit

>>14158840
Might have exaggerated, but it's besides the point

>>14158816
>muh areo

That really helped them in the race
>slower than LMP2

VAG WINS LOL

LMP1 is so boring

>>14158880
That's the whole point of the thread

Where the fuck is the competition?
Bring back HDI FAP

>>14158798
RIP Nii- . . san

(1933-2002)

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LMP1s serve as technology testbeds so Porsche/Yota/VAG can try out new tricks that they plan on actually implementing onto road cars (unlike F1). That is why small companies don't field LMP1s because they come with a shitload of corporate patents and its unlikely you'll come off with a win unless you have a Formula One racing manager guiding you.


>>14158880
LeMans is second best race

24h Nur has more personalities and broke as fuck teams in genes and random T-shirts racing next to Bentley/BMW/AMG's million dollar operations.

VLN is the superior race of the year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHtVQ2lvs2I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWrn9tritO8

>do any of you have any clue of how WEC is?

>>14158870
>meanwhile at nissan fuckup headquarters
guys we cant get this retarded portal axle system to work need more time
>NO MUSHT HRAVEE AREO
ok ok fuck well just make the hybrid kers put all the power to the front wheels
lets see...
oh shit the front tires cant handle it and our hybrid drive system suppler cucked the ever living fuck out of us
should we still run this year ??
na lets just run without hybrid drive then lads fwd masterrace

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>>14158926
Like these guys

>>14159016
>they still win

Just...fucking amazing.

>>14159016
WAT racing team when

>>14158939
They had to participate because of all the hype they created themselves.

What will they try this year?

>>14159016
THANK YOU MANTA

>>14159088
they really did paint themselves into a corner
>What will they try this year?
not even make an attempt

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>>14159040
Give a sticker to one of those Renault teams, could end up on Sports1.

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>>14159108
>not even make an attempt
But what could possibly go wrong?

>>14159143
complex
under developed
difficult to repair
if they win other teams will get jelly and ban them

>>14159216
>if they win other teams will get jelly and ban them
Isn't that the story with Nissan usually when they competed back in the days?

>>14159143
I don't get why they don't just slap some slicks on a real gtr and call it a day.
It would dominate what ever class it was put in

>>14160002

The current GT-R is too good for motorsports stock. That's why the GT3 version is RWD only and there never will be a GTE-spec car.

>>14161793
Also v8

>>14159016
THANK YOU MANTA

>>14159016
someone explain the meme regarding this car to me

>>14162645
Not anymore. Not since GT1 was disbanded.

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>>14158934
>thinking /o/ has any clue about racing in general

Many series provided amazing racing this season. But honestly the 2015 919 is the single car that gave me goosebumps, that acceleration it possessed was down right frightening.

>>14162740
But it looks pretty slow out of corners.

What engine does it use?

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it's expensive

They were better when they were 11k rpm screamers. Now they are 5k rpm diesels and electric hybrids. plus the racing is boring, typically dominated by one make all season similar to nu-F1. also the production based cars are more relate-able for fans and normies alike.

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>>14158066
Because they were all BTFO by Mazda in 1991 and stopped trying

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>>14159040

>>14162916
It's not slow coming out of the corners, it just has way less downforce than the Audi so during the corners it loses quite a bit of ground to it. the porsche has a ~600hp 2L V4 engine and a ~550-600hp hybrid system

>>14163005
What car is that?

>>14163103
Formula Renault 2.0

>>14163113
Wow

Of course Renault is bound to win if they make a series where only their cars are allowed...

>>14158066
LMP1 is expensive as hell. I don't know the numbers, but I can bet it is more expensive than F1 nowadays.
As long as the P1-H subclass existed, it was explicitly reserved for manufacturer teams, which means it was reserved only for manufacturers that:
a) have a lot of money
b) care about such an high level of Motorsport
c) are not already spending money on other serious projects.

Which narrows the selection down to what we have now.
Nissan tried, but they were probably not used to the tight schedules of developing a P1 and went for a very risky design, which eventually proved to be a failure and couldn't be developed in such a short time.

There is also the fact that rules are changed every year, which means you have to basically develop a new car every time. That's an absurd amount of money to spend.

The privateer class was a failure and will keep on being a failure, nobody is interested in spending huge money for a class that nobody cares about and is currently dominated by Rebellion, which is indirectly an Oreca official team. I don't even know why Bykolles keeps investing in this when they clearly have an inferior and obsolete car (it's the same team that raced under the Lotus name) and are basically running with no sponsors.

LMP2s are definitely not the same car, but the class is suffering the same fate of the private P1. Oreca is supposed to stop investing in it's 05 car (which doesn't mean they will stop producing it) because G-Drive/onroak is basically a Ligier factory team and is proving to be a strong competitor, while KGMC is still a legit private team. The BR01 is a joke car and will be banned next year so it doesn't count.

It's a shame for the P2 class, really, it's almost more fun to watch than P1 IMO and it is still accessible enough for most teams to join. Just look at the amount of P2s in the ELMS

>>14163834
You threw a lot of terms and names around there, I not versed enough in the Le Mans world to understand what you meant.

Could you explain it all a little simpler?

>>14158798
That made me well up a bit. Poor guy.

>>14163850

P1s are expensive as fuck
One P1 private team is basically a factory team, the other isn't.
P2s are not the same
One P2 team is basically a factory team, the others are not
Competition too strong for everyone else racing with prototypes in the WEC

Names I used:
Rebellion: a "private" P1 team that is actually indirectly backed by the company that builds the car they use (Oreca), it,s one of the two teams currently racing this class
Bykolles: the other private team, they use an old car that has never been good, constantly losing to the much stronger competition or braking down and retiring.
G-Drive: big name and team in the P2 class, does the same thing Rebellion does, but with another manufacturer (Onroak)
Oreca: french race car manufacturer, famous and successful in the LMP2 business with it's 05(name of latest car) and 03/03R (name of previous car) for a long time. They also developed the car Rebellion uses, named R1
Onroak: another french race car manufacturer, they build the Ligier JSP2, which is the car that both G-Drive and EMS (an American team) use, among others. It has an heavy and not so subtle presence in the G-Drive team.
BR01: name of the car made by BR Engineering, which is the in-house manufacturer of SMP Racing. It's not competitive nor relevant and will be banned next year among other manufacturer as per new regulations.

Hope it's clear now

>>14163929
Oh forgot a name:

KCMG: hong-kong based team, it was the only team using an Oreca05 in last year season, everyone else kept on using 03s or other cars.

>>14163834
>The privateer class was a failure and will keep on being a failure, nobody is interested in spending huge money for a class that nobody cares about and is currently dominated by Rebellion, which is indirectly an Oreca official team.

Rebellion isn't the only privateer on LMP1? Basically they race alone

>>14164011
There is Bykolles (assuming they will keep on racing next season, I didn't check), known two years ago for being Lotus Team, but they are far from competitive so yes, Rebellion is basically racing alone and they are far too advanced and competitive for any other private team that can't be backed by a chassis manufacturer.

>>14163929
Thanks mate

>>14163834
To add on this, a word about GTs.

The way I see it is that most manufacturers can't afford or don't want to devote themselves to the development of a GTE platform.
Keep in mind that GTEs are radically different than the much more popular and cheaper GT3s and they are much closer to the now-defunct GT2 class.
It's probably more expensive to convert a GT3 to a GTE than it is to build a GTE from scratch, but this is speculation territory so don't quote me on this.

Ferrari has always been in basically any GT competition ever and, although they outsource the building of their non-F1 racecars, they are absolutely invested in this.
Same thing with Porsche, they have a car for everything. Those are the names you will never stop seeing in this kind of competitions.
The only ones I don't know much about are Astons, seems like their GTEs are their main focus and I don't remember seeing them much outside of the GTE scene lately.

As for other manufacturers, I think they are good with their GT3 cash cows.
BMW, Audi and MB are all set with their Z4, R8 and SLS and probably lack money or interest into developing a platform that can basically only run two or three championships.
The only exception being Audi of course, but they went straight for the P1 and have something that the others don't have: VW money, which is like saying unlimited money.

Ford lacked a proper Motorsport team outside of Rally since forever (at least in Europe), and they basically have nothing on the GT scene at the moment, so their are probably trying to get their slice of the market and push their new car in Europe.
I'm good with this, new competition is always welcome.

The only thing I don't understand is the new rule for this year that prevents teams from entering more than 2 PRO cars of the same manufacturer. I mean, all the teams currently running in that class definitely have both money, cars and drivers available for more than 2 entries, so why block that?

Sorry for the text wall

>>14158066
Because ironically LMP1 regulations are more limited than in F1,
and having 8 (?) different fuel allowances that promote one type of engines (Diesel) is retarded.
Even if regulations are really lax no teams want to take
the risk of developing something that would seriously impact performance,
because of small budgets, jewry and the fact the volkswagen holds ACO by the balls.

Not to mention that viewership ratings are shit and no sane person wants to watch 6 or 24 hours borefest with at best 1 event per 10 minutes.

Fuck ACO, their "balancing" and artificial close racing.
LM* at this point is a wannabe F1/GP-whatever series.

>>14167072
>and having 8 (?) different fuel allowances that promote one type of engines (Diesel)

Care to elaborate on this?

>>14158926
God those videos are beautiful.