New regulations at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans continue to have competitors speaking out.
In fact, Corvette Racing program manager Doug Fehan believes the rules have led to “almost preordained” racing.
“I think the sporting regulations have made the race almost too mechanical, almost preordained, and not real racing,” Fehan told sportscar365.com. “And that’s not a criticism.”
The final outcome of the 24-hour race was actually decided in the fourth hour when the eventual winner, the No. 92 Porsche 911 RSR, was fortunate to pit early and was able to gain a nearly three-minute advantage over top challengers, including the Corvette, that were relegated to another safety car pack and thus wasn’t able to make up the deficit.
Speaking of pitting, Fehan also believes that new pit stop rules, along with minimum fueling times and maximum stint lengths, had the effect of cutting back on racing strategy and reducing the role of the overall team.
“I like it when the pit stop plays a role in how effectively you compete in the race,” Fehan said. “Where it’s more than just a driver in the car, it’s the whole team that has a role.”
Fehan noted that refueling and tire changes are now done simultaneously, similar to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Fehan described himself as a “huge advocate of separating car work and fueling, so the emphasis comes on to the crew. I want to see the same thing in America.”
For the second year in a row, refueling times were controlled, with a minimum of 35 seconds for GTE-Pro. The GTE-Pro cars were also limited to 14-lap stints, other than 11 laps in the opening stint and 13 laps in the closing stint.
Fehan praised the FIA and ACO for their work done in the Balance of Performance for GTE-Pro, saying “I think we’re going to find that we have really gotten close on a BoP situation and now we need to focus on a sporting regulations situation.”
He’s not the only one who would like to see changes considered.
BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt admitted some of the new rules are necessary to get a proper balanced field but due to the Porsche running away from the field and challengers not being able to make up the difference, “at the end of the day, I think we really need to look at the overall package.”
While the winner may not have been in question because of the safety car issue, Fehan said overall the strict controls may have resulted in closer racing on the track – with four manufacturers finishing in the top five. In fact, the No. 63 Corvette C7.R finished fourth and set the race’s fastest lap after two revisions to the BoP following the Le Mans Test Day.
“I want to see the data because, I think I know where’s it’s going,” Fehan said, “but I think I’m going to be really impressed when I see it. I think it’s going to be way closer than anyone expected.”
Source:
sportscar365.com
Related:
Corvette C7.R to Race in WEC in Shanghai
Corvette Racing: C7.Rs May Be With Us For A Little While Longer
Corvette Racing’s Fehan Not Happy with Safety Car Deployment at Le Mans 2018
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So it is really cool when I win, otherwise I was screwed! OK, so next year is BMW’s turn; then Ferrari; then Corvette; and then Aston Martin again…everybody got that?? 😉
Your seeing racing as a whole run it’s final day’s, that’s all.
Porsche 911 RSR is beauty and you can option both a Clubsport package (rollcage, harness, fire extinguisher, ignition cut-off) and a Weissach package (as available on the 918 Spyder and GT2 RS)
I don’t know how a manager with unlimited resources to win, and who keeps losing, continues to keep their job. Does the manager now want to play the lobbyist to international rules committees instead of perfecting his winning strategy’s; given that EVERY OTHER TEAM HAS TO LIVE BY THE SAME RULES. Or maybe he has just run out of winning strategies. Nothing to see here folks, just a poor loser whining and complaining instead of doing his job.
@Chuck – helps if you read the article, he was saying basically the opposite, which is that the racing was quite close. The new pit stop & stint rules are stupid, I’ve yet to see a justification for them. It’s Corvette’s 20th anniversary at Le Mans next year, so I’m pretty sure next year it will be Corvette, BMW, then the others…
@Bapak – you do realize you’re talking about the team manager with the best record in the series for the GT class, right? They’ve won their category 8 of the last 19 years at Le Mans. I’m guessing you don’t actually know anything about the sport and are just reacting to the article. Everyone but Porsche was complaining about the negative effect of the rules.
You missed my whole point, as this has become another form of spec racing, that’s all. And yes, I can read and I also watched most of the race.
I’m not sure how I was supposed to draw that from your comment. But okay, what’s your point?
Is spec racing a bad thing? What’s the alternative? Is this just the usual complaint about ‘why do we need balance of power?
Or are you making a complaint that they actually got the balance of power very close to right, so it is like a spec race?
I don’t get it. You basically rip into Doug for saying the rules have gotten so prescriptive that there is no room for racing strategy (“So it is really cool when I win, otherwise I was screwed!”) but then you say you are just trying to make the point that “this is just spec racing now”? So is that your way of agreeing with what he was saying?
Part of the fun / drama of endurance racing was the team strategy choices – when to pit, do we go down on speed to eek out another lap, do we do wheels and fuel, or just fuel on this stop? I’m pretty sure the point here was that with the maximum stint mandated and with simultaneous fuel / tires, they’ve taken away a lot of the strategy. These were new rules for this year, a lot of teams were complaining and I have not seen anyone argue a good reason to have the extra rules.
But fine, let’s assume Doug was whining , that’s because Corvette never has the fastest car on balance of power, but often still finds a way to win through reliability and strategy.
Whew, I conclude you must be female after reading that nutty rant. It is spec racing.
Chuck – “nutty rant” and “you must be female”, that’s all you’ve got?
“It is spec racing” – again, so what? You are incapable of communicating a clear thought.
Three posts, not a single valid argument, sealed off with an ad hominem attack. You win, good luck.
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