2023 WEC

We're going to need a attrition, monsoon, a lucky yellow, or some other weird circumstance to make a race out of this, but it's close enough now that this might be possible. We just need things to go sideways, especially for Toyota.

Now, I'm not being bitter about Toyota's success because they earned and deserve it, kind of like Red Bull has done in F1. You can't be mad at Toyota for being better than everyone else. They have been continuously running there 4WD hybrids for a long time and have it figured out, just like everyone else needs to do. Here's where stable rules come into play. It gives everyone else to catch up after Toyota peaks it's development out.

I ran a lot of laps at Bahrain in SCGT, and it's a blast to drive. The circuit I miss is the Bahrain endurance loop, where Checo won his first GP. High speed, high commitment and has a great rythmn. The long circuit is great, but the endurance circuit is pounding round and round, almost like an oval with a few opposite corners thrown in. It was great with F1 cars but might be best suited for hypercar and GT racing.

A tiny bit early to sum up the WEC season, but I thoroughly enjoyed all of it. A few more winners would have been nice, but hopefully we'll get that next year. For being the first year out with a good grid of hypercars, I call it a rousing success.
 
Toyota were the only one who qualified on mediums rather than hards. That says a lot about how well they think they can manage degradation when the race starts. They have, by far, the most stable and predictable car. Everyone else struggles with traction at least a bit, especially Porsche and especially especially Peugeot.
 
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Doc Austin said:
4.5 hours in and the Jota 963 is third!
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Looks like Toyota has run off and hid, but there are four cars covered by seven or eight seconds in the fight for the final podium spot. JOTA and the #50 Ferrari have had a couple of spirited battles.
 
Cadillac has their best starting position of the year and threw it way in the very first turn.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Cold tires are a problem.
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We all have no grip!

Kind of wanted the season to end with a barn burner, but we'll get that next year. This was the first proper (as opposed to "official") season of hypercars with multiple manufacturers, so it will get more competitive as the teams get the cars sorted better. It still wasn't bad though, and a mega night/day improvement over last year.

Damm, Jota is flying.
 
Would be awesome if the Iron Dames won the last ever race with GTE machinery. I’m gonna miss those cars.
 
Doc Austin said:
7 hours in and Jota is still hanging on to the lead lap! Stellar performance!
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Really feels like they should’ve podiumed without the mistakes, they had good pace and tire deg.

Dames finally win in GTE-Am, hell yeah. They’ve come so close several times this year and couldn’t hang on towards the end, finally sealed the deal.
 
Maybe the best part of Bahrain was the performance of the Jota. They were on the lead lap most of the race and just lost out on a podium, which is a stellar result for a privateer. They have consistently been as quick as the Penske 963s, and have run smooth, clean races.

They also ran all eight hours without a caution, which is remarkable considering how many gentlemen are in the GT classes. Eight hours running around in heavy, slow traffic almost guarantees a collision or two, but the worst thing I saw was Bamber punting Hartly. That one just looked weird because the fronts locked so horribly. Maybe he had the brake balance off, or maybe he just muffed it, but neither car was very torn up. If that's the worst they can do I'de say we've got a pretty decent series.

Of course, we will spend all winter talking about the BOP. As bad as that was mismanaged in the last few years, I don't know how you could expect them to get it as close as they did. I don't think the Toyota advantage is due to BOP. Sure, they got a good one, but I think it's more Toyota extracts everything out of what they have and then they out execute everyone. It's kind of like F1 where one team is just that much better than everyone else. Now it's more up to the teams to find the speed instead of lobbying for it, which is kind of how we want it.

In a straight fight, the LMH cars beat the LMDA cars every time. Perhaps an adjustment to bring the two classes closer would be a good move, though I don't think it will take much. Maybe another 15 pounds off the LMDh would do it. The Porsche in the right hands can hang onto the lead lap, and we don't know about the Caddy because they blew their race right at the start with the penalty. The BOP is not criminally out of whack like it has been, so I'm sure they will keep tweaking it until the grid is pretty well balanced, and it's not far off now.

Endurance racing has changed. In the old days you had to take care of everything from the gearbox to the engine to avoiding curbs to minimize the beating. I was at Daytona in 69 when all five factory Porsches blew up within five minutes of each other while they were1.5 hours into the lead! Races were very, very often decided by attrition, and things as weird as hubs or valve train idler gears would put you out. Now they hammer the cars full tilt for 24 straight hours and even then attrition is pretty low.

In the past, races were often decided by multiple laps, and sometimes it gets really bad, like the time Audi won Sebring by 45 laps. We just got spoiled by all the Indycar photo finishes and F1 races where everyone finishes on the lead lap. We got spoiled, as simple as that. Now we complain when Max wins by 20 seconds or Toyota wins by a minute. In the past, those would have been considered thrillers, but now days they are considered snoozers. Even the worst WEC race this year was 10 times better than anything we have seen since the GTP days.

So, we had a great season that was punctuated by Toyota dominance. After Porsche and Audi left, only Toyota stayed in the series and kept it alive long enough for this new era to take over. They were ragged on and criticized for having no competition, but you can only race who they put in front of you. In one way I would have loved to see them given a bad time by the others, but on the other Toyota supported the series, kept their team together and people employed, and hit the ground running with technology they have perfected and a well-oiled team. Sure, they have a good car, but the team has been together so long the continuity is strong, and this shows up in their race execution.

In all, this is probably the best season of sportscar racing (including IMSA) we have had since the Jaguar/Mercedes/Porsche era.
 
Doc Austin said:
Maybe the best part of Bahrain was the performance of the Jota. They were on the lead lap most of the race and just lost out on a podium, which is a stellar result for a privateer. They have consistently been as quick as the Penske 963s, and have run smooth, clean races.

They also ran all eight hours without a caution, which is remarkable considering how many gentlemen are in the GT classes. Eight hours running around in heavy, slow traffic almost guarantees a collision or two, but the worst thing I saw was Bamber punting Hartly. That one just looked weird because the fronts locked so horribly. Maybe he had the brake balance off, or maybe he just muffed it, but neither car was very torn up. If that's the worst they can do I'de say we've got a pretty decent series.

Of course, we will spend all winter talking about the BOP. As bad as that was mismanaged in the last few years, I don't know how you could expect them to get it as close as they did. I don't think the Toyota advantage is due to BOP. Sure, they got a good one, but I think it's more Toyota extracts everything out of what they have and then they out execute everyone. It's kind of like F1 where one team is just that much better than everyone else. Now it's more up to the teams to find the speed instead of lobbying for it, which is kind of how we want it.

In a straight fight, the LMH cars beat the LMDA cars every time. Perhaps an adjustment to bring the two classes closer would be a good move, though I don't think it will take much. Maybe another 15 pounds off the LMDh would do it. The Porsche in the right hands can hang onto the lead lap, and we don't know about the Caddy because they blew their race right at the start with the penalty. The BOP is not criminally out of whack like it has been, so I'm sure they will keep tweaking it until the grid is pretty well balanced, and it's not far off now.

Endurance racing has changed. In the old days you had to take care of everything from the gearbox to the engine to avoiding curbs to minimize the beating. I was at Daytona in 69 when all five factory Porsches blew up within five minutes of each other while they were1.5 hours into the lead! Races were very, very often decided by attrition, and things as weird as hubs or valve train idler gears would put you out. Now they hammer the cars full tilt for 24 straight hours and even then attrition is pretty low.

In the past, races were often decided by multiple laps, and sometimes it gets really bad, like the time Audi won Sebring by 45 laps. We just got spoiled by all the Indycar photo finishes and F1 races where everyone finishes on the lead lap. We got spoiled, as simple as that. Now we complain when Max wins by 20 seconds or Toyota wins by a minute. In the past, those would have been considered thrillers, but now days they are considered snoozers. Even the worst WEC race this year was 10 times better than anything we have seen since the GTP days.

So, we had a great season that was punctuated by Toyota dominance. After Porsche and Audi left, only Toyota stayed in the series and kept it alive long enough for this new era to take over. They were ragged on and criticized for having no competition, but you can only race who they put in front of you. In one way I would have loved to see them given a bad time by the others, but on the other Toyota supported the series, kept their team together and people employed, and hit the ground running with technology they have perfected and a well-oiled team. Sure, they have a good car, but the team has been together so long the continuity is strong, and this shows up in their race execution.

In all, this is probably the best season of sportscar racing (including IMSA) we have had since the Jaguar/Mercedes/Porsche era.
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I have mixed feelings really. This is the first time I’ve followed the series in full since probably 2016 or 2017, and I had some real expectations for the Hypercar class. But I think it just wasn’t competitive enough outside of Le Mans for me to really consider it a fun season. But when there were different cars that had similar pace there were some flashes of real raciness and great battles. So there’s still a lot of potential, it just needs to be realized. Unfortunately I still have doubts over whether Toyota can really be caught with their two-year advantage in the development cycle. But it sound like multiple manufacturers are already working on joker updates for their cars next year, and Toyota probably won’t after using some of their allotment last offseason.

Similarly, LMP2 just didn’t cut it for me anymore. This class has been essentially spec for too long and a lot of the programs this year were just teams trying to do live operational testing for their Hypercar programs next year (Alpine, Vector, PREMA, WRT). I found ELMS P2 to be a lot more interesting when I had the chance to watch this year. And Corvette was a runaway winner in GTE-Am; a factory-operated program in a pro-am class didn’t have much chance of being challenged. But LMGT3 next year is going to be stacked by big manufacturers and big teams and should itself be a way more competitive class next season.

Overall, it was okay but kinda disappointing. I fully expect the series to bring the heat next year though. It’ll probably be the single best full season sports car grid anywhere in decades, maybe ever. And I’m glad we’re finally back up to 8 races. COTA and especially Interlagos should be a blast with this coming field.

In the meantime, there’s still the FIA GT Cup at Macau in a couple of weeks, and then the Asian Le Mans Series at Sepang (I really miss this track in F1) plus Gulf 12 Hours at Abu Dhabi in December.
 
FLRacingFan said:
I have mixed feelings really. This is the first time I’ve followed the series in full since probably 2016 or 2017, and I had some real expectations for the Hypercar class. But I think it just wasn’t competitive enough outside of Le Mans for me to really consider it a fun season.
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I was still fun, but admittedly not very competitive for the win. There was still a ton of battling every race. The main draw for me this year was the big field of hypercars. In the past, 10 or 11 cars would have been considered a stellar draw, and remember that last year only Toyota and Alpine ran the whole series.

What we saw this year was just the first year. It got more and more competitive, though the Toyota was still the benchmark. They should be the benchmark because they have been running 4wd hybrids for years and had it figured out probably even before they built their first hypercar.

I don't expect the incoming hypercars to run up front for awhile, but I do expect the competition between the current teams to get better. We just have to be patient because all the manufacturers have only had a handful of races to get their new cars dialed in. Even Peugeot is abandoning it's current set up and completely revising their car.

So, don't get too down on the competitive aspect. It's gotten better every race and I expect there will be a mild BOP revision to tighten things up. We just have to be patient.

FLRacingFan said:
But when there were different cars that had similar pace there were some flashes of real raciness and great battles. So there’s still a lot of potential, it just needs to be realized.
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It will be. Remember, it's just year one. Six or seven races isn't enough to erode Toyota's advantage, but now everyone has all winter to find some speed.
FLRacingFan said:
Unfortunately I still have doubts over whether Toyota can really be caught with their two-year advantage in the development cycle. But it sound like multiple manufacturers are already working on joker updates for their cars next year, and Toyota probably won’t after using some of their allotment last offseason.
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Might be interesting to see how the new Peugeot comes out. Odds are it's going to be even weirder than the current car.
FLRacingFan said:
Overall, it was okay but kinda disappointing.
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It might be disappointing considering what we were hoping for, but we will get there. Remember: year one. Next year will be better.
FLRacingFan said:
I fully expect the series to bring the heat next year though. It’ll probably be the single best full season sports car grid anywhere in decades, maybe ever.
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Consider this: 2023 was the best season of sportscar racing we have since 1992 or so, and we were still "disappointed." I would have liked to see a better fight for the wins, but the racing up and down the field was so good I kind of dismissed that. It was such an improvement I'm just happy we're going in the right direction finally.

As far as the number of races, with only 8 each one became even more important, whereas compared to F1, after 20 races each one doesn't really mean that much. As the #7 proved, one or two bad races and you can kiss off the championship. Every F1 race this year has just been another race, whereas in WEC, we all had to wait so long between races that each one was a massive event.

Now, we can argue the venues they chose for sure because Sebring belongs in the championship, and we really do need more marvelous circuits like Portimão. I don't know what they hell they were thinking putting the absolutely boring Losail on the schedule and removing the fantastic Portimão. I'm sure it's all down to dollars.
 
Anyone else notice this? My guess is Ferrari management will be talking to three guys..............


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Doc Austin said:
Consider this: 2023 was the best season of sportscar racing we have since 1992 or so, and we were still "disappointed." I would have liked to see a better fight for the wins, but the racing up and down the field was so good I kind of dismissed that. It was such an improvement I'm just happy we're going in the right direction finally.

As far as the number of races, with only 8 each one became even more important, whereas compared to F1, after 20 races each one doesn't really mean that much. As the #7 proved, one or two bad races and you can kiss off the championship. Every F1 race this year has just been another race, whereas in WEC, we all had to wait so long between races that each one was a massive event.

Now, we can argue the venues they chose for sure because Sebring belongs in the championship, and we really do need more marvelous circuits like Portimão. I don't know what they hell they were thinking putting the absolutely boring Losail on the schedule and removing the fantastic Portimão. I'm sure it's all down to dollars.
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2016 is probably still the gold standard WEC season for me. Between the LMP1 and GTE-Pro grids that year I doubt there will be a field of more technologically impressive cars anytime soon, the schedule was a full 9 races across a bunch of great venues, and it had the most dramatic Le Mans finish ever. Gonna be difficult to beat that but there’s certainly the potential next year. I think we’re looking at a full-time field of 19 Hypercar / 18 LMGT3. Wins and even podiums are going to be awfully hard to come by.

I don’t think Losail is a bad track, just in a terrible country, and they need to solve the curbing issue that plagued the F1 event last month. Sadly, it just makes business sense to deal with these guys because Qatar Airways is the only way they can logistically and financially afford to expand the calendar right now.
 
FLRacingFan said:
........ and it had the most dramatic Le Mans finish ever. Gonna be difficult to beat that but there’s certainly the potential next year. I think we’re looking at a full-time field of 19 Hypercar / 18 LMGT3. Wins and even podiums are going to be awfully hard to come by.
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There's a fun discussion. Include Lemans 1969 and 2016 when Toyota blew up on the last lap.
FLRacingFan said:
I don’t think Losail is a bad track, just in a terrible country
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I fully expect the thing with Gaza to get so bad they will start cancelling a few of these mid east races. Hope not, but that whole mess is crazy.

FLRacingFan said:
, and they need to solve the curbing issue that plagued the F1 event last month.
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Leave the curbings alone tell the drivers not to hit them. A few years ago Hamilton ran off at Hockenheim and tore his car up enough to end the session. There's booby traps at every track like that

I don't know what would be wrong with smaller curbs like we used to have, with grass outside of that they can't drive on. Monaco proves drivers won't often go where there's consequence, meaning the wall. There has to be self consequence or every race the steward will have to do it. I'm sure they would raise hell over the grass the first time it got wet, but remember, you're not supposed to drive there anyway.


Even right now the results of the USGP are under official protest for track limit violations that they didn't catch, so unless we want to be in hearings and court all day, either ignore the limits and let them drive wherever they want, or put some bite into it.







FLRacingFan said:
Sadly, it just makes business sense to deal with these guys because Qatar Airways is the only way they can logistically and financially afford to expand the calendar right now.
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Here's my worst moment of the entire WEC season: When the checkered flag fell at Bahrain. I've never enjoyed a WEC season so thoroughly.

Even if things stay the same, it was good enough. We could have used a little more parity, but that's coming. There's also Alpine, BMW and Isoto whatever coming too, so if there's a way it's not going to get better I'm not seeing it.

Toyota has the upper hand, but they earned it from running the LMP1 hybrid era and continued after everyone else left. They kept developing the technology until they perfected it, and all that carried over into it's hypercar. Toyota kept their team together when things were bleak, kept their people employed and came out swinging against new, underdeveloped cars, and frankly whipped everyone's ass. They worked for it, they earned it and they deserved their success.

Ferrari could have been better, but they were better the one time it really mattered. You can bet a Ferrari 499 is pounding around Fiorano as we speak, and they are going to get better and faster.

Peugeot is simply lost. They got a few good performances out of the car, but it's a lot like the Mercedes F14 in that you never know what you are going to get until the weekend starts. Sometimes things look promising, and sometimes they simply sucked, kind of like Mercedes. You can bet the revisions will make the car better, but it will probably be even weirder than what they have got now.

As far as hypercars, what a shame Glick couldn't raise the proper funding.

As far as the LMDH class, they are all only a minor BOP adjustment away from being able to fight for the win, so let's hope we get it. Of those, Porsche has shown the most promise, and Cadillac has shown they are the most reliable. We were kind of robbed of seeing how the new BOP works when the Caddy got that death penalty 1 minute stop and hold, and it's a long wait to Losail before we can see what everyone has.

Generally, the fighting between all the hypercars was insane, especially at Lemans, so things are maybe not as out of whack as it appears. Remember that Toyota has years and years of 4WD hypercar type of experience (and no one else does) and they have their package pretty well perfected. It's just up to the WEC to give them a little break, and it's up to the teams to find the rest.

On this side of the pond, within 5 races all four of the manufacturers had collected at least one win, so all the GTPs seem relatively balanced. It's only in the WEC they need a little help against the LMH hypercars, but I think we will get that. IMSA had a few embarrassments such as the Acura tire pressure saga, and Porche losing the Glen for excessive skid plate wear, but overall IMSA had a stellar season.

We've seen false dawns before in sportscar, and almost constantly those flame out. Since these rules are locked in for a few years (and most likely renewed when the time comes), it looks an awful lot like we're going to recreate a type of Group C era. The only issue sportscars on both sides of the pond face is having cars available. Supply chain problems are easing and maybe we'll see some cars being sold, so there is always hope.

And that's really the story right now. It's great, but there is every chance even that will get better. We've seen the boom and implosion happen so many times we almost expect it, but remember, the best people from over here and the best people from over there are united for the first time since 1972. If this doesn't work, absolutely nothing ever will, so we have to support and enjoy all of it.
 
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