2024 Le Mans race thread

[VladD]

moffspeed said:

VladD said:

Sandpit Steve said:

airbusA346 said:

moffspeed said:

Any news on the Jota #12 rebuild ?

Are they going to have a complete & running car by 8pm ??

This was about 1-2am (posted by Marino Franchitti on Instagram).

Ooh, starting to look a little bit like a car. Good luck to them, it was a proper mess that arrived back at the garage last night.

Just bumped into a guy from Jota who says the rebuild is going well.

That was just about a bare tub only at 9pm last evening so brilliant progress.

All they get is a quick blast on the airport runway tonight and I'd forgotten that Saturday warm-up is only 15 minutes these days. So not much time to dial it in - but Jota are as experienced as it gets when it comes to LM and I guess they have all the data from FP.

They should take heart from the experience of the #92 Manthey Porsche at Spa - rebuilt from a bag of bits and went on to finish 2nd in class.

They just had the front end on and the lights were working. They've got a decent audience watching the work as the pit lane is open to spectators.

[airbusA346]

moffspeed said:

That was just about a bare tub only at 9pm last evening so brilliant progress.

All they get is a quick blast on the airport runway tonight and I'd forgotten that Saturday warm-up is only 15 minutes these days. So not much time to dial it in - but Jota are as experienced as it gets when it comes to LM and I guess they have all the data from FP.

They should take heart from the experience of the #92 Manthey Porsche at Spa - rebuilt from a bag of bits and went on to finish 2nd in class.

They've been given a maximum of 30 minutes.

[TCEvo]

Via Insta, 30 mins ago #12 Jota Porsche has been fired up.

[VladD]

TCEvo said:

Via Insta, 30 mins ago #12 Jota Porsche has been fired up.

It's gone from the garage, so is hopefully at the airfield. Can't hear it yet though.

[moffspeed]

VladD said:

It's gone from the garage, so is hopefully at the airfield. Can't hear it yet though.

That is great news, thanks for the update.

Jota have a total of five 963's - but unfortunately three of them are are show cars and not a good source of spares :

[Sandpit Steve]

moffspeed said:

VladD said:

It's gone from the garage, so is hopefully at the airfield. Can't hear it yet though.

That is great news, thanks for the update.

Jota have a total of five 963's - but unfortunately three of them are are show cars and not a good source of spares :

They look nice in the car park, but aren’t going racing any time soon.

How’s the real one looking, did they get it to the airfield to test?

[Mr_Dave]

Yes..!

https://twitter.com/Motorsports561/status/18016865...

[snotrag]

Jsut came here to post, everyone in the campsites sharing on Facebook that they can hear it running up and down the airfield. Great effort!

[VladD]

Yeah, it pissed down with rain a while ago, so they're running it in the wet.

[moffspeed]

Sandpit Steve said:

They look nice in the car park, but aren’t going racing any time soon.

How’s the real one looking, did they get it to the airfield to test?

Yes, reminds me of this. Shades of this year's Proton entry in that first 917…

[TCEvo]

Mr_Dave said:

Yes..!

https://twitter.com/Motorsports561/status/18016865...

Good stuff.

Mechanics

[df76]

Fingers crossed for the weather this weekend, for those at the circuit (good luck campers) and also for the race itself.

[Sandpit Steve]

moffspeed said:

Sandpit Steve said:

They look nice in the car park, but aren’t going racing any time soon.

How’s the real one looking, did they get it to the airfield to test?

Yes, reminds me of this. Shades of this year's Proton entry in that first 917…

That one was an awesome story. Not very many of those 917s were going racing anytime soon, but the FIA’s auditors definitely saw 25 of them that day.

It’s like the old Russian military parades, where a handful of the latest tanks and aircraft would go around the block a few times to make the leader think he had dozens of them.

[italianjob1275]

moffspeed said:

Was it really over 40 years ago ? Feels like yesterday.

Parking up at LM in my RS along with convoy buddies in a Midget & an XK120…

21 years ago… 2003 to see the Bentley victory. 19 years old, on my own with just a road map of France god knows how I got there and back

[TCEvo]

[df76]

italianjob1275 said:

moffspeed said:

Was it really over 40 years ago ? Feels like yesterday.

Parking up at LM in my RS along with convoy buddies in a Midget & an XK120…

21 years ago… 2003 to see the Bentley victory. 19 years old, on my own with just a road map of France god knows how I got there and back

First trip to Le Mans in 1995 (a good one). In a Fiat Uno, with a crate of John Smiths bought on the ferry. Classy. Can’t quite remember why we parked in a field on the way down. We were stopped for speeding shortly after, and that cost us all the money that we had.

[24lemons]

italianjob1275 said:

moffspeed said:

Was it really over 40 years ago ? Feels like yesterday.

Parking up at LM in my RS along with convoy buddies in a Midget & an XK120…

21 years ago… 2003 to see the Bentley victory. 19 years old, on my own with just a road map of France god knows how I got there and back

Amazing effort! I’m the same age as you and I also attended my first in 2003. I got a bus though.

[airbusA346]

Sandpit Steve said:

That one was an awesome story. Not very many of those 917s were going racing anytime soon, but the FIA’s auditors definitely saw 25 of them that day.

It’s like the old Russian military parades, where a handful of the latest tanks and aircraft would go around the block a few times to make the leader think he had dozens of them.

[moffspeed]

Good morning all. Race day morning, the weather may not be perfect but we’re in for a great race. Maybe Cadillac #2 is in with a chance of the win ?

Enjoy.

Edited by moffspeed on Saturday 15th June 07:32

[LM240]

moffspeed said:

Good morning all. Race day morning, the weather may not be perfect but we’re in for a great race. Maybe Cadillac #2 is in with a chance of the win ?

Enjoy.

Edited by moffspeed on Saturday 15th June 07:32

I’ll echo that. All those in France or at home, have a great race.

Weather looks like it could spice up (as long as not sat behind a safety car for lap after lap), what is already looking like a super tight field of cars. LMP2 always close, but hyper and GT3 time gaps are incredibly close.

Some bloke in race overalls bothered me for a selfie, so was polite and agreed….