Mustang GT3 takes P3 and P4 at LeMans

[akirby]

Proton racing had 3 Mustangs at LeMans.  Two of them took 3rd and 4th while the other one got hit by another car and had mechanical damage and finished 24 laps down.  Pretty strong showing for a brand new car.  Interestingly Proton is a German team.

 

Of course you’d hardly know there were any GT3 cars in the race as 98% of the race coverage was Hypercar.   They barely even showed the LMGT3 standings much less the actual cars.  Ridiculous.

[HotRunrGuy]

37 minutes ago, akirby said:

Proton racing had 3 Mustangs at LeMans.  Two of them took 3rd and 4th while the other one got hit by another car and had mechanical damage and finished 24 laps down.  Pretty strong showing for a brand new car.  Interestingly Proton is a German team.

 

Of course you’d hardly know there were any GT3 cars in the race as 98% of the race coverage was Hypercar.   They barely even showed the LMGT3 standings much less the actual cars.  Ridiculous.

 

Agreed, the TV coverage was terrible. I followed the GT3 cars using this site.  https://www.fiawec.com/en/race/result/4865

 

HRG

[Bob Rosadini]

9 minutes ago, HotRunrGuy said:

 

Agreed, the TV coverage was terrible. I followed the GT3 cars using this site.  https://www.fiawec.com/en/race/result/4865

 

HRG

AK and HR

Agree 100%  I'm recovering from reverse shoulder surgery so  I'm "sleeping" on a recliner-had race on and off all night trying to get a glimpse or mention of a blue  oval...never happened.  At least they made some nice comments when the team got on the podium this morning..in particular noting  Bill Fords presence and the history

[ice-capades]

22 minutes ago, Bob Rosadini said:

AK and HR

Agree 100%  I'm recovering from reverse shoulder surgery so I'm "sleeping" on a recliner-had race on and off all night trying to get a glimpse or mention of a blue oval...never happened.  At least they made some nice comments when the team got on the podium this morning... in particular noting Bill Fords presence and the history

 

Hope you have a quick recovery Bob! 

[DeluxeStang]

I do hope the mustangs are competitive some day. Third and fourth isn't bad, but this is the only podium the mustangs have had all season on WEC or IMSA. 

[DeluxeStang]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

Proton racing had 3 Mustangs at LeMans.  Two of them took 3rd and 4th while the other one got hit by another car and had mechanical damage and finished 24 laps down.  Pretty strong showing for a brand new car.  Interestingly Proton is a German team.

 

Of course you’d hardly know there were any GT3 cars in the race as 98% of the race coverage was Hypercar.   They barely even showed the LMGT3 standings much less the actual cars.  Ridiculous.

The saddest part was the car that got hit, was in 2nd pushing for the lead, and almost getting it. He was the fastest of the mustangs in qualifying, so there was a change he would have placed even better. 

[akirby]

1 hour ago, DeluxeStang said:

I do hope the mustangs are competitive some day. Third and fourth isn't bad, but this is the only podium the mustangs have had all season on WEC or IMSA. 

You expect a brand new team with a brand new car to get podiums right out of the gate?  Thats not at all realistic.  They’re still learning how to setup the car and how to drive it.  Not to mention BOP rules.

[mackinaw]

It took three years for the GT-40 to finally win at Lemans.  1964 and 1965 were learning years.  They then won 1966 through 1969.

[DeluxeStang]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

You expect a brand new team with a brand new car to get podiums right out of the gate?  Thats not at all realistic.  They’re still learning how to setup the car and how to drive it.  Not to mention BOP rules.

Ford did it with the gt dude. They won at Laguna Secca and at Le mans in their first year. I'm not expecting the mustangs to get first constantly. But in most races, they've been near the back of the pack. 

[DeluxeStang]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

You expect a brand new team with a brand new car to get podiums right out of the gate?  Thats not at all realistic.  They’re still learning how to setup the car and how to drive it.  Not to mention BOP rules.

It just seems like the car isn't as nimble in the corners, BOP might be able to take some weight out of the car to rectify this, we'll see. There's only so much you can do with a blocky, large car when racing against low, sleek mid-engine cars.

 

I'm happy they achieved this result, and I'm confident they'll improve as time goes on. I just don't see this thing being as competitive as the gt sadly. 

[mackinaw]

1 hour ago, DeluxeStang said:

It just seems like the car isn't as nimble in the corners, BOP might be able to take some weight out of the car to rectify this, we'll see. There's only so much you can do with a blocky, large car when racing against low, sleek mid-engine cars.

 

I'm happy they achieved this result, and I'm confident they'll improve as time goes on. I just don't see this thing being as competitive as the gt sadly. 

 

This is behind a paywall, so unless you subscribe to the Detroit News, you can't read it.  Henry Payne, the News auto writer, also races cars,  He was at Lemans as a spectator.  His observations:

 

"If Penske didn’t get the chance to climb the Le Mans podium, Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. did — celebrating with his team of third-place drivers in the #88 Mustang GT3.  The Mustang was the surprise of the race, challenging the favored Porsche, BMW and pole-sitting McLaren teams for the win. Early contender #77 Mustang fell by the wayside, but the #88 and #44 cars took up the baton and battled all night long through rainy conditions that got so difficult that the pace car was deployed under the yellow flag for three hours because the 8.5-mile track got so dicey.  Both the Mustangs and Cadillacs featured naturally-aspirated V-8s, and their distinctive, Motown tune could be heard around the track around the clock."

 

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/sports/motor/2024/06/16/detroit-at-le-mans-ferrari-denies-penske-but-mustang-wows/74049304007/

 

[akirby]

4 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

It just seems like the car isn't as nimble in the corners, BOP might be able to take some weight out of the car to rectify this, we'll see. There's only so much you can do with a blocky, large car when racing against low, sleek mid-engine cars.

 

I'm happy they achieved this result, and I'm confident they'll improve as time goes on. I just don't see this thing being as competitive as the gt sadly. 

The season they won lemans they also had lots of 5-9 place finishes.  And the GT was created specifically for LeMans.  Of course a Mustang GT3 won’t handle as well.  It’s more brute force power but it was absolutely competitive.  More importantly don’t forget that BOP will never allow a vehicle to have a big performance advantage.  They’ll just take it away by adding weight.
 

[DeluxeStang]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

The season they won lemans they also had lots of 5-9 place finishes.  And the GT was created specifically for LeMans.  Of course a Mustang GT3 won’t handle as well.  It’s more brute force power but it was absolutely competitive.  More importantly don’t forget that BOP will never allow a vehicle to have a big performance advantage.  They’ll just take it away by adding weight.
 

True, I think you're right. Third isn't a bad result for a first time out, and I'm sure they'll get better as time goes on, that's just what happens with race cars when they're new. It's just been frustrating to see people trash talking the mustang throughout the season when they're still getting adjusted to the car. 

[akirby]

That’s the problem with these BOP rules that are based on track results.  One team can work their ass off or come up with something truly innovative while another team is lazy and does the bare minimum and they’ll penalize the first team to keep it competitive with the lazy team.  
At the very least you should get to keep your advantages for one season before it gets adjusted - assuming everyone starts from the same place.

[DeluxeStang]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

That’s the problem with these BOP rules that are based on track results.  One team can work their ass off or come up with something truly innovative while another team is lazy and does the bare minimum and they’ll penalize the first team to keep it competitive with the lazy team.  
At the very least you should get to keep your advantages for one season before it gets adjusted - assuming everyone starts from the same place.

You know what I'd love to see? A new class addition to endurance racing, unregulated, very few limitations, group b on the pavement instead of the rally circuits. Keep gt3 and hyper car as they are, balanced to keep the races close and interesting. But let the top class go nuts, the best cars win, period. 

 

This would solve a lot of the issues with racing by appealing to more people. You'd have the return of insane engineering pissing matches, and retain the balanced racing that comes with other classes. A win/win imo. Get rid of the class in between, LMP 2 I believe it's called, it's always the most boring class to watch imo. Hypercars takes the place of lmp 2, the new class becomes the top dog. 

[akirby]

13 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

You know what I'd love to see? A new class addition to endurance racing, unregulated, very few limitations, group b on the pavement instead of the rally circuits. Keep gt3 and hyper car as they are, balanced to keep the races close and interesting. But let the top class go nuts, the best cars win, period. 

 

This would solve a lot of the issues with racing by appealing to more people. You'd have the return of insane engineering pissing matches, and retain the balanced racing that comes with other classes. A win/win imo. Get rid of the class in between, LMP 2 I believe it's called, it's always the most boring class to watch imo. Hypercars takes the place of lmp 2, the new class becomes the top dog. 

That would be fun to watch but in the end only the teams with the deepest pockets win and the cost to compete would be astronomical by using so many super expensive materials and engineering resources.

 

The new hypercars are roughly 25% of the cost of the previous ones and that cost was what caused most of the mfrs to pull out a few years ago.

[DeluxeStang]

21 hours ago, akirby said:

That would be fun to watch but in the end only the teams with the deepest pockets win and the cost to compete would be astronomical by using so many super expensive materials and engineering resources.

 

The new hypercars are roughly 25% of the cost of the previous ones and that cost was what caused most of the mfrs to pull out a few years ago.

Exactly, but that's why you give manufactures the choice. Hypercar and gt3 could stay as they were, which would keep the investments for racing in those series rather low as you stated. Who's to say just like with production cars, companies couldn't develop a competitive chassis, or powertrain together to reduce their individual costs, but develop certain things on their own to add diversity to the competition?

[akirby]

3 hours ago, DeluxeStang said:

Exactly, but that's why you give manufactures the choice. Hypercar and gt3 could stay as they were, which would keep the investments for racing in those series rather low as you stated. Who's to say just like with production cars, companies couldn't develop a competitive chassis, or powertrain together to reduce their individual costs, but develop certain things on their own to add diversity to the competition?

Or maybe just do a GT3 based unlimited class, so same chassis but fewer restrictions on engine size and power and other components.  Active aero and suspensions.  Supercharged V8s.  More exotic materials.  And no freakin’ BOP adjustments.  

[akirby]

Don’t forget the gt3 cars in race trim only make about 450-500 hp.  Whereas the street versions can be 600-800 hp.

[DeluxeStang]

1 hour ago, akirby said:

Or maybe just do a GT3 based unlimited class, so same chassis but fewer restrictions on engine size and power and other components.  Active aero and suspensions.  Supercharged V8s.  More exotic materials.  And no freakin’ BOP adjustments.  

Maybe call it gt3 plus or gt3 unrestricted or something. I could get behind that.