Motorsport Off Topic Thread

KiNgPiN83 said:
I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned i here!?

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-...gramme-in-favour-of-electric-racing-1.2844053

I guess they want a new challenge and leave Porsche to it?
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I suspect there are several reasons:
  • Both Audi and Porsche are VW Group, so whichever one wins, the other loses - a bit of a marketing own goal.
  • As part of VW Group, Audi's LMP1 key tech is diesel, which given dieselgate is hardly where they want to be.
  • With dieselgate in mind, VW Group were already struggling a little with profitability, now there's a real issue with spend, and the 200m+ EUR spend of each of the LMP1 teams is probably best used elsewhere.
 
Marvin said:
I suspect there are several reasons:
  • Both Audi and Porsche are VW Group, so whichever one wins, the other loses - a bit of a marketing own goal.
  • As part of VW Group, Audi's LMP1 key tech is diesel, which given dieselgate is hardly where they want to be.
  • With dieselgate in mind, VW Group were already struggling a little with profitability, now there's a real issue with spend, and the 200m+ EUR spend of each of the LMP1 teams is probably best used elsewhere.
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How about they've nothing left to prove or achieve?

Been in WEC for 18 years. Won Le Mans 13 times. First to win it with a diesel and first to win it with a hybrid.

It's a massive shame but I don't blame them for moving on. I do seriously fear for the future of WEC now however, unless another major manufacturer moves in rapidly, we'll only have two teams and four cars in the LMP1 hybrid class next year and a single team in LMP1 non-hybrid :(
 
MrKnifey said:
Rumour mill going round that Ross Brawn is set to take over Bernies position?
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Yeah. Among many other Brawn returning rumours.

Like Bernie he was a team principle and of course great engineer however has he got the business acumen of Bernie? I'm not so sure. He'll be great for racing, but will he be great at getting people to buy into F1 and make the sport more accessible and entertaining?

Bernie, as mental and as old fashioned as he may seem, has been in his spot for a long time not only becasue he's a tenatious midget T-Rex, but becasue he's good at what he does.

Change will inevitably happen, but I think Ross Brawn will only be a small part of it. I think there will be others in a more business ortiented sense also taking some of Bernies responsibility if indeed he is stepping down in some way.
 
I'd trust Brawn over the evil dwarf, any day. Not only for racing, but for getting it back to what it should be.

Look at how F1 handles social media for a start. This is one area where they're so far behind other sports, it is comical. Maybe that'll come with the new owners but it has been declining for years under Bernie... I'd rather someone with experience at top teams, driver dynamics, a voice of reason and who is respected etc go in with fresh ideas.
 
Dup said:
Yeah. Among many other Brawn returning rumours.

Like Bernie he was a team principle and of course great engineer however has he got the business acumen of Bernie? I'm not so sure. He'll be great for racing, but will he be great at getting people to buy into F1 and make the sport more accessible and entertaining?

Bernie, as mental and as old fashioned as he may seem, has been in his spot for a long time not only becasue he's a tenatious midget T-Rex, but becasue he's good at what he does.

Change will inevitably happen, but I think Ross Brawn will only be a small part of it. I think there will be others in a more business ortiented sense also taking some of Bernies responsibility if indeed he is stepping down in some way.
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Brawn would look after the technical side of F1 which is what excites me, as he knows what's good for the sport.

Zak Brown will look after the commercial and marketing side of F1. Whether that includes brokering deals with teams/tracks I don't know. Perhaps Chase Carey or similar will do that.
 
A good point, however having multiple people in charge of different facets is both a good and bad thing. If they all pull in the same direction it would be great. If not it could create a rift in governance and the teams. Say what you want about Bernie and his decisions in the last 30 years, his dictatorship has been consistent if nothing else.

Strong leadership is definitely required from somewhere, because Todt sure as hell isn't giving any.
 
So Audi pulls out of Le Mans to focus on Formula E, and VW pull out of WRC and want a broader and more attractive attempt at Motorsport....

Is this the start of the Audi/VW group moving to F1? Doubtful, but good if they do.
 
MrKnifey said:
I can understand pulling out of WRC as its not like it used to be, however dont understand the LeMans pull out
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diesel is not the future, plus diesel gate, plus diesel is about to get ***** by EU governments. Yet another court case finding Uk government failing emissions and its the same for a lot of cities in Europe mainly due to the popularity of diesel.
http://phys.org/news/2016-11-uk-govt-high-court-case.html

at some point they'll have to deal with it.
oh and the increasing emmsions tests isn't helping diesel cars anyway.

and there's nothing left to prove, audi have have dominated LeMans.

So they are now moving where the future is, electric.
and both audi and vw have said electric is the future. Not surprising as its all VW group anyway.

diesel gate and the popularity of tesla model 3 "pre orders" has certainly shaken up the car industry with a sudden focus from the big manufacturers on electric.
 
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