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harperdc
Jul 24, 2007



Miscellaneous Racing Series 2022: How Soon is H?

This is the Misc. Racing Thread, home for discussion of all kinds of racing that aren't Formula 1, IndyCar, or NASCAR. Feel free to post about sports car racing, touring cars, rallying, off-road racing, motocross, and anything else you can think of. So much good racing is available to watch (especially online officially) that we can share and discuss while enjoying speedy race cars.



So what kind of racing are you talking about here, then?

We talk a lot about sports-car racing. It’s the racing, primarily on road and street courses, of cars which come closest in design and spirit to street cars. And at the top of sports cars are what’s called prototypes -- single-seat racers with closed tops and fenders. The Grand Prix cars of long-distance racing.

But this is a place for all sorts of series: Australian Supercars, Japanese Super GT and Super Formula, the World Rally Championship, Supercross (I will get murdered if I don't mention or watch Supercross), and more.

Why should I care about sports car racing?



There’s a wide variety -- of cars, drivers, locations, and of race distances. It’s where your favorite drivers from Formula 1, IndyCar and NASCAR past will wind up. Races are often long (6-, 12- and 24-hour races are not uncommon), and feature multiple types (classes) of car racing on the same track but in individual class battles alongside the overall ranking. The world of sports car racing tends to be friendlier and more approachable than other parts, while still attracting many colorful characters.

Okay. So what's new for 2022?
After two years of impact from COVID, this year might finally - finally - be a return to the 'normal' calendar and mix of international events. After two years later in the year, the 24 Hours of Le Mans is going to move back to its traditional June date, and the World Endurance Championship will hope to make some returns for the first time since 2019, including Sebring and Fuji. Major events like the Bathurst 12 Hours might also take place, even moved and with fewer of the international stars that make it truly special.

As well, the shift to H will continue - the FIA WEC and IMSA top category is one year closer to being fully engaged in H. There was a start to it last year as Toyota and Glickenhaus both brought new Hypercar-class cars to the FIA WEC and Le Mans, but this year we have a second major automaker on the WEC entry list. But let me try to sum things up below:



  • Toyota will continue with updates to the GR010 Hypercar and a driver change, as Kazuki Nakajima has retired from racing.
  • Glickenhaus showed up with one and then two cars for a partial WEC schedule, and will continue with one this year.
  • Alpine will continue with their grandfathered LMP1 for a final year, before rumors that they will build an LMDH for 2024.
  • Peugeot are on the entry list! Officially! But they won't start from the first race of the year (Sebring) and it's still touch and go if we'll see them actually show up. This is called 'pulling a Nissan'
  • ByKolles, as Vanwall tried to enter this year but were denied.



And from those teams announced as joining in 2023, we have:

  • Ferrari announced a Hypercar for the WEC! Thanks, Formula 1 cost cap!
  • Porsche will be running an LMDH in WEC and IMSA from 2023 with Penske! They're running a P2 car in the WEC to get a head start this year.
  • BMW announced last year they'll be joining the party too, initially in IMSA only.
  • Audi will also be in both the WEC and IMSA with a LMDh, the WEC factory is team is expected to be WRT, while for IMSA it's still a TBD private effort.
  • Acura/Honda confirmed they're carrying on in IMSA with Wayne Taylor and Meyer Shank Racing, with nothing confirmed for WEC.
  • Cadillac also will have a duel WEC and IMSA program run by Chip Ganassi, which is great!
  • McLaren-Ford is a rumor that popped up late in 2021, using the Ford GT's turbo V6.
  • Lamborghini is the other rumor that has some credibility, as an addition to the other two Volkswagen-Audi brands already confirmed

So, what are the series I should know?





The FIA World Endurance Championship is the highest level of sports-car racing. It’s an FIA World Championship, same as Formula 1 and the World Rally Championship, which means a lot. The WEC schedule includes the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which means almost as much, if not more, as Le Mans remains a hugely popular event and a major marketing point for all these big manufacturers. The WEC features LM Hypercar cars, LMP2 cars, and two GT classes, and is pretty fun to watch. Its season is back to running during the calendar year, and though the first race is moved from Sebring to Portugal, it will continue on as a global championship this year.



Alongside the WEC is IMSA, which is based mainly in the United States but almost equal to the WEC in terms of longevity and prestige. Its a US and Canadian-based series, but many teams and drivers will also compete at Le Mans on an annual basis. IMSA also has a number of high-profile races: endurance epics include the 24 Hours of Daytona in January, the Sebring 12 Hours in March, and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October, plus marquee shorter races at Long Beach, Road America, and more.

Other regional series which are directly under the WEC and ACO (who co-organize the WEC along with the FIA) include the European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series, which both act as feeders of a sort to the World Endurance Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans. There's no direct relegation/promotion, but teams gain experience in the regional series and sometimes step up to the WEC; also, all of IMSA, Asian Le Mans and European Le Mans all receive invites to the 24 Hours of Le Mans annually.



But there are other series in this sports car world! Many of them fall under a sports car rulebook called GT3. These are cars made by big companies (Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, Audi) which are sold to customers. GT3 cars are expected to be balanced to achieve a similar level of performance -- in theory, a driver could take each of those cars around a track and get roughly the same lap time.

This has led to a boom in series aimed to customers, as the cars are relatively affordable, well-built, fairly easy to drive (especially compared to customer cars from the 1970s and ‘80s) and eligible to race in a lot of exciting events. The 24 Hours races at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and the Nurburgring in Germany, and also the 12 Hours of Bathurst in Australia are highlights for GT3-type racing worldwide.

Great! So how/when do I watch?

First, you need to know when a race is! Custard Undies recommended this link to Motorsport.com's schedule for racing series. Use it, learn it, love it.

Because the sports-car world is so diverse, there’s a lot to watch. Happily, much of it is readily available online or even via YouTube.

  • WEC: It has a streaming app/website for live events, and a YouTube channel for replays. Note: Included as part of MotorTrend's streaming app in the U.S., so the WEC streaming app is blacked out. Boo!
  • 24 Hours of Le Mans: Part of the above WEC package, but also has plenty of coverage for free via YouTube and other partner streams.
  • IMSA: For live coverage, from 2019 IMSA is partnering with NBC in the U.S., will have live coverage on various NBC channels, and IMSA Radio is always free and excellent. They've now added an IMSA-specific NBC Gold package for US coverage which will likely be rolled into Peacock in 2021, while coverage outside the U.S. will depend on the market. Also check out the YouTube channel afterwards. Outside of the U.S.? IMSA TV provides free coverage using the IMSA Radio audio. Should also be visible via http://imsaradio.com. This also includes the lower-level series that IMSA also has, including the Michelin Pilot Challenge, Lamborghini Supertrofeo, Prototype Challenge, etc.
  • European and Asian Le Mans Series: These both stream free, AsLMS via YouTube.
  • Formerly known as Blancpain GT Series: Online via YouTube
  • Super GT: The 2021 season was carried much more widely than in the past! Will update with more details closer to the season start.
  • Other events: Most all of these have some free streaming component, which we put in the thread as they come up.

Recommended Links/Follows

  • Racer -- racer.com -- Good coverage of American racing
  • Daily Sports Car -- dailysportscar.com -- Great coverage of all sports car series

Other questions? Reach out and ask! Recommendations? Please suggest and we'll try to add them in.

Come join us on Discord! https://discord.gg/kg3d2Uu

Misc Threads of the Past
Misc. Racing Thread 2021: Shifting to H Intensifies
Misc Racing Thread 2020: Put it in H!
Misc Racing Thread 2019: I woke up to a smoking hulk
Misc Auto Racing 2018: Mazda gonna Mazda
Misc Auto Racing 2017: gently caress off Whincup
Misc Auto Racing 2016 : Downgraded From Silver Posters to Bronze
Misc Auto Racing 2015: At least our criminals are non-violent
Misc Auto Racing 2014: So long and thanks for all the McNish
Misc Auto Racing 2013: Beware: Ferrari Ahead
Misc. Auto Racing 2012: No War But Class War
Sportscars 2011: Racing with Class (ILMC/ALMS/GrandAm)
2011 Daytona 24 Hours
2010 Daytona 24 Hours

harperdc fucked around with this message at 13:33 on Jan 27, 2023

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harperdc
Jul 24, 2007

Other Wonderful Misfit Series of Note

Sports car racing is a lot, but it's not all of what we cover/discuss in here. Here are some primers for other big series that fall under our umbrella.

Formula E



The electric racing series Formula E had a reduced schedule in 2021, and is in a bit of a transition before the Gen3 rules come into effect. It's becoming a better and better series to watch, and hopefully they can make all of these events that are planned. The season is also set to start right away.

    2022 Formula E Schedule
  • Saudi Arabia - January 28
  • Saudi Arabia - January 29
  • Mexico City - February 12
  • Rome, Italy - April 9
  • Rome, Italy - April 10
  • Monaco - April 30
  • Berlin, Germany - May 14
  • Berlin, Germany - May 15
  • Jakarta, Indonesia - June 4
  • Vancouver, Canada - July 2
  • New York City, USA - July 16
  • New York City, USA - July 17
  • London, UK - July 30
  • London, UK - July 31
  • Seoul, South Korea - August 13
  • Seoul, South Korea - August 14

Super GT



Anime GT remains the absolute hipster choice for those who are into motorsports. The GR Supra joined the grid last year, and the new Fairlady Z will be replacing the GT-R for this year. Three manufacturers battling in the top class, active tire development by multiple manufacturers, and an incredibly varied GT3 and local class, the battles in Super GT are often spectacular.

Do yourself a favor and find the championship finale from last year and just watch how it ended. This was true for 2020 and also for 2021.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wflbWc-2dH4

    Super GT 2022 Schedule
  • Okayama - April 17
  • Fuji - May 4
  • Suzuka - May 29
  • Fuji - August 7
  • Suzuka - August 28
  • Sugo - September 18
  • Autopolis - October 2
  • Motegi - November 6

World Rally Championship



Another season, another win by Sebastien Ogier. Sigh. At least he's only doing a partial season for the Toyota team, because he is (apparently) going to be doing some WEC driving instead.

This season for WRC has already started and the Monte Carlo Rally was very fun because this year we have :siren: brand new cars :siren:. Yes, the WRC cars are also shifting into H - Hybrid, specifically, which gives them a boost for the beginning of a stage, and depending on how much can be harvested during the stage itself. They're then using the electric power to drive between stages on the road as well. Ford, Hyundai, and Toyota are the three factories running in Rally1 (previously called the WRC class), and the fastest of the three at the Monte was the smallest, Ford, which should provide some interesting results.

    2022 WRC Schdule
  • Rally Monte Carlo - January 20-23
  • Rally Sweden - February 24-27
  • Croatia Rally - April 21-24
  • Rally Portugal - May 19-22
  • Rally Italy Sardegna - June 2-5
  • Rally Kenya - June 23-26
  • Rally Estonia - July 14-17
  • Rally Finland - August 4-7
  • TBA - August 18-21
  • Acropolis Rally Greece - September 8-11
  • Rally New Zealand - September 29-October 2
  • Rally Catalunya - October 20-23
  • Rally Japan - November 10-13

harperdc fucked around with this message at 04:39 on Jan 29, 2022

harperdc
Jul 24, 2007

[reserved for any further H Intensification requirements]

harperdc
Jul 24, 2007

This weekend is the Daytona 24 Hours, and they've already had a qualifying race to set the grid. It's now up on YouTube, let's see if this works for the Americans

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYd-iB20BXg

net work error
Feb 26, 2011

One day it will be in H. One day...

Mokotow
Apr 16, 2012

Trying to get into WRC. It's a bit hard to follow, considering I'm limited to YouTube. Looking at the official channel, plus a pretty chatty channel called DirtFish. Any recommendations how to best follow?

meowmeowmeowmeow
Jan 4, 2017
Supercross season is currently going and it's another year of a stacked field in the 450s leading to wild races. Would highly recommend checking it out if you like racing, NBC does a 15m highlight of each race and peacock has the entire broadcast replay. Races are generally Saturday nights.

KidDynamite
Feb 11, 2005

Mokotow posted:

Trying to get into WRC. It's a bit hard to follow, considering I'm limited to YouTube. Looking at the official channel, plus a pretty chatty channel called DirtFish. Any recommendations how to best follow?

i find myself asking this question every year. cause a lot of it is put the stream on with the best of intentions. watch the first 3 drives go. then get distracted and it becomes background noise. doesn't help when i open instagram and see spoilers immediately. i should probably mute wrc related accounts during the season.

Jehde
Apr 21, 2010

Best way to watch WRC is to watch the free ~25 minute daily highlight videos on RedBull TV. You can watch these in your browser, and there seems to be a RedBull TV app for most TV and console systems to watch them on those.

https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/event-series/fia-world-rally-championship

https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/apps

Jehde fucked around with this message at 19:52 on Jan 25, 2022

algebra testes
Mar 5, 2011


Lipstick Apathy
Looking forward to Daytona it's always a great race.

Marty Crane
Oct 16, 2012

Mokotow posted:

Trying to get into WRC. It's a bit hard to follow, considering I'm limited to YouTube. Looking at the official channel, plus a pretty chatty channel called DirtFish. Any recommendations how to best follow?

I've subbed to WRC+ and I've loved every minute of it. But I also have weekends free to just sit back and watch them. But I love the coverage by them. Yeah, some of the commentary can be a little grating, but they give you so much content for a low price. You get access to some on-board cameras that you can watch in full, the stage coverage itself, post-race interviews, it's really cool. And it's all on-demand, so you don't even have to watch it live which is impossible for me in my region.

I don't necessarily watch every single stage or every single driver. I'll usually skip through the more boring drivers (Fourmaux, Katsuda, Greensmith - unless they've crashed out.)

I definitely avoid Instagram during a race weekend because that can spoil it pretty easily.

DirtFish is probably the best for their write-ups. They really tease out drama that isn't really apparent at first glance, and they're close enough to the action that they'll sometimes give you nice behind-the-scenes stuff that WRC+'s coverage is missing. And the writers and editors obviously love being around the WRC and their enthusiasm really shows in their work.

A few others have posted links to the RedBull site that gives nice summaries. A rally is long with however many cars going through in a day and with as many as eight stages in a day, yeah it can definitely be a lot. There were a few events last year where it was obvious who was going to win by Saturday, and those were usually the ones where I'd just tune out.

Monte was pretty fun to watch though. It was awesome to see Loeb going full-tilt. Hyundai is in a poo poo position which was to be expected, and Thierry Neuville acting like a child (again) at the end really made me think even less of him. Especially when he said he was upset at Solberg pulling out when his car had been filled with fumes the whole weekend.

Was incredibly interesting to see Ott Tanak talking with Malcolm Wilson in the background at the end of the event when they were interviewing all the M-Sport people. Ott hasn't really seemed happy at Hyundai the last two years, but he's still under contract until 2024 I believe. There were a few moments last year where Ott seemed untouchable, but his car would always end up failing. Kenya was a good example when he lost a minute because the defrost wasn't working on his windshield, but he ended up posting the fastest time in the Wolf Power Stage, and he seemed untouchable. Just watching him drive through some of those corners is burned in my memory because he went so damned fast.

spaceblancmange
Apr 19, 2018

#essereFerrari

Misc. Racing Thread 2022: Preparation H

Mokotow
Apr 16, 2012

Marty Crane posted:

I've subbed to WRC+ and I've loved every minute of it. But I also have weekends free to just sit back and watch them. But I love the coverage by them. Yeah, some of the commentary can be a little grating, but they give you so much content for a low price. You get access to some on-board cameras that you can watch in full, the stage coverage itself, post-race interviews, it's really cool. And it's all on-demand, so you don't even have to watch it live which is impossible for me in my region.

Thanks for the write up! I appreciate it!

net work error
Feb 26, 2011

spaceblancmange posted:

Misc. Racing Thread 2022: Preparation H

yes sir

Custard Undies
Jan 7, 2006

#essereFerrari

So pumped for the return of endurance racing!

Thanks for the effort again of the OP harperdc :)

harperdc
Jul 24, 2007

as the Daytona 24 is coming this weekend, that means plenty of other news is coming alongside...

IMSA confirmed that its top prototype class will be called GTP from next year, which is taking it back to the pre-World Sports Car days and a welcome return. So GTP will include LMH and LMDh spec cars both. Simple!

https://twitter.com/marshallpruett/status/1486840787778224129?s=20&t=sqqRXeVQqv1DQYrtdTtWvA

As well, IMSA purchased Historic Sportscar Racing, bringing a group which organizes historic racing using IMSA relevant cars into the fold officially. It's an interesting change, because this is the first time I've heard of a professional racing organization bringing a historic group officially in-house.


Custard Undies posted:

So pumped for the return of endurance racing!

Thanks for the effort again of the OP harperdc :)

you are very welcome :unsmith:

also thanks for the thread title correction ideas.

MazeOfTzeentch
May 2, 2009

rip miso beno
The MX-5 race in the wet this evening was wild. If you all are sleeping on it, don't. They're racing again tomorrow at 10am

abraham linksys
Sep 6, 2010

:darksouls:

MazeOfTzeentch posted:

The MX-5 race in the wet this evening was wild. If you all are sleeping on it, don't. They're racing again tomorrow at 10am

Big co-sign, very silly and good race. I believe it should be uploaded to the IMSA Youtube eventually, since you could stream it on IMSA TV anywhere (no geoblock) and the past MX-5 Cup races are there. Looking forward to this morning's.

I think it's pretty cool that everything IMSA and Indycar is on Peacock this year. I got the $5/mo with ads plan and they didn't serve me any ads during the Roar stream (and I had adblock off), so seems like a good deal. Will have to see if that's the same for TV broadcasts on Peacock (as long as it doesn't e.g. inject full-screen ads over picture-in-picture broadcast ads it seems like there's no point to going "ad-free").

harperdc
Jul 24, 2007

if the 'cock just gets the IMSA TV feed then that would be perfect for everyone.

an oddly awful oud
May 1, 2008

all my friends are pieces of shit
In a blatant effort to disqualify the great new thread title, IMSA has decided to redesignate LMDh as GTP in 2023. And I guess something about history or whatever, I dunno

net work error
Feb 26, 2011

GTPh

Slickdrac
Oct 5, 2007

Not allowed to have nice things

an oddly awful oud posted:

In a blatant effort to disqualify the great new thread title, IMSA has decided to redesignate LMDh as GTP in 2023. And I guess something about history or whatever, I dunno

Putting it in P

algebra testes
Mar 5, 2011


Lipstick Apathy
Misc Racing - I gotta P

abraham linksys
Sep 6, 2010

:darksouls:

harperdc posted:

if the 'cock just gets the IMSA TV feed then that would be perfect for everyone.

this was not the case for the pilot challenge, which meant that I had to play IMSA Radio over the Peacock feed for decent commentary since the Peacock stream seemed like it spent literally half of its time in "commercial-free breaks" where there was no commentary (and I assume on TV there would be picture-in-picture ads). but, hey, at least there are no ads.

they also did like full-screen cuts to some commentary/interview desk, but I think they only did that once while the race was actually green

MazeOfTzeentch
May 2, 2009

rip miso beno

abraham linksys posted:

Looking forward to this morning's.

This aged poorly, this morning was a clown show. Nearly constant yellow

Powershift
Nov 23, 2009


Ford is building a GT3 mustang for both GT3 and IMSA GTD Pro.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a38928976/ford-mustang-gt3-racing-plans-imsa/

Dudley
Feb 24, 2003

Tasty

quote:

Da Costa blames "overly aggressive" Ticktum for lap 1 Diriyah FE exit

Hi non-F1 ladder fans! Expect a lot of this.

spaceblancmange
Apr 19, 2018

#essereFerrari

24 going to be a cold one, hope everyone packed their thermals, especially old mate Rooftop Ray

harperdc
Jul 24, 2007

Dudley posted:

Hi non-F1 ladder fans! Expect a lot of this.

well that didn't take long.



additional detail - Multimatic is in charge of the development, with assistance from M-Sport for the engine development, and Multimatic will also run the IMSA GTD-Pro team. Joey Hand will be dusting off his racing shoes and developing, likely to join as a works driver I'm sure as well. Also sounds like the team expect to have the car out for at least a first race next year.

Dudley
Feb 24, 2003

Tasty

Good to see M-Sport getting more work and more support from Ford.

CBJSprague24
Dec 5, 2010

another game at nationwide arena. everybody keeps asking me if they can fuck the cannon. buddy, they don't even let me fuck it

NBC's Rolex 24 broadcast lineup:

quote:

BROADCAST TEAM

Play by Play/Hosts: Leigh Diffey, Dave Burns, Brian Till, Marty Snider

Analysts: Calvin Fish, Dale Earnhardt Jr., James Hinchcliffe, Steve Letarte, Jeff Burton, Townsend Bell

Pit Reporters: Parker Kligerman, Kevin Lee, Dillon Welch

Reporter: Vanessa Richardson

boop the snoot
Jun 3, 2016
my reaction to the first four hours of racing:

lol

Diplomat
Dec 14, 2009


It's the coldest I can remember out here, and now the Sun is down. Good luck fellow Daytona Goons.

net work error
Feb 26, 2011

Diplomat posted:

It's the coldest I can remember out here, and now the Sun is down. Good luck fellow Daytona Goons.

It's very chilly

GrunkleStalin
Aug 13, 2021
Lololol, did someone drive to the garage on accident?

net work error
Feb 26, 2011

Decent Daytona this year. No red flags I believe?

MazeOfTzeentch
May 2, 2009

rip miso beno
Nope, just a bunch of yellow, I heard someone say it was about 6hr of yellow in total, but that kept cars that ran into trouble up in the mix.

SPACE HOMOS
Jan 12, 2005

It was pretty chilly, especially up in the stands. I felt like there were a lot of people here this year; maybe people just wanting to do something. Lots of people digging hole in the ground to make fires, then later burning plastic in them.

Full Collapse
Dec 4, 2002

The 12 hours of Bathurst is probably my favorite GT3 race. Starts in the dark and easily watchable in its entirety for us living in the Americas.

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Dr. Garbanzo
Sep 14, 2010

Full Collapse posted:

The 12 hours of Bathurst is probably my favorite GT3 race. Starts in the dark and easily watchable in its entirety for us living in the Americas.

This years race providing it goes ahead isn’t till may which means it will both start and finish in the dark given the sun at that time of year doesn’t rise till 7 and sets a bit before 6. It’ll also be far colder given it’s heading into winter.

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