A “marketing budget” is the money a company spends to promote products. Here, the point is that marketing can help make a new technology feel less risky to customers.
LMH is a racing category for the fastest endurance cars at Le Mans. An “LMH manufacturer” means a company building a race car that follows those LMH rules.
A hybrid system is a car setup that uses both gas power and electric power. It can use the electric motor sometimes and can also recharge the battery when you slow down.
A “single platform” is when race cars share a common basic design. That way, teams aren’t starting from totally different foundations, and the rules can keep competition more even.
The ACO and the FIA are the organizations that set the rules for major endurance racing. If they decide how the regulations work, automakers have to build their cars to match.
This is about who gets to influence the racing rules. If the car makers have too much control, the rules might end up favoring certain designs, and the organizers have to keep things fair.
Concept
rule set being finalised by the end of the year
Race rules have to be decided early so teams have time to build and approve the cars. If the rules change too late, teams may not be ready in time.
Concept
2030
They’re talking about a future target year. It means teams have to plan far in advance so their cars can meet the rules by then.
These are cars that use hydrogen for energy. Most of the time in modern designs, hydrogen is turned into electricity inside the car to power the wheels.
Le Mans is a legendary long-distance race in France. Because it lasts 24 hours, it’s a tough test for new technology to prove it can survive and perform.
“Hydrogen powered prototypes” are experimental race cars built to test hydrogen fuel-cell (or hydrogen-based) powertrains and related systems under competition conditions. Prototypes are not production cars; they’re designed to prove feasibility, performance, and reliability before any broader adoption.
A development freeze means teams are told to stop making big performance changes for a while. The goal is to keep racing closer and make the sport cheaper to compete in.
Performance updates are small-to-medium changes teams make to try to make the car faster. If everyone updates at the same time, the racing may stay about the same instead of getting closer.
Concept
public position
A public position is what a company says publicly about something. In racing, those statements can affect how people interpret the company’s plans and why they might change course.
The host is describing how manufacturer-backed racing efforts are often planned as time-bounded “budgeted programs.” That means teams may pause, reduce, or restructure their involvement when funding cycles end—especially as the sport transitions into a new era.
IMSA is the big racing organization in North America for sports cars. When someone says a team is committed to IMSA, they mean they plan to race in that major series with the rules and classes IMSA uses.
LMP2 is a category of race cars used in long-distance endurance racing. It’s meant for teams that want to compete with prototype-style cars without the biggest-budget costs.
Here, “off the shelf” means a ready-made race-car component that different teams can purchase instead of designing their own. They’re debating whether teams will keep buying shared parts or build their own to stay competitive.
In race cars, the “spine” is a key structural part that helps hold the car together and supports the rest of the body. The point here is whether teams will buy a common version or have their own custom one made.
Term
platform era
“Platform era” refers to a rules/competition period where teams are expected to base cars on a shared technical platform or standardized architecture. The hosts connect it to manufacturers wanting their own chassis “spine” so they can differentiate as much as possible within the shared framework.
A “tub” is the main structural body shell of a race car. It’s the part that everything else attaches to, and it has to be strong and safe for endurance racing.
Term
build slots
“Build slots” means available time in a factory’s production schedule. If a manufacturer can’t build the car structure itself, it needs a constructor that has open slots to make it.
LMDH is a set of racing rules for the newest generation of endurance prototype race cars. It’s meant to make it easier for teams to compete in both Le Mans and American endurance racing with a similar type of car.
In racing, budgets are the money teams have to spend on building and improving the car. The host is saying the rules and parts choices can make those budgets bigger or smaller.
A bespoke chassis means the race car’s frame is custom-designed for that team, not bought as a ready-made setup. Custom parts can be more expensive and take longer to develop.
Car
Peugeot 9x8
The Peugeot 9x8 is Peugeot’s race car for long-distance endurance events like Le Mans. When they say they’re updating it, it usually means changes meant to make it faster and more reliable for the next season.
A “narrow operating window” means the car only works really well under certain conditions. If conditions or rules change, the car may not behave as predictably or may lose speed.
In some racing series, organizers use “balance of performance” rules to make different cars compete more evenly. They may tweak things like power or weight so one car isn’t automatically faster than the rest.
Thomas Loudon is identified here as the vice president of motorsport at Porsche. The host says he sat down with Loudon shortly before the Le Mans race, indicating an interview about Porsche’s racing plans and progress.
GTP is the name of a top racing category for endurance prototype cars. When the host says Porsche is “rolled into GTP,” they mean Porsche’s next racing direction will follow that category’s rules.
EV means electric vehicle. In this discussion, it’s about how Porsche’s electric-car business is doing financially and how that affects their racing plans.
The Porsche 911 is a sports car made by Porsche that’s been around for a long time. It’s known for being quick and fun to drive, including on race tracks. People bring it up a lot because it’s a popular choice for performance upgrades and special builds.
Concept
next set of regs
“Regs” means the rules. The “next set of regs” are the new rule changes coming for racing, and they can change what teams build and how they compete.
The “grid” is basically the group of race cars that show up to compete. Here, the host is saying Porsche being there makes the field stronger.
Term
Formula R
Formula R is the name of a racing series. The host is saying that if Porsche only races in that one series, it would be a big change from what they’re currently doing.
Ferrari is a famous Italian car brand known for high-end supercars. The hosts mention it to compare how different brands handle racing and brand visibility over time.
A customer GT3 program is a racing effort where a manufacturer supports privately run teams with GT3-spec cars, engineering guidance, and parts/technical infrastructure. The key idea is that the brand’s cars and people show up in the paddock through customer teams, not just factory entries.
The Porsche Junior shootout is a Porsche event for young drivers. It’s basically a way for Porsche to find future racing talent, and the host is saying that if Porsche isn’t as visible in racing, fewer people may want to chase that path.
WEC is the World Endurance Championship, a big international series for long-distance sports-car races. In this segment, they’re talking about what happens at the Silverstone WEC race.
The RAC Trophy is a long-running, prestigious trophy in motorsport history. The host is excited because it’s being awarded again for the Silverstone WEC race, and they highlight how old and significant it is.
The Jaguar XJS is a classic Jaguar grand touring car. Here it’s being mentioned because it was also used in racing programs and helped lead to competition success.
Hybrid drivetrain technology means the car uses both a traditional engine and an electric motor. In racing, that can help the car use energy more efficiently and sometimes deliver extra power when it matters.
LMP1 was the top prototype class in the Le Mans–style endurance racing rules, and “hybrid” refers to cars in that class using an electric-assist system. The segment is connecting Zitech’s early hybrid work to the later evolution of hybrid prototypes up through the modern hypercar era.
Hypercar is the name for the newest, top-level class of race cars in endurance racing. It’s basically the modern evolution of the fastest prototype rules, often with hybrid tech.
LMP 675 is a specific endurance-racing rule category for prototype race cars. It’s mentioned because the same race-car platform competed under different rule sets.
LMP1 is the top class of prototype race cars in endurance racing. Here it’s mentioned because the Zitech 15 was built to compete at that highest level.
Formula Gibson is a racing series where the cars used Gibson engines. The host is pointing out how that engine setup—especially the naturally aspirated V8—became a memorable part of the racing experience.
A normally aspirated V8 is a V-shaped eight-cylinder engine that doesn’t use a turbo or supercharger. It tends to feel responsive and makes a distinctive sound in racing.
Formula 3000 was a well-known open-wheel racing series that helped drivers move up the ladder. The host is mentioning it because the same engine design powered that series for years.
Gibson Technology is a company that builds and supports racing technology. The host is visiting their current facility to see what they’re working on for the next LMP 2 engine program.
Nismo is Nissan’s performance and motorsport brand, known for developing race engines and track-focused components. Here, it’s mentioned as the basis for a new V6 turbo engine intended for the next generation of LMP 2.
Watkins Glen is a well-known race track in New York. Sports car races happen there a lot, and it’s known for being exciting and influential for the season standings.
Term
endurance cups
An endurance cup is a season-style competition for long races. Teams earn points at each event, and those points add up toward the overall standings.
Sports car racing is racing for cars that are built for performance and endurance. It often involves teams sharing driving time and competing across different car categories.
A championship battle is the race to finish first in the season standings. One event can change who’s leading because teams earn points based on their results.
That phrase means the race is decided by very small differences in time. When gaps are that small, being even slightly off the pace—or getting stuck in traffic—can cost positions.
Brand
Wintella Racing
Wintella Racing is a motorsports team. The discussion is about how well they’re doing and whether they can stay competitive at the next race.
Laguna Seca is a famous race track in California. It has a tricky section called the Corkscrew, so it can really show which cars handle and brake best.
The Aston Martin Valkyrie is a very high-end, track-oriented supercar from Aston Martin. It’s being discussed here because it may be competitive against the usual race cars in the field.
GTD Pro and GTD are two classes in sports-car racing for production-based “GT” cars. GTD Pro is the more professional, factory-supported end of the GTD family, while GTD is aimed more at privateer teams; both run similar car types but with different driver/team expectations.
This is a race class designed to give less-experienced drivers a more level playing field. In this weekend’s entry list, it’s apparently drawing more cars than the main class.
Term
Ford and their Dark Horse platform
Ford’s “Dark Horse” is a Mustang-based racing program. It’s basically the rules and setup teams follow for that Mustang competition.
The Ford Mustang is a sports car made by Ford. The podcast mentions the “Dark Horse” platform, which is a particular performance version of the Mustang. It comes up because it’s a strong base for upgrades and serious driving.
Endurance races are long races where the goal is to keep the car running and competitive for hours. Teams plan pit stops and driver swaps so the car can finish strong.
The Spa 24 Hours is a long-distance race where cars compete for a full day at Spa-Francorchamps. Teams have to manage tires, fuel, driver changes, and car reliability to last the whole race.
An entry list is just the official list of which cars/teams are registered to race. Saying the entry list is bigger usually means more competition and more cars on track.
Topic
calendars
“Calendars” here means the race schedule—what weekends the events happen. If the schedule changes, teams have to plan travel and car prep around new dates.
“Multi class” means different types of race cars run in the same race. Some are quicker than others, so the faster cars have to pass carefully and teams plan around traffic.
“One make” means the race is for cars from the same brand. Since the cars are more similar, it’s easier to compare drivers and team choices instead of the cars being wildly different.
SRO is a company that organizes a lot of GT (grand touring) racing. Saying “SRO competition” means the event is run under their GT race rules and classes.
In racing, “pro class” means the cars are competing in a category aimed at professional-level drivers. Endurance races often have multiple classes running at the same time, so class wins are a big deal.
The Volvo 960 is a big, comfortable sedan made by Volvo. It’s meant for everyday driving and long-distance comfort rather than being a race car. The podcast mentions it as part of a group of cars in their discussion.
BOP is a rule system that tries to make different race cars more evenly matched. Instead of one car always being faster, officials tweak settings to balance performance.
GT4 is a racing class meant to be cheaper and easier to run than GT3. The cars are more like production cars, so more teams and drivers can compete.
Term
multicasting
Multicasting here means showing the race live in more than one place at the same time. The host is comparing how this event will be covered to an earlier event they watched.
Term
knotted the barrier
It sounds like the driver crashed into the track barrier on lap one. That kind of early incident can ruin the rest of the race for everyone.
Term
Rouge
“Rouge” is probably the name of a specific corner on the track. The host is saying the driver got it wrong there on lap one.
Person
George Osana
George Osana is a person the host credits with helping run or support the McLaren racing program. In this segment, he’s mentioned as part of the management/sporting leadership behind the series.
Person
Rob Belt
Rob Belt is another person the host credits with helping run the McLaren racing program. The host is saying he’s involved in the sporting leadership behind the scenes.
The Porsche Carrera RS is a special, track-oriented version of the 911. It’s made to be lighter and more performance-focused than a regular road car. The podcast brings it up because it connects to Porsche’s racing history and competition events.
The AMG GT is a high-performance sports car made by Mercedes-AMG. It’s designed to be fast and capable, including on race tracks. The podcast brings it up because it’s one of the cars used in serious GT-style racing.
The KTM X-Bow is a small, lightweight sports car made by KTM. It’s designed to feel sporty and nimble, with an open-cockpit style. The podcast mentions it because it’s part of a group of performance cars used in racing.
The Audi R8 is a supercar made by Audi. The podcast specifically mentions the “GT2” version, which is a race-prepared version built for competition. It’s included because it’s one of the cars in the racing lineup being discussed.
In endurance races, cars compete in different groups (classes) at the same time. “Multiple class wins” means they won in more than one of those groups.
LIVE
Welcome to the Week in Sports Cars podcast, Martial Priot podcast collection, and brought
to you this week by me, I'm Graham Goodwin, the editor-in-chief of TellySportsCar.com,
and longtime co-presenter of this fine show, and my friend and colleague, the editor of
DSC, and the WC correspondent for Race.com in the United States, Stephen Kilby.
Stephen, good afternoon.
Good afternoon, Graham.
How are you?
I'm fabulous.
It's blisteringly warm in the south of England today, so we're sitting here in the DSC headquarters
office, sweltering, it's fair to say.
Yeah.
I'm not going to complain about that.
Really, I'm not.
But the other thing to say here is, boy, oh, boy, there's a lot going on.
So we sit here just days before the sparkly flowers.
Talk about that in just a few moments.
After that, we get back on the go for the resumption of the European Le Mans series and
WC seasons.
But there's still plenty to unwrap from what was a maelstrom, not just news, but also background
commentary about what was going on with the world of ACO rules racing at Le Mans and in
the immediate aftermath.
You've got to gather your thoughts, gather the load of material that's same word warning
you'd gathered at Le Mans about what I think, and I think you agree, is one of the most
important current issues for the sport, which is the 2030 top class prototype ruleset.
Call it a hypercar, call it a hypercar GTP.
Call it what you will, but effectively, the success is to the currents, smash hit hypercar
GTP wrecks.
Yes?
Yes.
So tell us a little bit about how the moment those regulations, negotiations, discussions
caught on what you will, and I urge you to call them something, how that's going.
We discussed it a little bit, didn't we, after Le Mans and this podcast in our kind of post
race debrief show.
We kind of delved into the fact that the 2030 regulations were kind of presented at the ACO
press conference.
It was very much a framework with not much detail.
It's more just a general direction that we're heading towards.
It's kind of a precursor to us receiving the full set of regulations by the end of the
year.
So since we got back from France and since we've had a bit of sleep to catch up on,
it's been good to go back through some of the conversations I was having and many journalists
were having in the fallout of that press conference, to stakeholders, to manufacturers
involved, and just to kind of read the room really.
Because at the moment, because there's so little hard details and so little of it is
completely concrete, nobody can categorically say much on the record and nobody can say,
we're definitely in, we're definitely out at this stage because we don't have that set
of regulations.
But what you can get is a general sense of mood amongst the OEMs.
And that's the most important thing, right?
This rule set has to attract those OEMs that we've got, the fleet that we've got racing
now, some of the OEMs are perhaps looking at it.
Can they get as many of them across the line as possible?
So wrote a piece for DRC and for Racer as well that kind of outlines where we are.
And it feels like two camps, it feels like the LMH manufacturers have a different set
of concerns broadly to the LBH manufacturers because ultimately this is the biggest battle,
is all the different OEMs have their own set of priorities, their own tolerance to budget
and budget changes over the course of a program.
And so we've heard the likes of Toyota, Peugeot and Ferrari all kind of express concerns about
where we're going to be on hybrid power for this rule set is because it's going to be,
you know, essentially you can do your own hybrid system, but it's got to meet the same
technical specs as a spec system that will be on offer for manufacturers who don't want
to do their own.
And so there's naturally concern from some of the manufacturers who benefit in R&D terms
like a Toyota, that are they going to get as much out of doing this program because
it's important to them that not only they design their own car, but they benefit from
the tech there.
But there is a counterpoint, in Toyota traditionally all the way back to the beginning of the LB1
program back in 2012, have indeed funded this through the R&D program and there's been
some pretty cutting edge stuff that's come from it.
There is a counterpoint and that counterpoint is in this era with beginning to the stage
where kind of six figure numbers coming through turnstiles is not unusual.
The online audience for sports car racing has never been bigger.
You know, that's a limited point.
Online has not been around for that long, but certainly the kind of numbers that you're
getting for online content are going up and up.
Now the return on investment for these brands has never been better, which means Toyota
have got a choice.
They can stick with that purely R&D funded approach, which to this point has been very
successful for them in terms of the way in which the technology come forward and the
greatest challenges they've won with it.
Or they can adopt in part or in whole an approach that includes marketing budget, at which point
some or all of that concern goes away.
And here's the point, the vast majority of brands do exactly that.
So we've heard and we've read, you know, if they don't do this or they do do that, that
might be a reason why we might walk away.
I don't see them walking away.
Is the honest answer?
I mean, there's two sides.
One is clearly there's an element of using this window between the direction being set
and the rules set being finalised to push your agenda.
Of course.
And my understanding from conversations I've had off the record is that Bosch is certainly
still going to be involved in this from the hybrid system point of view.
And there's a will to make it, you know, push the envelope a bit more on the hybrid system
than we've got at the moment.
And I think the LMH manufacturer is going to be the ones driving that.
And it's going to then be up to what does the general consensus in the room?
I think what it's got to come down to on one side.
Yeah, we've seen the product taking.
We know traditionally for our instance, what have their own design chassis,
what's have their own design powertrain, including the hybrid system.
We get that.
The POSHO program, the program went LMH in no small part because they've got an associated
battery company SAFT that they wanted to show what they could do.
Now we've got Tota effectively talking publicly about the they don't wish to see the front
axle deployment go away.
Prior to that, we had Thomas Lohenbach on the record from Porsche talking about the
the benefits and the necessity to actually have a single platform.
At some point, tough questions are going to be answered either by one or all of those
manufacturers or by the rule makers who will have to make a tough choice or two.
And that tough choice might be, well, OK, we've got 5678
manufacturers who want to come with the rule set that we have defined within these broad criteria.
And then we've got one, maybe two, that one is to go in a different direction.
OK.
And many things, and it is not one of them, whether or not one of those two is a Ferrari
or a Toyota or a Porsche does mean that it adds up to being more than one, effectively.
It's more weight, isn't it?
But that's a darn sight easier question to answer if you're the ACO of the FIA and you've
got eight manufacturers saying yes and one or two saying no.
Yeah, they've got to strike a balance between letting the OEMs basically write the rule book
and them saying this is what we decided.
You're in and you're out because if they, you know, tipped her around this for too long
and we get into a point where it doesn't reach this deadline, for instance, of the rule set
being finalised by the end of the year, then it starts to get edgest or whether you can get
programmes signed off and cars designed and developed in time for 2030 anyway.
So time is kind of the essence now.
And this is the time all these factories in the talks that we expect to know for the next
few months are going to be pushing.
And the other element, certainly to Toyota, which you mustn't forget is the fact that
this new rule set incorporates the use of hydrogen powered cars, which is an element
of this, that Toyota have got a massive interest in.
They've developed their own prototype, they've demoed at Le Mans.
It could be that they go all the way to the brink and say, well, maybe this is the
maybe this is our opportunity to walk away from like a, you know, the traditional
prototypes of erasing and race hydrogen prototype instead.
We'll say by the way, and not for this podcast, but a bit of a push in the
director's story that will be coming very soon with a significant twist for Toyota
and their public position on hydrogen in a very positive way.
I'll say no more than that, but could be a door opener to others doing the same.
So watch this space in the coming days for that.
But I think possibly one of the most significant statements made on hydrogen
powered prototypes for some time hasn't been picked up anywhere else.
We're in the process of just putting the notes together to make that happen.
Yeah.
So, so there's that.
And, you know, it's not obviously just the OEMs that need to have a say in this and
the direction in it.
But, you know, broadly, I would say the most positive thing is that everyone's
pretty satisfied with the kind of timeframe we're looking at.
Everyone's broadly satisfied with the fact that we're moving on this and that
there is a direction set.
And I think as a whole, moving to a single platform suits most because most
people want, they want the closer race and they want it to be less complex.
Certainly the cost cutting measures like, you know, what they're trying to do,
which is implement the development freeze for five years, barring disaster for a
car that gets David and his way off.
I think that's sensible.
And, you know, it was interesting actually that Olivier Janssen told me, you know,
in the same conversation they were talking about their plans in the interim at
Peugeot for, you know, with the 9x8 program, saying that the performance
freezes is actually something we feel they should have done years and years ago,
which is interesting coming from a manufacturer that's used so many
performance updates.
But what he's trying to say is every time we update the 9x8, everyone else
updates their cars as well.
And we're not actually getting any closer.
Which by the way, goes down the same road as David Salter's public position on
one of the reasons why Acura is standing aside.
So we're going to find out whether Acura's pauses are the cause.
Is it a pause?
Yeah, sort of a bluff calling here.
So, you know, for me, imagine, dear listener, me putting on the hat,
Mark Sinek.
So putting on my Sinek's hat.
Am I surprised at the public positioning of a number of manufacturers,
particularly those that are winning races and winning championships,
they would rather retain that advantage, of course, I'm not surprised by it.
But these manufacturers teams are not composed of stupid people.
They will see the advantages.
There are lots and of things about the current era that have
been very good.
There are certainly some that need to tweak.
And it would do well for it from a tweak.
I think if we're talking about across the board, 10 manufacturers,
I think that's probably about right with the ones we've got,
the ones that are coming and the ones we believe are coming.
And the ones that are walking away might come back.
Yeah, if we if we retain six to seven of those manufacturers into a new era,
that is amazing.
That's a success story.
That is a massive win because we would be coming to the end of most
manufacturers, budgeted programs anyway, by 2030, if not before.
So there's plenty of that going on.
I mean, you've got Porsche who are committed in IMSA GDP through the end
of next season.
And after that, we don't know all the trying claw their way back into hypercar.
Will they sit back and wait for 2030?
Will they carry on the NIMSA?
Will they do nothing?
That's the decision to be made.
Persia seem to be dead set on.
We're continuing through the end of this decade and seem to be relatively
satisfied with where 2030 is.
Aston Martin, big surprise to Adam Carter.
Actually quite likes the fact that 2030 by the time we get there,
that kind of is kind of quote was that, you know, that point is going to be
in line with Aston Martin's directional propulsion system.
So actually moving to a hybrid powered solution work would work for them.
So there's so many other factors like economics and geopolitics at the
moment that could throw Spanish in the works for these these manufacturers.
But as a whole,
please, please.
is the level which manufacturers will or will not be allowed to carry over
the investment they've got on the current platform.
Of course, that's going to be more specifically of concern to the Johnny
Come Lately's, if you like, McLaren's, the Forts, where they'll have had less
opportunity to advertise their investment, if you like.
But it is a truly.
Fascinating debate.
And there's so much gray area to it.
So.
But I think it would be fair to say this.
If we had to characterize where the where those debates are, where those
discussions are to say their balance positive would be underplaying it.
So there are course counterpoints being fielded.
Of course, there are.
But for the most part, a very high percentage of the common
comment we're getting from those directly involved that we would wish to stay involved.
Is positive, positive in terms of the tone, positive in terms of the general
direction, positive in terms of their take on who else is positive about it.
Because of course, what they want at the end of it is not just to come out
with a platform that they can adopt, but to have competition.
It's also fair to say that when you read most of the coverage commentary out there,
it's balanced negative because people are focusing on the points of difference.
Of course they are because that's interesting.
You know, do I expect Tota or Ferrari to walk away from this?
I genuinely don't.
I genuinely don't.
I think one of the two is I think it's more likely to be Toyota, but he knows.
You know what?
And if that's the case, we will shake them firmly about the hand and say thank you.
You know, we we aren't owed anything by Toyota with the amount of loyalty
they've shown to this sport.
So, you know, decade and a half of excellence as well.
Yeah.
So I hope to stay.
I genuinely do.
Again, when you see them operating on song, it's a joy to behold.
It is operational excellence.
We sort of gain at them all this year and tough to beat when they're on form.
And I think they've found their form again.
And I think that will start to offset some of this commentary in the background.
Basically, we want to retain this advantage.
They've got a record of arguing for advantage.
You know, that's what they're there for.
They're there to promote that brand.
But I think when it comes right down to it, I think what you'll find is a Kia
Toyota and his team around him once go racing.
No, I agree.
But yeah, so that's that's the manufacturers.
I think it's worth pointing out before we move on other elements to this, which is
tire tender, which includes the tender for hydrogen powered prototypes.
It's been delayed, but it's not going to be long until we hear who's won that.
That's going to be announced after Sao Paulo, principally Michelin and
Goodyear are the big players there, both involved, both very, very keen to be part
of this, putting together a big play for this, putting huge packages together
to make it work.
And I wouldn't want to be the one making the decision because I think they're
both incredibly capable suppliers.
Interesting, by the way, they're that convinced that this is going to live forward.
Yeah. Yeah.
And that's great.
You've got a competition from two high profile time manufacturers who believe
in the formula as well and are confident that it makes business sense for them to
be there and they want to be there.
So that's great.
But we'd make the point, by the way, I've seen a few public comments, social media
comments, blah, blah, blah, tire wars not happening.
On a BOP formula, it's just not going to work.
Yeah.
So you can kind of count that out.
That's not on the agenda.
So so there's that.
But the last thing and you mentioned a little bit about carry over being
something that's still up for discussion, is it just going to be you can bring,
say, men genover is there going to be lots of components?
This is a massive part of the ruleset that needs kind of answering and these
decisions made on.
And I'm thinking in particular because of the constructors that play the likes
of Anorak, Elegia, DeLara, Multimatic, the ones who are going to be chassis
partners for a lot of these manufacturers, we assume they need some answers.
They need them pretty quickly before they decide whether they're in or out.
Because at the moment and talking in the background to some of the suppliers,
they're the questions they've got over it go all the way down to what does a spine
actually mean in the new regulations?
Is it just a tub?
Is it more than that?
Is it mounting points?
Sorry, mounting points and the business case for it is so different to how it was
when LMDH started, because back then it was you going to build a spine to a set
of regulations that's also going to morph into LMP2.
And you had that, yeah, it didn't in the end, but you had that additional revenue
stream potential down the line, which made it an easier business case to get
involved in for some of them.
So they need to make sure that they know it's going to work.
And I think the big news coming with this may be that we don't see any off the shelf
spines produced anymore, because the kind of general sense I'm getting is that
it doesn't necessarily make business sense for Elegia, for instance, or Anorak,
to produce a spine off the shelf, sell it to multiple manufacturers, because
when it comes down to it, these manufacturers are going to just want to do their own.
They were going to want to be as competitive as possible in this single
platform era, they're going to want their own spine.
So least possible compromise.
Yeah. And how different would it be to partner with a BMW to do a spine and then
offer an off the shelf one from the same manufacturer?
There's going to be arguments about what does the manufacturer deal like?
That's actually my,
my, my.
Interested.
It's going to come down to whether they can sit down with a manufacturer and come
to an agreement on how much money there's been made, because some of these
manufacturers don't have the capability that these constructors do when it comes
to building tubs and build slots for prototypes.
They're going to need them, but there has to be something in it for the constructors
as well. So we mustn't forget how crucial it is that the, you know, and it's not
necessarily just going to be the four that we see in LMDH.
It could be a Tartus, for instance, coming in and wanting to do the road.
Yeah. I mean, anyone can essentially join in as it stands.
So they're going to play a major part in the direction of this and they're going
to play a major part in what the budgets actually look like, because yes, you're
moving to a single platform and yes, it looks a little bit more like LMDH.
But some of these manufacturers who are involved in LMDH now, not used to
working with, you know, a bespoke chassis built for them.
And that's not going to be as cheap as taking something off the shelf, but
there's nothing available. You're going to have to do it anyway.
So so much to talk about.
And it's going to be something that we're going to be talking about again and again.
And it's going to come at us quickly.
It is.
Look out for news on this in both directions.
I think go down bad here in the coming weeks and months.
Yeah. What's next?
So I think we talked a little bit about
we mentioned a little bit about Peugeot, a little bit about Porsche.
We've been talking a bit about the interim between now and 2030.
So not what their thoughts are in 2030, but what are their thoughts on their
programs at the moment?
The good news is, if you're a Peugeot fan, is that they're staying there.
They're not going anywhere.
They're bringing a substantial update for the 9x8 for next year.
But the clarification that Alain, Alain Farve, the CEO of Peugeot, made
to us in a media roundtable just before the 124 hours, was that it is going to be
a 9x8 next year.
It's not a brand new car is his definition.
He believes he was misquoted by somebody somewhere.
For my money, it's going to be a substantially different car from everything I
understand. But there's so much in the discussions that had to be had with the
rule makers about what you can and can't do to homologate the car with the Joker
updates they're hoping to bring.
So excited to find out what they've done to the car.
Excited to see what it looks like.
I hope it gives them that step to bring him into it.
But for me, I'm impressed that they're not using this as a,
oh, do you know what?
We're out. We've not.
We've done an awful four years.
We've not achieved anything we wanted to achieve.
They're looking at the positive.
They're looking at the positive.
I don't think it's been awful.
I tell you what, I don't think it's been awful.
I think they've got a lot of exposure for their initial quirky car.
They had some success, some podium success.
They've had the spar pole position, for instance.
They've had some really good TV time to those cars.
But suddenly, all of a sudden,
and this will be to do with the what's happening in the background in terms of
the process with BAP at the moment, all of a sudden, it's fallen off a cliff.
It's it.
What I know what you've been told and what I've been told throughout is
and I know this is one of those phrases that is thrown out willy nilly.
When we talk about motorsport in media terms, it has a very narrow operating window.
What does that mean?
It means if you apply certain certain forms of balance performance to this car,
it's outside its comfort zone.
And that was readily apparent.
Has been readily apparent on more the publication of that's the issue they've got to deal with.
But they can't keep coming to Le Mans, their home race, the biggest race of season
and stinking the place out, which is what they've kind of done for a while now.
So but they're not they're turning it around and saying we're seeing green shoots.
You know, we've seen some good qualifying
performances this year, we saw the back end of last year was pretty there's some good results.
Think about Bahrain was a good one.
They're using that as as a launch pad to say we're making progress.
It's just not come together yet.
So looking forward to seeing kind of where it goes and pleased that they're staying in.
As for Porsche, another one that's worth kind of going over is the vice president
of the motor sport there, Thomas Loudon back sat down with me for good sort of 25
for 25 minutes, 30 minutes before the race Le Mans.
And it was really nice to catch up with him.
Actually, I've been a while since I've seen him and had a chance to kind of pick his brain.
We had to talk about how strange it was that Le Mans was being run with only
two Porsches on the grid and he admitted it was it was odd,
you know, that they don't have this massive presence.
And of course, the race didn't didn't go the way for man ties.
So they didn't get any silverware out of it, which for them will be a massive shame.
But
I thought he was pretty positive on 2030 and certainly he's looking at closely.
And, you know, ultimately, Porsche has been a voice in this pushing for the direction
we're going to. So for my money, they've kind of got what they wanted.
So it's time for them to decide whether, you know, it's it's it's enough of what
they wanted to kind of come back and continue on with the program.
But for now, they've got some interesting choices to make because
they're rolled in into the GTP, they've pulled out of hypercar.
And it is a case of what do they do next?
Because there is a point coming and it'll probably be this time next year
when we start to hear what's Porsche doing with that nine and six free program.
Is it is it going to continue or is next year the final year?
I look at this way.
They've made very clear what their issues were.
It was primarily based on the current
performance of the company in financial terms around EV, around China and to a
lesser extent in North America.
For me.
We've got a lot of fantastic brands in the WEC.
But the two that shine out are Ferrari and Porsche for a range of reasons.
It's to do its heritage, its heritage.
You can argue, I asked a Martin, but it's a different deal there.
I think it's fair to say that both you and I have been both surprised and delighted
by the value that Ferrari has seen in management place on this program.
And how important that's become to the wider.
Issue of.
Maintaining and growing their truly premium customer.
Cabal.
And I can't believe it's any different for Porsche.
Now, for all these different in another way.
Ferrari has been ever present in Formula One.
Porsche has been in there, it's been out there, but it's not their thing.
It's never been their key thing.
Sports car racing has and I do wonder what might be happening with the parallel.
Big, big spending Porsche customers
when they are watching the choices that are being made by the company.
And I'm going to specifically say here, I if I was the kind of customer
that doesn't just buy you 9-11 every year, buy something bespoke and buy something
for the track as well and buys one for, you know, for my family as well.
And buys, you know, something that is more bespoke than you're spending serious
six figure coin per year on Porsche products.
I bet there's not many that are doing that.
That give a monkeys about Formula E.
I bet there's not that carry.
When there's probably a decent chunk of it.
Don't even realise they're racing in Formula.
I think that that I think could be the concern here
is what feedback are the key influences?
Out amongst Porsche's
key customers, the dealership owners
and the key influence influences at board level within.
What is that discussion?
I cannot believe it's anything other than questioning of the choices they've made.
I think, you know, with distance.
The choices look poor, they look poor.
That choice to leave.
Looks wrong.
It doesn't feel as if it's given anything within Porsche.
Any kind of shot in the arm.
Understand why they've done it.
I'm sure they'd love to be able to do both.
I know they needed to stay there to be as big a player in the Gen 4
of Formula E as they would wish to be.
But.
Increasingly.
They look like a massive international brand
without the influence over the future that they would wish to have.
Because you get the sense they'll be back with sooner rather than later.
It's just a case of how do they frame it, how do they justify it?
You know, a big part of this is going to be
are we seeing signs of recovery in terms of their finances?
Because it is hard optically.
You know, even now they've pulled out of WC, they've invested and reinvested in
Formula E, carried on in IMSA.
It's harder than suddenly only a year later to go, it's OK.
Nothing's changed behind the scenes financially.
It's OK, we're coming back to it.
No mistake, they are not coming back to WC in 2027.
No, and Thomas ruled that out.
But even after two years of pulled out, it's not
likely that Porsche suddenly, massive profits are up and things are looking great
and they can justify it.
They're going to have to work out strategies, kind of put themselves back into it.
I think a couple of things to say about it.
I mean, there's a couple of questions to ask about it.
One of which is the stewardship of their talent,
which looks odd in the extreme when you've got truly talented drivers.
Leaving, wanting to leave and being held to contract
and just buying their time until they can.
I can think.
I'm trying to think I can't remember that ever being the case until the current
era, ever for Porsche.
No.
And that to me, OK, it will be some of those individuals.
Taking a different line on the choices.
The difference is there are different,
there are options out there for people.
Yes.
In the past, there weren't.
Indeed.
There weren't so many factory seats.
So you didn't have.
They were happier.
They were happier, I agree.
People were happy to stay.
But the marketplace was very different.
I completely agree.
I think that's a very good point and well made.
And you'd have put up with more because you were one of the lucky few
that had a factory contractor or Porsche at a time and there were only a few brands involved.
I'm still struggling to understand a trend.
And I use that word advisedly of championship
when you drive us leaving the following year or being dropped the following year.
That to me, it's not unique.
It has happened before, but it's become a trend.
So seemingly, who's going to be the person that effectively is being told
that they won the championship by their employer and who's been the one
that's been effectively told we've won despite you.
That's what it feels like.
And I can tell you that's what it feels like because I spoke to more than one
person that's been in that situation that feels exactly like that.
And that to my mind, if you're going to come back successfully,
they've got to rebuild that.
That's been a key part of their success.
And right now,
Porsche does not look as much of the professional golden ticket as it has for as long as I can.
It kind of feels like they need a bit of a reset with sports cars,
with how the program is, where they're operating, how they're doing it,
what they're doing to get the return on investment they need out of these programs.
So kind of needs to sit back and have a reefing,
coughing on strategy.
I mean, that goes all the way to driver management.
I think it comes down to this.
I suspect that if we do find a way,
if they do find a way back to the WC, I don't think that's going to be a choice
that's going to be made by the people currently in charge.
I think they're going to be told.
I think if there's direction going to be given here, it's not going to come from
within the currency.
That's just not they're going to be told that is the choice that they're going to make.
And at that point, organizational change follows.
Here's the thing.
If we go back to the original point between now and 2030,
I hope, I really hope the 96 free program makes it to 2030.
I hope they don't get to the end of next year and walk away from it completely.
And by the time we decide on what they're doing for the next set of regs.
For two reasons.
One, you know, love to see the night to be back in the hypercar.
We all would.
It was massive.
It's a massive boost to the grid to have Porsche in it will be a massive boost
again to have them back.
But if they're if they're not going to come back to hypercar,
I really hope they stay invested in them.
So it's a really important marketplace for for Porsche in North America.
And then we're a massive asset to that grid in GDP, a massive asset to it.
Losing that program would be horrendous.
Yeah, I hope.
And, you know, there's no there's that.
It's a question.
The Penske guys, as much as I do, they will be very, very keen.
Here's my question to you, and I'll say not one word on it.
If we heard that that program is done at the end of 2027 and that the only
factory international racing that Porsche was doing with Formula R.
What does that do?
That's bonkers.
That's a weird reality, isn't it?
Well, that's all they're doing as a factory.
You almost can't.
Three years ago, you know, there's no way we'd ever get to that point.
But we're not many miles away.
Right now, that is probably the most realistic expectation.
Yeah.
Yeah. At that point, I can see serious questions being asked.
Yeah, because it's one of those where it's short term.
You know, trimming back some fat and budget.
And yes, it's reducing costs that they're doing on factory motorsport.
But in the long run for a brand like Porsche,
and you kind of mentioned it when you're talking about the likes of Ferrari,
the way they do business in the long run, the damage that does to a brand to not
have that presence, time when there are so many other emerging brands coming in
and taking that market share, it's a mistake because the big customers are
the big players who want those cars on that.
What does it start to do to their customer race programs?
Here's the key.
What does that start to do?
Well, hang on a minute.
You're not there where you've seen your people.
You're not there with the big guns.
But I'm here in a paddock where McLaren do and how to do with their new customer
GT3 program and they've got all their people here and think of BMW do.
You know, what does it do to a Porsche car racing?
What does it do to the fact that the Porsche Junior shootout?
Yeah, who's interested in being a Porsche Junior and gunning for that
accolade you can get in your career if there's no ladder to the top with Porsche
anymore in sports car racing?
What does that do to that?
That is the key.
These are bigger questions than they appear right now, I think is the answer.
Enough of Porsche.
They've got some, I think, some huge questions to answer.
And we'll be watching, I think, pretty closely,
principally in the answer about IMSA.
That is the key moment.
That right there is the key moment.
We'll wait and see.
So got a couple more bits to touch on before we move away from the kind of WEC,
ACO sphere.
One great bit of news, one horrendous bit of news will do the great bit of news
first, which is confirmation that the Silverstone WEC race will award the RAC
Trophy, which to me is fantastic.
That's exactly what it needs to be awarded for.
It's the world's oldest race trophy.
My world.
Is it the world's oldest?
121 years old and was originally involved with had was awarded to the winners
of the Silverstone WEC race in 2013, dropped off that radar.
It's done all sorts of things.
It's the names on that trophy.
It is. I don't want to win.
Well, you and I have got some appointments with people at Silverstone in the coming
weeks, what I dress one thing, which is we've seen
public comment for and against ticket prices.
OK, I'm not going to go through what the ticket prices are.
Is it the cheapest WEC race?
No, it is not.
OK, is it the most expensive WEC race?
No, it's not.
I think it's as simple as this.
I get it.
I went down with two kids.
They both grow up now.
But if I had to take two kids
and their parents to any kind of major event, it can stack up quite quickly.
Having spoken briefly to those behind the deal that's been done, four year deal
for Silverstone,
a lot of thoughts go into this.
I would say, I think in some cases,
there's comparison with other events that doesn't quite stack up.
We are going to be in the wing.
That's more expensive.
OK, that's where it would appear that the
manufacturers and the organizers want to be.
Elon Musk will stay on its dates in the national pits.
Therefore, cheaper place to be, we can afford a cheaper ticket price.
We've not yet seen what support package is going to be for that.
I'd like people to swallow it and come.
I'd like people to just say, we get it 70 quid for Sunday, or is it what,
95 quid for all three days?
Yeah.
It's a lot of money.
But it's not a renders of that money.
No, Stuart Pringle actually described it in an interesting way when we were chatting
to him at the press briefing following the calendar announcement.
He described the wet grace at Silverstone as a Premier League match at a championship price.
OK, because of the days you get there.
If you're going for three days and it's 95 quid and what you're getting on that bill.
Yeah.
Yeah, it cost me a lot of money to go and see a Premier League match every couple of weeks.
Which is a Premier League match?
For my Wofle club, I pay.
It's on the hospital.
It is.
It's it works out on average about 67 quid, but it can go up to about 95.
Did they give you a discount for this season?
They have actually refunded tickets when it's got out of hand a couple of times.
Really? Yeah.
For any of us stupid enough to tropes up the country to watch us get beaten five nil.
We've had the ticket prices refunded for that.
Are you really?
That's astoundingly honorable.
So, yeah, I mean, for me, it's yes, it isn't that, you know, but it was never going
to be a 30 pound ticket.
No, it's not.
A 95 quid.
Yes, you've got, you know, and it is if you camp in and you've got a factor in the food
and you've got a factor in this.
What I would say, though, is it's 95 quid to get in and you don't have to pay for
grandstands. You can roam around the circuit, get loads of race action.
I'm sure they'll be the usual shuttle buses.
They're putting on all sorts.
Supposedly they're working on how they're going to make it more of an event.
It's not just track action, nothing else, whether that's music concerts,
whether that's massive fans, I'm the stuff to do.
We'll have to wait and see.
But I love a cage fight.
I love fighting me.
So being a football fan.
So I think it's going to be well worth that money.
I genuinely think for the value you're going to get across the weekend if you go
for all three days, you just turn up for race day for 70 quid.
Yeah.
People are going to go to Silverstone for the Grand Prix for a 90 minute race.
It's not going to cost you 70 quid.
It might cost you 70 quid to park.
Well, let's think about that.
What without putting in place what a ticket for the Grand Prix is.
What ticket for the Grand Prix buys you is a seat in a defined place.
You don't get to roam.
You do not get to roam.
The might will be actually more supporting
governments going on, but you certainly don't get to roam around the whole circuit.
You don't get the access with or without paddock access.
You do not get the access at all.
Yeah, parking.
I'm not going to put my hand up and say I've got full
transparency of what it costs to part your car by a burger.
You know, any of that, any race meetings, because you and I are in a very
privileged position hugely that, you know, we have lost touch with what
actually happens with these things.
The one thing I can tell you is pick having picked up a leaflet at Cota
not that long ago to find that where I parked my rental car, were I to come and do
that for the Grand Prix weekend would cost me 800 dollars.
Yeah, to park the car.
But and here's the other thing.
If if you're sitting here at the right now, planning what you're going to do
next year and leave aside them on different type of event.
But if you're looking at going to a wet race and you live in the UK,
it used to be the decision is right to go to a wet race for last years.
I've got to go abroad.
Do I go to Imola?
Do I go to Spa?
Le Mans obviously is the big carrot.
Do I go further filled internationally?
You know, you've now got the option Silverstone,
which is realistically, even if the ticket prices are more expensive,
we're a lot cheaper than flying to another country.
Well, the cheapest option going to getting a crossing to go to Belgium.
The cheapest option this year is Belgium.
OK, so let's just put that into context because we we're doing it again fairly soon.
Something like
200 and fifty to 300 quid for a crossing if you're going on the tunnel.
OK, and in the fuel, let's say it's a tank of fuel,
depends on when you're coming from the UK, but that's what eight to a hundred quid
nowadays, so that's 25330
If you go for the weekend, it's at least two nights of accommodation.
What's that going to cost?
A hundred quid a night?
Maybe more depending on the demand and where you want to be.
If you want to be on the circuit, yeah, so that's your overarching costs
before you've paid the ticket price.
That's put that into context.
I guess what the answer is here, boys and girls,
you've got exactly what you wanted.
The WC is going back to the UK.
I get it.
It's a few quid more than possibly you and I've hoped.
But I would ask the question, how much did you hope it was going to be?
I think it's pretty unrealistic to think it was going to be any less than
sixty quid, 6070 quid for the weekend.
For me, it's kind of where I expected it to be.
It's not far off it, I have to say ten quid here and there,
but I'm not the one sitting there with a spreadsheet in front of me.
I'll say what we said and we said this a long time ago.
And the other thing I want to say by the way to the fan base in the UK is thank you
because when we were talking about your
people in Montseries coming back, you remember we said on this show,
please come bring friends and boy, did you, boy, did you do that?
And that has made a massive difference in the outlook and the confidence
of the LMEM and Silverstone sitting down and coming up with a business plan.
No matter what the real figure was,
Silverstone, it was not the public figure.
I was just looking at it and said that was not a real figure.
Right. So come back to that.
It doesn't matter what the figure was.
The figure was good.
It was tens of thousands of people on a terribly rainy day.
Yeah, for an LMS race.
For an LMS race.
So thank you because you made it happen.
I think is what I'd say there.
I think that was what put the final nail in this deal is people go with confidence.
Why was that important?
Because Silverstone is far from the only place that wants to WC race right now.
Far from it.
There are other places in Europe, there are other places beyond Europe.
There are places that will pay money to host a race.
Big go. OK.
So please support it if you feel that you're able.
If you can't support it on event and not everybody can,
please support it in terms of keeping an eye on what's going on with the TV
coverage, on the app, on the social media.
Please, because return on investment is going to count.
And you're a big part that the fan base does matter.
And the one thing I will actually say, by the way, about the attitude of sports
racing, we're going to go on to talk about another event happening this weekend
where the same applies is.
I can tell you an awful lot behind the scenes goes into making these events
exactly what you'd want them to be.
Fans are not forgotten in sports car racing.
You are you are a course of assets.
Course you are.
But they're looking to do what they can within reason to make sure that you,
your friends, your family, your kids have as good a time as you possibly can for
reasonable amount of money.
So that's the RAC Tourist Trophy card,
which is magnificent.
I will say that I mean, I'd say it being an event because it's got a world
worthy prize that drivers and teams are going to want to win.
Let's move on to some sad news.
Yeah.
This is when you called me up to tell me this news.
It just feels like a gut punch for you because this is us talking about the
passing of Bill Gibson.
So I'll probably hand it over to you, Graham, because you've been in the weeds
of going through what's an astonishing career writing as a bituary.
Terribly, terribly sad news and really
thoughts are with everyone involved in the Gibson organization, family and friends.
But what a man and what a legacy and he deserves to be celebrated.
Let's talk about exactly what.
So Bill, he's been here for some time and I can say
such a stroke a couple of years ago has been away from the business for those
couple of years, but let's now talk about that business and his part in it.
Phenomenal career, phenomenal career.
Brought with his original partner,
electronic engineering management to form in the one for the first time with
Tolman and Center for that matter, moved on
in the mid to late 80s with similar technology that was behind
to a great extent the success that Tom
Walker's racing had with Jaguar and the World Championship and at Le Mans.
They made that happen.
Their innovation made that happen.
Things that we now don't think about need to start somewhere.
And in those two instances, they happened there.
Went on by the way to do the same with European touring car
championship successes with TWR, with both Rover and
Jaguar, the XJS and again with the electronics that went through there.
So that pioneering work
really does underpin where we are nowadays with
competition cars are just phenomenally capable and reliable.
That's that's that's that's the base of it.
We then go on to the contribution that the company Zitech
initially made with pioneering work in hybrid drivetrain technology with Sparky,
the Q9 panels 1998, later with Zitech chassis,
both sides of the Atlantic, but principally the course of motorsports effort
in the American Le Mans series.
Again, with Zitech powertrains proving the concept of frankly where we are to this
day through LMP one hybrid and in the hypercar.
That started with Zitech and with Bill Gibson.
Moving forward still again
with the troubles that hit Raynard and Bill and his backers saw the opportunity
to buy intellectual property rights to Raynard's next sports car.
That became the Zitech 15 of those cars built for LMP 675, LMP 2 and LMP 1
competition and those cars through a variety of rule sets remained competitive
until the end of their life in 2016.
So decade and a half of success for those cars, including amazing success.
Yeah, the final LMS pre current era.
I just have to say something which made me smile, but pre current era in LMP 2.
And then on into the current era, the Gibson era of LMP 2, because Zitech
after selling off the hybrid electronics business to Continental,
reinvented the company in Bill's name and LMP one success with rebellion
and going on into hypercar success in LMP one in a hypercar with the A480 with the
4.5 litre version of the astonishing
success of all successes, really.
We talk about Formula R, we should be talking about Formula Gibson,
4.2 litre, normally aspirated V8, the soundtrack to sports car racing.
Since 2017, without a shadow of a doubt.
And they've done that, I think with something like 60 engines.
It's something around that.
Unbelievably reliable, unbelievably reliable.
Add on to that their time with
the Jod Zitech 3 litre engine that powered multiple years of Formula 3000.
And then a one GP with the original formula and Zitech power there.
And you very recently, we went up to
Retton, the current home of Gibson Technology, saw the work that's going on
on the new Nismo based V6 turbo for the next generation of LMP 2.
For me,
the mark of
a truly great company is the people that work for them.
And you can tell when it's a long established company,
how good somebody is at the helm of that company, because people stay
for a long time.
And how many people did you meet that have been there pretty much from the beginning
on that day?
Oh, almost everyone.
Yeah, I mean, they've got young talent in that team.
But it's an inspirational place to be.
Innovator.
Engineer.
Brought.
To the sport.
Something that I think I said in his picture on the sports car, something that
defines him quality and I'm pleased as it rest.
Because he'd been very ill.
But he's going to be missed.
And in talking to some of his longest established employees.
And friends over the last few days in putting the stuff together, we did for DSC.
There's some
big emotions involved here.
And that speaks a lot
when you're talking about all those guys are talking about the bloke that employed
them.
Not every company is that
now, soundly based and lucky to have somebody at the at the wheel that is
world class at what they do as an engineer, as an innovator.
But more to the point
is world class as a boss of a human being as well.
So, Bill, thanks for everybody.
I am quite emotional about it.
You never like to say goodbye to someone who's been such a huge part of
of the industry, but goodbye it is.
But he will never be forgotten.
No. And
it's probably worth saying that the setup it gives him now is such that
he's got a legacy there and it's going to live on and on with family members.
Are we with family members involved in the business?
Yeah, which is a great thing.
They're not going anywhere and they are going to and they're going to do him
and his legacy massively proud over the coming years.
It's been an interesting couple of years with the debate about the next phase for
L&P2 and the drive is still there.
Despite the fact that Bill was not directly involved day to day.
The language, the body language, everything about the drive
really hasn't changed.
And, you know, with Bill, I think passed away.
John Manchester having very recently retired, it was a key part of that scene.
I think we're going to see a new generation coming through that with the same
management values being applied will mean the same principles are going to be seen
in the next generation as well.
So, rest in peace, Bill.
We're measure.
And on that note, let's talk about
the other side of the Atlantic.
Let's shift focus to the big American race going on this weekend.
And that is the six hours of Watkins Glen.
That's the Imza endurance cups third round.
Finally, the whole field back in action again.
It feels like forever ago, we last won
Imza L&P2 car turn a wheel because it kind of was back in March.
It's a full house.
It's 54 cars.
And I'm really excited to sit and watch a bit of this over
the weekend. It's I love the Watkins Glen race.
It's one of my favorites.
I think it's a great track for sports car racing.
Often produces drama.
Last year we had a bit of weather inflicted drama, but as a whole,
it's just an awesome old school circuit and one that we're kind of lucky that we
still have on the calendar with a big event like this.
Graham, how much do you want to talk about this?
I mean, this is a really crucial part to the championship battle, isn't it?
I mean, we've got so many storylines and all the classes to kind of cover.
One of the coolest ones for me is the fact that we've got Lauren Heimerich
confirmed he's going to be at Watkins Glen, which means he can still battle for
the title. He's going to switch between JDC and Penski through the rest of the season.
I think he's going to put that.
That would be a story line.
He's going to go back to Penski for particular.
Would that not be a brilliant story?
And he's right there.
He's not far off Jack Aitken who leads the
championship with his remarkable run of second, third, second, second and first.
With Action Express, but got this kind of two driver battle at the top.
And then Julian Ann, Lauren Felipe, Nasa, right there as well,
third in the standings for Penski.
What is going to be read on it?
Watkins Glen always, always doles out the dramas in the top class.
Always. It is so fast.
And the margins are so tiny that it's always inevitable.
So it is really a matter of a bit of a mix with Supreme Skull, Skull,
Stigill and a little tiny bit of luck along before we get into that, though,
just wanted to say one thing about one of the cars.
And that is to the cars, Wintella Racing.
We talked about them, the lead up to Le Bonne.
We were wrong.
They came out punching there and they played a full part.
We need them to do the same now.
Need them to be in the mix.
If they can be in the mix of Watkins Glen and finish this
this season in a kind of punchy fashion,
you're going to see something for these six hours.
What we need is there to be not three or four cars punching away all of them.
Yeah, all of them.
And
the caddies, something about them.
The other way they look, the way they sound, the brutal things,
the accuras coming towards the end of their program, remember?
Dainted little things, little screamers.
They're fantastic.
Porsche looking to just nail in more history with that shadow of a doubt.
BMW look at the strides that WRT have taken on this.
And then knocking on the door.
They were so close to Detroit, they were close as well.
Yeah, Laguna Seca looking forward to seeing if
Philip Engelmark at Whitman kind of put something together.
Interesting to see how competitive the Aston Martin, the Valkyrie can be.
And Watkins Glen, does it suit it?
And then we get to the car you've just mentioned, JDC Miller.
You know, remember that car still running to 2025, spec, not 2026.
And with the same BOP.
And with Thorin Heinrich with his dander up.
I think they can play a part here.
I think they can play.
It's so tight.
Traffic plays such a massive part.
The tiny little differences are less important than the skilled in the lock.
And just for me, we talked about Wayne Taylor and having a fantastic Le Mans.
Jack Aitken had an incredible Le Mans as well in the 38 Jota car as part of his
kind of dual effort, leads the championship.
And now we're getting to the point where the pressure is going to be on for him
to keep delivering with with old Bamber by his side.
Want to see what he can do when the pressure is starting to mount.
He's got that championship lead.
Can he hold on to it?
It's interesting when you see somebody
used destined to be a superstar emerging
and it looks like that doesn't it for Jack and for Lawrence.
The two of those, it looks like they're beginning to emerge from that cocoon
and start to show what they can do on their own terms.
And that's a very special time for both a race driver and for the fans that watch
them.
And like I said, mentioned LMP to being back for the first time since Sebring.
And it just feels like it's just again, it's kind of like another.
Yeah, that's the thing.
It's literally they just basically all the all the lot of the teams have spent
that gap not sitting around.
I've been doing a lot of testing and, you know, all the bronze drivers,
you know, who really have championship aspirations end up testing.
I think pretty much every circuit they're going to race at
during the year, certainly all the ones that are available to them.
It just feels like it's it's another it's going to be another epic fight
between United, APR and into Europe, all in particular,
who are just always entertained to watch when they're when they're all on track
going at it, United 22 car leads a championship after great run.
It was a one to finish for them at Sebring.
Let's just forget it was just does feel like a long, long time ago.
That's even race now.
But 22 leading the championship before from CrowdStrike by by APR.
Obviously, fresh from winning Le Mans in LNP two parameter
and the second United car third in the standings.
And then the little, you know, the little guys that could into Europe.
I won the 43, you know, right there in championship contentious.
Well, having just one Le Mans in the P2.
I mean, that for me.
And then that's before you get into your racing, your towers, you know,
are we going to see into sport, put something together for the first time?
Like so much to watch in LNP two for me.
One of the big parts of reason I'm going to be tuning in is to see
how they all get on out there.
But yeah, and then of course, got both GT classes in action as well.
And
it's just so deep and it's such a good entry.
GTD Pro and GTD.
I don't know about you, Graham, one of the standouts for me that I'm looking
forward to is seeing what the Faf guys do with the Tamarario because they came
second, not on outright pace.
I would think it's fair to say at Detroit last time out,
but kind of getting the results and
could they sniff a win first win for that car in Imza this time?
I'd like to see it.
I'd really like to see it.
And it's not that long until they end up on their home race at at Mossport as well.
That's coming up soon.
So I mean, that's an interesting one.
There's another moment to mark it came with a Twitter post from Vassar Sullivan.
Watkins Glen, the 12 and the 14 will compete on the Vassar Sullivan championship
racing, driving a round ball banner in tribute to Dennis Rambolt.
That's really nice.
And celebration of the long time friendship and partnership.
You can show both Sonny and Jimmy.
That's putting the sport back in a sports car racing right there.
I love to see it.
Yeah, I love to see it.
I love the fact that they're doing it.
And I love the fact that they're being allowed to do it.
Yeah, no, exactly.
It's the right thing to do.
And it's that's there's going to be lots of emotion that part.
I mean, obviously, there's the Gibson factor.
A lot of Gibson engine P2 cars, but first Imsa race.
Yeah, for the Vassar Sullivan guys, and they've got that connection.
And it's yeah, going to be tough, but they'll
they'll get they'll get a bit of motivation from that, won't they?
And it's not been a bad season for them, by any means, certainly in in GTD,
with the 12 cars being fantastic, that ageless wonder that is the RCF GT3.
But yeah, so that's that's kind of what you think the RCF GT3 has got a mirror
in its loft, a bit of Dorian Gray going on about it.
It's a bit of Benjamin Button, isn't it?
Benjamin Button and race cars.
So yeah, I think the answer to what we're saying here is keep an eye on that.
Keep an eye on the Imsa Wethers Exports Championship this weekend.
It is a packed bill of support races and musting challenges back with a bit of a
bigger grid from what I go with.
And to the point where the Dark Horse Legends class, which is the class for
the average drivers, actually grown to the point where it's bigger than the main class.
Wow.
So seeing some more Dark Horse Rs out there and keep an eye on the RC actually
in the fallout of that weekend, because our Academy member, Natalie Johnston,
is going to be spending the weekend, I believe, with Will House.
Oh, well, so going to be stuck in spending the entire weekend embedded with the team
to kind of learn all about, you know, what it's like being part of that Imsa
Pyramid, what it's like working with Ford and their Dark Horse platform.
That's going to be a really interesting feature that I can't wait to see.
So definitely watch the Mustang Challenge races that on Friday and Saturday
will be embedded in those on DSC as well as the Imsa race.
So make sure you click through to those because they're always mega fun.
And on Watkins Glen as well.
By the way, Mustangs on that track.
We've not said a great deal in recent weeks about the DSC Academy, but
suffice it to say that we've got the boys and girls.
In fact, girls up and running and there will be a very substantial update
about what's going on with DSC Academy with our principal trainees logging
their experiences so far, which have been absolutely legion, not part, by the way,
of DSC Academy at this point.
But I urge to take a look at it and a conversation with a young lady that's
been pointed in my direction by a number of colleagues who I trust.
Check journalists, Theresa, I think it's Kerner, Theresa,
spent some time with us at Le Mans and we'll spend some time with DSC at the
race coming up and she's taken a commission from us to take a deep
dive into what it takes to put the TV product together for the 24 hours of Le Mans.
That's on the AC.
Take a look at that.
Excellent piece of work.
It was a pleasure to actually welcome Theresa to the booth and into the
gallery at the 24 hours of Le Mans.
Take a look at that.
And if you are out there and in a position to want to take a look at some
talented young people and you're keen to find out where those talented young
people might be, reach out and have a chat with me.
We have genuinely got more talent than we know what to do with right now.
And what is the delight that change of direction for us has proved to be?
I mean, you're working very closely with,
in particular with you and Wayne, with Nathalie Johnston.
Beyond that, I'm doing quite a lot of work with
Mo Raymond, our DSC British GT correspondent.
There are others kicking around in the background that may well have a part to play.
We are not done with the DSC Academy, not by a very, very long way yet.
Watch this space.
Really important part of where we think this industry should be looking at is young talent.
So from one old talent, so a young talent, Steve, what's next?
So, yeah, so we'll move on from Imza at Watkins Glen to the other major
endurance races on this weekend, because it's a very, very major weekend for
endurance racing again.
And, you know, there's plenty of troubles in terms of the clash for this,
in terms of availability of certain drivers and teams and cars.
It's the Spa 24 Hours, Graham.
It's back. It's bad.
It's got a huge entry list again.
And that is 69 cars now on the most up to date
entry lists at the time of publishing.
It's going to be an awesome race.
It always is looking forward to seeing what the likes of you and Wayne and
James Elson joining DSC for the first time.
We're going to get stuck into this weekend.
There's going to be all sorts of, you know, obviously,
plenty about the race meeting itself, but loads of news, as always,
around this event, around direction for SROs, GT platforms, calendars.
Huge, at least one car launch as well coming up very soon.
So looking forward to sharing that with everybody.
But yeah, it's going to be a great weekend, isn't it, Graham?
It's always the one.
It's always one of the biggest events of the year in Europe.
It is the biggest GT race of the year.
You could argue that is shared with the Nubba Green 24 hours,
but the reality of the just the supporting cast here, there's no doubt my mind.
Spa 24 hours holds that title.
It's always a weekend where it's back to thrills and spills
in one make and multi class, multi make, sorry.
GT racing GT for European series, I think he's on this weekend as well.
Is it Lamborghini's this weekend?
Believe so, yes.
And the McLaren's this weekend or last weekend?
I think the McIntyre as well.
OK, so all sorts going on.
Get there, get there.
It's an amazing event, absolutely staggering event.
Huge crowd as always.
It will be grazing if not over six figures for the weekend for the weather.
Looks like it's for the moment, at least going to be nice as well,
which is always handy, handy.
Keep an eye on what we're doing with DSC with that.
Keep an eye too on the broadcast, which will feature, by the way,
for the first time in the overnight slot, the other member of our academy.
And that's Jonathan Grace will be on the overnight for the
the commentary team for what's it?
It's.
GT World is the brown now.
Delighted for him, delighted for them.
I think they're going to find him an inspirational young man.
It will not be his last time doing it.
No, I will be tuning in to listen to Captain California.
Captain California.
Actually, it's Captain Carolina now that you've found.
He'll always be Captain California to me.
Really? Yeah. OK.
What is Captain California's superpower?
The ability to always look ready to be on camera and broadcast.
You're right.
That is amazing.
He's Jonathan Grace is the only person I've ever met who when he wakes up in the
morning, springs out of bed and immediately looks like he goes straight on the news desk
and present the news.
He genuinely he never looks anything other than like he's been out of make fresh
out of make of his absolutely.
I'm sure he goes into the bathroom and goes, Hi, I'm Jonathan Grace.
This is the morning report.
Yeah.
We're taking the mic out of him.
But what a delight he's been since he joined the DSC team.
You know, helping us to launch and relaunch what we're doing with Instagram and
YouTube, there's a lot more to come on that as well.
He's going to he's got a role with us.
There's us helping you with some aspects of his career.
He's helping our trainees with some aspects of theirs and a bit more of that
as we roll through this year and into next.
But like the TV package for the past 24 hours,
it's really, really common in leaps and bounds.
When I first started covering that race, it was one of it was it was one of the
endurance races where as soon as night fell, there was nothing.
You had no coverage at all.
You had to basically just read a time in screen and now they just produce this
awesome show day and night.
Camera angles are amazing.
The production quality is superb.
And the consistency of it is as well.
It's so good now.
All of us are very good.
David, I listen and obviously
I honestly, I can't say that needs to stop.
Yeah, they need to have him in the pits like I do for Asian Le Mans because
time in the booth is over.
That's his forte.
I think David
have come from another great fun week with them at the 24 hours at Le Mans.
Anchors that effort superbly.
So highly recommended, all free on YouTube.
I think pretty much worldwide now, isn't it?
There might be a few geoblocked marketplaces, but highly recommended.
Yeah.
With what you can get there plus the YouTube
efforts with Imsa at Watkins Glen.
Well, it's going to be such a war of a race as well.
Like there's so much, you know, there's always variety for this one.
And, you know, you got all the heavy hitters, but you've also got the likes
of Corvette, Backbacars, Ford with Mustangs, loads of McLarens, loads of
Ferrari's first 24 hour race in
with an SRO competition for the Temeraio GT3.
So looking forward to seeing what grass racing can do a year on from their
magnificent win for them and that brand.
But we just read out the team names in the pro class gram.
And tell me you don't want to watch this race.
Boot some VDS Porsche for Stappen Racing Mercedes.
Come to you, Aston Martin.
Get speed Mercedes.
Schumacher Seale RT Porsche.
WRT BMW.
I'll go on then.
Wilkenhorst Aston Martin.
WRT BMW.
Man filter Mercedes.
A F Corsa.
Two F Corsa.
Two 960s.
By Winwood.
Yeah, it's a Winwood car.
Will be good.
Gage 59 McLaren.
Grass racing Temeraio.
HRT Ford Mustang.
Lion Speed Porsche.
East Talent Audi.
Ritronic Racing Lamborghini Temeraio.
Rover Racing BMW M4 GT3.
Just the pro class.
That is an 18 car fleet in pro.
And then you've got 17 cars in silver, bronze, eight cars in gold,
nine cars in pro am and just there'll be factory drivers, hungry youngsters.
Here's one for you.
Here's one for you.
You're going to want one.
Forget BOP.
For a moment, who's on pole?
Little bit of a Stappen racing Mercedes.
Could be fun to see how they get on after, obviously, the Nurburgring 24 hours didn't
go the way they they would like and Max himself is not racing in that car.
But there's not short talent in that one with Daniel Chris Lullam and
Jorgoon on that's that's going to get truckloads of attention, isn't it?
But
like, like we say, everywhere on this weekend.
No idea.
That shows you how in tune I am with the world of Formula One at the moment.
But yeah, also a couple others to point out an expanded effort this year for
Optima Motorsport in GT World Challenge Europe.
They got two cars, one racing in gold, silver.
They're going to be in the mix, no doubt.
Stella with the Corvette.
They've got a decent crew.
It's a very decent is an understatement.
It's Mikael Pedersen, Lenny Reid, Anton Dekand, Dennis Lind for a gold line up.
That is really, really something.
We have got Formula One in Austria.
So Max will be watching between outings.
I would be all surprised to see that's
far at some point in the weekend.
Part of the car.
I would not be at all surprised to see him turn up at some point in the weekend.
I would love to see it.
I mean, I'm sure a few fans would would appreciate seeing him in the paddock.
But and that's the thing, you go there as a fan, the axis is unbelievable.
Oh, they're staggering.
For a major 24 hour race like that, you're basically tripping over gearboxes in places.
It's like you get that close to it.
And I love the fact that we still have the old endurance pits and, you know,
well in action.
It kind of feels like a completely different
satellite operation.
I think something else we've got.
We've got GT3 legends on this.
I think we do.
I think the older cars are on for the 20th anniversary.
G3 would make sense.
I'm pretty certain that you'll think by the way that it's happening at the race.
You're quite right.
There will be the major press conference always on a Friday from Stephens Rittel,
principally to do with calendars, but lots, usually lots more besides.
You said about there being a car launch, at least one.
There'll be a book launch as well.
And that book launch, what I've been looking forward to, and I know it's been in the
works for absolutely ages.
It's our press roommate, Gary Watkins, has been working on the 20th anniversary
book for GT3. It's not a cheap book.
660 quid, I believe it is.
But that's not stupidly expensive book.
Cheaper than going to Silverstone.
That's all right.
I knew that was coming.
I can say right now I'm going to be putting down my sixty quid.
I'm having that. That's going home.
Yeah. So like 100 and sixty pounds, you can go for the weekend.
And by a book and and sit and read that book in the grandstand between sessions.
And if 100 and seventy pounds, you can take an umbrella and keep trying while
you're doing it. Yeah.
And for 100 and eighty, you can have water and a burger at all.
Brilliant. Fantastic.
So that's the spa, 24 hours.
And of course, keep locked to that.
And let's let's round out with a few other small nuggets before we finish up the podcast.
Let's talk about McLaren Trophy Europe.
They have been confirmed as a support race for them on.
This is a big deal because it's obviously the first event at Le Mans for the
hypercar program for McLaren and there will therefore be a fleet of McLaren
trophy cars racing and then sending fans throughout the week.
All right.
They're also inviting GT3 and GT4 cars to that race.
Yeah. So it's the third and fourth round of McLaren Trophy Europe and the
biggest entries from McLaren Trophy America.
And the yes, you can indeed run McLaren GT3 and GT4 machinery.
So multicasting kind of going to be a bit similar to that Aston Martin festival we
saw back in the day.
Hopefully with better driving standards, we saw that.
Well, that wouldn't take a lot.
No, no, the guy who knotted the barrier,
said, Rouge on his first lap and ruined the entire race.
But here's the stat, which is great.
They they've said it is going to be the largest
garroring of McLaren GT machinery in competition in the history of the brand.
Wow. There's a claim.
So I mean, I'm excited because for one reason, actually, I've never seen the
trophy car on track.
Oh, I have.
And it's a weapon, isn't it?
So I'm probably looking forward to seeing looking to seeing them hustled around.
Congratulations to the management team at McLaren led a course down by
George Osana with Rob Belt involved deeply in that sporting director as well.
That's good news.
Great to see that rotation.
Of course, we had the Ferrari challenge there this year with Porsche Carrera
Cup Brazil, a couple of absolutely amazing races they put on.
Absolutely stunning races they put on.
But it's good to see it again.
This.
This growth in the number of parts they've got that are able to do things like that.
So what have we seen?
We've seen the Porsches there.
We've seen the Ferraris there.
Now the McLaren's had the four Mustangs there as well.
And there'll be more.
There'll be just more coming without a shadow of a doubt.
Great stuff to see all of that.
So that is great news for McLaren and all people who like working.
And we've had some great news moving on to the next bit from
everyone who loves a Geneta sports car because the GT2 won its first ever race
in the GT2 European Series at Spa during the SRO Speed Week.
So that was last weekend with British GT on the agenda as well, wasn't it?
Yeah, frilled for everyone at Geneta for that.
It's a big result.
You know, it's it's a decent field now.
There's no jokers in that pack.
It's they've got a field with Lamborghini Supertrafozo and their
Maserati GT2s, Mercedes-AMG GT2s, load across KTM Crossbows, a 296 Challenge,
an Audi R8 GT2 as well.
And the CMR guys did it.
Won the race.
So was this Mike Simpson?
What's the other bloke's name?
This is Tom.
Tom Lineson.
No, they were fourth.
OK. So it was the other CMR car.
It was Michel Nure and Ethan Galdini.
Excellent. Well done, guys.
Well, that means, therefore, let's look at a different way.
Geneta, title brand from Yorkshire, has now won races in GT2.
Trying to think of the GT3 version that took a British GT win.
Another GT2 car did.
I'm sure if it didn't, but we'd have to do the maths.
GT4, they certainly won.
Yeah, an LMP3, that one.
Yeah, not a bad little record, is it?
No.
And on top of that, multiple class wins.
And did they win races when Geneta had presents in with the ZYTEK?
Don't think so.
Did it win a race?
We'll have to have a look.
But it's it's not a bad string of results either way.
Oh, it's great.
By the way, congratulations to the GT2 European series.
That is actually now seems in growth.
One major change, by the way, within that
grid is the switch of the Iron Dames car from the Porsche Cup car
for the opening rounds to Maserati this summer round.
And will therefore be significantly more over
competitive overall, overall, me thinks.
But that's showing signs of greashoes.
Hmm. Yeah.
Which, you know, there's
genuinely hundreds of thousands, if not more, people around the world who want to
see that back to where it was, that Iron Dames program, where it's bought.
So fingers crossed, it continues to grow.
So that's a bit of GT2 action.
And I hope in we hear something about GT2 and the growth.
Certainly some reaction from stuff
from its own direction that when we are during get that press conference
during the four weekend because unlike in the direction it's in, it's finally in
the right direction.
Seeing the old GT2 car running in the United States.
I know for a fact there's at least one United GT2 heading over there.
So I think we may hear something more on that front.
I don't think they're going to be overly ambitious at the moment.
I think they need to be sensible about it.
But I think they've got reason now to start to show up at a conference.
Yeah. So I've got two more things to cover, Graham.
One is good news. One is bad news.
What would you rather cover first?
Let's go with the bad news now that we can finish on the good news.
The bad news is the Golf 12 hours has been cancelled.
Right. OK.
I mean, you sort of wonder whether or not that is the starting gun for.
What we hear about calendars moving forward.
Where do we start?
So is it worth explaining what the Golf 12 hours is for people with
Marshall's audience who perhaps never heard of it?
Golf 12 hours standard event.
This would be at 16th running.
All bar one of which have taken place at
Yes, Marina, one of them took place in Bahrain during covid.
It was an IGTC race at one point.
It was an IGTC race briefly.
Primarily a program race has been a race that's seen some significant debuts.
The Bentley GT3 race.
650 S McLaren.
That's 650 S McLaren. The 720 S McLaren.
All had their first races in that race.
It has a pretty unique parts in the calendar.
There's not been served well by the growth of other racing in the Golf region.
It had a USP, didn't it?
For a while, it did.
But I think the growth of the preventive program,
the arrival of the Asian Le Mans series in the region, have both bruised.
It's ability to keep, excuse me, attract and maintain a grid.
Drug Enforcement Team behind it say they will be coming forward with some
other exciting plans. We'll wait to see what that is.
But they've decided to defer it to next year.
They've deferred it to next year.
It was supposed to be in January of 2027.
It's always a winter race.
They're basically saying it won't happen this winter.
We'll defer to next winter.
And the primary reason they're saying for that is
the logistical challenges, costs and the
available windows to get things done, that they're
planning windows have now closed.
They don't feel confident that this stage, with the
security issues in the Golf, with or without a stated ceasefire,
coupled with the massively increased costs of logistics in the region,
they don't feel comfortable.
They will be able to maintain the spirit and the quality of their event.
Good for them to make in that call.
They've transferred the risk to themselves from their customers.
It's not going to be long before we start to hear the decisions from
LLBM about the WC and the Asian Le Mans series.
Now, we have spoken multiple times about this on this program.
I've now seen in the aftermath of Le Mans,
two or three writers writing with certainty about what will and won't happen.
Here's the reality.
They're still working to plan A today.
Today, they're working to plan A, which is we go to the Golf.
They are, though, very clear about the fact that there needs to be
a workable, deliverable plan B in place.
And that plan is in place, is my understanding.
That plan has become
slightly easier in recent weeks
with some negotiations around dates at circuits that they are interested in
for WC and for the Asia Le Mans series.
We are talking Southern Europe.
There absolutely have been discussions,
whether or not one way or two way discussions about taking it all to Southeast Asia
or taking it all, for instance, down under Australia,
they are not going to come to fruition in 2026, 2027.
I can tell you that for now.
So there have been conversations about moving the whole shebang into Southeast Asia,
not happening.
There have been approaches and you might well imagine that in the vanguard of that
were the Sheaen family at the bend to bring it back in case of the Asia Le Mans series
to the bend. That's not going to happen either.
And principally again, that's to do with the logistics and the costs
and the time frames of these things.
So the reality here is it's a choice.
Are we going to the Middle East or are we going to Southern Europe?
Let's imagine for a moment the choice has to be made that we go to Southern Europe
with one further spanner in the works, that is the Asia Le Mans series.
Currently, with the plan to go to the UAE for back to back double header weekends
at Dubai and Yass Marina once again.
If that doesn't happen, those races will likely take place in Southern Europe as
well at some point in either late 2026 or early 2027, which means that early 2027
is going to be absolutely chock full.
The only other thing, as far as I'm aware that we can put into the mix is,
of course, this is the year that marks the
the first opportunity for Pro Am hypercar in the Asia Le Mans series.
It is my understanding yet to be confirmed that because of the testing
regulations are in place and that is already causing all sorts of nightmares,
is that if we've got the WC going to Southern Europe and we've got the Asia
Le Mans series going to Southern Europe, they absolutely will not be on the same
weekends, because in some cases it's going to be the same cars.
And it's very unlikely they're going to be the same circuits as well.
So that may change.
But as I understand it right now, we are looking at a WC calendar that may be
a need to stand alone longer races because, of course,
the both the Qatar race and the Bahrain race are both points and a half.
So it's eight and 10 hours or 10 and eight hours in the case of Qatar and Bahrain.
And so standalone weekends for longer WC races.
And then to be determined what the format is going to be for whatever happens
with the Asia Le Mans series, should we
find that they've determined that a move is going to happen.
I have to say right now with the geopolitical
shenanigans that still going on.
Yes, we've got a deal on the table, but still we've still got people on both sides
of the table still banging their hands up and down and making up reasons why
this is going to be more difficult than it otherwise should be.
We are getting closer and to a point where the call is going to have
to be made, make no mistake that it's a very, very tough call to make.
It has implications for everybody concerned,
logistically and financially.
Will it damage the relationship between LLBM and their two partners in Qatar and Bahrain?
I believe no is the answer.
I believe everybody is accepting that this is
to be blunt a shit sandwiched almost to eat.
Talking to the president of the Qatar Federation, we did for an interview with
DSC, we did a get on air at Le Mans.
I expected the tone to be really bullish.
It's not fully accepting the fact that
what is the actual situation on the ground is today, that there are realities
beyond whether or not there are bombs falling or missiles falling.
I don't think it's going to be too long before we hear.
We have a European Le Mans series race
next weekend and we have a WC race the weekend after that.
I'd be quite astonished to see it when it is rather than that.
Let's end on some better news.
And that is Roman De Ma is awesome.
He has won Pikes Peak for a sixth time, not sports car related news,
in a general sense, but it it's worth talking about, isn't it, Graham?
Because it's epic and two, because Roman De Ma is somebody that we all adore
for his antics in our partners.
So, Roman, coming fresh from his 24th start at 24 hours in Le Mans
in his own R-D limited team, that same team with the backing of Ford
puts yet another awesome car underneath him.
Eight minutes and 18 point something seconds.
Eight minutes and 18.202.
Right. So that is the third fastest winning time ever.
Yes, I know that that inevitably the more modern times are easier to get to
that because they've paved the whole circuit.
But either way, it's an astonishing achievement.
Six wins overall.
Amazing from Roman.
Truly won the all time all round greats.
No doubt about it.
Is he the king of the hill?
He's the king of the mountain.
OK, beating away the
efforts of four time winner Robin Schuitt, a one time British GT racer.
Robin Schuitt, by the way, in his new
Sendy car is what they've called that single seater design around a sort of CN
chassis effort, but he breaks came home with his second place time with an all
time real world drive record.
And then another record, JR Hildebrand in the Corvette ZR1X,
a basically road legal car, ninth fastest overall.
And takes the all time production car record.
So.
The relevance of this event goes on and on.
Is one that's on my my bucket list without a doubt.
Not an easy event to go and
attend, but it is on my bucket list.
No doubt whatsoever about it.
Will Mark, by the way, friend of the show,
Bruce Shawani, of course, my colleague on WCTV on Pit Lane, Bruce,
with a car prepared by Audi Limited, Romain Duvas team,
was initially intended to go and take a somewhat modified version of the Ligier
GS2R, that is the GT version of the Ligier one make racer.
That car not ready.
The plan is for that car to come back next year.
But Bruce instead took a stock version, 300 horsepower version of the car.
Times are looking good through the week with the
they practice and qualify not on the whole course.
They do individual sections, I believe, and was well up there in class,
well up there in some top 20 performer in, you know,
he was delighted with the response he got from the crowd.
Awesome fan base at Pikes Peak.
And then had the mother and father of all incidents
on his timed run.
I think Miss Red, where he was in the course, got it about it.
There is in car that shows him going off very high speed into the forest.
Delighted to tell you he is absolutely fine.
A little shaken up.
And whilst various parts of the car were shed,
the reality was that little Ligier looked after him remarkably well.
And both the engine and the chassis are salvageable.
And we'll be racing in the Ligier European.
Yes.
I'd make him put the bits back on and make him race it.
Delighted he's OK.
Delighted with Roman and amazing record.
That I was amazed by the way.
How long that event has been going.
Take a look at the DSE story.
You'd be surprised.
It's a proper historic one, isn't it?
So this is I'm looking at 104 years.
And how many how many rulings of the race now?
That's 100. Oh, sorry, 110 years, 104 running.
There you go. I mean, amongst, you know, we talk about Le Mans 94.
Runs of that race.
2024 saw the centenary of the spa 24 hours, the Indy 500.
Another. But it's right up there, isn't it?
It's what is at the top of the mountain because people seem to be really
desperate to go up there and see the only toilet in the park.
Ah, that's what it is.
Understood.
But yeah, no, awesome.
That's it with that yourselves, isn't it?
OK, that's it then.
Well done, Roman.
And thanks once again for listening to this edition of the Week in Sports.
Thanks, Stephen, for the time beside for a trying day all in all.
To put it mildly.
Yeah, trying to get a media car to take our team to the spa 24 hours
and getting caught in the world's worst traffic jam.
And it was 39 degrees.
39 degrees and the gear lever broke.
The gear lever broke in your car.
Yes, so it's been one of those days.
So thanks for hanging on in there.
I'll let you get back to prepare dinner for your lovely lady who's been
working through the 40 degree heat at the hospital here.
It was nothing in our little car compared to the heat in the A&E Department.
Indeed. So thanks to the Justice Brothers and Toronto Motorsports.com
for their continued support for this.
Thanks for Marshall, for putting the whole shebang together.
Now, well beyond 1700 episodes of this series across sports car and IndyCar products.
And there'll be one more when we come back to you.
Likely for Mimola, I think, Stephen, when we get to the European Le Mans series.
And that will be next week.
About this episode
Rulemaking and racing strategy take center stage as the hosts unpack how the 2030 sports car regulations were introduced as “a framework with not much detail,” and how OEMs are reacting without hard specifics. They connect the LMH/LBH split, hybrid-system rules, and hydrogen momentum to cost control ideas like a five-year development freeze. The discussion then widens to Porsche’s shifting endurance plans, plus a packed weekend preview from Watkins Glen to Spa 24 Hours—complete with entry counts, ticket/value talk, and ongoing media coverage growth.
If you'd like to join the PrueDay podcast listener group, send an email to [email protected] and you'll be invited to participate in the Discord chat that takes place every day and meet up with your new family at events.
