“Hypercar program” just means a racing team’s whole plan for competing with the fastest, top-level cars in that class. Here, they’re specifically talking about WRT’s effort in hypercar racing.
A post-race penalty is a punishment that gets decided after the race, often after officials review what happened. It can move a team down the results and affect the points in the championship.
Term
manufacturers between Tota and BMW
“Manufacturers” standings means the points are counted for the car brands, not only the drivers. The host is saying the points gap between the brands is tight right now.
A pit stop is when a race car pulls into the pit lane for quick service like tires and fuel. How long it takes can make the car lose or gain position on track.
A wheel gun is the tool pit crews use to quickly loosen and tighten the wheel nuts during a tire change. If it doesn’t work right, the pit stop can lose critical time.
Track position means where your car is on the track compared to other cars. If you fall behind because of pit timing or traffic, it can be really tough to get back in front.
Car
Lexus RCF
The Lexus RCF is a sporty Lexus with a strong V8. In this segment, it’s one of the cars that got involved in an incident that caused a spin.
Balance of performance is how race organizers try to make different cars compete more fairly. They may add weight or limit power so one brand doesn’t automatically have an advantage.
BAP here means the same thing as balance of performance—rules meant to keep different cars on a level playing field. The point is that BoP wasn’t the reason they didn’t win.
Term
shallow speeding
This sounds like a small speeding violation in a restricted area. Even if it’s not huge, officials can still penalize the car.
Clear air means you’re not running in another car’s dirty airflow. That usually makes the car behave more predictably and can help it go faster.
Term
full-core shallow
This sounds like a description of short caution periods where the race is slowed because of something on track. The hosts are saying these slowdowns were tiny, so strategy didn’t get a big reset.
A virtual safety car is when race officials slow everyone down using rules, but without actually bringing out the real safety car. It’s a way to control danger while keeping the race moving.
Concept
WC history
“WC history” means the long-term record of this racing series. They’re pointing out that it was unusual for every car to finish the race.
It’s a set of race aero parts (wings, splitters, etc.) that makes the car stick to the road more. That helps it turn and stay stable, but it can make the car slower on top speed because it creates more air resistance.
A slow puncture is a tire leak that doesn’t immediately destroy the tire, but steadily loses pressure over time. In endurance racing, that can force the team into unplanned tire changes because the tire becomes unsafe or too slow to maintain pace.
This is how teams plan when to pit and how much fuel to use so they can stay on track as long as possible. It’s basically a balancing act between speed, fuel consumption, and when the race situation changes.
Traction out of corners is how well the tires grip as you straighten the wheel and start accelerating after a turn. If traction is poor, the car can feel hard to control and slower coming out of the corner.
Le Mans is a super famous long-distance race in France. Cars and teams race for 24 hours, so it’s not just about speed—it’s also about not breaking and making smart decisions.
Operational errors are team mistakes—how they do things during the race. In long races, those mistakes can cost you a lot of time even if the car itself is fast.
If a car hits something, the suspension can get bent or misaligned. A “suspension change” means they swap or adjust parts so the car can handle correctly again.
Racetracks use different types of tires that trade grip for lifespan. A “medium” tire is usually the middle choice: it grips well, but it won’t last as long as the hardest option.
In racing, “penalties” are punishments for breaking rules. They usually cost you time or track position, which can decide races and championships.
Term
operational difficulties
In endurance racing, “operational difficulties” means problems with the team’s execution—like pit stops and following race procedures. If that goes wrong, you can lose time and even get penalties.
The “Valkyrie” is Aston Martin’s race-car entry. The speaker is using it as a yardstick to show that some other teams aren’t as well developed as Aston’s team.
FIA is the organization that governs a lot of international racing rules. When they mention the FIA, they mean the official body behind the championship regulations.
“Bronze” is an official driver skill rating used in some racing series. It helps define who counts as a more experienced or less experienced driver for team lineup rules.
The Chevrolet Corvette is a sports car built for fast driving. People often talk about it in racing because some versions can do very well on a track. In this podcast context, it’s being discussed based on how different Corvette cars performed during a run.
The Ford Mustang is a performance car from Ford that’s known for strong power and sporty driving. It’s also a common choice for racing and upgrades. In this episode, the Mustang is mentioned because it looked good, but the results weren’t as strong as expected and there was some concern.
This is a rule change about how many tire sets teams are allowed to use. When tire rules change, teams often change when they pit and how aggressively they drive.
Place
The Wildring
They’re talking about a well-known race track in Germany that’s tough on tires. The point is that the track makes tire strategy especially important.
Double stinting means running the same tires for longer than usual—two race segments—before changing them. It can save tires, but the tires may get worn and slower.
Mixed class racing is when multiple car categories compete on track at the same time. It adds complexity because faster classes must pass slower ones, creating traffic that affects lap times, pit strategy, and race drama.
GTP cars are prototype-class race cars used in top-level endurance racing. They’re typically faster and more technologically advanced than GT3 cars, so when they share events, the speed differences create major traffic and strategy effects.
GTD Pro is a racing class for high-end sports cars. It’s for teams that run more serious, professional driver lineups and race-prepped versions of production cars.
A sister car is the other race car from the same team. If one car does well, you often look at how the sister car did too.
Term
support championships
Support championships are other races that happen during the same weekend as the main race. They’re like the “extra” series on the schedule.
Term
car blanche effort
“Car blanche” sounds like the name of a particular motorsport project. They’re saying there are some confusing or unusual details about how it’s being put together.
Goodwood Festive Speed is a car event where famous cars and drivers do public runs and demonstrations. It’s a big deal for enthusiasts because you get to see rare cars in action.
Car
McLaren Hypercar
McLaren’s hypercar is one of their most extreme, high-performance cars. Here, Lando Norris drives it up the hill at Goodwood so you can see how it behaves in motion.
Toyota’s GR GT3 is a race car built to compete in the GT3 class. It’s notable here because you get to see the new car run and get a feel for how it drives.
The Ford GT40 is a famous old race car from the 1960s. It’s especially known for winning Le Mans, and they’re talking about it reenacting that kind of historic moment.
The Toyota GT 86 is a small sports car meant to be fun and easy to drive. It’s built for handling and driver enjoyment rather than being a top-speed race car. Here, it’s mentioned as part of the conversation about different cars and their character.
GT World Challenge Europe is a European racing series for GT sports cars. The discussion is about how its schedule might need to shift to avoid conflicts.
Place
Port Amal
Portimão is a well-known racing venue in Portugal. The hosts are saying the GT World Challenge Europe season ends there.
SRO is the organization behind a lot of GT racing. Here, the hosts say SRO is working to adjust the schedule so teams and drivers can still have a good weekend.
Person
Steph
The host mentions “Steph” as someone at SRO who’s helping handle the racing schedule problem. The excerpt doesn’t say their full name, so we can’t be sure who it is.
The host mentions “Mattel” as someone at SRO involved in finding a solution. The transcript doesn’t give a full name, and the spelling looks questionable here.
A season finale is the last race of the year for that racing series. They’re talking about moving it to Saturday so it doesn’t overlap with another big event.
Term
race format
Race format is how the race is structured. That includes things like how long the race is and how points are handed out, which can change who wins the championship.
Championship standings are the season-long score table. It shows who’s leading based on points earned in each race.
Topic
Asia-Lamon Series
This is another racing series in Asia that they’re discussing. They’re talking about what’s happening this year and how it could involve Pro-Am hypercars.
Term
Pro-Am hypercar
Pro-Am hypercar means a very high-end race car class where pro and amateur drivers race together. The rules usually account for the different experience levels so teams can compete fairly.
WEC is short for the World Endurance Championship, a major series where cars race for long stints—often 6, 8, or 24 hours. Here, they’re talking about where the hypercar event will (or won’t) line up with the WEC schedule.
Place
Sopang
Sopang is a track/venue name mentioned as part of the racing schedule. The host is talking about when it might happen relative to another race meeting.
Place
Buraram
Buraram is a racing venue in Thailand that the host says is coming back to competition. They’re excited because it could be a great place to see hypercars race.
The “grid” is the starting lineup of cars for a race. When they ask about the “grid” for hypercar, they mean how many hypercars will actually enter the race and line up.
Geely is a big Chinese car company that owns or invests in several well-known car brands. Here, the hosts are saying Geely may be one of the companies talking about what happens to an Alpine hypercar program.
BYD is a major Chinese company that makes electric cars and batteries. In this segment, they’re talking about whether BYD showed up to look at the Alpine hypercar project and whether it could become part of the future plan.
LIVE
Well, welcome to the Weekend Sports Cars podcast of the Marshall Proat podcast collection.
I'm Graham Goodwin, the editor-in-chief at delysportscar.com, and joining me once again
this time from a hotel room in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
And no, that's not news of illicit affair is Stephen Kilby, editor of delysports, and
of course, a WC correspondent too for our friends at racer.com.
So, wouldn't take a genius, and I know we've got a lot of geniuses that are our listeners
to come to the conclusion, oh, did you go to the WC then?
Yes, we did.
So, this is the Monday morning before we head off to the airport and make our way home after
another fascinating WC race here.
It's been a busy week as well with IMSA, and we've got some news to cover off first.
So, good morning, Stephen.
Where do you want to go with this?
Do you want racing first?
No, you Graham.
Stop it.
Before I get to start by the way, I should have said of course, with thanks as always
to the support from Justice Brothers and Toronto Motorsports.com, without which this just wouldn't
be possible.
So, Stephen, we've got news.
We've got a couple of races to cover off.
Where do you want to start first?
I want to cover the event.
I want to cover the race first, I think.
Well, get that nailed in, lot underlined and put away.
Yes, because for me, the biggest news of the last week or so is the continued form of
BMW and just the transformation of the WRT hypercar program.
It's two wins and three races, isn't it now?
Yes, both cars have now taken a win.
Dries Fontaur with Rafi Marcello and Kevin Magnussen.
Kevin Magnussen was absolutely mighty.
Best race in the hypercar?
Yes.
He didn't spar two races ago.
That's where he showed his defensive capabilities.
This time it was the offensive.
And I meant that in tactical, not in terms of his general language and behavior.
But just a good rounded performance from them.
And what frankly didn't always look like it was the fastest car.
They had enough.
They had enough in terms of the tactical.
They had enough in terms of the aggression and in terms of the race pace.
Most others around them seemed to struggle to deliver.
Done as well, by the way, with Dries feeling unwell in the car.
He now joins his brother and a unique record of brothers having won overall in the WC with
Lawrence, of course, taking wins with Porsche.
And it sets it up quite nicely.
Post race penalty for the sister car means that the championship, whilst not quite as
tight, one point in the championship standing in front of the manufacturers between Tota
and BMW before a post race penalty for contact between the 20 and the 50.
That's now five points.
And they now share the drivers' championship lead, the 20 car.
I mean, dropped from sixth to eighth.
Next to unpack, I think a significantly better race than last year here.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
And then, and this in part because there was much conversation about two things, both of
which didn't happen.
One was this, you know, qualifying is everything.
No one's ever won off the front row here in the WC race.
Off the front row.
Yeah.
Yes.
So, you know, once Cadillac looked at the front row, you kind of expected, you know,
there was the opportunity for a repeat performance from last year where they utterly dominated
the race.
And two was the weather.
But the whole weekend being told, all the practice sessions were almost a waste of time
because the monsoon was coming and we were going to have this heavy rain and thunderstorms
on Sunday and everyone was kind of like, oh, do we, you know, how do we prepare for any
sort of wet racing action?
So Cadillac didn't win and it didn't rain.
Well, let's talk about Cadillac.
I mean, it was the shutout for 12 with Will Stevens becoming the first driver.
Other than Alex Linn, the score pole position in a WC race.
It all fell apart in about 20 seconds for Cadillac.
Two pit stops that cost each car about the same amount of time, about 20 seconds.
One was the 38 car missing its mark and had to be repositioned on its first pit stop.
The second was a wheel gun or will not that wouldn't play on the front right of the number
12 car.
And to be blunt after that moment, yes, they were there fighting back and by the way, cracking
fight back from the 12 car back up the order.
But ultimately, I think that cost them the punch they otherwise would have had to make
a difference at the end of the race.
It's a hard, it's in the reason that, you know, there was much talk about how important
qualifying was because it's so hard to overtake.
It's such a short circuit.
And with traffic, when that comes into play, trying to catch and pass somebody, tickling
hypercar is just supremely difficult.
So if you do lose time in track position, it's just really hard to gain it back.
And then we saw the 12 car ended up in contact, I think with one of the Lexus RCFs had a spin.
The 38 got a couple of penalties, which ultimately blunted its work from rear
to rear a couple of times.
And they did fight back to third and fourth, but didn't have anything at the end of the
race when the temperature pretty much plummeted in the second half.
It changed the nature of, I think, some of how it paid out in hypercar in terms of which
cars were strongest.
Yeah, the weather.
You know, but that's the thing is it was so close.
Compared to last year where the two Cadillacs lapped all but one of the cars at least once
in hypercar during six hours.
We had one full course yellow for about a minute or two during this race.
It was pretty much entirely green.
And there were 11 cars on the lead lap at the end.
It was it was a completely different race.
I suppose to say.
And it was so much better for it.
It was a three or three last year, I think it was for the lead lap in the race.
It wasn't much better race and it's better race in GT as well.
There are plenty of cars in the mix there, too.
Although rather oddly, the qualifying pace of the Aston Martins in GT was just absolutely
absent in the race.
It was a very similar story in both classes.
The pulse in car just losing the lead very early in the race.
Never got it back and 23 lost it within the first few seconds of the race.
And and you know, it was never a factor again.
There's a couple of things that want to talk about in hypercar before we get stuck into
GT three. And that is some of the other manufacturers.
There's some interesting bits to unpick.
One is Ferrari found something around this circuit for the first time in the four
99 P when the car was running in the cooler temperatures in the second
half of the race, the 51 in particular came alive.
It was really consistent, quick with Alessandro Peerguid and James Colado.
And that despite the fact that James Colado went off on cold tires out of the pit lane,
could have been so much worse.
Dragging the advertising.
Yeah, I mean, I saw that my immediate response for TV was he's got to pit.
But it didn't have an effect not at all on the cooling or the overall performance
of the car, which probably probably might be thinking about the EVO kit next time,
whether or not they just want to wrap a banner around the front.
Yeah, but no, it was fantastic for them to to get a good result after a challenging
couple of races for the Ferrari camp and finish two points, two seconds off the wind.
And I think here's the point to make here is as always in the FIWall Endurance
Championship, there is still despite the lack of transparency that's now part of
the policy about the balance of performance.
There is no arguing when you've got two or in the case of Ferrari three cars there.
If one car's got pace, then that pace is potentially available to the others.
It's not a BAP reason why they've failed to take the overall win.
It's the nuance.
It's the tiny little bits and pieces about it.
But Ferrari, I think there was a mistake from, of course,
we're not changing the nose after damage to the 83.
I think it cost it some ultimate punch.
Certainly, Robert Kubica was not happy with that decision.
And there was contact on the 50, which is the reason why the 20 car,
the BMW car got its penalty.
But the 50 didn't really seem to be quite there.
Yeah, no, it didn't have anywhere near as good of a race as the 51.
But that's in part because it got a penalty early on.
They fall for shallow speeding.
It was a mistake, I think from a girl in Molina, got them a drive through.
And, you know, like we said, this is a place that once you lose that time,
getting it back is so difficult.
One talk was about the two French brands because they had a crack at this,
didn't they? Alpine almost did a WRT, taking their,
taking their cars off strategy and trying to get the track position,
trying to get in clear air.
Could have worked.
Yeah, it could have worked.
For a time, it looked like it was going to for the 35
if there was going to be any interruption late in the race.
That's the point we've not made, by the way.
The 22 aspects of this race were we had was it two brief full-core
shallows, maybe three, but they were tiny.
It was debris, basically be sorted.
No virtual safety car, no safety car that came in for this.
The full-core shallow total time, I think maximum must have been two minutes,
maybe three, if it was five, I'd be astonished.
And the other point to make is all 35 cars finished,
only the eighth time in WC history that's happened.
And this is not the place expected it to happen.
Yeah, so it was a that's the bizarre thing.
You look at the result and the two Alpine's 10th and 11th,
and it looks pretty poor from them.
But it wasn't.
But it wasn't at all like the car looks a lot better around this circuit
with its new down for that high downforce aero kit they've got for the car this year.
It certainly worked better and they were quick through practice
and could have got something more for the race, I thought.
But both cars had slow punctures, which meant they had to take
unscheduled pit stops late in the race.
And it kind of ruined any hope they had with that gamble on strategy
to get a freak result.
So that's that's Alpine.
And we talk about Peugeot also had a punt early in the race
with their time fuel strategy and pulled the rest
with particularly good early in the race and making up some positions.
But again, just didn't have the speed.
It's just it just it doesn't.
There's just a lack of consistency.
At times when we are in commentary this weekend, Felipe Nazar and,
you know, I'm sure Felipe watches a bit of WC, but of course,
he's not competed against the Peugeot's other than a couple of cracks at the mall.
And yeah, I mean, he was commenting that the car just looked like a real handful.
It's never been the best in terms of its traction out of corners,
particularly when DeResta and Melty Ackabson were wrestling that car hard
and they did.
It looked like a massive handful.
And my guess is that the new car can't come quickly enough.
Yeah, yeah.
They've they've we're at the point now where they think they're just ready
to move on from the package.
They've got I think it's going to be a reinvention for Peugeot.
This is clearly there's going to be some major changes in the driver's
squad in the next 12 months.
And my suggestion to you is there's probably already a kind of a group
sitting in darkened rooms looking at a complete reinvention of this.
That said, by the way, you know, in the background, you talk to the higher ups
at Peugeot, they're delighted with what the WC is doing for the brand.
They're pushing forward with, you know,
activating the WC in pure marketing terms rather than performance terms.
I would with a slightly cynical, you know, tongue in my cheek say
they haven't really got much choice on that, but they are still doing it
and are happy with what they're seeing.
Here's a here's a snap for you from chatting to some of Peugeot's
comms and marketing team over the weekend is during the month weekend.
And I believe during the race at the month,
the stand in the in the fan village, their activation stand,
they sold about 50 road cars during the race.
Wow. Really?
People turning up and buying cars.
That's the right is outstanding.
Yeah, that was the amazing stuff.
I think it's 46 46 cars about that.
So about 50 cars during the race, people actually putting money down
and buying a car while the race is on.
Unless we forget a race that wasn't particularly
but for a person.
Well, I wouldn't say not.
It was dire for people.
Yeah, it's been plund.
Talking about Genesis,
we're going to have to stop being surprised when these guys perform.
No, they topped a session, Fp2 with that.
She's Yamane.
The car just looks genuinely quick.
This marked actually another step forward, quietly for Genesis
and possibly not one that we necessarily would have noticed at the time.
This is the first race in what is now only a four race program.
For the team that marked them not putting the one of the cars
in the garage during the race.
So pretty much absolute reliability and that's a good place.
They've got performance.
Remember, liability is coming along quite nicely.
And just to let you guys know, there'll be something next week of substance
from the Genesis Magma racing
outfits on both DSC and Racer, just taking things forward,
little and answering some of the questions we've got about the now,
the what comes next and the what comes after that for the South Korean program.
Does that leave us with just as the Martin talk about?
Yeah, and I think the top session had paced at times.
The biggest encouraging part of this was they got both cars
in the points for the first time ever in a high car race.
So it wasn't a standout race.
We were seeing them on TV all the time, but to finish it for ninth
is another it's another small step forward.
It is having both cars have a strong, strong race weekend.
And it was a circuit like, you know, actually the Valkyrie looked all right on.
And they're kind of surprised me really, because you wouldn't think of it as a circuit
that places strengths in that car.
But yeah, and a decent a decent result for them.
And I think the one left is Toyota.
Well, I want to talk about Toyota.
So it's a because all sorts of problems this race last year.
Last year was their worst ever.
Two car performance in a six hour race, 14th and 15th issue.
It's 12th and 17th, arguably worse still.
And I absolutely have no idea why.
No, no, we don't have the values for balance and performance.
And you would expect that maybe on the back of a.
The month 24 hour win that there would be an adjustment to some degree
on the back of performance there.
Without the benefit of having some figures in front of us, we don't have that.
And for clarity, by the way, because I was asked to gain a couple of times
the weekend, not least by Philippine, as it what you guys don't get the BAP.
Are there? No, we don't.
We absolutely don't. We don't know.
I'm still perplexed about Toyota.
I am sure that if I were to go and ask our usual sources around the team,
there would be some veiled comments around the values they've been dealt.
I'm not completely buying that.
I'll be honest with you.
And the reason I'm not completely buying that is because we've seen this before from Toyota.
We've seen this before from Toyota, that we know they want to focus on a world championship.
Of course, they want to win the world championship.
They want to beat their principal opposition.
But I'll say that loud, but screaming in my head right now.
There are three things that matter to Toyota in this order.
The 24 hours of Le Mans, they won that.
The six hours of Fuji and the World Cup.
Fuji and the World Championship.
And I think that's what we're seeing.
Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.
I mean, that is a huge important race to them.
It's not the Fuji race.
But it must be said that it wasn't as a performance in the race.
I don't think we saw truly what they could have had it gone perfectly.
In the seven guys, Nick DeVries admitted after the race
that there were some operational errors at the start of the race, which cost them time.
They did say that they weren't quite quick enough all weekend.
And then the eight obviously ended up having a suspension change after contact, didn't it?
So they were nowhere and were just driving around for six hours, not really learning a lot.
But it is really disappointing to use in the road for them at a circuit,
which when we first came back to the WC,
the previous iteration of the car, the GR-O10, was the car to have round here.
They were, you know, before the resurfacing and when they were the only team on the grid
that was able to get the medium tyre to work, they were fantastic that first year.
But it's just not gone their way at all.
So looking ahead to Koto, interested to see how it goes for them there.
I think the other thing is, you know, you can take one of your like on the way this rule set works.
And if you want to come and focus on B&P,
feel free to do so. I'm not going to join you on that.
But I just offer this as a counterpoint.
Stephen mentioned their operational difficulties being clean, keeping away from penalties.
That's what wins your races and the other will endurance championship.
When you are looking at where you are in terms of full race performance
against the Aston Martin Valkyries and against the Genesis Magma racing cars,
and we talked about the kind of the waypoints that both those teams have made,
they're significantly less developed packages than the overall Toyota package.
Something's wrong here in terms of either the way in which they're executing,
and they turned a corner to this point, no doubt about it.
Or in terms of the other factors that come into play with this racing.
You know, don't know, don't care what they've got to say in terms of attitude to it.
They don't want to explain what's going wrong for them.
That is going to be up to them.
But I'm certainly not at home to someone pointing me the direction of whether or not
they say it's 10, 12, 15 kilos. It's not what made the difference. It's just not.
You're right. The one car had a poor race after contact.
But there's something perplexing about that performance
when you look at the whole picture.
The whole picture sort of doesn't make sense. It's not the first time.
It's not a massive surprise because we've seen Ferrari win Le Mans two years in a row,
and come here and be nowhere. It is a very different circuit.
Yeah.
That is another thing to say. It's not like anywhere close to being like Le Mans.
If you're really good at Le Mans, it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to be good here.
The key is how do they respond? The championship fights are alive in drivers and manufacturers
terms. Stenvers is being dubbed at the moment. Ferrari kind of calling their way back into it,
it seems. Bring it on at Cota. I'm really fascinated to see how it goes.
That's really the hypercar rap, isn't it? Do you want to go a little bit about GT3?
I think we go quickly through GT3. It was good to see more.
Be honest with you on the coverage we were able to bring this time.
We've got to recognize, I think, two fairly extraordinary parts of this.
Massive performance from the 34. Racing team, Turkey car. Best performance I've seen from
Salih Yolic for quite some time. He'll have been delighted with the first ever time in an FIA
circuit-based world championship event to hear his national anthem. He's been
absolutely the guy behind that. Peter Dempsey. Look, let's be blunt. He's
ranked as bronze. I certainly won't be next year. But you've got to go with the car.
Jardel, he was absolutely mighty. Every time I see Charlie Eastwood put into a car in a position
where they could take advantage, he delivers. He's a world-class GT rock driver. It was not
a perfect run from them. They're a slow puncture. It happened for them at quite a fortunate time.
They did really, really well. The other Corvette, the 33 car, less good a run,
but they dragged its ass back up that field to the point where they could score meaningful
points and leave us with an extraordinary situation that the three in parentheses, full
season drivers, only one of whom has been a full season driver, sit 123 in the championship
because Ben Keating has missed two races. Nikki Katzberg missed this race. Nick of Rhone
was aboard the car for this one. So Johnny Edgar sits top of their points on different points
totals from both of his other teammates. That's a Corvette. Running rapidly through the rest of it.
The Mustangs looked good, but not great. There was a worrying lack of punch at key parts of the race.
And the reason it's worrying is that it was happening with a couple of their pro drivers at the wheel
of the car. And whether or not that's the fact that maybe the performance had tailed off, maybe
they chewed the tyres they had in terms of the strategy they put into it. Well, there were so
many strategies at play in a way that I didn't expect. The Wildring. Because this race with the
tyre allocation change meant that everyone could have changed all four tyres at each stop. And
you'd have thought that that would have been the way to go because you want to be as aggressive
as you can be to get the track position on a circuit that's so tough on tyres. But we saw a lot
of moves on strategy. People pitting slightly earlier to try and manipulate the bronze time.
People taking double stinting half sets of tyres. I didn't expect it. And that's a pleasant surprise
I thought because throughout the race, there were times when our links looked good. There were times
when the protos looked good. There were times when BMW and WRT looked like they could bring a surprise.
The only real frontrunner that didn't have anything was the Aston that was really rapid on
Saturday and was nowhere in the race. So I thought it was a fantastic race in GC3 and then
the Manthey coming in at the end and doing what they normally do, just throwing into a race.
Yeah, you were just suddenly like, OK, they might win this now. They had a car powering through at
the end of it. It was brilliant to watch. We'll add into just this little section before we move on
to the news. We hope to bring some significant news about LMGT3. So I'll read us in the coming
days. Watch this space for a significant story we're working on. It was a good race in LMGT3.
It provided the drama as well with both classes. The traffic because the battling was so intense
in GT3 was the spanner in the works that we want to see in mixed class racing.
All in all, for me, across the board, I give that one an 8 out of 10.
Yeah, no, I completely agree. I was, I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was never dull that race. It
was really entertaining on the way through. So let's move on to the news. Let's talk first,
before we go through, of course, there was another race. Now, we weren't there,
but we can celebrate the successes and otherwise at CTMP with the
Imtserwell Tech Sports Goal Championship taking its now annual trip to Canada, but without, of course,
with the GTP cars, we had Nat Johnson on... Johnston. Did I say Johnson? You did.
I apologize now. You're fired, Graham. On site and doing great stuff there, pulling out
all the news that was fit to print. Did watch the race. Don't know if you got a chance to take a look.
Yeah, there was too much overlap for me to spend enough time watching it.
Well, in which case, let's just celebrate the winners.
But we should definitely, we've got to mark some of the results here and particular
hats off to Tom Dilman. Hats off to Inter-Europe, all for again, showing just what they capable.
But Tom Dilman, let's forget a year ago, had his big off at that circuit, broke his back,
and he comes back a year later at the same circuit, wins the race. That takes a lot.
Drivers never cease to amaze me just how mentally tough they are as well as physically.
You say mentally tough, I say, absolutely no imagination at all.
Yeah. But to go back to a place where you've had a big off and not only do well, but to win the race
so soon, really, after injuring yourself. Fantastic. Tom Dilman is a driver. We were talking
about last night. He should be on the radar of some of these hypercar teams when they're looking
at the driver market. You really should. He's been so good.
There are opportunities coming. In GTD Pro, it was Vasa Sullivan again?
Yeah, Vasa Sullivan, the Hawksworth and Barnagot. Just a bit like a London bus situation,
isn't it? No wins for ages, then two come along immediately. Yeah, really,
a really strong run for them. And AO Racing as well, that seemed to be strong.
On the podium?
Finishing second and finishing on the podium overall with the
Spyte the Dragon Car with Peter Hyatt. I think they had some woes in qualifying,
but managed to salvage a really strong result behind the APR crowd strike car that ended up
second. It was not a good race for United Autosports, must be said. They had a strong start to the
season and that one-two finish from at Sebring maybe seems like quite a way ago now because
best result for them was fifth with the 22 and the other car, the sister car, did.
And GTD?
GTD seemed to be a very entertaining race from what I've read about it and Winwood.
Of course it was. Winwood Mercedes,
just the pride of the GTD field all too often. But again, Vasa Sullivan getting a podium in
GTD as well, so a good race for both operations that run under their umbrella. So,
yeah, looked like an interesting one. There's certainly a couple of stories to read from that
event. Obviously we've had a bit calendar news from the support championships, but also some
feature news or feature content about the car blanche effort, which seems to have some oddities
around how this effort is coming together. I can't get it. I mean, I know that. It's quite fun.
It is. It's quite fun having Valentino's clothes standing there and going,
I can't tell you anything about who owns the team. It's a little bit like the fly-lizers guys back
of the day saying that you've got to be part of an inner circle to understand what we call the team,
which became a thing for like 20 years. I mean, God's luck to them. Glad they're there.
Let's hope they stay there. And we'll move on. I'm going to leave that one for others to
worry themselves about. Let's talk about the Goodwood Festive Speed briefly. As always, it is a
world-class event. It always clashes with something else we're doing, but they are all sorts of goodies.
Lando Norris taking the McLaren Hypercar up the hill, a big highlight, no doubt at all.
Pretty much the first dynamic opportunity in Europe, at least, to see the new Ford 2027
Toyota GR GT3 up the hill. But I know the one that actually caught your attention
was something that Ford did. Yeah, just fantastic. If you've not seen the photo, there's a great
comparison photo on the Goodyear channel on social media of the free Ford GT40s
in formation running as they did across the line in 1966 at Le Mans for the win,
driven by Andretti's. Yes, all of them. And I believe Liam Lawson also drove one of them at
some point during the weekend, the Krasayman car. And to say he was happy with his opportunity to
be able to do that was an understatement. He seemed pretty much awestruck by the whole thing. And
quite rightly so. I mean, it just looked like an awesome event this year. Really gutted. I wasn't
there for it. By the way, for our stateside listeners, also an announcement over the weekend
that the Goodwood organization expanding and coming to Will of Springs, I think next year,
for a new event, stateside. And if they can replicate the quality of what they produce
in the UK, it is frankly the European historic racing showcase. You've got something unusual,
that's where you show it. Then if they can replicate frankly, even half of that, that's
going to be very good news indeed. That's enough for Goodwood. And the reason I'm rushing things
forward, you don't want to talk about Derek Bell going up in his Ferrari F1 car. It was absolutely
fabulous. But no, I don't. Listen to the noise. What about the Toyota GT, GR GT3? I did say that.
I did say that. Let's move on though, because we are on a bit of a ticking clock if you want
breakfast before we get to the airport. To talk about what is for me the biggest news that we've
broken coming out of Brazil. And that is what we believe to be by far the most likely solution
that's been come to from what's been a really tough period for LMEM, the organisers of the
FIWAR endurance championship. And as you'll hear in a moment, the Aegean Le Mans series as well.
So we think we're nailed in now as to where the WC will finish its season. There's a lot of diplomacy
and business conversations that's got to be had. This comes out of the continuing, and I'll say
this personally, frankly, completely inexcusable conflict that's happening in the Gulf region.
That does mean that for all sorts of reasons, it's pretty much impossible for the WC now to
take up their planned races in Qatar and Bahrain this year. Yeah, unless something drastically
changes in the coming days. We're going to finish the season in Europe. That is the plan B,
and it will be races at Barcelona and Monza to finish it off. So I mean, for European fans,
there's some excitement there and opportunity to get to a race that you maybe weren't expecting to
get to in a season that's bubbling up incredibly nicely. But I feel for the guys at LMEM, they've
been caught up in this and it's really challenging. One plan for a contingency like this on such
short notice and two, they've got a factor in the safety of everybody. They've got a factor in the
security of all insurance. There's so much that goes behind making a decision like this. And
financially, there are challenges around it as well. And financially, it's a disaster for them.
Make no mistake. But let's just dig into a couple of those points before we deal with
nuances of the Canada itself. There are multiple international airlines that are not flying to
destinations in the Middle East still. When we, as most of us do, digest news of what's going on in
that region from our mobile device or by sitting in front of the TV news, the reality is that risk
assessment from vast array of people internationally is that the moment it cannot be done. You
mentioned just briefly there the word insurance. Here's the thing. I don't think at the moment,
I as a private individual, albeit with some business insurance, would be insurable going to the
Middle East. So that's me as an individual. Would I therefore take that risk? And then you start
to think about move that upwards, move that up to a small business group, move that to a group
like a private team, move that then to a major supplier, move that then to a major international
OEM. And the reality is they're not insurable right now. That makes it almost impossible to
imagine that a meaningful international event can currently take place safely. That's the issue.
And I have to make the call around this time because you leave it too much later, then it
becomes impossible, and it comes to the logistics of it. We should say clearly right here right now,
this is our understanding with very good sources as to where we currently are. This is not an
official confirmation that it's happening. There is a more than a nuance. There's a process that
needs to be followed. This is an FIA world championship. Calendars have to be ratified
by the World Motorsport Council. We believe the next meeting of the World Motorsport Council
is the 23rd, 24th of July. Yes, we shouldn't expect confirmation officially until after
July 24th. But, trust us, trust us guys. This is what at the moment is Plane now. Plane was
the Middle East. This is now Plane. So there's that element to it. The other element to it is
what the dates are going to be. And there will now be a clash. It appears, assuming this all
happens between the end of the GT World Challenge Europe season, which was at Port Amal and the
race at Barcelona planned for WEC. And I'm going to say this out loud, by the way. Now, you know,
we've had a little bit of help from a couple of people in the paddock. This affects a vast
array of people in the WEC paddock. We think somewhere between 15 and 19 drivers can and will
be affected by this. Not just in LMGT3, but Hypercar as well, from multiple, multiple teams.
And of course, we've spoken to a number of them. To a person, what they have said is the response
from SRO, and in particular from Steph and Mattel themselves has been absolutely exemplary,
that they are looking for and finding a solution. It's for them to tell us what that solution is
going to be. But the date clash for the race proper is the big issue. I wouldn't be at all
surprised to see the season finale for GT World Challenge shifting to a Saturday race. And if
they do, I'll say here on behalf of, frankly, everybody involved. Thanks, Stefan, because you
didn't have to do that. To say that LMEM are grateful for being on the statement,
everything we're hearing from inside LMEM is that they could not be more impressed with just how
open, transparent, and willing SRO are to make some changes, to make sure that the drivers and
teams impacted can make the most of that weekend if there are, is the clash of races.
We've got a way to go yet, but there may well be other little nuance and other little parts of this
story, which will require further grateful comment around the logistics involved here.
But watch this place, I bet all of this comes together. But trust us, dude, it's going to be
Barcelona and Monza. And the other big part of this, Stephen, and this is one with potential
championship implications is race format. So in contrast to what the early guidance we were
being given informally was, remember this is replacing the Qatar 1812 kilometers and the
season ending race, which has been traditionally eight hours at Bahrain, we're not going to have
the 10 and 12 and the 10 and eight hour distances, which means we're not going to have points and a
half for those two races, six races it is. When you look at championship standings,
it essentially means people choosing the championship now. If this happens, it's going to
be harder to catch and pass the leaders. And then look at GT3 in particular, where the gap is quite
big. If there's some adjustments need to be made, these rounds now going forward are more critical
than they would normally be. You've got 26 fewer points you can get. Yeah. Because it's rounded up.
Who knows what happens if it's really tight at the end of a season and somebody complains that
they would have won the championship if it had been under the same points system that they signed
up to at the start of the year. But ho-hum, everyone's got to deal with it, haven't they? And I think
there's all-willingness across the palette when I've chatted to people about it, is that we're
all in the same boat, it is what it is. You've got to roll with it. There's no good answers here.
It's just a real shame. We move forward. That is where we're going to be for the
FIWL Endurance Championship. We said to, we also established what's going on with the Asia-Lamon
Series. Important year for them, of course, too, with the potential for Pro-Am hypercar. We were
in a lot together talking to some of the players potentially involved there. The worrisome thing
there was that, again, there's been Plan A, B, C, D all the way down. And that there were
implications potentially that we might not go to Asia at all. That's gone away fairly recently.
And I think it's gone away in no small part because what's the message we were getting from
those prepared to commit to hypercar was they weren't particularly keen on spending the multimillion
euro budgets to potentially race in the rain in Europe. And our current understanding, again,
unconfirmed, but with high confidence on our part, is that the currently most likely scenario
is a race weekend in Europe. We'll come back to that in December. And that will not be at either,
at any of the race circuits that feature in the WEC this season. So it will be in another
different circuit for against WEC. And then two race meetings, not quite sure in terms of the timing
against each other, not sure whether it's back to back quite yet, although I believe that is
possible at Sopang and returning to Buraram in Thailand. And Buraram in Thailand with hypercars,
trust me, that's going to be worth watching. Yeah. And in a way, I'm kind of glad if that's
what happens. I'm glad that that's the case because it's nice to go to these venues and see
these circuits that don't often get to see races at Buraram, watching all the most
sport that we do, and even Sopang. It's just an Asian Le Mans fixture for me. So I'm excited to,
if they have found a solution to get people to Asian people happy about it, brilliant.
I mean, Buraram returning to competition after serving time as a refugee site for the border
conflict with Cambodia. And that's great to hear too. I've been multiple times with Asian Le Mans.
It's always a happy place to go to. The local crowd is fantastic. Let's hope we get
confirmation sooner rather than later. I know the major question on everybody's lips is,
what does this mean for hypercar? What kind of grid can we expect? There will be a little bit of news
from us on that side. Don't expect it to be a massive number. I think there's a lot of
teams and drivers that have been struggling through that. I'm not quite ready yet to call the number
on that. It's nowhere close to double figures. I'll tell you that right now.
I've heard of more that we're trying and that we'll not get it across the line for 26, 27,
than I've heard of those that will. I think I've written somewhere, my initial tracker document
had potentially any kind of level of possibility, 13 cars across seven different manufacturers.
It's not going to be remotely close to that. What else have we got?
I think the last thing to talk about before we round it off is probably just a little bit
of an update on Signitec. It spoke to Felipe Signo during the Interlagos weekend. Just for
an update really on how he's progressing his talks to get his team back on the grid next year
when Alpine exits hypercar. The good news is he was pretty positive as a whole. He seemed to
significantly more g'd up by the fact that there's a solution that can be come to than he did the
last couple of times I've spoken to him. He maintains that he's speaking to multiple OEMs.
He maintains that he's still speaking to investors about it. He's confirmed that there are,
there have been face-to-face meetings. I believe that Geely is part of that now.
We should explain who Geely are. Those who don't. Major Chinese operator, owner of multiple
Chinese and international brands including Polestar, Volvo, Lotus, the under-taxi company.
That would be a good hypercar manufacturer wouldn't it, do you mean? It means that the
driver's going to keep looking over his shoulder. That's the way that works.
But for me, one of the most interesting one,
snippets in this one, is the involvement or otherwise from BYD.
Yeah. So, believe now from some conversations that BYD did visit very shat it on, the base
of the Alpine hypercar program, but weren't there to discuss taking over the hypercar program and
weren't there to talk directly to Signatec. So, I guess there's a sense that the BYD factor is
kind of called now, whether that changes, who knows. For my money, they're in conversation
with them at some point, whether that's just dialogue that's not face-to-face. But there's
multiple parties in play and for me at the moment, Geely seems to be the front runner. But
it's too tough to call really. We don't really know. Don't count your chickens. No. Here's the point.
There is hope. Hope is the word here. There is hope that solution can be found,
but do not count your chickens. Certainly, nobody should be inking anything into a
2027. End of the summer, they need to have an answer. So, it's not that long. So, if it's going
to happen, we're going to hear. But I think the other thing to add in here is, so the negative
is, don't count your chickens and nothing is done. The positive is, if it is done, it's for 27.
That's the point. That was always the aim because he's got staff to pay. He's got a program to keep
going and taking high A to carry a lot of risk unless you've attracted a partner that is willing
to fund you sitting out for a year while you significantly redevelop a car. So, it looks like
the Alpine assets will be, if this happens, will be a new 27 with Cinetech. Just have to see if
something gets over the line. Philippe's quote was, I'm more confident now than I was before LeMond.
So, we wait to see what happens. Let's finish it up with this, to remember the life and
achievements of Mark Van der Stratley passed away just a few days ago. His contribution was marked
on the BMW cars from Team WRT in Toulouse this weekend. We remember his achievements on two wheels
and four for his brand and his team. And it's a good way to finish with thanks again to you,
Stephen Kilby, to Marshall, for putting together this collection with the thanks of course again to
the Justice Brothers and Toronto Motorsports.com. He's been Stephen Kilby. I've been Graham Goodwin.
This has been the Week in Sports Cars, part of the Marshall Pruitt podcast collection.
And we will speak to you when we're home next week.
About this episode
A busy week in sports-car racing gets the spotlight, starting with IMSA news and a World Championship weekend recap. Expectations around Cadillac and rain didn’t match reality, with qualifying/track position and pit-time swings proving decisive, plus race flow shaped by cautions. Hypercar and GT storylines run through WRT’s momentum, Ferrari/BoP debate, and tire-rule strategy surprises. Off-track updates include Peugeot’s WC marketing, Genesis pace and reliability, and schedule/insurance constraints affecting future events.
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.
