[mapezzul]

Originally Posted by M3_WC

Anyone know why BMW is not going to 24 hour le mans this year?

Costs a boat load of money. You can not even imagine how much. With the Art car they could use it for marketing, and without one it seems like a moot point to spend that much on a single race with the huge DTM rollout they have underway. The last time they had to change the car after the ACO had previously ok'd it shortly before the race (didn't make people to happy at BMW) that meant an entire new rear end. I would not be surprised to see the ACO to petition them to race and cut some sort of deal now there is officially no Peugeot. BMW hasn't officially announced either direction.

[BMWJones]

This is why we drive BMW'S...congrats

[M3_WC]

Originally Posted by mapezzul

Costs a boat load of money. You can not even imagine how much. With the Art car they could use it for marketing, and without one it seems like a moot point to spend that much on a single race with the huge DTM rollout they have underway. The last time they had to change the car after the ACO had previously ok'd it shortly before the race (didn't make people to happy at BMW) that meant an entire new rear end. I would not be surprised to see the ACO to petition them to race and cut some sort of deal now there is officially no Peugeot. BMW hasn't officially announced either direction.

I am fully aware of what changes they have made in the past to attend the race.

But it is still complete BS. Are they really going to bow out of the biggest endurance race on the planet? Before giving this car one more shot at the 24 hours.

I have been saying since day one of the DTM announcement they will put out of endurance sports car racing. Plus there is no way they could race the next generation M3, with it going turbo.

[Duck360198]

Unbelievable last lap and unbelievable driving by Joey Hand! AWESOME job BMW and RLL!!!!

[mapezzul]

Originally Posted by M3_WC

I am fully aware of what changes they have made in the past to attend the race.

But it is still complete BS. Are they really going to bow out of the biggest endurance race on the planet? Before giving this car one more shot at the 24 hours.

I have been saying since day one of the DTM announcement they will put out of endurance sports car racing. Plus there is no way they could race the next generation M3, with it going turbo.

DTM is going to be in the US.... They have the Z4 GT3 in Europe so they will be in Endurance racing. ALMS is a different story and if PANOZ gets his way, the Delta Wing will be the focus of ALMS.

Is spending tens of millions to enter one race really worth it? Not like they have gone all that often. BMW will compete in the 24 hrs of the 'Ring.

Honestly I think BMW did not feel that there older car could still compete this year and didn't want to spend the money while transitioning to DTM.

As for not being able to race w/turbo that is all up to the ALMS rules and they may be changing- they continue to want smaller displacement and promote "Green". BMW has also established the GTS M3 and could always use that as a homologation special along with the CRT.

[DR_E92]

Originally Posted by Quasimodem

The rims.....

+1

[Singletrack]

Originally Posted by mapezzul

As for not being able to race w/turbo that is all up to the ALMS rules and they may be changing- they continue to want smaller displacement and promote "Green". BMW has also established the GTS M3 and could always use that as a homologation special along with the CRT.

Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth. So idiotic...they should ban the teams from taking planes to the races also since that pollutes more than the cars that are actually in the race.

The world has gone crazy.

[M3_WC]

Originally Posted by mapezzul

DTM is going to be in the US.... They have the Z4 GT3 in Europe so they will be in Endurance racing. ALMS is a different story and if PANOZ gets his way, the Delta Wing will be the focus of ALMS.

Yes DTM is coming to the US, what does that have to do with them pulling of of 24 hours le mans. The program is in place and they have traveled to the 24 hours the last few years. The Z4 GT3 is sold to private teams, it is not a full factory effort. The Delta wing will not be replacing sports car racing, Grand Touring class will always exist.

Originally Posted by mapezzul

Is spending tens of millions to enter one race really worth it? Not like they have gone all that often. BMW will compete in the 24 hrs of the 'Ring.

Honestly I think BMW did not feel that there older car could still compete this year and didn't want to spend the money while transitioning to DTM.

They already have the program built. The cars were very quick last year. Just sad they won't attend.

Originally Posted by mapezzul

As for not being able to race w/turbo that is all up to the ALMS rules and they may be changing- they continue to want smaller displacement and promote "Green". BMW has also established the GTS M3 and could always use that as a homologation special along with the CRT.

Whether IMSA or ACO allows turbos or not, they won't go racing with the next generation M3. It just isn't in their plans.

I wonder what small sports car teams like Fall-Line, Turner, etc. are going to do with the next generation M3. It will be interesting. Especially when the competition will still be running big displacement V8's.

[mapezzul]

Originally Posted by M3_WC

they won't go racing with the next generation M3. It just isn't in their plans.

I wonder what small sports car teams like Fall-Line, Turner, etc. are going to do with the next generation M3. It will be interesting. Especially when the competition will still be running big displacement V8's.

We are still 2 years out for the M3 coupe F82 so in that time a lot can change, and I wouldn't say its not in the plans just that rules need to be shifted; when I talked with Motorsport not that long ago Dr. M had said endurance is where they want to be but there are some rules that need to be adapted to account for stricter emissions in production cars. That is not to say that they couldn't build the GTS/CRT cars with V8s as homologation specials to run a V8 in the races.

The Z4 GT3 they want to race in the US, just doesn't meet homologation at this time. They are also looking at building a sub-100K racing product to be more in line with GTC- this would be more or less M2 based.

Racing as I have learned is a lot of politics, and the Motorsport boss needs to deal with all the race series while still being within the budget and the Efficient Dynamics vision of BMW. It is not easy. When Peugeot pulled out of endurance racing for "financial" reasons it showed that even top teams must be sacrificed to better the brand as a whole.

We shall see...

[mapezzul]

Originally Posted by Singletrack

Sorry, I just threw up in my mouth. So idiotic...they should ban the teams from taking planes to the races also since that pollutes more than the cars that are actually in the race.

The world has gone crazy.

Agree totally- Green X challenge has to be the most idiotic thing to racing...


The American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón stakes its claim as the Global Leader in Green Racing by being the only racing series recognized to comply with the Green Racing protocols developed by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and SAE International (SAE). These organizations see Green Racing as a way to foster technology developments for tomorrow’s production vehicles, enhance national energy security and reduce carbon emissions.The ALMS, DOE, EPA and SAE have formed a partnership to demonstrate that advanced automotive technologies and renewable fuels can meet the performance requirements of even the most demanding endurance racing conditions and can be readily transferred from raceway to driveway. The world-class competition in the ALMS shows that Green Racing is real, ultra-competitive and makes for great racing.

[M3_WC]

Originally Posted by mapezzul

We are still 2 years out for the M3 coupe F82 so in that time a lot can change, and I wouldn't say its not in the plans just that rules need to be shifted; when I talked with Motorsport not that long ago Dr. M had said endurance is where they want to be but there are some rules that need to be adapted to account for stricter emissions in production cars. That is not to say that they couldn't build the GTS/CRT cars with V8s as homologation specials to run a V8 in the races.

If they were to build a F82 GTS or CRT, what V8 would they use? As Scott26 said the S65 is being put out to pasture.

The car will need to have 100 production units built and the engine will need 1,000 production units built, just to qualify to race.

Rules have changed ever since BMW tried the E46 GTR with the V8.

[NYCM3ryder]

yea wats up with those rims??? no more volks??

[Anderw]

[SCBMW02]

Just back from the race. Great drive by all the guys. The 56 had some ongoing issues, came by and engine sounded awful, and they were about 6 sec off per lap but hung in there. Never did figure out the exact problem but whatever they did worked and Joey ran a long stint with fast laps to get the win. We were really pissed on the last lap when the 51 Ferrari looked like he punted Joey and we thought the 2nd place #71 Ferrari got by. Hell of a sight to see the #56 come out of turn 17b in the lead. Great weekend. Great corral and had a great time in BMW hospitality. Parade lap was really fun, thanks IMSA, won't say what speed I hit

[tmurphy2]

I've always wondered aside from high quality parts, in these races how do they keep the brakes from fading? Even if the best rotors and calipers and pads are used the amount and intensity if the braking how do those things even work after a while?

[roadmax]

This is great, coming back to victories like more than a decade ago with E36 M3, now with E92 M3.

[mapezzul]

Originally Posted by M3_WC

If they were to build a F82 GTS or CRT, what V8 would they use? As Scott26 said the S65 is being put out to pasture.

The car will need to have 100 production units built and the engine will need 1,000 production units built, just to qualify to race.

Rules have changed ever since BMW tried the E46 GTR with the V8.

Not to question Scott but he is not always on point with racing specifics. All they would need to do is build 100 units with the S65 in it- not hard to do at all with no added cost. I think we can say the S65 is still state of the art for NA.

It will be interesting but they can do it if they wanted to. I can't honestly say they will race again but there is still some chance under the current rules.

Gran Am is still using the old E39 M5 V8 and that is still competitive.

[mapezzul]

Originally Posted by M3_WC

If they were to build a F82 GTS or CRT, what V8 would they use? As Scott26 said the S65 is being put out to pasture.

The car will need to have 100 production units built and the engine will need 1,000 production units built, just to qualify to race.

Rules have changed ever since BMW tried the E46 GTR with the V8.

They can use a turbo engine as part of the WEC FIA homolgation rules. It would need to be under 4l. ALMS is the issue with turbos so if they finally adopt the FIA rules For GTE...

http://private.fia.com/web/fia-public.nsf/B7C3D78632F25F39C1257964005BC385/$FILE/LMGTE%20(2012)-(12.12.11).pdf

[mkoesel]

Originally Posted by M3_WC

Whether IMSA or ACO allows turbos or not, they won't go racing with the next generation M3. It just isn't in their plans.

Never mind the M3, will they abandon all "stock" car racing? I really don't think they will. So then, we can assume some strategy is in place or will be put in place to homolongate future BMWs to race. Just because BMW is going to an all turbocharged engine line-up does not mean the days of sport car racing are over for them. If it were the case, then the racing world is in serious trouble since plenty of other manufactures are moving toward turbocharged engines as well.

I wonder what small sports car teams like Fall-Line, Turner, etc. are going to do with the next generation M3. It will be interesting. Especially when the competition will still be running big displacement V8's.

They already use the older S62 in the GT class cars. In fact, the S65 isn't even legal in that class. The lower "stock" class where the S65-powered Turner cars do compete (GS, I think?) may not allow forced induction, but the ruling body had better consider it soon IMHO. Same for the street classes.

[richb811]

Congratulations to the team! Great win!

[ptack]

Great news on the one hand, but it make the le mans pull out look worse.

[Silver E90]

Originally Posted by ptack

Great news on the one hand, but it make the le mans pull out look worse.

I agree. I think it is a shame that BMW Motorsport couldn't support RLL in going to Le Mans. RLL has represented the brand very well here in North American for BMW and they say they can't support them because they are focused on DTM. I just think that makes BMW look even worse. Mercedes-Benz is in DTM and has a Formula 1 team. Audi is in DTM and has the LMP1 program with the R18. And BMW can't finance the trip for RLL to go to Le Mans?? To me that looks really bad.

Not to mention that this is the last year for the M3 GT, so after this year who knows what car RLL will be running or even in what series it will be in, if any. Very sad.