WEC (World Endurance Championship) 2014

[j2004p]

No-one else think that this was rather prophetic, 11 years earlier?

[MOWOG]

Any highway engineer will tell you that it is not speed itself that is dangerous, it is the difference in speed. Which is to say, a duffer going 40 on the interstate is just as dangerous as the bozo going 90. (That's mph, lads.)

The speed differential between classes in WEC is consderable - up to 50 mph in some cases. It seems the sport should incorporate a system into the cockpits of the cars - especially the slower cars - to warn them when another racer is approaching at high speed from behind.

I'm on engineer, but I don't think it would be difficult at all to devise a system that starts with a slow blinking yellow light on the side of the dash on which the car behind is approaching with the frequency of the flashing increasing as the car behind gets closer.

I have been on track a few times and it is exceedingly difficult to be aware of everything that is going on around you on a hot track. The greater the speed differential between cars on track, the greater the need for a system to help avoid situations like this.

My 2 cents, of course.

Congratulations to Porsche for scoring its first victory. There are many more to follow, I'm sure.

[Lycoming]

The speed difference got cut down substantially when they made the regulation changes that resulted in the first R-18 in 2011; some claimed that actually made things worse because the power reduction made it harder for LMP1s to pass GT cars on the straights, leading to more risky moves under braking and in corners.

They do sort of have a warning system; prototypes and GT cars use different color headlights, and prototypes can flash their headlights to warn the driver in front that a prototype is approaching.

The Corvettes also have a radar system mounted in the back that highlights approaching cars on the rearview screen, and then displays arrows towards either side when a car is alongside.

But even with these aids, remember that some of the GT drivers are not professional drivers who may not be experienced racing in mixed traffic at such speeds. So, in the end, there's a limit to how much you can do with technology since ultimately, the driver is the one turning the wheel.

[bdr529]

Here's a little about the system Pratt & Miller use in the Corvette:
The system runs on a custom Linux machine with an Intel Core i3 CPU and uses a rear-facing radar sensor that is capable of tracking up to 32 objects while working in tandem with the camera. Different colors and symbols are displayed on the rear view screen, which allows the driver to easily see race cars that are behind, how close they are, their closing speeds, and even the approaching vehicle’s racing class.
For instance, a green marker means the car behind the Corvette C6.R is falling back, while yellow means it’s moving at the same rate of speed; a red marker indicates that the car is closing the gap and about to pass, with a blinking arrow indicating on which side the C6.R will be passed. To differentiate racing classes, an extra line in the marker indicates when the computer believes the encroaching vehicle to be of a faster class
http://gmauthority.com/blog/2013/03/cor ... ar-camera/

[MOWOG]

Damn, I hate it when I'm late to the party.

Just kidding. Thanks for that information, guys.

[stefan_]

https://twitter.com/PorscheRaces/status ... 6935085057

[djos]

good stuff, I think hulk has the right stuff for endurance racing.

[Sombrero]

Looks like Fernando Alonso will be at Le Mans 2015 with Porsche and Hulk too !

http://www.formulapassion.it/2014/12/f1 ... n-porsche/

[aleks_ader]

Looks like Fernando Alonso will be at Le Mans 2015 with Porsche and Hulk too !

http://www.formulapassion.it/2014/12/f1 ... n-porsche/

+ Button and we had "dream team". =D>

If that is 50% true? That will be so refreshing for the series.

Bv. Nissan postponed the car reveal!In early January at the superbowl day.

[AnthonyG]

Looks like Fernando Alonso will be at Le Mans 2015 with Porsche and Hulk too !

http://www.formulapassion.it/2014/12/f1 ... n-porsche/

On what is that article based? I can't make much sense out of it. (I must admit, I had to translate it)

[WaikeCU]

Imagine we had 3 F1 world champions sharing a car in 24h of Le Mans.

Alonso, Button &... Kimi? He's good at sleeping though and after good sleep he can set a blistering stint.

[Jonnycraig]

I'm on engineer, but I don't think it would be difficult at all to devise a system that starts with a slow blinking yellow light on the side of the dash on which the car behind is approaching with the frequency of the flashing increasing as the car behind gets closer.

Somewhat related to this, Anthony Davidson mentioned during the Abu Dhabi coverage that the after their first full course yellow, the Toyota drivers and engineers had discussed the possibility of a pitlane limiter style button to hold them at 70kph, but the sheer amount of coding required meant it couldn't even be considered until the off season.

[Cold Fussion]

I'm on engineer, but I don't think it would be difficult at all to devise a system that starts with a slow blinking yellow light on the side of the dash on which the car behind is approaching with the frequency of the flashing increasing as the car behind gets closer.

Ideas are simple, implementation is difficult. I don't see why you think it would be easy to develop, it will take a considerable amount of time to device a real time visual tracking system that doesn't have corner cases causing the system to fall apart. Remember that with the Corvette system, the driver is a fall back in the process, because if the computer systems --- up with their interpretation, he can still see the camera feed and interpenetrate the information himself. If you just have flashing lights, then it needs very accurate and reliable before drivers start blindly trusting it.

[Cold Fussion]

Also how do we turn off the annoying language filter.

[Sombrero]

WEC 2014 review for LMPH

Enjoy !