Club Arnage

It just dawned upon me that the centenary of the Le Mans 24 hours is only 9 years away. I wonder what the grid will look like...

I wonder what the race will sound like ...

Mmmmmm...I wonder if it will still exist. ???  ::) :o
20

I have a feeling that it will still exist. Will it be recognisable as the 24 Hours we know and love? I'm less sure of that.

Ill be there for that!

Shhhhh........Is that the sound of an electric motor I can hear ;D

I honestly can't see it being recognisable as the Le Mans we know now. Look how it's changed in the last 20 years. How long before the first solar powered car?

And still be 24 consecutive hours????  :P >:D :laugh:

If it changes as much between 2014 and 2023 as it has done between 2005 and 2013..

2005 - Won by Tom Kristensen et al driving an Audi R8 prototype
2013 - Won by Tom Kristensen et al driving an Audi R18 prototype

And there will still be porsche 911's in the race i bet

... and if you wind back the clock a further 9 years to 1996
1996 - Won by Alex Wurz et al driving a TWR Porsche prototype.

With all due respect, what has that to do with this thread???  ??? >:D :P :angel:

It shows that fundamentally, little has changed over the last 20 years. There have been regular prophets of doom over that time suggesting for instance that the 24 hours will become a race only for GT cars, that has been tried several times and usually someone finally turns up with a prototype dressed-up as a GT and it all falls apart. Diesels were popular when the regs favoured them, but now that is no longer true and two out of the three factory teams in P1 are running petrol power. Hybrids are likely to go the same way, they are HUGELY expensive to develop and implement and out of the reach of all but manufacturer backed teams. Change and evolution has always been a part of the 24 hours, but the soul of the race is strong and will survive. It will be different in 2023 that is for sure; for better or worse? Time will tell.

I have a strange dystopian vision of 24 hrs of near silence ( apart of course from the dulcet tones of an ageing Radio Le Mans Team!) and the clatter of at 56 generators because the entire grid would be electric/hydrogen/solar powered with a pit lane devoid of fossil fuels but now wired up to recharge batteries at any pit stop. Maybe the near silent cars would be allowed to use a recorded sound track from their favourite classic Le Mans car from the past . Dunlop will have lost the deal supplying marshals with fireproof overalls because presumably fuel fires would also be a thing of the past! Drivers could return to sports jackets and ties. The TV coverage would come via remote controlled drones covering the circuit and all the action ( action ?!) .Another innovation might be a system by which spectators would have an 'app' that would link directly to the team and cars and the more hits the car got the faster it would go. Each team would have to queue up three or four identical cars that would come into play at pit stops and driver changes.. new driver.. new charged up car .. and finally the ACO would achieve their aim of having cars that could only race at Le Mans. On a serious note FIA FormulaE is gathering pace ..

At the risk of kicking up a fire storm, I would say that the race hasn't really changed that much since I started attending. Yes, the cars look and sound different, the circuit layout has been modified, safety fences and gravel traps have been added, the Village modernised and the fairground moved BUT the essence of the race and the whole event itself has been maintained. As long as there are cars (of whatever design) there will be people who want to race them and people who want to watch them being raced. As long as that remains the case Le Mans will continue as The World's Greatest Motor Race. God willing I will be around for the 100th anniversary event, and if I am I will be booking early!

To be honest, I agree with you mate, they could be racing wind powered scalextric and I'd still be there with my headphones on listening to John Hindhaugh et al.

What a great thread.The French could get into real ale and curry houses. They might even teach table manners at school.Speaking with your mouthfull is a French thing spitting food all over the table.Even driving without crossing the center of the road.Come back Henri.

Yes things have changed but some for the better some for the worse. I will still go whatever.

Based on the above it will be:
2023-Won by Tom Kristensen et al driving an Audi R28 prototype   ;D

Steve I think we are a loooong way off a car being able to charge itself from solar and run 24 hours. Now banks of solar panels charging replacement batteries maybe quite soon.
Being chased down the pit lane by the Energizer bunny  ;D
Phil

Now wouldn't that be handy how long a cable would we need to tap of the solar panels to MB and BN ?  :)

Swimming pools wil be allowed then again !!

Never mind swimming pools, what about the strip shows???

... and the boxing booth , remember that? Punters put on gloves and take on the professionals and you had to pay to watch them get humiliated,  and who could forget 'Irta' the enormous woman and the lady who covered herself in lizards... happy days!

Happy days indeed. It would be great if Le Village could be returned to its original dust bowl and the champagne bar not populated by men in chinos and blazers. Oh, wall of death as well please.

Gotcha....and hope/wish/pray you are correct.