FIA WEC Sports Cars - SHAKEDOWN

LEO PARENTE: My review of the 2011 Cadillac CTS-V wagon.
And here's how it's going to go.
Unlike every other review I've read or seen, I'm not going to
cross-reference Clark Griswold, Family Truckster, or
National Lampoon's Vacation.
However, for you fans of me that think I look like a
certain actor here from the film is Ed the Salesman.
ED: Now I owe it to myself to tell you, Mr. Griswold, that
if you're thinking of taking the tribe cross-country, this
is the automobile you should be using, the Wagon Queen
Family Truckster.
You think you hate it now, but wait'll you drive it.
LEO PARENTE: See the resemblance?
Forget it.
Listen.
I'm going to tell you right up front I'm going to like this
car, and not because of the 556 horsepower, supercharger,
Brembo brakes, or Recaro seats.
It's because of what Cadillac is doing here.
The link to the CTS-V review video is in the description.
And no, we're not on a racetrack drifting like Chris
freakin' Harris.
But stay tuned to Shakedown, because by the time you're
watching this, I'm ripping an F3 race car around Sears Point
Infineon Raceway, thanks to Simraceway.
That show will becoming to you in a week or two.
And is that my interview buddy Allan McNish
leaning on my test car?
He, too, is a Simraceway spokesperson.
But isn't he supposed to be at Spa running the World
Endurance Championship race that's going on this weekend?
Yes.
And that's today's Shakedown topic, the WEC and this
important final tuneup race before the Le Mans 24 on this
mega racetrack's Spa.
Audi, for the first time ever, is debuting two different new
race car designs at one time, the R18 e-tron quattro hybrid
and the 2012 version of the R18, the Ultra diesel turbo.
Plus Toyota brings their new TS030 Hybrid to Spa, to
photograph but not to race.
Still, it makes news and we'll explain.
Plus the P2 and GT classes are full of cool cars and more
technical details.
We have images to share.
It's all today.
There's a lot of other racing this weekend that we will
cover, and we'll cover that diversity of results on
Monday's Shakedown.
But today, it's a one-topic show, Spa WEC, because I'm
told it's better that way.
Maybe it makes my messages clearer.
Maybe one topic gets you guys to understand
what I'm saying better.
And probably it's simpler for the random YouTube viewer to
understand what the video is all about and get them enticed
to actually want to watch.
But one topic or not, my attention deficit disorder
drug prescription ran out, so I may drift off topic a bit.
But stick around.
We'll make it all work.
Hey, is that the name of the drug I'm taking?
No wonder the side effects are Nordschleife nausea, carousel
cramps, Green Hell hives, and "holy shit this corner is
blind and downhill" anal leakage.

WEC--
World Endurance Championship Racing.
Now I may claim this is a one-topic show, but I also
want to comment on your comments from the April 30
Shakedown, where I asked you, has racing lost its
credibility?
The view count for the show sucks, but the quality of your
replies warrants a respectful follow-up by me.
Plus, did you see that Nissan announced they're going to
build the Juke-R for the street?
And while Juke-R is not a race car, it made me think again
about your comments, the WEC, and another question for you
at the end of this show.
But I'm going to stay true to one topic and tie WEC, your
comments, and Juke-R all together, like Chris Harris
drifting three corners back to back; like Alex Roy explaining
how Latino low-riders, a Veyron suspension, and a
Citroen SM have something in common; how Mike Spinelli can
add an ADD laugh, an "uh," and the name Jenson Button into
every sentence he speaks about F1.
Did I lose you on that last one?
Well, here we go.
The World Endurance Championship.
This is race two.
Race one was Sebring.
There, Audi nailed P1, HPD Honda, P2.
Ferrari got GTE Pro, Portia GTE Amateur.
Remember, the ALMS race was at the same time, same track, but
separate results.
So BMW, for example, may have won GTE overall with
that last lap fight.
But really, they were in the ALMS race only.
So BMW won ALMS GTE, and the Ferrari won WEC GTE.
Now, after one day of Spa practice, the only part of the
racing completed when we recorded this, we learn what
we learned when Audi let us into that R18 e-tron and
ultra-test at Sebring.
We covered that on the May 23 Shakedown show, by the way.
What did we learn?
The e-tron is frigging fast and faster than the normal P1
cars, both the R18 Ultra diesel and all the gas stuff.
In P2, it's Morgan setting the pace.
GTE Pro and Am, it's Porsche, Porsche.
But all the times are pretty close in each class.
And we saw a lot of game play sandbagging at Sebring.
So other than Audi being in control, the rest seems to be
pretty open.
Some commenter with an attitude made a snark on last
show that I should, A, shut up, and B, show more cars.
Well, with all due respect.
Eff you on A. But here we go with B.
This is the latest Rebellion Lola-Toyota,
sponsored by Lotus.
The team now has the new Lola B12/60 chassis with the big
front fenders and are still running the Toyota V8.
So where's the Lotus part of this?
Only in the paint can.
And why am I still talking about Lotus?
They're dead to me with these stupid marketing gigs.
I just hope the Lotus check cleared the Rebellion bank.
But let's speak more Toyota, because the two Rebellion gas
engine P1 cars are the only Toyotas racing at Spa.
The TS030 Audi fighter is not on the grid.
Remember, a testing accident was claimed to
have set them back.
But they showed up at Spa anyway, for
marketing and PR purposes.
And the car looks much different than when it last
tested, so the crash may not have been the
reason to not race.
I think they needed more time to do more development and
make the car more competitive.
Now the car looks like an Audi.
Now the rear fenders are now the same, for one example.
Here's a before Spa shot of the TS030.
Now look again at the new version.
Notice the break-in lips here next to the narrow nose, these
aerodynamic tabs inside and outside the front fender.
The front fenders are bigger, more vertical at the front.
Now they're looking like the old Lister Storm LMP of 2004,
'05, and '06.
One more time.
Audi and Toyota.
Oh, and do you see how the Toyota rear-wing end plates
are bigger and more aero?
That's all Audi-like.
But the big difference between the two is that the Toyota
hybrid system is now rear drive.
E-tron is front drive, making it an Audi quattro.
Do you guys know if the "use the hybrid power only above
120 kilometer" rule applies to the Toyota?
I think not, as it was just there to negate the front
drive advantage, because WEC rules
prohibit four-wheel drive.
But check me on that, please.
When we interviewed Ulrich Baretsky, the Audi engine guy,
he expected the TS030 Toyota to be faster than e-tron,
because the rules offsets to try to equalize gas power
versus diesel dominance.
And even the Toyota guys talk about expecting speed.
They even boast, saying, quote, "as long as the car
doesn't break down, we can win."
Now they're saying testing versus actual racing at Spa is
no big deal to them.
They can simulate the racing and get back on plan.
Remember when Audi tried that, not racing ALMS or in Europe
before Le Mans, and then expecting testing would keep
them ready to win?
Yeah.
They watched Peugeot hoist trophies.
So Toyota never gets anything wrong, right?
Still, I can't wait to see the Toyota go up against Audi.
42 cars at Spa make up the grid.
10 P1, 5 GTE Pro, 9 GTE Amateur, and 18 P2, of which
Morgan in P2 is doing just fine
through the first practices.
Charles Morgan, the head of the company, gave us a bit of
insight into the how and why this racing is relevant to
Morgan, the rad car builder.
Let's listen.
CHARLES MORGAN: I think it's definitely a technical
collaboration, because the aerodynamics is very
important to us.
I mean, we knew that the GT3 car could be successful to a
limited extent, but obviously, it needed better aerodynamics
to really succeed.
What I love about this car is it's still got the sort of
separate body and the separate wings.
So if we can actually work on that and bring some of this
technology into the road cars a little
bit, it would be fantastic.
LEO PARENTE: Cool.
In GTE class, it's classic Ferrari versus Porsche.
BMW has stepped out of WEC.
They're doing their DTM thing.
But Aston Martin is back, running
quick with this Vantage.
They ran US races, Sebring, Long Beach, and
Laguna coming up.
And the US testing they did helped this new
car get up to speed.
Corvette has two cars running at WEC, but they are both in
the GTE Amateur class.
No factory push in Europe for the bow tie brand.
Now Audi TV will be carrying the Spa Six Hour online.
Check the links below.
And I'm sure they'll even show you the Dome S102.5 Judd, back
after a few years in storage thanks to lost funding, but
now in control of Henri Pescarolo.
And he's taken the Dome back to Le Mans, where it was super
quick the last time it ran.
It's updated all around, and now with the obligatory wide
front tires matching the rears.
It's go time, with ex-Peugeot factory pilots Sebastien
Bourdais and Nicholas Minassian taking the Dome,
making it shine.
OK, WEC is our one topic.
But what does that have to do with your comments from last
show about if racing has lost its credibility?
Well, let's see if your thoughts align with what WEC
is trying to do.
You said to be credible, racing should be relevant to
street cars.
The racing should be authentic, not
rules-contrived.
And there should be less regulation and restrictions to
let technology and talent show.
I want you to comment and decide if WEC is getting that
done with hybrid and diesel tech in the P1 class,
production-based motors in P2 and
production-based cars in GT.
Now about that Juke-R. While it may not be a race car, in
my opinion it's a classic example of a company willing
to build and sell special stuff that aligns with their
performance intentions.
That Juke-R is being built by race car company Ray Mallock
Limited is cool, too.
I say connecting the dots like this makes it easier to
understand your comments about credibility.
And more brands should do so and more cars
should be that way.
Now, I'm OK that a Ferrari 458 is loaded with a race car
gearbox and electronic controls.
But I wish Audi would build the R8 GT as a turbo diesel
V6, like their R18 Le Mans car, not with a
V10 Lambo gas motor.
I wish Corvette had a real paddle shift manual gearbox
like the race car, not that
plastic, push-button automatic.
Now, what road cars do you wish more exactly duplicated
their race car versions?
Or which ones that do exist do you like best?
It's OK if you pick outside the WEC paddock, because that
racing credibility thing can be found or created anywhere.
Later.
Oh, and prayers for Senna about that whole May 1 thing.
Thanks.
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