Le Mans 2023 - Not Porsche's finest.

[T8]

Not a great result for Porsche fans (8th, 22nd and 40th won't feature on any advertising material) but what a fantastic spectacle and superb racing.

I watched all of it in recorded form on Eurosport so was able to FF the adverts, some interviews and any boring bits within the safety car periods and can't see how anyone actually there would have followed what was going on. I was very impressed at the number of cameras they must have had to capture all of the action.

The highlight for anyone not a Ferrari fan must surely have been the Camaro Nascar - part-piloted by Jenson Button - What a beast! Quicker than all the GT3Am cars for a lot of the race and a creditable 39th place finish overall.

I hope that all that did attend had a great time. The atmosphere looked fantastic but I didn't envy anyone that chose to live there for 72 hours.

Looking forward to stories and pics from those that did. :thumbs:

 

[Senoj]

I went week prior, did scrutineering in the town then the 'test" day on Sunday. So I got an injection of atmosphere, saw the cars in anger then watched on Eurosport when I got home :lol:

I'd decided the 100th wasn't going to be much fun with the crowds involved.

An odd race I thought, lots going on with so many unforced errors...exciting but for the safety car procedure that robbed it of any dynamism as it took a ludicrous amount of time to re set the field....surely they will need to re think that.

The right car won. Porsche just weren't quite good enough with speed or accuracy.

 

[911UK]

fantastic racing and i was there from start to finish and had an amazing time.

but the place was busy, after the start on saturday you couldn't move around the stadium effectively due to the crowd

 

[Yellow]

It was pretty amazing in person, so many leaders in the first 8 hours or so and even up to the very end there was competition in each of the 3 classes.

A combo of radio le mans, the live timing on an app and the big screens showing Eurosport kept us pretty up to date with what was going on. Would be hard without it though.

Definitely the busiest I have ever seen the race though, much more like a GP weekend than an endurance race, particularly in the hours around the start. With hindsight we should have sorted tribune seats, but left it too late

Porsche had a really poor race IMO - 2x unreliabilities and 2x self-inflicted crashes for the other cars really ruined their challenge. I was disappointed for the IronDame entry given they really looked like they could be in for the win early on Sunday.

 

[Zorro]

Enjoyable but really busy this year. Highlight for me was meeting separately both Jacky Ickx and the president of the ACO. At least the Jota Porsche led the race for a bit.

 

[911UK]

It was pretty amazing in person, so many leaders in the first 8 hours or so and even up to the very end there was competition in each of the 3 classes.

A combo of radio le mans, the live timing on an app and the big screens showing Eurosport kept us pretty up to date with what was going on. Would be hard without it though.

Definitely the busiest I have ever seen the race though, much more like a GP weekend than an endurance race, particularly in the hours around the start. With hindsight we should have sorted tribune seats, but left it too late

Porsche had a really poor race IMO - 2x unreliabilities and 2x self-inflicted crashes for the other cars really ruined their challenge. I was disappointed for the IronDame entry given they really looked like they could be in for the win early on Sunday.

on the flip side the Caddy entry was reliable but slow and still finished 3rd

credit to the ACO for bringing the leading class back to life

 

[T8]

... credit to the ACO for bringing the leading class back to life

....... and some.

Spa was packed, LeMans was fully booked months before the event and - after Ferrari's win - Monza will be full too.

With Lamborghini and BMW entering the fray next season I reckon it will reach heights it's never reached before.

I can't believe how things have changed. I recall watching the 919 in it's first race at Silverstone and the place seemed empty.

 

[Senoj]

100th anniversary had a lot to do with the popularity. Even I bought an extra T shirt. It's a shame the GT end of the field is getting a bit of a dumb down but that will fill out with more manufacturers but I heard it's being restricted to two cars per brand?

 

[T8]

I won't miss seeing the LMP2 cars in the WEC, especially if it means more hypercars and GT3LMs taking part.

2 cars per manufacturer in GT3LM will still mean a decent grid with BMW, Lamborghini, Ford and Mercedes all likely to join in next year.

An 8 race programme for next season has been announced but still only 4 in Europe. Sadly, after this seasons success, I suspect the 50-60 Euro ticket prices will soar.

Thank heavens for 'Eurosport'