Le Mans 2023?

[Grand_Fromage]

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...

[Kristof]

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 ...

[jimclark]

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.  
20

[Grand_Fromage]

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.

Mmmmmm...I wonder if it will still exist.  
20

[Kev_mk3]

Ill be there for that!

[wishy]

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

[Lord Steve]

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?

[jimclark]

How long before the first solar powered car?

And still be 24 consecutive hours? 

[Grand_Fromage]

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

Look how it's changed in the last 20 years. How long before the first solar powered car?

[gt6]

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

[Grand_Fromage]

... 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.

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

Look how it's changed in the last 20 years. How long before the first solar powered car?

[jimclark]

... 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??? 

[Grand_Fromage]

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.

... 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??? 

[Baloo]

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 ..

[oldtimer]

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!