(upbeat music) - Well, welcome to the Weekend Sports Games part of the Marshall Pruitt's podcast collection. And once again, let's hear from those who helped to make this happen. - Time to say a big thank you to our show partners on the Marshall Pruitt podcast, starting with FAFT Technologies. Build to print composites manufacturing company. They're specializing in medium to large scale automotive, motor sports, and military applications. Visit FAFT Technologies.com. It's P-F-A-F-F Technologies.com to learn more about their services and how they can benefit your business. Next, it's the Justice Brothers, makers of premium additives, lubricants, and cleaners, and servicing the automotive and motorsports industries for more than 85 years. The victories in all the biggest North American motor races, including the Indianapolis 500, the 24 hours a day toner, the Justice Brothers products are truly race proven, learn about their vast history, and range of offerings at justicebrothers.com. If you're fond of awesome motor racing collectibles, including FAFT Motorsports McLaren Gear and goodies, pay a visit to torontomotorsports.com. And finally, you have a new online merchandise home for the podcast, thepruitstore.com. For all the show stickers, models, racing memorabilia, I'm trying to sell, and put towards our fun to buy a house, is now live and rocking. Thepruitstore.com. - Well, this is gonna be a slightly unusual, flappy gums edition of the weekend sports cars. I'm Graham Goodwood, joined for the first part of this week's show by my friend and colleague, Delhi Sports Car here in the UK. Stephen Kilby, evening Stephen. - Good evening, Graham, how are you? - We're all good, as you very well know, 'cause you've been in all day, so it's a long question to ask just randomly like that. But so let's move on from that. We thought what we'd do is sort of a quick wrap-up of the week we've just spent in the Kintima Bahrain for the end of the 2024 FR World Insurance Championship, and pretty specifically, two or three big bits of news that we've broken since then, with Delhi Sports Car and with Racer on the hypercar market. But after that, we're hoping to be a second part of this show effectively previewing the M.S.A. sanction test at Daytona next week, where we'll have all sorts of good stuff, new stuff, including the first pretty public appearance of the Aston Martin Valkyrie. Now we've had some, all sorts of bits and pieces on that one, but hopefully that will be with myself with Marshall Perip a little later today, then Marshall will stitch this up like Frankenstein's Monster and release it into society for this week's edition. So let's take a look back. We're both in recovery mode. After what was a hectic, it was a hell of a weekend. Very, very busy, really good race. Lots and lots of green flag running that I thought was an excellent show off of the pretty level pace across that field. I think about halfway through that eight-hour race. Before we had the first hypercar to hit trouble, there was something like a minute between the top and bottom hypercar. So something like 57 seconds across the entire hypercar field, before we hit a caution and before we had any hypercar have any real problem. So as this class matures, there's not a huge amount of performance from the top to the bottom. - No, no, it was really close and we've had a few discussions through the weekend and we're going about the fact that BOP hasn't really been mentioned much at all after the first couple of races this season, which I think is a testament to the job the rule makes have done really because we are starting to see one, all the new teams starting to mature nicely and get up to speed with their cars. And also just, it feels like a very balanced class. And you've seen that from, I guess, the amount of teams and different cars that have won races this year. - Yeah, we've put that across the two classes, of course, home GT3 and hypercar. Well, it's an eight race championship, which means you've got 16 potential winners, eight in each class and of those 16 potential winners, 12 different cars have won races this year. That's quite an astonishing total. - Oh yeah, yeah. And it feels like next season, we could have another season with six different race winners, but maybe more manufacturers involved in those six because we saw Bahrain that, yes, again, we've got other manufacturers sniffing around at podium spots, sniffing around at matching and bettering the likes of Toyota, the likes of Porsche and the likes of Ferrari. I guess we've got to mention Peugeot really in that. 'Cause, all of a sudden, they had a very good race. Now, I'm into a helped in part with the safety car, but everyone was aside from the few cars at the front in this race because once that field bunched up and it was a game of who had the right tires and who'd saved tires for the right time. - And who pitted? - Yeah, who pitted for the longest and who managed to extend the fuel so that their last pit stop was shorter. Porsche over in the mix and then got sniffed at podium, got a podium after Ferrari's penalty. - They did indeed. And I think it marked another bit of a turnaround. They were pretty quick at the end of the race in Fuji. In fact, quickest on track at the end of the race in Fuji. We saw Alpene with one of their cars with an extraordinary economy run. That would have been about where it was running in traffic, but with way more energy from the very earliest stints and all the way through that. They're almost cycling round to a better finish. They've got upgrades coming in the off season as they continue to chase reliability on the back of that reliability unlocks and more the performance of that car. - And Peugeot have got updates as well, which I'm hearing from the grapevine have been tested in Barcelona up against some of the other hyper cars in the WC. And it's been very successful and very encouraged by the difference it's made. They haven't gone into detail yet as to what these changes are, what these evolutions are to the 9X8. But all signs are pointing the fact that we could soon take a bit of a step next year. And that would be great. - That would be great to see. It was good to see one or two of the Porsche drivers with actual physical smiles on their faces, which Michael Jens loved. I mean, I love Michael to bits, but he's been bit down cast most of the season. Maybe it's been a bit too much time with Sean McFern and Paul to rest and love you guys. - We've got to talk about the titles and the title battles. 'Cause yeah, LMGT3 was settled before we got to Bahrain. So all we had to look forward to Graham with the Hypercar World Cup and the LMGT3 set goals. - Hypercar World Cup of yes, yes. - It was hypercar manufacturers and hypercar manufacturers. - It was done and dusted halfway through the race, wasn't it? It looked like a rerun of the guitar races. - All the Porsche needed to do for the driver's title was to basically score just a few points. But at any point during that eight hours, it was all on the table because the number six car, I don't think are winning trio, all of whom we hold in the highest regard, personally and professionally, great guys. But boy, oh boy, did they make a dog breakfast with that one. - Oh, I mean, from literally the first corner. It went, it went. - That said, what was not said out loud very much was it was I think two contacts on the Porsche from the number 50 car. But I have to say, what on earth were they thinking of in that car? That that was a car that needed to finish well and needed the six to finish badly, to have any chance of it. And the 50 car effectively made it significantly more difficult with the aggression coming through the first two or three turns. - Then, in a way, they were lucky weren't they in that Porsche because the one day they had a really bad day, 50 and seven did as well. - They did indeed. I mean, that's the number seven car, the other title contender. Only the fourth retirement for a Toyota in the hypercar era, so far, and I think that's 27 races, so 54 starts and they finished 50 of those 54 races. So that's it, it's, yeah, they had another button. Well, the number seven did, but then we get to talk about the manufacturer's title. Also, dead and buried at one point, including a spin after being hit by one of the CF Corvette's. And then we had reports from Pit Lane that proved to be false, by the way, there were problems for that car, but it looked like a car with problems, dropping down the order, and then all of a sudden, someone puts Sebastian Waymi in the car and turned him up to 11. Now, Seb, he's in a neighbor, isn't he? He can be, I've caught a challenging persona to get any kind of comments out of. He is a guy that, if he's finished half his pint, it's definitely half empty, not half full. He can be caught a difficult personality when things are not going his way, but I'm gonna put it right down on the table here. That was one of the best drives I've seen from any driver in the hypercar era. It was absolutely mesmeric. - Yeah, when you talk, when you look at, specifically the hypercar era, and this season, there are free drives that stand out to me. Anne Lauer at Spa. Nicholas Nielsen at the end of the Lamonton Frowers and Alboymi with the manufacturer's title on the line in Bahrain, because the seven, when it hit its trouble with the fuel pump issue, I'd just taken the lead. And at that point, you thought, oh, okay, this has changed. Then they're the problem, falling that car's falling down the order. Tom Lauer's only thought it's over. The eight is nowhere. - Yeah, it's Porsche for everything. - Yeah, it's Porsche for everything. And with the way that the Ferrari's race planned out, it didn't look like they had a sniffer than either. And then all of a sudden, - Excuse me. - Blamey's in there and just, I mean, pit strategy was a part of it, but he made some really big moves. And then obviously squeezed his way through past Matt Campbell at the end to take the lead. And eventually the win. - There was a bizarre thing, wasn't it? It looked like because there was such a mayor, the pace of the seven in issue looked like that could be something. Then we saw, after the earlier problems of the 50, that car's starting to move back up the order until the incident was sure I'm a lazy. It wasn't easy, it wasn't at the spin. And took the chunk out of the Ferrari. - I'd need to go back, but yeah. - It was definitely at the end of the impact with that car. So the 50 looked like it could get back into the Ferrari. It didn't look like it was going to be a foregone conclusion, but with, it's got to be said, but unusual amount of attrition in the field that that looked like it maybe came back into it. So the seven got into it and fell out of it. The 50 fell out of it, fought its way halfway back and then was out of it. The six just seem to have, I'll tell you what I want to think is happening here. I think Lauren's front door fixed this race. I think he's done it for one reason, one reason only, so they can have a better podcast with his brother later. And I was delighted to be able to say to Teresa at the circuit the following day was there helping WRT with the rookie test. I've said it on air. We've waited 71 and a half hours for the message. We all expected on the timing screens, Vantor and Vantor team managers to race control. That's what we got. Mega stuff, by the way, mega from Teresa here. He has made pretty much everybody else in that BMW look ordinary. - Yeah, stand out, that car really suits him for whatever reason. - Yeah, Malacey, for Alpene, another good racer, apart from that problem that did lead the impact with the Ferrari. Nickel up here, of course, stepping back and the reshuffle, that crew, Mick Schumacher, not as stand out as he was last time, but good to see that he's had some stand out performances. We saw some pace from the Lamborghini and more of that, of course, a little later in the show. - Joe, I had a chance there to win that race. - They did, and they're left to finish their era with the Porsche 963, with the Hypercar World Cup 1-2. Yeah, with the 38 car, with the 12 car falling back with the problems, but the 38 car having its best race, I think, of the year, and needed to finish ahead of the 83, to clinch second place in the championship. They do so, so Joe to finish their Porsche era 1-2 in the Hypercar World Cup. - And wasn't it a delight to see David Clark get a standing ovation at the awards ceremony on the beach after the recognition? - For those of you that don't know what that's all about, David, one of the co-owners of Hurst Team Jota. David, just a super, super guy. His heritage with the sport goes back to being one of the very few people that you could honestly say, the McLaren F1 GT-R era was just as much his project as anybody else whose perhaps more famous names are involved in it. He ended up the commercial part of that. He was the one that encouraged owners to take up the bat and field those cars, and for that matter, sold an awful lot of McLaren F1 road cars in doing so. He's been part of the Hurst Team Jota effort from the start. That deal, no doubt about it, was his deal. Had some very significant health problems at the very start, and it's been back in the paddock for some of the races this year. He's one of my favorite people in the sport. I think he's one of yours as well, I'm getting very many others. And it's highly unusual for someone with a backroom role to get a standing ovation from the entire paddock at the beach party, the end of season awards party in Bahrain. But that's what happened. He was there to collect the Hypercar World Cup for Hurst Team Jota, and got a standing ovation doing that. It's delightful to have DC back. A few emotional faces as he was talking into the microphone, and he's well on the way. We hope to have full recovery. That's Hypercar. - Yeah, so it went fully a mess, didn't it, this race? - Yes, it did. - Because while it was kicking off in Hypercar for the titles, and things were swinging back and forwards, LMG-T3 just became bar and brawl, didn't it? - Well, you know, we've said this all the way through this season, whether or not it's on written word on DSC, or spoken word here, or Martin and Davidson and myself on commentary. LMG-T3 has been just simmering nicely, but part of it just lit up this time, okay? And we saw a whole range of cars and drivers at the front here, but difficult to finish up talking about this season without what was effectively a five car battle at the four car battle at the front. The Ferrari is coming on song at the end of this season, no doubt about that. We've now, they took the win with the 55 car, the car that finished on Pulposition at Fuji, but it was Sister 50 cut for that one. Behind them, there was a fantastic battle, which involved for a while the second Ferrari. Then Mateo Chrisone got involved with the number 60 Lamborghini, but for me, the stars of that race and chase, Alessio Rivera in the 55 Ferrari that took the win, and by the way, Alessio taking the Goodyear Wingfoot award, and that's for the most consistent paced driver through the season. - Over through the season, yeah. - But then, Daniel Yugadella, and in particular, at another emotional moment, Charlie Eastwood, just absolutely taking the race to the rest. And at several points, it looked to me like Charlie had it in the back. - Oh, I mean, Winnie took the lead before this is it going over, but they managed to strategically get themselves ahead with the Ferrari crew that last pit stop, didn't they? But yeah, it was awesome. It was a really, really entertaining race. And I mean, we can't, you know, not mention the fact that had the safety car not made a couple of appearances and had there not been a full-core shallow when there was, it may have been a completely different story. This race really was helped by the fact that Phil got bunched up later on, because it was looking pretty rhythmic, metronomic, and the field was getting pretty spread out around four hour mark, wasn't it? And you were beginning to wonder, is this going to be one of those races a bit like Qatar, which are very rare these days, but were, for a time in WC, more common when we had small fields at the top in NMP1. If you're wondering, was this going to go anywhere? And thankfully it did. Yeah. And there were so many cars that all of a sudden, for a five minute period, looked really, really on song and ready to win the race. But I think with Bahrain as a circuit, being so abrasive and the oldest circuit in the field track surface-wise, it's all about tires. And even in LNGT3, where you only have one compound to choose, strategizing, waiting to use the fresh tires. It's still making them work as long as you can. The combination of tires that you're changing each stop, be it, I'm not going to just change the right hand side. Am I going to just change the front tires at this stop? Certain points on that race, you were seeing the pace drop off almost in front of your eyes. Drivers looking really good one lap, and then just three or four seconds off the pace. Next to the point where you were beginning to question, I did a couple of times, walking over to some of the PRs, some of the manufacturers like McLaren and Aston Martin. And I was saying, the heart racing car, is it got a problem? It's like seven seconds off at the moment. And it wasn't, it's just tires. But it adds to the challenge, and I think it added something to that race. But the good news, good news for all of their effort came on strong at the end of the season. Too late and too little to make a difference to Porsche taking that championship with pure racing. We'll see the pure racing Porsche back in action in the Asia Le Mans series before they believe, they hope they'll be stepping up to the European Le Mans series for LNP2 next season. We saw Hyperman League in testing with TS sports at Sportimau. Great news for Corvette that car had such strength in depth at the end of let's not forget an eight hour race, not a six hour race. Significantly more concern for Ford. Two engine failures for them. - Yeah, not the same, even though it looked the same, apparently not the same problem. - Okay. - Speaking to one of the guys from Proton, who made it very clear that although it looked like it did that split screen we saw of the Marshall's attend to the car of a fire extinguisher, they were two separate issues. - Okay. - So it wasn't an identical-- - I'm not sure that's good news for bad news. - No, but yeah. - They've had other than the podium and fourth at Le Mans, they've had a pretty wretched year in the F.O. World Insurance Championship. They've seen some pace at times, wanted to put that fix in that you track down the very start of the season after the disassembly problems the cars were facing. Then, you know, we need to see some progress in that Ford in 2025. - Yeah, and it's a similar story at Le Mans' way you think they've had a really challenging season, but for very different reasons. For the Ford, it's a new car, with even troubles for the lecturers, it's just an old car. - But all in all, an excellent finale. I'll apologise by the way, you'll hear me coughing as bluttering the background here. It's been a long recovery from a chest infection picked up from Johnny Palmer at Portingham. - Thanks, Johnny. Yeah, thanks a lot. - But still a bit coffee and spluttery. But an excellent, if exhausting, finale. Then into the rookie test, where there was some interesting stuff going on, lots of interesting people driving very many of the cars. Artio Leclerc impressed, Valentino Rossi impressed. - A bit to my turn. - A bit to my turn. You know, lots of people in the LMG-T3 cars sniffing around the possibility of other new programs in the WC on the case of couple of, you know, recently big names in the championship. Other as Bronze or Silver's a switch, United Auto Sports testing amongst others down young and Sean Galleil. Yes, Shaheen. Yes, Shaheen tested two different cars. We wrote, didn't we, on day sports car, a long piece, which people would be good to go back and catch up with if you hadn't, if you'd missed it over the weekend, which was kind of a summary of where every manufacturer was in LMG-T3 ahead of next season. And the big theme is, I feel like, it feels like there's barely going to be a lineup in the field that's not going to be, I agree, tweaked in some way for next season. And if you wanted any evidence of that, just the cues of drivers currently in the championship or looking to be in the championship in that rookie test, getting lapsed in cars. It was remarkable, really, really remarkable to see just the sheer amount of it. I think it was a cross two class, I think it was 71 drivers that took part in the rookie test. I think, for me, that's the busiest rookie test, certainly that I've ever attended for the WC. I don't know whether in the couple of years that I wasn't there, whether there were any more outliers, but for me, that was the most well populated rookie test. But bear in mind, we've lost a class that used to be very well populated at the test in LMP2. That was pretty busy for a two class test, and there's more testing going on, including today in Bahrain with both private testing. But now, and there was the Mitchell entire development testing, which is more to do with 2026 rubber, with just about every hypercar manufacturer with the exception of Cadillac, because they've got their own plans with the switch to Jota. And that, of course, included the very first time that the Aston Martin Valkrium LMH has been out on track with other cars. That's that. That's from Bahrain. Then we get into, as politicians buy phones, dinging your ways, I'm being told that my car has or hasn't passed its MOT, we'll deal with that one. But let's talk about some of the news that came out of it. I'd certainly point... I can't think of any news. Let me stop that, Graham. Point are listed as towards a couple of stories we wrote during that race weekend. In particular, the story around the Andes, and the switch to Porsche across all of their programs, it will be four programs for the season. The Martin, the newly announced bronze, I think they've accepted. I don't believe they put an appeal in for Sarah Bovee this year. So Sarah Bovee will be silver, and I expect to see Sarah as a silver driver somewhere. But there's a lot to be announced. It will be four programs for the Andes, at least. That's without any other supporting programs like Michelin and Moncup and Michelin and European series we've seen on the ELS package. It will be Porsche for all of them. My understanding and belief is that it will be Monty for WC. It will be Monty, by the way, in the winter for the Asian Mon series. And then Proton competition, again with Porsche for the European Mon series, and for the IMSA program. So Proton likely supporting that program as well. So they are not done. There will be some changes because of those driver grading shifts. And all that I think is happening there is they are just expanding the pool of Eindames with their headlining programs. The other name I expect to see somewhere we saw this year for a couple of successful race meetings in the Leisure European series. It's 2023 Formula One Academy winner, Marti Garcia. How much in Leisure European series? One, two races. Yeah, really good, really exceptionally good. She also tested under Celia as did Carin Gyard at Porti Mal. And it's very clear they're looking at a shuffling of the pack. Or at the very least, they're looking at a process of looking into the continuity of the Eindames. That's great news, particularly bearing in mind one of the pieces of news we're going to discuss in just a few minutes time. So Eindames will be back. It will be Porsche. It will be four programs at least. And we expect to see some of those new names joining the trio that has shown such clock over the last two or three seasons. The other one, or the other story that we wrote during the race, we can concern Aston Martin. So before we get on to the really big stories, should we talk about Aston Martin and the Valkyrie. So speaking to Adam Carter from Aston Martin and confirmed that the Valkyrie will be at the sanction test at the end of this month. So that's a second chassis. Not the end of this next week. Next week. Yeah, that's coming quick. So yeah, so we'll have a Valkyrie which is a second car. So there's a car running in Bahrain in the moment. And then the other car that's currently in existence will turn laps in Daytona. And that'll be a very much more of a public setting moment for the car. And first time running in IMSA GTP. Yeah, effectively. So we're going to talk about that test in the second half of the show where I hope we'll be able to record a live show with Marshall and myself on site. That's the plan at the moment. But there's that one. The other story I'd certainly suggest to be interested in the FI World Insurance Championship next year to take a look at is our rundown through what we expected to happen in LMGT3. And I can tell you from in addition to that, we're going to refresh that story probably for next week and rerun with some updated information after the rookie test and after a couple of bits of news that have broken since then. Two more stories to cover off before we pause and get towards Part 2 with Marshall. And they're both hypercar stories and they almost literally couldn't be more different. So let's start with the first one we published Graham McLaren. So you wrote the story that McLaren have kind of taken one step closer to finalizing, committing, announcing that they're going to be in hypercaromation. It's not full confirmation, but it's closing in on that, right? Well, they've not confirmed anything. Let's be clear. We're telling you what's happening. So it's worth our listeners understanding the way that you and I deal with these sorts of stories that particularly put them when we get to the second one, which is a significantly less welcome one. These are big programs, they're important programs. These brands have a lot of investments beyond just the financial in that. And for that matter, as professionals in that field, there's a lot of jobs tied up with this, both directly and indirectly through the supply chain. So we're really careful about what we write and when we write them. You know, ask listeners to remember the Mercedes AMG story that we wrote. And that's another emblematic one of what I'm about to say, which is before we put pen to paper or finger to keyboard, we're very careful. We try to work as best we can, hand in glove with manufacturers in particular when perhaps it's less welcome that we're involved in that story. That's not always possible. And for lots of reasons, quite understandably, they certainly won't necessarily want to give us any on the record comment or even off the record guidance. But we do try to work with our friends and colleagues across the paddock and across the industry by making them aware of what it is we're going to see. What it is we're going to say, making sure that they have an opportunity to say whether or not that is incorrect or correct, any comment that want to go into it. That certainly was the case with the McLaren story. Now to explain what is quite a difficult nuance here. As every listener to this podcast will be aware, every single time that Zach Brown steps out of his home, he's pounced upon by a member of the media. And they then will battery him into a corner to try to get him to give the latest update on what's going on with McLaren and hypercar. And as we all know, he's given much the same answer with a sliding scale of when that might happen. This takes it further. Make no doubt about that. Whatever your insert name of social media says or the person says in response to this story. This marks a very significant step forward. It is not a committed program. It is McLaren at a very senior level saying, right, we are ready to commit, show us the time scales, and for that matter, the costs that that program will entail if we're going to push the button. I expect that button to be pushed before the end of this year. So what this is, is we've stopped evaluating now, we are convinced this is something we want to do, give us the facts that we can say yes or ask questions about, we're about to get the go. McLaren are coming to hypercar. One step away from a sign off, aren't we? We're one step away from an announcement. I think it's what it comes down to. I think we're closer than I'm able to write at the moment. I think in philosophical terms, it's a go. I think the people that need to be convinced that the people writing the literal checks are convinced. I think what they've seen has convinced them. And everything I've heard from a pretty strong number of sources indicates that we are going to have a McLaren hypercar. My educated guess would be, that's for 2027, 2028 and 2029. I think it's a Lara. I mean, we know that they initially were talking to Orica about the conceptual hypercar. Since then, of course, Orica picked up. They've explored all four. Absolutely have, as you would. But I would expect that to be a Dolores chassis engine partner. I think we've got a couple of ideas on that, but not ready to actually reveal our hand on it. So that make no mistake, if you like the pyre, if you like McLaren, that's really very good news indeed. And, you know, cynics out there, I can tell you that senior figures from McLaren saw that story before it went. They asked for one minor change for clarification. We've made it, and they are not unhappy with that story being out there. Which is always a telling sign, isn't it? Isn't it, Josh? So the final story then is, like you say, the kind of the polar opposite to what we've written about McLaren. And that is Lamborghini, which, as we published about an hour ago, seems we're recording. Yeah, as we're recording, seem to be walking away from the WC entirely, not just in hypercar but in LMGT-3 as well. Yeah, so the hypercar side of it has been in the wind for a little while. The first serious conversation we had asking direct questions was back at Fuji, but the conversations have been underway before that. All sorts of reasons behind this, one of which, as we've discussed on the show before, is that the car does need some development. We saw flashes of pace from it throughout the season. It finished 10th at Lamont in what might this day, but it's only ever start there. But we've seen flashes of pace from the car. It's not been able to sustain that pace. And we know there's some issues about drivability, we know there's some issues about rigidity, we know there's some issues about dampers. It needs a joker, at least one. And the problem with that is that comes with expense. It comes with expense at a time when VAG group are in some flux. And it comes at the point where they were having to commit for this two car rule with the WC. The reality is, who's this at the door of? It's not the door of I'm Links. I'm sure I'm very heavily invested in that program. And whilst I'm Links have pretty graciously told there's no comment wanted on this or any associated subject. It's pretty clear that they are mightily irritated about the situation they've found themselves in. You could point the figure at WC and say it's a little considered two car rule. So while championship, they're looking for sustainability. They're looking for teams and manufacturers to show themselves ready, willing and able to commit for multiple years at a competitive level. We know, having talked in depth to General Motors, to Canassie, to be concerned with the Cadillac program. The one car thing has not worked for them. It just hasn't. It's not given them the opportunity to build upon lessons. It's not given them the opportunity to split strategies. It's not giving them the learning curve that others have had around them. And the net result is what we've seen. They too have not been able to sustain what has been fantastic pace on that car through full race distances too often. And that's one of the biggest things when you talk to people around the program as we enter the Jota Run era of that. They are expecting to be a big turnaround. Yes, some philosophical changes in terms of where that team is run compared to Canassie. But more than anything, it's the opportunity to compare and contrast across two cars, not one. Yep, 100%. So who's left a blame? It's Lamborghini. I'm sorry, but Lamborghini committed probably quite late. The test program had a disastrous start with a huge shunt at a poor record, which destroyed at that point the team's only car. That took some days/weeks to get back into a test program, which meant that their road map to homologation was heavily constrained. And as it turns out, too heavily constrained, which meant to get to the point that they wish to start, which is to start the season this year, they arrived with not the car they hoped to have, with all the problems just gone through. The shocker is actually not that, because they've got the option to take the car to himself. Well, whether it be one car or two, we can see. It's worth saying across all this, there's another element here, which is George Osana leaving Lamborghini, and they're kind of being nobody properly at the running the show at Lamborghini. They're still in flux. They're still working out. Who's going to take over from Sam? Senior management for Lamborghini were in Bahrain, and I don't think that was an easy, serious meeting for them to be having. But it's very hard to sign off a program and an expanded program at that when you don't have an effective, conditional boss in someone working in the interim. Yeah, so it's not as flailing Lamborghini to enter their lives. They've got some very, very good people doing some very, very good things. There was a new GT3 car now in testing. The Cybertra Feo product is world-class. The SC63 does seem to have been a little bit rushed. Not panicked, but rushed. The net result of that, though, is what seems to me, and this is all on me, seems to be what has been an increasingly fractious and unhealth. The net result of all that, Stephen, is that having won the European Lamon Series LMM GT3 title, having had a high profile effort with the onedames in Fiwwc, that they will part ways with Lamborghini, and Lamborghini, as we currently expect, will not be represented in either hypercar or LMM GT3. The Fi World Insurance Championship in 2025, despite the fact that it sits at the threshold of a brand-new GT3 car, they're not going to have that on the biggest stage for GT3 in the world. Yeah, it will be very, I mean, we can't entirely rule it out because we don't know where we're going to be at the point where the entries are being filed for the 2026 season, which is when the hurricane success is going to debut. Yeah. But with the likes of Genesis coming and... Aston Martin coming. And Aston Martin coming. Unlikely McLaren in 2007. And others. Finding, getting those spaces back on the grid will not be easy. No, and you've also got to look at the levels of trust that are placed in commitments. That's another thing to come down to it. We're not going to pour lots of cold water on this. The Fi World Insurance Championship will not be happening. We wait and see whether or not that is going to lead to an uptick in their level of commitments above what is currently committed in IMSA. And that's commitment on the entry list to a single SE63 in the Michelin Endurance Cup. It will mean the Lamborghini will not be at the moment. It'll be one and done at this stage at least, unless this turns out to be some form of sabbatical. We wait and see whether or not Lamborghini used the available budget they've got to expand that representation and/or develop the car to the point that it's going to be required to get to a joker to take a step forward. It's a bit of a hashtag wait and see. As for Hurricane, there may be options, but we're hearing probably not for 2025, but there's time yet for Lamborghini to pull something out of the fire. But what absolutely does seem to be now pretty much nailed in is that we will have an additional manufacturer on GT3, and that will be Mercedes AMG for 2025. And that car, we'll see running the talk sensor setup, although maybe not exactly the same as the WC for the very first time in the IMSA Sanction Test next week as well. As for which team that will be, I think you and I are reasonably confident to say that might well be on links. It would make sense, right? There are rumblings that I links can be back next year from multiple people that we've spoken to. It's not going to be with another two cars from the same manufacturer already there. No, exactly. And if it's with a different manufacturer and we have double checked and looked up and down the list of all the manufacturers it could potentially be. There's really any other options, is there? No. So, I mean, we're not announcing it for them, but what we're saying is we're looking to be positive. We believe IM links are a reason to be back. We have no comment from the team on this. We've spoken to people close to the team. We've spoken to others around the industry and all points to IM links returning, but returning likely with a different manufacturer. Now, my belief is that will not be in a hypercar for 2025. The options are very limited indeed. And that if it is LMGT3, it's most likely to be with Mercedes AMG. So that's a little bit of good news alongside a great big steaming pile of bad news as far as Lamborghini is concerned. Yes. And that kind of wraps up part one of this twist. So I shall leave the building and make work for Marshall Pro. Before you do, I just want to say, you know, I hope this isn't the last bill here if you're on the weekend sports cars for 2024. It's been a tough run into the end of this season. You've been excellent, both at the track and on this podcast. I do urge people to read some of the stuff that Stephen's been putting in for race as well as daddy sports car. And we'll leave it at that for the moment and there'll be brief pause and then you'll hear my voice again. And then you'll get a different voice of Marshall Pro. [Music]
