Vintage Le Mans Series (Presented by Sniper919)

Welcome to the Vintage Le Mans Series or VLMS. A series that will rekindle racing rivalries from the 50's and 60's, when drivers were fearless, car were beautiful, and safety was scarce. Do you have what it takes?

So your asking yourself how is this series setup and how will it be run?

The series will be split into 3 classes which will be sorted by driver skill. The Gold class will be for the fastest drivers and will include cars such as the Ferrari 330 P4 and the Ford GT40MKII. The Silver class will be for intermediate drivers and will include cars such as the Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa and the Aston Martin DBR1. And finally the Bronze class will be for drivers who are for the rookies or less experienced drivers car would include the Jaguar E-type and Shelby GT500.

But Sniper how will that these classes be determined?

In an effort to improve racing throughout the multi-car system I will be holding an qualifying session a week prior to the series first race. Everyone will be placed in identical cars (Build and Tune) and will have 4 laps to post their quickest time. The top 6 drivers will be placed in the gold class, the next 5 will be placed in the silver class, and the final five will be placed in the bronze class. this all depends on the turnout for the series but im hoping to get 16 drivers. The theory is that once you are placed into a class you will be racing against drivers of your equal ability making for tighter racing throughout.

Ok but what cars will we be using for the qualifying session and which track will we be on?

The car for the liquifying session hasn't been determined yet but the track will be the Le Mans Circuit Old Mulsanne Circuit. Qualifying will be one out lap and 3 flying laps. A 3 second penalty will be added for a final dirty lap.

Which cars will we be running in this series and what builds do we have to use? Will there be stock tunes or will we be able to tune?

The PI will be different for each class. Gold - PI625 Silver - PI500 Bronze - PI 430

All cars are required to have :

Stock Rims(Altering the rims will result in SEVERE penalty's).
Drag Tires
Sport Trans
Full Roll Cage
No Rear Aero but front is allowed.
Any car that can remove chrome is permitted to do so. Ex Jag E-Type
Tuning is allowed
No Aspiration changes

The Gold Class will be: PI 625

Ferrari 330 P4
Ferrari 250 GTO ***
Ford GT40 MKII
Shelby Cobra 427
Shelby Daytona Coupe

Because of the 250 GTO's speed you MUST run the forza front aero.

The Silver Class will be: PI500

Aston Martin DBR1
Chevy Corvette C2
Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa
Jaguar D-Type
Maserati 300

The Bronze Class will be: PI430

Ferrari Dino
Alfa Romeo Sprint
Shelby GT500 Mustang (not the 70)
Jaguar E-type
Aston Martin DB5
Mercedes Gulling Wing

Sniper, I've built all the cars and they don't look competitive to each other is that correct?

Due to forza's PI system some cars wont look competitive. Not to worry though I've done enough testing to know these cars can all be tuned to be competitive. If there needs to be adjusting I will consider that after our first test.

When will this test be?

The first test will be this Saturday following the Super GT race. You can use any of the cars listed more than one if you'd like. We will be doing multiple circuits but Old Le Mans will be the main testing track.

What circuits will we be running in this series?

After some research I found that many circuits that were run besides Le Mans at the time are not in the game(go figure). So here is the schedule (subject to change).

Le Mans Old Mulsanne Circuit
Sebring International Raceway
Mazda Leguna Seca
Road America
Nurburgring Nordschleife
Silverstone
Sunset Peninsula Reverse Full

Length of these races will be determined later after more testing.

What about paint can i through some Red Bull stickers on my Ferrari Testa Rossa?

Livery Verification will be very strict as we are trying to re create vintage racing. That mean no modern logos or companies (aka RED BULL/Monster). If you are unsure of what im talking about do some research. Paints must be verified with a reference picture found either on the web or from a book/magazine. (EX photos to be posted later). This doesn't mean you can't be creative but an advance warning that all liveries will be looked at very carefully.

Ok I have my car, the tracks, my paint. What else do I need to know?

After the series test which may be more than one I will begin determining race length and procedure. I can tell you that:

Sim Damage will be on and let me give warning that you do not want to take damage. These cars will be a handful without any damage. Also for the test there will be standing starts. Because of the differences in launches between cars we may have to go to a rolling start. I may also have a roll of delay between the three classes.

The main thing is to have fun which after testing all this week I think will be no problem. I am currently building a proper website and forum but for now this will be were information can be found.

Any questions please feel free to ask here or talk to me on XBL.

**UPDATE**

After running our first test it seems that some cars don't fit into each class. An example would be the Stingray Vette in with the open cockpit roadsters such as the Testa Rossa. Even though they are competitive with each other I may need to re-think some of the choices in cars.

Testing room is now open.

Test went well even though we only had 3 drivers. Ill be testing tomorrow as well during the day.

if you test tonight I'll be there

Me too, if you are still testing

Sorry guys I had to bring some ideas back to the drawing board will give you an update soon.

sniper919 wrote:Sorry guys I had to bring some ideas back to the drawing board will give you an update soon.

And maybe we'll have the 917 in May...

When this gets off the ground I'd like to be a part of it. I'll be in training all this week, so unless the hotel has good internets I won't be around. Next week end I'll be in Sebring for the 12hr and the Weeked after that I'll be working pit road security at the St. Pete Grand Prix. After all that I'll be amped up and ready to help with testing and what not.

I wouldn't mind being a part of this series when it gets up and running. I also wouldn't mind testing some of the cars out either to see how they feel on the track.

Planned test on wed. Tracks will be Le Mans, Sebring, Leguna Seca, and The Ring.

sniper919 wrote:Planned test on wed. Tracks will be Le Mans, Sebring, Leguna Seca, and The Ring.

Cool, I'll try to be on then on Wednesday.

sniper919 wrote:Planned test on wed. Tracks will be Le Mans, Sebring, Leguna Seca, and The Ring.

Any different build configurations you would like to test with?

PS - If you have a time you'd like to start, i'll throw this up on the calendar

Dirty I plan on starting around 9PM EST and will be racing the same builds as previously tested.

I want to see how other drivers react to the cars. Because I see there isn't anything going on this week or weekend on the calendar expect another test sometime on Saturday. I'd like to get feedback on Wed and then rebuild for Saturday if needed.

To everyone, Please post if you interested in driving Wed night so I can see how many we'll have.

I'll be on Wednesday, but I'll be out of town on Saturday.

Added to the calendar. We had our time change yesterday, and I'm not sure when the UK changes.

I'll be there tomorrow. Not sure on the time but I'll find out.

Are we using a pre-build?

Hey petey sorry to answer you so close to the race but the required build is in the first post. After the required parts you can add what you want up to the determined PI.

Right. Sorry, I got mixed up with the set build for grouping and the race build.
I really had to get some sleep last night, so apologies for the no show too.

Sorry I never responded petey no worries.

I thought I had posted but in case anyone is wondering the series will be on hold till the porches are out. Sorry for the inconvenience but a vintage series with no porches isn't right.

I am working on a CAN-AM series you can find more in its Topic Thread.

Any thoughts on how the Austin or 550 will be integrated? I'm guessing bronze?

Edited to add - I forgot about the '73 Carrera that can be body-kitted into a '67-'68 911R

I have to say I had a lot of fun with sniper n Chelsea trying to sort these Gold class thanks guys and thank you for putting so much time and work into this series I am sure it will be a great 1. I think there is still some work but your well on the way sir good job.

DirtyDawg73 wrote:Any thoughts on how the Austin or 550 will be integrated? I'm guessing bronze?

Edited to add - I forgot about the '73 Carrera that can be body-kitted into a '67-'68 911R

Looked at the 550 it will be bronze will look into the Carrera.

Del and Chelsea thanks for the help today the data will help balance the gold class.

Once again there is a new car pack coming out with 2 potential additions to the VLMS. Both are pre-60s so a potential change may be in the works. I'll keep everyone informed. Also a hot lap challenge will be in the works so keep a look out for it.

Required reading:
Go Like Hell

By the early 1960s, Ford Motor Company, built to bring automobile transportation to the masses, was falling behind. Baby boomers were taking to the roads in droves, looking for speed not safety, style not comfort, and Ford didn’t offer what these young drivers wanted. Meanwhile, Enzo Ferrari lorded over the European racing scene, crafting beautiful, fast sports cars that epitomized style.

Baime tells the remarkable story of how Henry Ford II, with the help of a young visionary named Lee Iacocca and a former racing champion turned engineer named Carroll Shelby, concocted a scheme to reinvent the Ford company. They would enter the high-stakes world of European car racing, where an adventurous few threw safety and sanity to the wind. They would design, build, and race a car that could beat Ferrari at his own game, at the most prestigious and dangerous race in the world, the 24 Hours of LeMans.

Go Like Hell transports readers to a golden era in racing when Ford’s innovative strategy led to victories on the track and renewed respect for the American automobile.

I got my copy on Monday and I'm over half way through. Very hard to put this book down.