Watched a bit of it over the weekend. Surprised to see the pit crew cleaning windscreens. Previously the cars seemed to have a number of full screen tear-offs, like helmet visors. Have they been banned?
I also heard a commentary that the hybrids had to use electric power only in the pit lane?
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I'm pretty sure I can recall windscreen cleaning going on over some years, I think your memory is playing tricks.
There are rules about how many can be working on the car at any one time and I'm not sure if the windows man counts. (That's why they don't have a small team to changes each wheel, like F1 does)
I can remember being there in maybe the late 90s when the lead cars were brought in a lap or two from the end for a full clean up to remove all the brake residue which was obscuring their logos.
One statistic which always surprises me is the distance the winners cover - this year it was 5246.01 km km (something over 3000 miles!! In a day!!)
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A few cynical types have questioned the apparent "Mistake" when the lead Toyota suffered a puncture with an hour to go and after their stop had to immediately return to the pits because the mechanics had changed the wrong wheel. Those sceptics are suggesting that maybe having the famous Fernando Alonso in the team on the top step of the podium would generate more publicity for Toyota than three drivers who are unknown outside the sport.
That sort of thing doesn't go on in motor racing, surely? ;-)
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I guess you could work out how many tear-off's they would need for 24 hours, probably more effective to have the screens cleaned, liked the way the crew vaulted onto the front nose to do it, must be pretty strong.
WEC used to be my goto racing until Audi and Porsche pulled out only really leaving Toyota, now I watch smaller championships like VLN and the Nürburgring 24hrs, good commentary from the British guys who also usually do Radio Le Mans.
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I saw a few minutes of the end on Quest and there was a least one car having a screen tear-off removed
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Le Mans - smokie
