"What car should I drive?"
"What car should I drive?" Also known as "what's the difference??" or just simply "uh. HELP!". As these cars are made to be true to real life, they are not sharing physics, and there may even be differences between the cars.
C1:
Porsche 956/956B. There is no difference between the 83/84/Bonus cars, nor 956 or 956B. There is a difference between choosing "Le Mans" or "WEC" configuration. WEC has more power, but also more drag. There is no physic-difference between low/medium/high downforce package, but the higher downforce-package you have, the higher you can go on downforce on the car. E.g "low downforce" is locked to "1" on front downforce.. This is probably the easiest C1-car to drive. It's not the quickest in the straight line, but it is the most friendly car through the corners.
Lancia LC2: Just like the Porsche, there is a difference between Le Mans and WEC. Less drag on the Le Mans car. However, the Lancia also has a difference between 1983 and 1984. As the 1984 car has a different, more powerful engine. The 1984 Le Mans car have both more power and less drag than the 1984 WEC-version. You can really mix and match what you like here. Same downforce-settings here. Higher package, gives more options in the setup. This car also has a really powerful quali-engine. However, the Lancia is prone to spectacular engine-explosions, and while it might be fast, you have to take good care of it. May suffer from terminal understeer.
Jaguar XJR-5: The British marque is the US-alibi here. A car originally built for IMSA-GTP, but was allowed to compete in WEC. It's possibly the most tricky car in the class to drive. But also the most simple one in terms of choice. One aero-package, one engine setting. Just drive. It's nervous, slides around has less than awesome brakes and in general is a loose car due to the Le Mans Package. However, with some practice, the right setup and a driver who likes and handles such a car, it can be the fastest. Might be a challenge over 70 laps.
C2:
Alba AR2: Starting off with what's likely the fastest C2 car. It has proper power, and fairly good grip. There is a WEC-version of the car, but the physics are the same. It's a car that has oversteering-moments that at times can come out of nowhere. It's a fun car to drive, and a safe bet for any newcomers to prototype racing or classic sportscars. It does need to be used correctly when it comes to engine-powerband, to low RPM and you would be faster if you jumped out and started running!
Rondeau M379, M379B and M379C: Not a car where you can choose aero-config, it's Le Mans all the way, but the car comes in many different configs anyway, with wheel-cover, without, with a whole rear wing, half rear-wing, two small quarter-wings etc. However the physics are the same for any config. This car has the old, safe, reliable and tested Cosworth DFV-engine. Be a bit careful to rev it to the maximum 10500 RPM during the race, but it's an engine that's easy to use, safe and sound. Broad powerband, you know what power you have. This is also the fastest C2-car in a straight line, however, it also has the worst brakes. It needs to be driven with a tiny bit of oversteer where possible, but isn't prone to the same snaps as the Alba. Can potentially be a winning car, but due to the brakes, one would need patience and concentration to not overdrive.
Mazda 727C/737C & Lola T616: Unless you have found a trick that I don't know of. These cars are only for people with very special interests in regards to using it in this race. The cars are light and handles good and have proper brakes, the Lola needs a bit of work to be stable and useful though. However, for a track like Norisring they are severely underpowered. All three cars are powered by the 1.3l Mazda Rotary-engine. It doesn't use much fuel, doesn't have that much weight, but it's not powerful either. I am sure with the right driver, the right setup and a proper attacking attitude, that the Mazda-engined cars could be competetive with the other C2-cars also at Norisring, however, I have personally not been able to get closer than 1 second to the Alba and Rondeau with any Mazda-powered car.
They are however included as some may be way better than me with them and get them competitive.
ALL CARS:
Do
not use the qual-engine or qual-tyres in the race. With some cars (like the Alba) you may theoretically be able to keep the qual-engine running for just under 1 hour, however you cannot push the revs or the car that way, and will most likely be faster with the non-qual engines regardless.
Remember that these cars does have a tendency to blow engines if you downshift to fast or run it to the maximum revs continuously. While it's not an endurance race, it's long enough that you need to take care of the engine.
There is
no need for pit-stops during the race. The whole reason for this event to be run as first a 100 mile event, and then 2x 100 mile, is the fact that there was no space in the pits to actually do pit-stops at that time. So they ran the races in a way that meant no-stops.
I hope that, while this isn't the normal style of racing on a Friday evening, that we get a good group of racers, and we'll be able to do more special events! 
