Quote:
Originally Posted by Artur
What do you mean by confidentiality in GTE? Are the continental tires "open" in GTD? By open I mean as in LMP2 where the tire doesn't belong to the manufacturer, so rivals can access the product and research. I know that in LMP1 the tire has confidentiality, ie, Michelin owns all tires and they are all returned to them after used. They(Michelin) said, in a PR, that their LMP2 tires don't have the secret chemical ingredients because the regulation set the tires as open, meaning it can eventually end in a rival's hands.
Continental shouldn't be that bad, though. They are only behind Michelin, Bridgestone and Goodyear on profit and R&D investment. Falken Porsche qualified 1,5s behind Bamber(the other Michelin Porsche did no fast lap).
I can't believe Continental would be worse than Falken, unless the tire rule really means "open product"
I read this from Mike Hedlund, DragonSpeed Ferrari driver in Pirelli World Challenge :If the difference in downforce is that significant for lap time, I imagine how quick that Ford GT will be next year 
Well. official numbers:
http://www.imsa.com/imsa101/car-classes
GTLMs are even heavier, but have 50HP more
Yeah, I think the Contis are really opened, ie, with poor compounds. 7s if too big even considering the other factors. |
GTE is GTLM. IMSA just calls it something different for some reason. GTE tires may nearly all be Michleins, but each team has their own compound and tire makeup. That info is not shared. Continental tires are terrible pieces of crap. The series mandates that they have certain wear and grip characteristics. The Pirellis and Michelins a team can buy off the shelf and put on another GT3 car would blow the doors off the pitiful offering from Continental. Conti tires are spec tires. They're all the same. The different classes may have some differences though. I'm sure the P tire is different than the GTD tire.
Also, GTD cars are not real GT3 cars. They start out as GT3 cars, but the effective aero and driving aids are stripped from the cars. The aero pieces are replaced by useless junk from Crawford which means the cars have less drag, but less grip, so they're faster in a straight line, but not nearly as capable in the corners.