Spa 24 hours race week thread

[urdragon]

Originally Posted by gert

Doesn't JRM build the cars?

Hehehe, the car works their Pros not !

[Eryk03]

Originally Posted by gert

For an Audi to win they needed both #3 and #4 BMWs, the #84 Mercedes, the #150 Porsche to have serious trouble, and then it would have been close with the #44 Ferrari, the #26 BMW and the #75 and #911 Porsche.

All BMWs are actually out so no problem at all, Ferraris out, again no problem,the problem would be Porsche which lost only 1 lap I think and Mercedes that did not have any "adventures". Doesn't it?

[jsTrecu]

Yeah, I don't see how Audi could've won. In the Live Timing the top4 cars 3, 4, 150, and 84 were constantly faster, so even with both BMWs out and other DNFs I think a podium was the maximum today.

[Eryk03]

Finish! What a race.

[Beryl]

Congrats to HTP!
Bernd Schneider three 24 hour wins (and the Bathurst 12 hour too) in one year.

Originally Posted by Simmi

Anyone think Max Buhk could be the new Fred Makowiecki?

Will be very interested to see what programmes he has next year.

He is indeed very quick. I hope he now gets the recognition and respect he deserves, on this forum and in the sports car media.

[Starfish Primer]

Originally Posted by Mitchi_S

Does anybody know if one of the DHL-Ferraris for the disabled driver still has its pedals or is it completely controlled via the steering wheel with brakes and accelerator? Wonders me how they do this ... Any article/infos on that?

Albert Llovera is an Andorran rally driver. He is paraplegic but with an special installation he has been able even to run world rally championship events.

In this video at 1:35 explains how the system works. Is in Spanish, sorry I couldn´t find any in English.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is_iZoeCr5Y

Maybe this video gives you an idea on how to control the brakes and accelerator using the steering wheel.

[gert]

Originally Posted by Eryk03

All BMWs are actually out so no problem at all, Ferraris out, again no problem,the problem would be Porsche which lost only 1 lap I think and Mercedes that did not have any "adventures". Doesn't it?

True, but that is exactly what I am saying. If Audi can ONLY win if all other favorites encounter problems and has no change on pace then there's something wrong.

It's not just a single car that missed its setup or is uncompetitive for some reason - like for example the #33 Porsche - it is ALL cars from a manufacturer that have no chance of winning on pace.

That means something is wrong with the BoP.

Mind you, I'm not an Audi fan, but I would have liked for them to be involved in the fight on a regular basis. And if they win in the end because they are more reliable, then so be it.

[Mitchi_S]

Three 24h-races for Bernd this year, this, Nürburgring and? Did I miss or forgot something?

@ Starfish Primer Thank you very much!

[The Badger]

Nice win for AMG ..... hopefully tempt their interest a little more , perhaps .

[jsTrecu]

Great stuff, the first hours were very intense with good battles and clean, nice racing.
A lot of reability issues tho, but still enjoyable.

This has become one of my top5 racing events of the year, if the coverage was more extense it would be fantastic.



Cograts to all the finishers

[airbusA346]

Well done to HTP, would have prefered Manthey though.

[gert]

Originally Posted by Mitchi_S

Three 24h-races for Bernd this year, this, Nürburgring and?

Dubai?

Maybe Bathurst 12 hours as well?

[airbusA346]

Apparently Manthey weren't running on 6 cylinder all the time towards the end of the race.

I wonder if they will enter their local race at the Nurburgring.

[helgi]

Superb work by Spanish Baporo team who prepared 4 cars for SMP as all of them saw a checkered flag. Not a bad result for a race with more than 50% retirement rate. But who's responsible for tactics? Some strange moves were there, not mentioning that double penalty.
All in all, as Peter the Great said, thanks to our teachers (those who defeat us at some stage) - we'll return in better shape next time.

[gert]

Originally Posted by airbusA346

Apparently Manthey weren't running on 6 cylinder all the time towards the end of the race.

I wonder if they will enter their local race at the Nurburgring.

Is that on the GP circuit or the full track?

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by gert

Is that on the GP circuit or the full track?

BES race will be 1000km on the GP track.

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by Simmi

The #84 Merc has looked superb since they popped up. I think they could lead early on but 24 hours is 24 hours.

Indeed 24 hours is 24 hours.

[airbusA346]

Good planning by Pilet to use sunglasses on the podium.

[Mitchi_S]

Originally Posted by gert

Dubai?

Maybe Bathurst 12 hours as well?

Ah, Dubai. Missed that one out.

[jo1998sh]

fantastic and entertaining race throughout

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by helgi

Superb work by Spanish Baporo team who prepared 4 cars for SMP as all of them saw a checkered flag. Not a bad result for a race with more than 50% retirement rate. But who's responsible for tactics? Some strange moves were there, not mentioning that double penalty.
All in all, as Peter the Great said, thanks to our teachers (those who defeat us at some stage) - we'll return in better shape next time.

Those SMP cars are fast but the people managing the race are still inexperienced. Some dumb mistakes by the team but they are learning.

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by gert

True, but that is exactly what I am saying. If Audi can ONLY win if all other favorites encounter problems and has no change on pace then there's something wrong.

It's not just a single car that missed its setup or is uncompetitive for some reason - like for example the #33 Porsche - it is ALL cars from a manufacturer that have no chance of winning on pace.

That means something is wrong with the BoP.

Mind you, I'm not an Audi fan, but I would have liked for them to be involved in the fight on a regular basis. And if they win in the end because they are more reliable, then so be it.

The Audi's have been dominating for 2-3 years now. It's time that they get the hammer from BOP. I'm not saying that is fair, but that is what you get when everything is based off of BOP. Also, Audi has decreased its factory presence this year compared to previous years, so that may have affected their speed as well.

[Creep89]

They dominated because of the factory support and competitors failing like Marc VDS last year. Otherwise they wouldn't have finished with a 1-2. But this year they were completely out of pace, it's not fair. I think Ratel didn't want Audi to win three times in a row. Audi is down over 1.3sec compared to the fastest lap of the Mercedes. This is a massive joke.

Fastest laps of the race:
Mercedes: 2:21.861
Porsche: 2:21.972
Nissan: 2:22.174
Ferrari: 2:22.262
Aston Martin: 2:22.551
BMW: 2:22.863
Audi: 2:23.141

Even a Nissan goes faster than Audi. BoP out of control.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by airbusA346

Apparently Manthey weren't running on 6 cylinder all the time towards the end of the race.

I wonder if they will enter their local race at the Nurburgring.

Im sure they will , given its their 50th anniversary ..... run again by Manthey .

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by Creep89

They dominated because of the factory support and competitors failing like Marc VDS last year. Otherwise they wouldn't have finished with a 1-2. But this year they were completely out of pace, it's not fair. I think Ratel didn't want Audi to win three times in a row. Audi is down over 1.3sec compared to the fastest lap of the Mercedes. This is a massive joke.

Even a Nissan goes faster than Audi. BoP out of control.

Welcome to GT3 BOP. This is how it's been since the beginning of GT3 in 2006.