[FIA GT] 2015 Blancpain Sprint Series

[J Jay]

I can't answer that first one other than making a big show of the Sunday, but the times listed on the schedule are correct for the UK. Basically the listed times are in BST (the Blancpain schedules are always given in the timezone of the host country first, then converted into GMT as a reference for others).

[urdragon]

Again, which is the point of Sprints in the same day? I'd rather no coverage of free practice and both races in different days, in terms of $$$. and in case of accident, the grid will be ever shorter on second race due to impossibility of any kind of reparations due to lack of time.

Me as an spectator would rather go and take a good sightseeing at the pits to se the cars close myself than need to see the both races the same day. Minimum that's what I prefered at the BCN track in GT open, allthough I wasn't paying for that .

[rich07]

Originally Posted by tux

Nightmare start for Buhk & HTP http://www.dailysportscar.com/2015/0...-for-buhk.html

Ouch. It has been confirmed that the car will take no further part in the meeting this weekend. Good to hear that Buhk is unharmed but not good at all for the championship.

Go BMW Team Brasil!!

[J Jay]

Heads up, Brands BSS qualifying race starts in about 4 minutes.

[J Jay]

Well theoretically all GT3 cars are made equal, but some teams (WRT) and drivers (Vanthoor) are more equal than others.

#1 WRT with the double, comfortably winning in each race.

[tux]

The Nissan is so fast in a straight line its almost farcical.

[MitchZ06]

Bit like the Porsche LMP1 eh?

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by MitchZ06

Bit like the Porsche LMP1 eh?

No because the Porsche has that speed on it's own merit, and it's not farcical.

[tux]

Sorry i should explain, i find it farcical because it only has that speed through BOP, its hard to overtake because even in the slipstream its pulling away from you.

Rob Bells comments on the Mclaren were very interesting, saying they need clear track in order to set fast times because its dependant on aero for corner speed. Even so Estres stint in the championship race was great to watch.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by tux

Rob Bells comments on the Mclaren were very interesting, saying they need clear track in order to set fast times because its dependant on aero for corner speed. Even so Estres stint in the championship race was great to watch.

Congratulations, you've built a DTM-car.

[GT3.14]

I remember a lot of drivers moaning about how much boost the GTR was running at Bathurst. Was Bathurst using the SRO BOP?

Here's a clip of the last few laps of Bathurst where the GTR just passes everyone and runs away with the race after the safety car comes in (6:45.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je72o7ywW4U

Don't get me wrong, I'm grew tired of WRT winning everything a long time ago and it's always nice to challengers arise but the BOP seems to give the GTR a significant power advantage.

[TF110]

Because its shaped like a brick, so they compensate. The frontal area of that thing is immense. Its still way over powered. I said that during the bathurst race as well. Im surprised it didnt walk the BES Monza race.

[AndrewCherry]

BOP, yeah, but hard to say what's "right" maybe? After all, it didn't win!

Have to say, having watched from around the track today, nobody was stopping Vanthoor/Frijns. That car cornered on rails, it looked so beautifully set up it looked a joy to drive. The Estre stint in the main race was full of guts and determination - but it was never going to be enough. Aside from which - even if the other teams had matched the 1 Audi for pace, they would have handed them the race in the pitstops. I'm not sure what was going on there, but it was noticeable, even without a stopwatch.

Not classic races today, but entertaining and interesting. Bonanomi and Schneider playing cat and mouse for half an hour was great to see - if only the camera hadn't cut away to the Audi pit crew on the last lap when Schneider made the pass! Bah!

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by AndrewCherry

Aside from which - even if the other teams had matched the 1 Audi for pace, they would have handed them the race in the pitstops. I'm not sure what was going on there, but it was noticeable, even without a stopwatch.

If you want to be kind then you'd just say that the WRT pit crew are much better drilled than the others teams on the grid, but even that ultimately boils down to the wads of €€€ that come with being a de-facto works outfit (because how else can you afford to run four full-season entries?)

[AndrewCherry]

Yeah that's a pretty fair point - Audi by proxy effectively for WRT in some senses. Still, I don't think Attempto will be too happy with how much they gave away.

Just hunted down the Blancpain coverage online now I'm home, hoping to see the end of the Schneider/Bonanomi battle. Nope, no sign of it there either. Oh well, if anyone knows where Bernd managed to hustle past, answers on a postcard...

Oh well, still a good day. A lot of entertainment from the MX-5 brigade (and indeed, a hell of a lot of MX-5s). I still have no clue why someone would spend 40k on a racing Mini though (car only!). God, what else could you race for that budget? Is a Mini the most fun you could imagine?

[scudd]

Originally Posted by GT3.14

I remember a lot of drivers moaning about how much boost the GTR was running at Bathurst. Was Bathurst using the SRO BOP?

Here's a clip of the last few laps of Bathurst where the GTR just passes everyone and runs away with the race after the safety car comes in (6:45.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je72o7ywW4U

Don't get me wrong, I'm grew tired of WRT winning everything a long time ago and it's always nice to challengers arise but the BOP seems to give the GTR a significant power advantage.

Unfortunately the 12hr event is now too big for locals to be scrutineers, who don't understand GT3 cars and regs. The Nissan shouldn't be able to run away like that at the end. Old mate hit the secret 'max attack' boost button and just drove away. Same thing has happened in Monza this year, Audi sand bagged while Grasser went full noise with the Huracan and smoked the opposition, and this is with a pro-am driver line up. Pro-am car should never beat a pro entered car if there's no issues. I hope Audi aren't given special BOP for Spa as has happened previously. Couldn't believe it when Reiter were given a drive thru penalty in the first race yesterday when they had 2nd place in the bag. Great pace from Albert taxis too.

[tbtstt]

Missed the Brands round last year, but managed to pop down yesterday. I thought the Z4 GT3 sounded good in videos, but now I've heard it in person I'm pretty much in love with it!

So glad this was on the GP Circuit, I thought DTM was wasted at Brands on the short circuit so I'm glad they haven't made the same mistake with Blancpain.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

Missed the Brands round last year, but managed to pop down yesterday. I thought the Z4 GT3 sounded good in videos, but now I've heard it in person I'm pretty much in love with it!

So glad this was on the GP Circuit, I thought DTM was wasted at Brands on the short circuit so I'm glad they haven't made the same mistake with Blancpain.

I managed to do both days and enjoyed it (not sure how far I walked over the 2 days but I managed a few laps of the GP circuit!)

The Z4 sounded good but the Lambo sounded better :-) the commentators were raving about the sound of the SLS but to me that always sounds like it's not running right! The grid could do with being a bit bigger and some more variety would be good (no Porsche or Aston Martin!) but on the whole good stuff. It was a shame to lose one of the Bentleys but that car was looking a bit spare after its meeting with the tyre wall (looked like a standard 'drop two wheels in the dirt at Paddock' type accident rather than a problem with the car). I was surprised they couldn't get it fixed though.

[fergus_r]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

(looked like a standard 'drop two wheels in the dirt at Paddock' type accident rather than a problem with the car).

It was exactly that, but not as a result of running wide, just a mid-corner oversteer which he corrected but at that point the car was too far left to avoid dipping the left-rear into the gravel.

[TF110]

Was the lead (#54) McLaren's 2nd driver much slower than their first?

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by BertMk2

The Z4 sounded good but the Lambo sounded better :-)

Fight, fight, fight...

The Lambo did sound good (though to be fair there wasn't really a bad sounding car in the field), but the Z4 was the winner for me. I also thought the Bentley sounded great, reminded me of the Astons at Le Mans last year.

I was a bit underwhelmed by the SLS; they had an SLS GT3 at Goodwood last year and I'm sure it was far throatier, it seemed almost muted at Brands. Or perhaps it was just that the rest of the field was that much louder!

Agreed with regards to the grid size (especially with the loss of one of the Bentley). Some more cars wouldn't go amiss, but I thought the field was very high quality, so I wouldn't want to see that sacrificed purely to get the numbers up.

[Starfish Primer]

The Bentley was amazing for me, I´ve also found the SLS less brute than in other years. What is disappointing is listening the 458 GT3 after listening the GTE.

[Martin Bull]

Not a classic race, but very enjoyable to watch nonetheless. Some entertaining drives, especially from Bernd Schneider. But the weather was lovely, and it's just so good to be able to see some fast driving close up with no fencing to peer through 'round the back'.

Only downside was the shock at finding Chater's have gone - first time in 45 years that I couldn't browse through some books at Brands.

[tbtstt]

Few snaps from Brands...







(My fave of the day!)

[IndyMeister]

The Russian version of Motorsport.com has published a sketch of the upcoming street course for the BSS event in Moscow in June. Picture and some additional info here.