[FIA GT Race] FIA GT Total 24hrs at Spa (Round 5) - Aug 3rd 2008 - Entrants, Testing and Race

[Sportscarguy08]

Originally Posted by tatounet

Media center is now in the new boat !

great....just great. Im gone for a year and all this new crap happens. Should be interesting to see how it feels this year. I always loved sitting on the "real" pitlane watching them "start" at Eau Rouge....and no view in the media centre? whats that about? the old one had HUGE windows. Well, atleast I was able to experience the old area.

[Aslak Vind]

Originally Posted by Sportscarguy08

I think everyone will be happy with the final pick ...I am.

To add on my disappointment, I have just learned from Jan, that Corvette racing factorydrivers Jan Magnussen, and the Ollies will not participate. Their entry was pulled by Luc Alphand.. Huge disappointment for all, not least for the drivers..

[Marcel ten Caat]

Originally Posted by Sportscarguy08

....and no view in the media centre? whats that about? the old one had HUGE windows. Well, atleast I was able to experience the old area.

Well, you have a view over the paddock and on the screens in the media centre.

All I hope for is that we won't get a repeat of 2007 when we had a power outage just prior to the start and it was only solved 30 minutes into the race.

[Sportscarguy08]

Originally Posted by Stranger

All I hope for is that we won't get a repeat of 2007 when we had a power outage just prior to the start and it was only solved 30 minutes into the race.

I didnt hear about that last year...odd. Are you covering the race for anyone, or just spectating?

[Marcel ten Caat]

Just for Planetlemans

[CarolK]

One thing we really enjoyed last year was being in the MC-12 garage during the race and pit stops - we just had to stay behind the red line. Will we be able to do this again this year or has the FIA screwed with that too?? anyone know???

Thanks,
Carol

[Sportscarguy08]

Originally Posted by CarolK

One thing we really enjoyed last year was being in the MC-12 garage during the race and pit stops - we just had to stay behind the red line. Will we be able to do this again this year or has the FIA screwed with that too?? anyone know???

Thanks,
Carol

Spa is pretty lenient since most of the track is run by the Belgium auto club and not the SRO. In 2006, I was in the pitlane with shorts on and no firesuit....not sure though in the new area.

[airbusA346]

Originally Posted by Sportscarguy08

Spa is pretty lenient since most of the track is run by the Belgium auto club and not the SRO. In 2006, I was in the pitlane with shorts on and no firesuit....not sure though in the new area.

I think the race overalls (firesuit) are meant to be worn if you go over the red line except if you are going to the pit wall.

Tom.

[minimangler]

PAH! Just walk into the edge of a garage, and don't get in anyone's way.

[Sportscarguy08]

Originally Posted by minimangler

PAH! Just walk into the edge of a garage, and don't get in anyone's way.

lol....thats what I always do at Le Mans and Spa.....and it works. If you look at my videos, its like that....just dont get in the way of the cars!

Some examples from my trip in 2006 Here

[supercarS7]

Why does Larbre have to run the S7 with the lower spoiler on the car? I seem to remember Zakspeed running the Spa 24 without it and obviously Oreca never ran with it except in French GT.

[Sportscarguy08]

Corvette Motorsport is offering a good package for those interested Here

A must have for a Vette fan going....

[Ayreon]

Is there a difference between the GT1 cars in the Le Mans Series and these ones? Fässler's time from the test day was quite a bit faster than the GT1 pole at the 1000km in May.

[fish88]

Originally Posted by Ayreon

Is there a difference between the GT1 cars in the Le Mans Series and these ones? Fässler's time from the test day was quite a bit faster than the GT1 pole at the 1000km in May.

Might be the conditions, The LMES was in may this is in July so wheater is a bit hotter I geuss.

But I think the GT1 competition in FIAGT is of a much higher level than LMES I think. In LMES you only got LAA en Modena fighting for the victory TBH and in FIAGT it is Jetalliance, Vitaphone, SRT, Phoenix and some reasonable other teams.

[tatounet]

for the vette fan's

[Subaru_WRX_STi]

Originally Posted by fish88

But I think the GT1 competition in FIAGT is of a much higher level than LMES I think. In LMES you only got LAA en Modena fighting for the victory TBH and in FIAGT it is Jetalliance, Vitaphone, SRT, Phoenix and some reasonable other teams.

I like both series, but its abvious that FIA GT has stronger GT1 and GT2 teams and competition than the LMS ! and shame that LAA and Felbermayer will miss at Spa

[dxk1]

Maxime Soulet and Christophe Pillon added to SRT line-up for Spa. See the article here:

http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=297796&FS

DK

[cmk]

Originally Posted by Subaru_WRX_STi

I like both series, but its abvious that FIA GT has stronger GT1 and GT2 teams and competition than the LMS ! and shame that LAA and Felbermayer will miss at Spa

In both classes there are definitely more strong cars, total, in FIA-GT. However, in GT2, the best teams in each series are reasonably equal in quality. Felbermayr, IMSA and Virgo compared favourably with BMS and AF Corse at Le Mans (and Flying Lizard and Risi in the ALMS), suggesting that there are several teams in each series at the quality 'limit'.

[Sportscarguy08]

I think the GT1 competition in FIAGT is of a much higher level than LMES I think. In LMES you only got LAA en Modena fighting for the victory TBH and in FIAGT it is Jetalliance, Vitaphone, SRT, Phoenix and some reasonable other teams.

I agree. Regardless I think the FIA GT has always been the premiere series compared to the LMS IMHO.

I have a question....is there any internet connections in the new garages? if not there, how about the pit lane suites above?

[dxk1]

Originally Posted by Subaru_WRX_STi

I like both series, but its abvious that FIA GT has stronger GT1 and GT2 teams and competition than the LMS ! and shame that LAA and Felbermayer will miss at Spa

I can't agree with this. Last year Jet Alliance, arguably the fastest car in FIA-GT last year and this year, entered the Spa LMS race and was pretty much non-competitive. They qualified 5th fastest behind Oreca, Racing Box, LAA, & Team Modena and finished 5th or so in GT1, quite a few laps behind the winners and most of the field and really never contended for the lead.

DK

[cmk]

I am sure that if they had fielded Wendlinger/Sharp/Lechner or, picking from this year's crop, Wendlinger/Sharp/Muller, they would have been much stronger. The lineup for the 2007 Spa 1000km was Wendlinger/Lichtner-Hoyer/Gruber. L-H was much weaker in the car then than he showed he is at Oschersleben, and that was a standout drive from him even this year. Gruber never had driven (or at least raced) the Aston and is generally nowhere anyway. Given how little time Wendlinger doubtless got in the car while the others got up to speed, is it any wonder they were nowhere against the cars they lined up against (2 all-pro and a 2-pro lineup there, plus Racing Box)?

[supercarS7]

Originally Posted by dxk1

I can't agree with this. Last year Jet Alliance, arguably the fastest car in FIA-GT last year and this year, entered the Spa LMS race and was pretty much non-competitive. They qualified 5th fastest behind Oreca, Racing Box, LAA, & Team Modena and finished 5th or so in GT1, quite a few laps behind the winners and most of the field and really never contended for the lead.
DK

Don't GT1 cars running in ACO races run a different configuration than they do in FIA GT? What is the difference and what configuration were they running?

[Marcel ten Caat]

Originally Posted by Sportscarguy08

I have a question....is there any internet connections in the new garages? if not there, how about the pit lane suites above?

The media centre which is above the pit lane has internet access

[dxk1]

Originally Posted by cmk

I am sure that if they had fielded Wendlinger/Sharp/Lechner or, picking from this year's crop, Wendlinger/Sharp/Muller, they would have been much stronger. The lineup for the 2007 Spa 1000km was Wendlinger/Lichtner-Hoyer/Gruber. L-H was much weaker in the car then than he showed he is at Oschersleben, and that was a standout drive from him even this year. Gruber never had driven (or at least raced) the Aston and is generally nowhere anyway. Given how little time Wendlinger doubtless got in the car while the others got up to speed, is it any wonder they were nowhere against the cars they lined up against (2 all-pro and a 2-pro lineup there, plus Racing Box)?

Certainly Gruber is an unknown and I can't say I know anything about him. While Lichner-Hoyer (2nd at Oschersleben) may not be one of the top tier GT1 pilots he has proven to be quite adequate and is solid. Wendlinger, on the other hand, is simply one of the best GT1 pilots there ever was. I don't know how much each driver was in the car so it's hard to make supositions, but one would have expected a better result if Jet Alliance was that much better than the LMS GT1s as has been stated.

DK

[airbusA346]

What I don't get is why aren't Jetalliance running two cars at Spa?

They could have their usually line ups in 33 and 36 and bring in Robert Lechner and some other drivers and then they would have a better chance of more points.

Also I know they get the weight taken off the cars so they are all running with no ballast, so does the ballast from Oschersleben get put back into the cars for Bucharest? And it doesn't sound like some people are happy about only scoring points in the second race at Bucharest (e.g. Bartels), because it means they will be risking the cars and not scoring any points, which seems a bit daft to me. (A bit Off-topic towards the end I know. )

Tom.