GT World Challenge Europe Season 2022

[W2Motorsport]

Originally Posted by gert

Unfavourable BOP?

If I were a team owner independent from a manufacturer, I wouldn't want to run a Porsche (or a Bentley or a Lamborghini), but I'd run a Mercedes or an Audi.
If I were a team owner of a Porsche-affiliated team, I wouldn't run my car in GT World Challenge but choose another series instead.

Porsche was runner up in ADAC GT Masters last year just 4 points out with four race wins and won the championship the previous year if I'm not mistaken, GT Masters uses SRO BOP, so the exact same BOP to GTWC.

Last season in GTWC Europe Endurance Porsche won two rounds overall (Monza/Paul Ricard).

Last season in GTWC America Lambo won the championship and nearly every round of the championship. They also won the Nurburgring round of GTWC Europe Endurance. They also won two races in GT Masters.

I don't understand the unfavorable BOP argument. Is unfavorable BOP to Porsche anything that isn't giving them an advantage of some kind? We are only a few years removed from Porsche winning pretty much everything including the Spa 24h two years in a row all under SRO BOP.

I believe the real answer is related to the fact that Porsche is committed to a lot of different places and has never really prioritized SRO over things like IMSA, WEC, and GT Masters, NLS and now even the DTM. GPX is focused on IGTC this year as well which does not help. Even if they have the spare capacity for factory drivers they need a top shelf team that wants to run a pro lineup as opposed to a lucrative customer focused Pro/AM or Gold Cup lineup.

[gert]

Unfavourable BoP is not black-white.

The cars are meant to be equally as fast over a lap, and that seems to work out rather OK.

However, there are many more variables:
* every track has different specifics. Maybe the tracks in ADAC and IMSA are better suited for Porsche than those used in GTWC?
* Car specifics change over a stint length. BoP can also have an influence on how gently (or not!) a car can be for its tires, etc ...

That's not specific for Porsche but for every other brand as well.


I remember FFF Racing Team being unhappy with how the car handling changed over the stint length due to the BoP specifics for Lamborhghini.

[chunterer]

I guess there will be at least one other pro Porsche at Ricard and Spa?

[Racing Harz]

There is a Pro Porsche the full season. Dinamic Motorsport with Bachler, Ledogar and Cairoli.

[GregoryDG]

Originally Posted by chunterer

I guess there will be at least one other pro Porsche at Ricard and Spa?

KCMG (1 or 2), GPX (1 or 2) and EMA (with Manthey, 1 car) are already confirmed in the Pro category. Expect at least 6 or 7 Porsches in Pro.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by GregoryDG

KCMG (1 or 2), GPX (1 or 2) and EMA (with Manthey, 1 car) are already confirmed in the Pro category. Expect at least 6 or 7 Porsches in Pro.

Yes that would be much more like it. Will we see anymore in the other events though?

[GT6]

Well it was a good weekend at brands but the racing was not that great, little overtaking and the support races were more exciting TBH. The amount of rossi fans every where was unbelievable

[Racing Harz]

Originally Posted by GT6

but the racing was not that great, little overtaking

Narrow track and worldclass drivers without many errors. So not much room for overtaking. Or you send it into the woods like 2021.

[Anyopenroad]

There has never been much overtaking at Brands. The cars are too big, too evenly matched and too well-driven. At least this year wasn’t marred by long safety car periods and/or red-flagged practice, so there was plenty of opportunity to see awesome cars hurtling round a gorgeous track.

I enjoyed both days a lot. Having GT Cup as a support is terrific. I’d happily have made the trip for them alone.

[Truckosaurus]

Indeed. Had a good weekend at BH too. Good to see fellow Tenthers as well.

The one downside of the event was needing to keep the timetable in sync with the planned tv schedule for GTWCE so any delays on the undercard led to sessions being ended, especially as they'd packed the schedule pretty tightly.

Hopefully some of the bike fans who came to see Rossi will have enjoyed the day enough to come back to watch other GT races in future.

[Badlands99]

Have to agree ....... rather good weekend overall.
Great to see Brands packed! It's been a while .......
Not being into bike racing, I hadn't really understood the following that VR has ...... Seems like a all round good guy and rather good in the car to - was three tenths off Vervich in the second race which, considering he hadn't ever been to Brands before was a pretty good effort.
As mentioned, Brands has always been a tough track to overtake on but there were a few in the second race that managed it.
Watched the second race from the exit of Druids and have to say Marciello was in a completely different class ....... his positioning of the car going down the hill was so precise for lap after lap and he was absolutely 'on it' every lap - fully deserved the victory.
Great to see these cars at close quarters rather than miles away behind so much fencing.
All in all, had a good couple of days with a great atmosphere

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by Truckosaurus

The one downside of the event was needing to keep the timetable in sync with the planned tv schedule for GTWCE so any delays on the undercard led to sessions being ended, especially as they'd packed the schedule pretty tightly.

CSCC got burned by this last year. Of course one solution is not to crash, which thankfully was the choice made by the vast majority of drivers . That said, it’s a good thing Saturday was bright and dry because there wasn’t a minute of wiggle room in the schedule.

Personally I would have left the Caterhams out and given GT Cup their usual session lengths, but that’s just my preferences speaking!

[PeterY]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

Personally I would have left the Caterhams out and given GT Cup their usual session lengths, but that’s just my preferences speaking!

Caterhams were the only proper racing over the weekend. The rest was mostly a parade of rich guys with flash cars. There wasn't one overtake in 30 minutes of the Gt world challenge. The same can not be said of the Caterhams

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by PeterY

Caterhams were the only proper racing over the weekend. The rest was mostly a parade of rich guys with flash cars. There wasn't one overtake in 30 minutes of the Gt world challenge. The same can not be said of the Caterhams

Poking a bear here, but I never got why they picked to keep Brands instead of Silverstone for the UK round. Im sure it was financially based, but Silverstone at least allowed these kind of cars to race properly.

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by PeterY

Caterhams were the only proper racing over the weekend. The rest was mostly a parade of rich guys with flash cars. There wasn't one overtake in 30 minutes of the Gt world challenge. The same can not be said of the Caterhams

You, me and everyone else knew perfectly well beforehand that would be the case. If you think of that awesome collection of GT machinery as ‘rich guys with flash cars’ then clearly this particular meeting wasn’t for you, just as one-make races are not for me. That’s why I don’t go to meetings full of one-make races, nor come to the forum whining about them afterwards.

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

Poking a bear here, but I never got why they picked to keep Brands instead of Silverstone for the UK round. Im sure it was financially based, but Silverstone at least allowed these kind of cars to race properly.

That’s easy enough. Silverstone is an ugly, soulless dump which charges too much. Brands Hatch is pretty, the drivers love it and is clearly much more reasonably priced to rent.

[Badlands99]

Got it in one! As a spectator/photographer, Brands is far superior, despite the changes to the GP loop over the last couple of years, there are still plenty of places where you can get very close to the action. Even though I have some professional long telephoto lenses, Silverstone is very challenging to come away with anything other than long distance shots and ultimately probably the worst spectator circuit in the UK for anything other than F1 as they really don't care about any other sort of racing - why do you think that WEC found other places to race ........

Whilst I get that the races for the Caterhams were more 'entertaining' from a racing point of view, I find them pretty boring really - did we actually need four races over the weekend for cars all looking the same? The Porsche races I didn't bother with but the GT Cup was okay with some pretty good racing.

As mentioned, we all knew pretty much what we were going to get before we signed up, so can't really complain when that is exactly what happens ....... however, I went with my good lady for both days and she was completely blown away and thoroughly entertained by just how quick the GT3 cars were and how totally committed the drivers were.

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

You, me and everyone else knew perfectly well beforehand that would be the case. If you think of that awesome collection of GT machinery as ‘rich guys with flash cars’ then clearly this particular meeting wasn’t for you, just as one-make races are not for me. That’s why I don’t go to meetings full of one-make races, nor come to the forum whining about them afterwards.



That’s easy enough. Silverstone is an ugly, soulless dump which charges too much. Brands Hatch is pretty, the drivers love it and is clearly much more reasonably priced to rent.

Totally agree Silverstone is wholly unattractive, but it does at least allow for actual racing.

Maybe the ideal middle ground is a combination of Silverstone's raceability, and Brands Hatch's charm.

Actually, that is kind of just describing Donington. That would be quite a solid round of Sprint Cup actually. It supports British GT and GT Cup grids very comfortably.

[GregUK]

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

Actually, that is kind of just describing Donington. That would be quite a solid round of Sprint Cup actually. It supports British GT and GT Cup grids very comfortably.

A nice idea.

[stuart thompson]

Tbf overtaking is a bonus, but I’m sure most of us go for the sheer exhilaration of the GT3’s tearing round BH. In a way some sections remind me of being out on the Nordschleife during the N24 on a smaller scale but it’s unrivalled as to how close you can get to the cars.

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by stuart thompson

Tbf overtaking is a bonus, but I’m sure most of us go for the sheer exhilaration of the GT3’s tearing round BH. In a way some sections remind me of being out on the Nordschleife during the N24 on a smaller scale but it’s unrivalled as to how close you can get to the cars.

Don't get me wrong, I love spectating at Brands Hatch, but the show for TV is lacklustre, other than being able to enjoy the sight of those cars moving around with the elevation changes

[Racing Harz]

Maximilian Götz replaces Gounon in Magny Cours.
https://gt-place.com/2022/05/05/gt-w...-jules-gounon/

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

Don't get me wrong, I love spectating at Brands Hatch, but the show for TV is lacklustre, other than being able to enjoy the sight of those cars moving around with the elevation changes

See you all again this time next year for the exact same chat!

[tbtstt]

Bit late to the chat, but I had a good day (Sunday) at Brands. Races weren't as dramatic as last year, but still enjoyable. Caterham 420 race in the wet was great to watch: some very tentative (and occasionally lairy!) exits from Druids.

Seeing the comments about Silverstone versus Brands on the previous page, perhaps the racing would be better at Silverstone but, as a spectator, I can't stand the place. Brands has lost some of its appeal with the fencing on the GP loop, but you are still pretty close to the cars when they are really shifting.

Had been told a couple of weeks ago that a lot of tickets had been sold, but I was surprised just how many Rossi fans were there. I didn't move around during the races as I have in previous years, as most good spots were occupied. That was disappointing for photos, but can't really critique the Championship for managing to bring a crowd in.

[chunterer]

I noticed on some youtube footage that the majority of SRO GT3 guys were pushing beyond the kerbs out of Paddock. Lot of sand kicked up and high risk!

[GregUK]

Originally Posted by tbtstt

Had been told a couple of weeks ago that a lot of tickets had been sold, but I was surprised just how many Rossi fans were there. I didn't move around during the races as I have in previous years, as most good spots were occupied. That was disappointing for photos, but can't really critique the Championship for managing to bring a crowd in.

Aside from Touring cars, I cannot remember the last time I saw the South Bank full of cars. It certainly wasn't during this century!

The sad reality is that it is bike racing and track days that keeps circuits alive.