2017 Blancpain GT Series

[Accident]

"The uploader has not made this video available in your country."

I forgot about this geoblocking ****...

[gert]

Frankly, I have been less than impressed with the steward decisions in Blancpain, and this is another example.

GRT #19 gets a 1 second penalty.
Bentley #8 also cuts the chicane and gets no penalty.
One of #84, #8 or #5 runs into the back of the #19 (hence the flapping rear bodywork) but that is allowed.

I agree with Andrea Caldarelli, this is bullshit.

[Akrapovic]

The Lamborghini penalty I'm not 100% sure on, as it was clearly meant to cost it the victory. But when it skipped the chicane it wasn't defending against the Mercedes that inherited the win. I understand why they wanted to penalise it, but it doesn't work work because that isn't who it was defending against.

The #8 Bentley shouldn't have been penalised. The only reason it skipped the chicane was because the Lambo blocked so aggressively (but legally) and put both cars in a position where they were never going to be able to slow down enough. The Bentley lost 2 positions from it too, whilst the Lambo kept the lead. So I don't see why the Bentley should be penalised, no matter what they did to the Lambo.

It was the Audi who nibbled the bodywork of the Lambo. Don't think we seen it on screen, but it happened whilst the Audi was second. Also not overly impressed with Fasslers comments regarding blocking. He said the Lambo blocked too aggressively (which suggests he was the one who damaged the back of the Lambo), but on the last lap he ran the Bentley off the road twice. Is there anything more aggressive than running a car off the road?

Dramatic and fun finish, but a bit odd.

GT4 support race about to begin -

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

[gert]

I am not sure who ran into the Lambo. I also suspected it was Fassler. Anyhow, the one who did was allowed to do so by the stewards.

Bauman got penalised for running in the back of Frijns who then ran into the back of Bell.
Someone pushed Bortolotti around - also on the first lap - but that seems to be OK.

You could argue that both the Lamo and the Bentley lost time - instead of gaining time - by cutting that part of the chicane. The Bentley lost a position (or two, can't remember) because it had cars following.
Still, they committed the same crime and should receive the same penalty IMO.
Not that it would have mattered much for the result of the Bentley, but it at least have been consistent.

Consistency is what I have missed in the decision making of Blancpain this year.


I'm going to give the GT4 race a miss. I have some work to do and I would like to watch the WEC race later today.
(And the Blancpain sprint and F1 and Indycar tomorrow)

[gert]

This is the official steward decision report.

I am not sure which comes first, but I guess the yellow pages at the end of the PDF file.

There it says (on p5 and p6) for car 8 and car 19 respectively: cut chicane, without advantage.

p2 mentions: car 19 and 8 cut the chicane. car 19 gain advantage.
p1 gives hands out the penalty, and mentions the wrong driver name (Caldarelli instead of Perez Companc)


Hard to be impressed by all that.
(And then I haven't even complained that they can't spell the word chicane)

[Akrapovic]

Well 19 did get an advantage. They kept the lead by cutting the chicane. The 8 didn't get an advantage - it lost 2 positions. So no chance the Bentley should be penalised, they lost out. The Lambo only kept the lead because of the aggressive block, which meant they cut the chicane.

The problem I have with it is the penalty puts the Lambo behind the Mercedes. But the Mercedes wasn't the one trying to pass it.

[gert]

I'm not really sure 19 gained an advantage. It kept a position it already had. Did it gain vs 5 and 84? I think both got closer after the chicane then they were before.

I don't know it the gap between 19 and 8 grew or stayed the same.

If it stayed the same, then what did 19 gain which it did not already have?

Cutting chicanes and how to 'correct' that is dealt with rather inconsistently. Not only in Blancpain but in most forms of Motorsport. Sometimes it is deemed enough to make sure the gap between the offender and the following car is kept the same (Monza), sometimes it is not.

Re: Bentley punishment. If the yellow papers are the original reports (I guess so), then both are found guilty of the same crime (cutting the chicane without advantage).
One gets punished, the other not.
That reports makes no mention of advantage gained, quite the contrary, it explicitly mentioned: without advantage. Somehow that gets changed to 'with advantage' further in the chain.

Messy.
Or bullshit.

Not how it should be, anyway...

[Akrapovic]

It kept a position it already had. - that is usually enough for a penalty. But usually they just move it behind the car it 'kept' behind. They couldn't do that because the Bentley lost 2 spots.

Gap between the 19 and 8 certainly grew. The 8 went from on its bumper to two cars behind it, so that gap certainly went up. There's absolutely no doubt that the Bentley lost out and gained no advantage, as it lost two positions. It's debatable for the Lambo. The 1 second penalty just feels...convenient.

Tomorrow should be interesting. Worried the Mercedes will drive off into the distance now. It was rapid.

[rich07]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h6N1eix7P8

Anyone who has an hour to kill, watch the Ring qualifying race. Great battle for the lead. Very odd stewards call right at the end mind you.

Edit: Ok after seeing the replay I guess I can see where the penalty came from for the Lambo.

Cheers. Decided to watch GT Masters as they both overlapped

[Akrapovic]

More absolutely terrible stewarding. At least they're consistently crap.

[bentley speed 8]

Yes, it's hilarious. At this rate, nobody will try to overtake during the race itself. Just do the qualifying session and award points for that.

[Akrapovic]

Bentley was penalised for not giving room to the Lamborghini, but the Lambo only had a bumper alongside the Bentley. The corner was completely lost by that point. What the #5 Audi did yesterday was worse, as it was going offline to force cars into the grass, but that got no penalty.

The #5 Audi had a very obvious pit infringement, which normally would have been called instantly. Instead it took almost 20 minutes to penalise the car. This allowed the Audi to build a bigger gap before it took it's penalty, so it wouldn't get stuck in traffic.

The Lamborghini call yesterday took ages to call. The Bentley was penalised almost instantly. The Audi took almost a third of the race to call, for the most obvious problem of all. In general, poor stewarding. Just bad all weekend.

[gert]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

In general, poor stewarding. Just bad all weekend.

I just watched the race an hour ago. I have to agree: Sunday's stewarding was even worse than Saturday's. I never thought that to be possible.
Let's hope they do a better job at the Endurance Cup finale.

[TF110]

Is there a way to watch outside europe? The youtube video is geoblocked.

edit- found it

[Jameson]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

More absolutely terrible stewarding. At least they're consistently crap.

Blancpain GT Series is becoming more and more popular and it's undoubtedly very competitive. I have a feeling that the organizers/stewards are unable to follow. Too many messy situations throughout the season. That'll turn against them sooner or later.

[Miguel]

The Lambo and Bentley penalties were insane, in my opinion. Especially the Lambo penalty rubbed me the wrong way as it's the only ****ing gravel trap left in Europe and both cars actually were slowed down when they plowed through it. Why add another second? At Paul Ricard and Eau Rouge everything goes, after all, so why not let this one slip as well.

Anyway, enough ranting, because I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and the racing. Here's my interview with Robin Frijns, for your reading pleasure: http://www.gt-report.com/2017/09/21/...ke-winkelhock/

[Racing Harz]

My Pictures from the Nürburgring:
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Motorspo...35429973156454

[J Jay]

Are we ready for three more hours of horrific officiating? ~15 minutes until the season finale kicks off at Barcelona. The track is still wet and more rain is likely.

Good to see PWC officials on the grid as well.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Are we ready for three more hours of horrific officiating? ~15 minutes until the season finale kicks off at Barcelona. The track is still wet and more rain is likely.

Good to see PWC officials on the grid as well.

Are you suggesting these are related?

Stream is up on GT World - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omucWBEVcPs

Not the best circuit to finish the season on, so hopefully the rain does come. Looks very windy!

[bentley speed 8]

Well, qualifying was quite exciting with the drying track... shame for that red flag in Q3

[Akrapovic]

Team orders isn't a thing at WRT, that's for sure.

[J Jay]

The snatch vehicle needs snatching.

Somehow that's entirely fitting for Blancpain this year.

[Akrapovic]

Marshals have gotten the recovery pickup truck stuck in the gravel. Taking 15 minutes to recover each car so far...

[Akrapovic]

Why are we under FCY but with a Safety Car? This is going to go very badly wrong when they go green if that SC is still on track.

Edit: Switches to a safety car after everything is recovered. Why?

[gert]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Edit: Switches to a safety car after everything is recovered. Why?

I don't get that either. But it is consistent with how they did that at previous rounds.

Clean up the mess under FCY, then go SC anyway.