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Old 24 Jun 2017, 21:32 (Ref:3746531)   #301
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tux should be qualifying in the top 3 on the gridtux should be qualifying in the top 3 on the gridtux should be qualifying in the top 3 on the grid
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Originally Posted by Akrapovic View Post
Nissan looks horrible to drive. All over the place. Lots of power, no grip.
I just think the driver is very poor, he can't keep it on the track 🤓🤓🤓🤓🤓😏
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Old 24 Jun 2017, 21:32 (Ref:3746532)   #302
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Another front runner with problems (#4)

What do we need to win in Spa? An Audi? A Porsche? An Aston Martin maybe?
Audis have been pretty solid and they'll suit spa better than this. Having seen this, my money is on an Audi on reliability. And I think they'll be closer come Spa, Paul Ricard is never Audi friendly.
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Old 24 Jun 2017, 21:34 (Ref:3746533)   #303
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I don't think Buncombe is the problem.
The Nissan was a rocket on the straights but was never great in the corners all race long.
It seems to get worse at the end of the stints.

Did they take tires at their last stop?
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Old 24 Jun 2017, 21:35 (Ref:3746534)   #304
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Audis have been pretty solid and they'll suit spa better than this. Having seen this, my money is on an Audi on reliability. And I think they'll be closer come Spa, Paul Ricard is never Audi friendly.
True and with all those (semi-)factory Audi's it would be unwise to bet against them.

Although I think WRT is suffering a bit from running too many cars.
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Old 24 Jun 2017, 21:35 (Ref:3746535)   #305
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I hate this track and usually struggle through this race- like others have said- even in the 3 hour format used previously. But I enjoyed the daylight running before it turned to typical Paul Ricard snoozefest when the sun set.

I'm finding all these issues interesting, though. Very unusual to see on GT3 cars.
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Old 24 Jun 2017, 21:39 (Ref:3746536)   #306
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Would all those issues be related to the heat?
So a bit like Le Mans last week?

I have no clue how this related to the usual temperatures at Paul Ricard.
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Old 24 Jun 2017, 21:51 (Ref:3746537)   #307
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Mercedes last failure was gearbox and the Bentley was fuel pickup.

Le Mans was actually the lowest ever attrition rate since the race begun. It was just the P1s that had issues. Every other class was better than ever. These machines should be no worse than GTE cars really.
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Old 24 Jun 2017, 21:56 (Ref:3746538)   #308
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Le Mans was actually the lowest ever attrition rate since the race begun.
Yeah, I was surprised to hear that.

My reference to Le Mans was mainly the heat. It was (I think) hotter than normal last week
(... As it was over here, for the last 10 days or so - luckily it was a lot cooler today.)
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Old 26 Jun 2017, 12:17 (Ref:3746943)   #309
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bentley speed 8 should be qualifying in the top 10 on the gridbentley speed 8 should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
Looks like I'm in the minority and actually enjoyed the race... the track has issues, but the race didn't get boring except maybe the very end.
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Old 26 Jun 2017, 16:54 (Ref:3747020)   #310
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Would have to agree with Bentley speed 8...........

Rather enjoyed the race overall. Close, reasonably contact free racing throughout, with some pretty good battles. Thought the Nissan flying past everybody on the straight and then struggling around the twisty bits was what this type of racing is all about - different types of car adapting (or not) to the track and conditions in different ways. BOP also pretty spot on as all the manufacturers had something to be happy with.
1 sec covering the top 20 cars in practice was pretty close and thought that there seemed to be something happening all the time to keep the interest up.
Just wish that they could think of doing something different with the fixed pit stop times and the max length of stints - just need something to spice up the strategy and allow the teams just a tad more freedom to take some chances.
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Old 26 Jun 2017, 16:58 (Ref:3747021)   #311
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I enjoyed it. It wasn't wheel to wheel racing but the reliability made it very interesting.

I wrote a race report if anyone wants to critique it. First one I've ever done.

-------

The Paul Ricard 1000km has quickly become the traditional Blancpain GT Series warm-up event for the Total 24 Hours of Spa, allowing the teams to experiment with strategy and prepare for the longest event of the year. This year M-Sport took their first endurance win since 2014 with the #8 Bentley taking the victory ahead of the #72 SMP Ferrari in second and the #1 WRT Audi third.

A series of early race safety car interventions split the field into 3 different strategy groups, resulting in 5 different manufacturers leading the race and looking like potential winners.

The #50 AF Corse Ferrari was first to blink, pitting under the first safety car period after an early race spin. The majority of the field, including the eventual winning #8 Bentley, pitted during the second safety car period, whilst Black Falcon Mercedes and ROWE Racing BMWs chose to see out the maximum stint times and pitted under green.

Reliability became a surprising concern for the normally bulletproof GT3 cars. Lamborghini were the first to hit issues, with 2 spectacular engine failures for the Huracans. Bentley, BMW, Jaguar and Mercedes lost front runners throughout the race, giving all manufacturers reason for concern with only a month until the 24 Hours of Spa.

Entering the second half of the race, overall strategies played out and it gradually became clear which race engineers made the right calls. The #8 Bentley and #84 HTP Mercedes, who stopped in the second safety car period, looked to have gotten the strategy correct. The #50 Ferrari was in close proximity, but requiring an extra stop, while the #4 Black Falcon Mercedes and #99 BMW were out of sync.

Shortly after half way the #99 BMW was wheeled into the garage, ending BMWs bid for the win. An hour later, the #84 HTP Mercedes campaign ended as the car ground to a halt at the start of the Mistral*Straight. With an hour to go, the #50 Ferrari lost 2 laps with a crippled run back to the pits taking it out of contention for a podium position. This was closely followed by the #4 HTP free-wheeling into the pit lane with half an hour remaining, leaving the #8 Bentley unchallenged for the overall victory.

The #72 SMP sponsored AF Corse Ferrari took second, giving Viktor Shaytar his first overall podium in the Blancpain GT Series. The reliability woes were a gift for the struggling Audis, with Rene Rast managing to recover the #1 WRT Audi R8 to the final step of the podium.

In Pro-Am Cup, the #77 Barwell Lamborghini came home the winner, with #97 TF Sport Aston Martin in second place. It wasn’t a clear run for Road to Le Mans class winning Aston Martin, with amateur driver Salih Yoluc involved in an altercation with the #76 ISR Audi of Jamie Green, resulting in a 30 second penalty for the Audi driver.

The #888 Kessel Racing Ferrari won the Am Cup, despite the #36 Walkenhorst BMW crossing the line first. The BMW was given a 30 second time penalty post-race for a drive time violation, costing the Walkenhorst team the victory.

The most surprising theme of this event was reliability, with all manufacturers (with the exception of Audi) suffering from reliability problems resulting in retirements. Cars which had previously run trouble-free, such as the Mercedes AMG, suffered race ending failures which are unexpected for such high profile teams. Reliability and endurance testing will be top of team’s priorities at the Spa test day.* For overall winners M-Sport, they will be happy to have gotten the strategy correct after questionable calls cost the team multiple race victories in 2016.

Next up is the classic 24 Hours of Spa, 29-30th of July.
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Old 4 Jul 2017, 11:36 (Ref:3748877)   #312
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66 Cars in Spa.
http://www.24hoursofspa.com/news/977...4-hours-of-spa
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Old 4 Jul 2017, 17:51 (Ref:3748931)   #313
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With some of the driving (and officiating) we've seen in Blancpain so far, I'm a bit more nervous than usual about such a high number of entries.
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Old 4 Jul 2017, 18:22 (Ref:3748943)   #314
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2015 was an absolute disaster for yellows and accidents iirc. Constant yellow after yellow and some bad accidents.

2016 I didn't like the forced 1 hour stints. It made strategy far less varied, less fun. The pit stop times are silly too. The Pro class at least should have better pit stop rules.
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Old 4 Jul 2017, 21:13 (Ref:3748971)   #315
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With some of the driving (and officiating) we've seen in Blancpain so far, I'm a bit more nervous than usual about such a high number of entries.


Fair concern, but with such a big track, we should be fairly safe if it can get past lap one ok.

The rate of attrition is usually enough to thin the field out a little as it goes on.

That said, I guarantee we will see a large crash or two, and some questionable Am moves, but that's Racing!
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Old 4 Jul 2017, 22:49 (Ref:3748983)   #316
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With some of the driving (and officiating) we've seen in Blancpain so far, I'm a bit more nervous than usual about such a high number of entries.
Since what happened at Monza the officials have been rather heavy handed in regards to contact so hopefully this has an effect on the field. Still as much I like to see such a big entrylist (but only one Aston ) it does make one a bit nervous about what could happen given what has happened in previous years with big fields.

I've got nothing against the teams involved but do we really need the two National Class Porsches? Im not sure why entry was open to them when the field was certainly going to be big enough without them.
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Old 5 Jul 2017, 13:50 (Ref:3749106)   #317
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2016 I didn't like the forced 1 hour stints. It made strategy far less varied, less fun. The pit stop times are silly too. The Pro class at least should have better pit stop rules.
This was something that massively irritated me last year, despite the great racing it nearly made the event somewhat predictable. I believe I remember reading at some point that they were going to scrap the 1hour stint rule for this year, can someone confirm or was I dreaming?
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Old 5 Jul 2017, 14:06 (Ref:3749108)   #318
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This was something that massively irritated me last year, despite the great racing it nearly made the event somewhat predictable. I believe I remember reading at some point that they were going to scrap the 1hour stint rule for this year, can someone confirm or was I dreaming?
They had a 55 minute driver stint maximum at the paul ricard race so I'm guessing its still in but now 55 minutes.
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Old 5 Jul 2017, 17:11 (Ref:3749132)   #319
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I thought it was 65 minutes? Might be completely wrong though.
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Old 6 Jul 2017, 07:47 (Ref:3749245)   #320
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I thought it was 65 minutes? Might be completely wrong though.
You are absolutely correct, I knew it ended in a 5 haha.
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Old 8 Jul 2017, 08:48 (Ref:3749557)   #321
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I respect them for trying to build the national class. But at the same time as being worried about a too Pro class heavy field I can't help but think those spots would have been better used with some Am or Pro Am competitors.

Curiously they seem way behind last year in terms of announcing stuff to do with the event, all the off track info on the website is last years
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Old 8 Jul 2017, 09:35 (Ref:3749564)   #322
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What we need to remember RE the Spa 24h is that it is not just an SRO event, but that the Royal Autoclub of Belgium is also involved. The national class thing might very well be something that those guys are pushing for, especially with the number of competitive Belgian GT3 teams having taken a nose-dive with the loss of MVDS and Prosport.
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Old 26 Jul 2017, 16:43 (Ref:3754525)   #323
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Anyone have any idea why Will Stevens disappeared from WRT in favour of Lotterer for the 24h?
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Old 26 Jul 2017, 22:48 (Ref:3754588)   #324
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Anyone have any idea why Will Stevens disappeared from WRT in favour of Lotterer for the 24h?
Reading Sportscar365 Wednesday notebook from Spa it says a team decision but no other details

http://sportscar365.com/sro/blancpai...ay-notebook-6/

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Lotterer replaces Will Stevens, who had teamed with Dries Vanthoor and Marcel Fassler in the opening three Endurance Cup races of the season. While understood to be a team decision, the ex-Formula One driver is expected back in the car for the season-ending round at Barcelona, as well as the remaining Sprint Cup rounds with the Belgian squad.
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Old 27 Jul 2017, 04:33 (Ref:3754603)   #325
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My thoughts are that Lotterer could be auditioning for a job should the Porsche LMP1 program go away at the end of the season.
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