[ELMS Race] Round 4 - Paul Ricard

[bella]

anyone else going to be watching this tomorrow?

i know it's said a lot but this one really is a crucial round in the championship. the signatech-alpine guys lead by a mere 4 points from jota's stupidly quick tincknell/albuquerque/dolan car.

i reckon thiriet are sandbagging, newblood by morand were quick here last year as were murphy. the latter are back with gonzalez (i know, right?), nathanael berthon (who showed very decent pace here in testing) and pipo derani, who has snuck across from f3.

i think my money's on thiriet/badey/gommendy for the win, if the car stays together. the strength of the signatech alpine entry is going to be dependant again on chatin's pace seeing as he's the sole silver driver in that car, and histrically it's one of his good circuits. i don't think we can underestimate the newblood entry either - ragues put in a superb first stint in austria running out of fuel aside, and if it hadn't been for hirsch running into ten kinds of trouble they'd have finished higher. klien's qualifying pace is solid, too.

the race is on at 1pm local, midday uk time and qualifying starts at 9am.

what say you, folks?

[isynge]

Will absolutely be watching, very much looking forward to this one.

[Maelochs]

I almost forgot the race was on ... thanks much, and I will be watching.

[J Jay]

If anyone's been stupidly quick so far, it's Paul-Loop Chatin. And it's Ricard, so I don't think this will be an off-day for him. It's all up to Dolan ...

I will still be surprised if the Thiriet Ligier doesn't win the race though (barring accident or breakdown). Surely it's got the top speed over everyone else.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Surely it's got the top speed over everyone else.

Ehh...



Mr Ratel would love to use those GT3 figures in his PR

[J Jay]

Nope! That's what I get for missing free practice.

Thanks for correcting me.

[isynge]

I'm curious about how relatively off the pace the Thiriet Ligier has been so far. Based on the Le Mans experience I expected it to be the car to beat around Paul Ricard, but there's been no sign of that so far.

A case of them playing very safe with what is still a pretty new car, especially after the non finish in Austria, or a sign that maybe Le Mans flattered to deceive somewhat about the potential of this package?

[J Jay]

Derani did well to hold of Tincknell in free air, but the traffic experience counts and now the Jota car is pulling away.

There'a also been a lot of non-contact offs so far.

[GT-Eins]

Is there an alternative Live-Timing accessable which reveals more informations on the distances of the cars relative to another?

[J Jay]

Looks like Dolan isn't going to do it. Some 2-3 seconds a lap than the other P2s, including Chatin who is now up to second (Newblood 1st, kept the same tyres on in their pit stop).

[bella]

chatin is showing just how good he is. his move on gonzalez (actually both of them) was excellent, and you're doing well if you can make a clean pass on that guy. a great couple of stints from ragues too.

my thiriet prediction was a bit off, but to be fair it was based on badeys relative pace vs how much quicker the other two drivers normally are

i'm surprised signatech alpine have put panciatici in. would it not make more sense to save the quicker driver for the end if it's going to unravel as a close finish? or am i missing some strategic subtleties here?

[isynge]

Originally Posted by bella

chatin is showing just how good he is. his move on gonzalez (actually both of them) was excellent, and you're doing well if you can make a clean pass on that guy. a great couple of stints from ragues too.

my thiriet prediction was a bit off, but to be fair it was based on badeys relative pace vs how much quicker the other two drivers normally are

i'm surprised signatech alpine have put panciatici in. would it not make more sense to save the quicker driver for the end if it's going to unravel as a close finish? or am i missing some strategic subtleties here?

Indeed, everything about this to date says you want to have a big gun in at the end, but who knows, it's not like the Signatech guys have historically been especially clueless about how to run a campaign.

Interested by the DSC coverage on Morand's plans for next year, especially the partnership with a major UK company - sounds intriguing.

[Maelochs]

For all those people who think racing can't be exciting without LMP1, don't watch ELMS this morning.

Hirsch is stretching his lead a little now (tire wear?) but the last stint should be really close.

[J Jay]

Well Chatin's not exactly slow is he? However I suspect they didn't want to leave him in the car for a double stint (which may have been a good idea looking at Dolan's pace in his second stint), and the only way that marries up getting a gold+ driver in at the start is to leave the gentleman driver for the end.

Edit - What happened with the TDS Ligier's pit stop? Too early to but Gommendy in the car, was their a slow puncture?

[David Land]

I like ACO racing... but Paul Ricard is a bore of a circuit.

Loved Hindy and crew taking the pizz out of Formula E and DTM.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by David Land

Loved Hindy and crew taking the pizz out of Formula E and DTM.

They're taking **** out of series they were covering just yesterday?

[J Jay]

Albuquerque in, new tyres, fastest lap of the race. Chatin producing lap times similar to Rodolfo and Klien ahead of him.

[bella]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Well Chatin's not exactly slow is he? However I suspect they didn't want to leave him in the car for a double stint (which may have been a good idea looking at Dolan's pace in his second stint), and the only way that marries up getting a gold+ driver in at the start is to leave the gentleman driver for the end.

i could be going daft, but i thought more than once this season chatin has done half the race in a single stint? he certainly did at least one monster shift at le mans. he's really very good...

seeing panciatici's pace during his turn, i now understand why chatin will be doing the final stint. am i missing something or do they now have a driver change in hand over the 2 cars in front?

[isynge]

Originally Posted by Chiana

They're taking **** out of series they were covering just yesterday?

It was a very gentle taking of the mickey, much along the lines of the sort of humorous commentary you generally get from them, so I'm not sure they necessarily were shooting themselves in the foot.

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by bella

i could be going daft, but i thought more than once this season chatin has done half the race in a single stint? he certainly did at least one monster shift at le mans. he's really very good...

seeing panciatici's pace during his turn, i now understand why chatin will be doing the final stint. am i missing something or do they now have a driver change in hand over the 2 cars in front?

He may well have done (and probably has before), but gentleman drivers generally can't hold their pace over consecutive stints. At least, that's what I thought explained Dolan's being so comparatively slow. It has to be repeated though, Chatin is lapping just as quickly as the pro drivers in that car! He's been a revelation.

Signatech definitely have a driver change over Murphy. I think Newblood can keep Klien in to the end because he's their only platinum driver.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Chiana

Mr Ratel would love to use those GT3 figures in his PR

And those are the choked down ELMS-spec GT3s.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

And those are the choked down ELMS-spec GT3s.

Indeed, as well as boosted up GTEs - some completely without air restrictors

If they don't speed up next gen P2s for larger gap, P3 is prob gonna find itself at the bottom of those sheets

[J Jay]

Klien's just posted a few slow laps in a row. Chatin catching hand over fist for an exciting finish.

[Maelochs]

Good finish despite the Murphy penalty taking away some of the tension.

[J Jay]

I closed the stream, anyone got a lead on why/how Jota got past Greaves on the last lap? Signatech still with a big advantage going into the last round, but those points may prove crucial.