2019 Blancpain GT World Endurance

[Sodemo]

I'd much rather see a "real" procession than fake DRS type passing.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

I'd much rather see a "real" procession than fake DRS type passing.

Whilst I agree, with GT3 racing you can get the best of both worlds. Endurance manages to put on better racing than Sprint because of the tracks, without the need for silly DRS.

I like the idea of using Donington rather than Brands. GT4 works at Brands, but GT3 is getting too fast now.

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I like the idea of using Donington rather than Brands. GT4 works at Brands, but GT3 is getting too fast now.

I agree. Personally (and without knowledge of the logistics/costs/contract issues) I'd split the GT3 and GT4 into separate meetings and combine them with a national meeting, eg:

Donington: GT3 Sprint plus Bute GT Cup
Brands: Euro GT4 supporting British GT

A few years ago (I believe 2016) the European GT4s ran at Silverstone in the British GT 3hr race. Having them in one race didn't work because the Euro GT4 drivers weren't used to racing alongside faster cars, but having both fields at one meeting was great.

The same year Blancpain GT Sports Club and the Bute GT Cup both supported GT Sprint at Brands. That was terrific.

The current structure of GT3+GT4 at Brands and GT3+Super Trofeo at Silverstone is not as strong, IMO.

It is also very frustrating that Silverstone doesn't allow spectators in on Fridays (the only time in the calendar this is the case) and they only open one or two grandstands, both because of cost.

[tux]

Disappointing to see the Lamborghini Super Trofeo grid has more than halved since last season. 45 in 2018, 22 this weekend.

[tux]

Romain Dumas got a very interesting penalty for needing to miss drivers briefing. Feel for the guy, a 30 minute presentation

https://www.blancpain-gt-series.com/...OWE+Racing.pdf

Also Benjamin Goethe must be the first Blancpain driver to need to arrive late due to school exams?

[Anyopenroad]

Just in time before the next event starts, pictures from Brands Hatch: https://bit.ly/2Yl1is0

Brands is still a very picture-friendly place despite the damage done to sight lines and viewing by the grand prix loop fencing. Still, it does mean there's more here from the Indy circuit than from out in the woods.

Enjoy!

[Juntos]

Originally Posted by tux

Romain Dumas got a very interesting penalty for needing to miss drivers briefing. Feel for the guy, a 30 minute presentation

Very good penalty. You can't aim to be in two places at same time.

[geordiecriag101]

Just a quick one from me, was at Silverstone yesterday for Practice and Pre-Qualifying and got a few clips trackside of the cars running, here's my vid if anyone interested:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igC7VybsBJ8

[deggis]

https://twitter.com/BlancpainGT/stat...54347360038912

Marvin Kirchöfer (#76 Aston Martin) is unwell and has withdrawn from today's race.

His place will be taken by Maxime Martin, who will pull double duty. Maxime is also driving the #62 Aston Martin today

[bentley speed 8]

Ouch. That was a big accident for #555. Great to see the driver walk away.

[fergus_r]

Interestingly I was looking at that unprotected concrete wall yesterday. There's no need for it to be that way. That is a very, very fast section of track (as much of Silverstone is).

[tux]

Not sure Salih Yoluc got a penalty for the contact that put the #555 in the wall.

[Sodemo]

What a great race at Silverstone. OK there were some needless incidents and too much safety car, but the race itself was very enjoyable.

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by Sodemo

What a great race at Silverstone. OK there were some needless incidents and too much safety car, but the race itself was very enjoyable.

40+ GT3 cars on a sunny day at any track is a wonderful spectacle. The race for the win at Silverstone was also good and I'm pleased for Ferrari.

I find it hard to agree that this was a great race though. Blancpain events seem to be disfigured by safety cars far too often. The practice of bringing out a safety car after a FCY is just totally bizarre - do one or the other, surely? The sense of anti-climax in the grandstand when the start turned into a >20-min SC period was palpable.

As the front end of the grid gets increasingly semi-factory the large grid combining the Pros with Ams becomes more difficult. I'd rather see two 25-car grids (a Pro race and a Pro-Am/Am-Am race) than one which largely seems to come down to the luck of the draw in a race which spends a significant proportion of its time behind a safety car.

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

40+ GT3 cars on a sunny day at any track is a wonderful spectacle. The race for the win at Silverstone was also good and I'm pleased for Ferrari.

I find it hard to agree that this was a great race though. Blancpain events seem to be disfigured by safety cars far too often. The practice of bringing out a safety car after a FCY is just totally bizarre - do one or the other, surely? The sense of anti-climax in the grandstand when the start turned into a >20-min SC period was palpable.

As the front end of the grid gets increasingly semi-factory the large grid combining the Pros with Ams becomes more difficult. I'd rather see two 25-car grids (a Pro race and a Pro-Am/Am-Am race) than one which largely seems to come down to the luck of the draw in a race which spends a significant proportion of its time behind a safety car.

Agree 100% on the safety car procedures. I can only think its done on purpose to close the field up. Who would have thought that SRO would pull a "NASCAR" on us. Do they understand the sportscar fan base? That is the last thing we want. For us the gaps built up and earned by the leaders over the competition means something and needs to be preserved.

[bentley speed 8]

This year they introduced a new qualifying format that combines the average of the three drivers to set the grid position. So this works very well, as it allows the PRO cars to start at the front rather than have many of them behind some PRO-AM cars qualified by their PRO driver.

Except this time a lot of cars were unable to set three laps due to the red flag in Q1...

[S griffin]

I agree the new system works well, it's a much better representation of where the combined crew should be. It's a concept that has been worth giving a go. However they need to sort out the red flag problem as you say

Still another good weekend of racing, the series is still going strong, which is good as for it to survive this long and still get a big grid shows how well managed the series is

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by bentley speed 8

This year they introduced a new qualifying format that combines the average of the three drivers to set the grid position.

Is that new for this year? I thought they'd always done that. There has certainly been a three-part qualifying session for years.

[gert]

At a time when even the Indycar folks try to stay green as long as possible and even avoid FCY for a single car incident, it's a pity SRO keep holding on to the FCY - SC thing.

Some cars made massive profits by pitting under the FCY, others lost heavily because the erased gaps.
Plus, it takes so so long before the racing resumes.

Sometimes there is a very good reason to deploy the safety car, and then I have no issues with it. Sometimes however you wonder why they go through all that procedure.
IMO they don't need it to spice things up, especially not at the Spa 24hours.
If they could just get that right ...

[Akrapovic]

The reason the commentator said for the FCY->SC is that FCY is safer to deploy as it brings speeds down instantly, and SC is safer to restart as everyone speeds up together.

I don't buy that one bit tbh.

[Jameson]

Originally Posted by Anyopenroad

Is that new for this year? I thought they'd always done that. There has certainly been a three-part qualifying session for years.

The average of the 3 drivers was used already last year, I think. Before that they had the same 3 sessions - Q1, Q2, Q3 - but then just the fastest lap of one of the 3 drivers counted.

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

The reason the commentator said for the FCY->SC is that FCY is safer to deploy as it brings speeds down instantly, and SC is safer to restart as everyone speeds up together.

I don't buy that one bit tbh.

Even Graham Goodwin at the This Week in Sportscars podcast just said that its his opinion that its "made for tv". It just makes the TV worse I think. This madness must stop immediately.

[bentley speed 8]

Originally Posted by Jameson

The average of the 3 drivers was used already last year, I think. Before that they had the same 3 sessions - Q1, Q2, Q3 - but then just the fastest lap of one of the 3 drivers counted.

Yeah, I checked again and you are correct. It was definitely there last year

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by MaskedRacer

Even Graham Goodwin at the This Week in Sportscars podcast just said that its his opinion that its "made for tv". It just makes the TV worse I think. This madness must stop immediately.

I think GG is spot on with this one.

[Anyopenroad]

Photos from SIlverstone: https://bit.ly/2WNzhZP

Sillystone isn't the easiest for pics. It's not very pretty and the great potential shots at Club, Copse, Maggotts/Becketts are denied by not having the grandstands open (this, along with not allowing spectators in on Fridays, is a real bugbear of mine).

One excellent spot is Luffield, which is where I was for qualifying. As this was also the brightest weather of the day, almost half the pictures here are from those three short sessions rather than the race itself.

Enjoy!