2019 Blancpain GT World Endurance

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Willmaz223

The Sprint cup compared to GT Open is quite poor.Shame really.

Really? Other than the McLarens (which ARE brilliant) there really isn't much to write home about in GT Open either. Field size is - give or take one or two - the same and both series have only six manufacturers. So that leaves us with the calibre of teams and drivers, and I gotta say, Blancpain looks a bit better in that department.

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[Willmaz223]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Really? Other than the McLarens (which ARE brilliant) there really isn't much to write home about in GT Open either. Field size is - give or take one or two - the same and both series have only six manufacturers. So that leaves us with the calibre of teams and drivers, and I gotta say, Blancpain looks a bit better in that department.

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On reflection yes they are similar.Both good.

[Juntos]

Originally Posted by Willmaz223

The Sprint cup compared to GT Open is quite poor.Shame really.

3/4 of GT Open grid is composed by second-rate drivers.

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by Juntos

3/4 of GT Open grid is composed by second-rate drivers.

Yet the races are lively and fun to watch. Maybe you need to readjust your standards- amateur drivers racing amateurs drivers can sometimes make for far better racing than when two factory pros race each other.

[Willmaz223]

Originally Posted by Bcarr6

Yet the races are lively and fun to watch. Maybe you need to readjust your standards- amateur drivers racing amateurs drivers can sometimes make for far better racing than when two factory pros race each other.

From what I saw yesterday whrn watching Round 1 the racing is very good.Lots of overtakikg.Bit of drama and nice cars driving quite well.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Juntos

3/4 of GT Open grid is composed by second-rate drivers.

It's a Pro-Am Series. Complaining about driver quality is like watching Creventic and expecting Hamilton and Vettel to be in a BMW M6.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

It's a Pro-Am Series. Complaining about driver quality is like watching Creventic and expecting Hamilton and Vettel to be in a BMW M6.

Well, the series does have a Pro-class, so it is not strictly Pro/Am.

And that Pro-class is somewhat less impressive than the one in Blancpain Sprint.

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[Akrapovic]

Hm, maybe but there's some good names in there. Costa, Kodric, TOC, Gounon, Siedler. Theres some ex-Factory drivers on the grid. It's far from bad.

3/4 of the grid made up of "second-rate" drivers seems about right for a series that has Pro-Am and Am classes lol.

[Juntos]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Hm, maybe but there's some good names in there. Costa, Kodric, TOC, Gounon, Siedler. Theres some ex-Factory drivers on the grid. It's far from bad.

It's okay to disagree with the thoughts or opinions expressed by other people. That doesn't give you the right to deny any sense they might make. I did not say it's a bad series. I 'm only pointing out to the incomparable.

[Anyopenroad]

Big album of photos from Monza: https://bit.ly/2IO1mNm

This includes the Endurance event and the GT Sports Club cars. I was there from Friday through Sunday, but I was cowering in the stand during the actual race so the last pics here are from the qualifying and the second GT Sports Club race.

The weather was pretty dreary most of the time, even when it wasn't raining. There were some brief bright spells on Saturday, especially in the evening, resulting in some nice golden twilight pictures (pages 5-6).

Monza isn't the easiest to photograph. The fencing is really high, even in front of the stands, and there are no raised banking areas because the park and track are largely flat. The three best areas by far are the three chicanes, especially the Ascari complex where there is a great view over the series of bends from up in the stands.

It's amazing to see the old banking (there are a few images of it at the start of the album) and terrifying to imagine old cars hammering round it. The whole area oozes history and ghosts of former glories, even if the circuit is a little scruffy and in need of TLC in places. I plan to return in September for the Peter Auto Classic meeting - seeing classic cars at Monza oddly seems more appropriate than seeing modern ones, much as I enjoyed the Blancpain weekend.

Enjoy!

[Martin Bull]

Thanks for posting the link to your pictures. I've never been to Monza and found the 'historic' photos quite fascinating !

[Anyopenroad]

Originally Posted by Martin Bull

Thanks for posting the link to your pictures. I've never been to Monza and found the 'historic' photos quite fascinating !

Thank you and you're welcome!

You can very clearly see the old oval on Google Maps (switch to satellite view if you're on a phone). The current start-finish straight follows the line of one of the oval straights and you can see at the exit of the Parabolica where the old banking joins the new straight. At the Retifilio chicane the banking re-emerges and the grandstands are set behind it so you look out over the old banking to see the new track. It's quite poignant.

[S griffin]

Yes good to see. I’m glad the banking is still there after all this time. It certainly adds to the charm of Monza, as does the current circuit

[GregUK]

The walk to the old circuit is fascinating. A couple of years ago I walked across the fields from the Rettifilo Ascari (and inadvertently disturbed a young 'courting' couple ) and down to the banking.

To try and walk up the banking is quite scary - it is incredibly steep! I got about halfway up before self preservation took over.

[S griffin]

I agree. It’s great it’s still there, part of it’s history. And you’re right, the steepness is something else. I’ve heard stories of people trying to walk up without success!

[B0U170NS]

Who's going to Silverstone this weekend? I think I will try and go on both days - on the Sunday probably just for the race. I hope attendance is decent enough for SRO to come back again next year.

The final entry list hasn't been revealed yet. Do we expect any additional entries for this weekend? Any chance of a Mclaren being entered?

[Anyopenroad]

It's great seeing GT3 cars at Brands Hatch and the drivers clearly love it, but every year it is a combination of demolition derby and procession. It's very tight, which makes passing risky, and unforgiving, which turns small errors into safety cars/FCYs.

The lack of variety in the field is also a problem which needs to be addressed somehow.

Silverstone this weekend will have none of those problems. On the other hand, it's hardly as picturesque as Brands Hatch!

Still, nowhere else gets two Blancpain weekends back-to-back and I never tire of the sight and sound of these great cars.

[S griffin]

It’s a great sight as you say, but have they outgrown the circuit?It seems there’s nowhere to pass. As you say Silverstone should be better in that respect and that circuit, while not as challenging as Brands, has it’s own tests for the drivers

Still the series is still going strong and we should be thankful for that

[Bcarr6]

Originally Posted by S griffin

It’s a great sight as you say, but have they outgrown the circuit?It seems there’s nowhere to pass. As you say Silverstone should be better in that respect and that circuit, while not as challenging as Brands, has it’s own tests for the drivers

Still the series is still going strong and we should be thankful for that

Brands is certainly tough to pass, but van der Linde managed to pull off one fantastic move in Race 2

[S griffin]

Well it’s not impossible, but it’s the sight of seeing them around there is what makes it happen. But any move like that is welcome

[ascarracinguk]

Originally Posted by S griffin

It’s a great sight as you say, but have they outgrown the circuit?It seems there’s nowhere to pass. As you say Silverstone should be better in that respect and that circuit, while not as challenging as Brands, has it’s own tests for the drivers

Still the series is still going strong and we should be thankful for that

Been hoping for a while, now that Palmer owns Donington that they will take the sprint series there instead and share the larger events around the uk

[S griffin]

It’s a nice idea, we’ll have to see on that one

[gert]

I think Brands would be absolutely fantastic to see the cars live.

But for the race itself: meh... Very hard to pass and without a bit of cooperation, most of the times it ends in an accident.

That is a problem for the Blancpain series: they tend to have alot of the sprint races on tracks where it is hard or impossible to pass (unlike the tracks used for Endurance)
Brands Hatch / Misano / Zolder / Hungaroring

[S griffin]

Indeed it is, but that’s the price we pay for overtaking. Maybe they could increase the length for a few races. Some of those tracks have close racing, even if it doesn’t provide much overtaking

[Juntos]

At least it doesn't snow in Kent...