[FIA GT Race] 2017 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by J Jay

So the #90 & #1 have maxed out their stints, they can just make it with two more full stops from here.

Can any of the others (#117, #98, #2, #25, #8) get a sub-95 second stop in and leap the de-facto lead pair?

Edit - #8 pits next lap, so it is now on the same strategy as the Audi & Mercedes.

It'll be VERY tight for the 90 and 1. Maximum stint length is 65 minutes. They pitted with 3hr 21 left. So they need to be VERY careful with amount of time spent in the pit lane to make sure they 'find' the extra 6 minutes required.

[Akrapovic]

Photo: Blancpain

The race has settled down into a rhythm and has been relatively calm for the last couple of hours, with the lead battle slowly but surely condensing down with every hour that goes by.

Disaster was averted by the #90 Mercedes as it made contact with a backmarker in Eau Rouge. The car did a full 360 and managed to not hit anything solid, rejoining at a cost of 15 seconds. The car retains the lead over #25 Sainteloc Audi, but with the gap reduced to 10 seconds.

On the move…

Markus Winkelhock in the #25 Audi decided he’d spent enough time behind Nic Muller in the #1 Audi and used traffic take second. He has since pulled away and is closing on the leader.

#8 Bentley is still posting fast lap times but is out of sync on pit stops. Tagging along 20 seconds behind is the #117 Porsche which is even faster, and on the same strategy as the #8 Bentley.

Bad times for…

#98 BMW went to the garage for repairs, ending the BMW challenge for the lead. The gap is now 5 laps down, but remains in the top 10.

#888 Ferrari leads the Am class, but was given a drive through for track limits. The Kessel Ferrari still leads, but needless mistakes like this could change it.

The #97 Aston Martin managed to keep the #16 Black Falcon in sight for the Pro-Am lead, but a drive time penalty dropped it back again. The car remains on the Pro-Am lead lap, but only just.

Keep an eye out for…

The lead battle is condensing all the time. The #25 Audi, #1 Audi, #8 Bentley and #117 Porsche are all catching the lead #90 Mercedes.

Almost every corner has debris in some shape or form off line. Whilst there has been short FCYs to deal with some larger parts, cars are constantly driving over smaller car parts, which could lead to punctures.

Pit stop strategy might play a part. The #8, #117 and #25 should make it to the finish on 2 more stops, but the #1 and #90 might have to make another splash due to the 65 minute maximum stint length. They might be ok depending on FCY/SC and the length of time spent in the pit lane, but it will be very very tight.

Report: Dave Ellis / theRacingLine.net

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

It'll be VERY tight for the 90 and 1. Maximum stint length is 65 minutes. They pitted with 3hr 21 left. So they need to be VERY careful with amount of time spent in the pit lane to make sure they 'find' the extra 6 minutes required.

Two full stops at more than two minutes each (is it 135s+ this year?) and the last lap should be enough, but it will be as tight as Cioci's clenched fist the next time he sees Marciello...

[gert]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

It'll be VERY tight for the 90 and 1. Maximum stint length is 65 minutes. They pitted with 3hr 21 left. So they need to be VERY careful with amount of time spent in the pit lane to make sure they 'find' the extra 6 minutes required.

The pitstop time itself doen't count towards the 65 minutes. The extra time for the part of the lap past 24H just to get to the finish does.
So, the exact position on track when the 24H expire can be very important.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Two full stops at more than two minutes each (is it 135s+ this year?) and the last lap should be enough, but it will be as tight as Cioci's clenched fist the next time he sees Marciello...

Originally Posted by gert

The pitstop time itself doen't count towards the 65 minutes. The extra time for the part of the lap past 24H just to get to the finish does.
So, the exact position on track when the 24H expire can be very important.

Yeah the time on pit lane doesn't count, so that will give them about 4 minutes back (maybe closer to 4.5). The time after the finish could be as long as an extra 2.5 minutes.

It is really really close. I'm sure they'll engineer it so it doesn't become an issue, but the 90 and 1 are marginal. The 8 is fine as it pitted with 3:15 to go. 117 and 25 are solid.

[gert]

The 2 is fine too.

[J Jay]

#117 pits, so the leading cars are all on the same pit strategy of two long stops to the flag.

[gert]

Minassian has been a roadblock for the Audis...

[gert]

Watson keeps on rambling how a FCY would help extend the stint time for #90 but I think he's wrong. It will only extend if the FCY comes when you are due in the pits. One at half your stint won't make a difference.

[J Jay]

Vosse being coy on whether the #1 can stretch to two stops ... so it must be close.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by gert

Watson keeps on rambling how a FCY would help extend the stint time for #90 but I think he's wrong. It will only extend if the FCY comes when you are due in the pits. One at half your stint won't make a difference.

Yeah it's within the 60-65 minute section of your driver stint. Any other time it doesn't.

Gap to the lead now 3 seconds. Third only has a 10 second gap over the Bentley too. It's all condensing down.

Commentators now think the 90 and 1 can do it on 2 stops. But that's knife edge close, and may not include the extra time on the final lap.

Edit: Note as well that you never do a full 65 minutes. Sometimes it'll be 64.5. Sometimes it might even be 63.5. So if the time doesn't work perfectly, the 90 misses it by a lap.

[gert]

Watson doesn't get it. Now he is mumbling about saving fuel and so on. While it has nothing to do with the amount of fuel.

[bentley speed 8]

#7 is almost in pieces

[Akrapovic]

Paul Truswell says the 90 (and therefore the 1), do not need an extra stop. I never doubt the Trus, so I'll go with that, but it does conflict with what I worked out!

[J Jay]

I guess track limits also don't apply to the #90, to go with not being at fault for any accident it is involved with.

[Akrapovic]

It's about when the car EXITS the pits, not when it comes in.

[bentley speed 8]

#90 pits. Surely two more stops?

[J Jay]

What's the driver time minimum overall? Meadows has only done ~3 1/2 hours. Also, is the limit for pit stop time lifted in the last hour/30 minutes like in Creventic races?

#90 and #1 pit.

[gert]

90 pits with 2:14:20 to go
1 pits with 2:14:00 to go

[Mountain Man]

If my maths are correct, I think Merc have stuffed themselves. They will have to put on the last lap

[Akrapovic]

90 exits pits with 2:12:08 on the clock.

65 minutes from now means a pit stop at 1:07 at best. That gives it around 65 minutes to the finish after the stop, plus the last lap. I think they're going to miss it by about a minute.

[bentley speed 8]

#1 seems to have a problem in the pits.

[gert]

Originally Posted by J Jay

What's the driver time minimum overall? Meadows has only done ~3 1/2 hours.

14 hours ?

Marciello has done 12 hours. They will probably have to change drivers anyhow.

#1 buying time by having a bad pitstop.

[J Jay]

#1 with a problem in the pits. #90 exits well ahead.

#90 will need to extend its last stop by a few seconds to make the stints work out.

[Akrapovic]

I don't think the #1 had a problem. I think it was holding itself up because they knew they were going to run out of time.