[FIA GT] '10 GT1 WC Round 2 • Silverstone • May 1st/2nd

[Félix]

Originally Posted by dj choc ice

This smacks of trying to appease Nissan after they threw their toy's out of the pram a couple of week's ago regarding their car's performance.

From where I'm looking, it sounds like Aston Martin dominated the week-end after being given the biggest break out of them all by the FIA. And yet some qualified well at the first race but they were not lucky... Political lobbying competition anyone? That should attract Ferrari soon enough!

What's bugging me is that the Maserati prototype is scoring at every race while the others are consistently adjusted up and down. If they win for the 5th (??) year in a row, I'll be very disappointed.

[Félix]

I might as well add my solution: dyno the cars to have an idea of the power AND of the torque curve and factor in the car's frontal area (as it is done in Super GT) and make the info available to everybody so no manufacturer can go lobbying in the dark and get a break in the others' back. Ideally weight would have to be all the same but penalize the championship leaders and their team and even the sister team from the same manufacturer so we see variety on the podium.

[broadrun96]

Originally Posted by Félix

I might as well add my solution: dyno the cars to have an idea of the power AND of the torque curve and factor in the car's frontal area (as it is done in Super GT) and make the info available to everybody so no manufacturer can go lobbying in the dark and get a break in the others' back. Ideally weight would have to be all the same but penalize the championship leaders and their team and even the sister team from the same manufacturer so we see variety on the podium.

I like the idea of testing the engines and doing some work with that but kinda hate the rewards weight systems in top class racing. How hard is it to back-calculate hp and torque numbers to determine restrictor size to make somewhat close curves across v6, v8 and v12s?

[Purist]

The fundamental issue there is that the V8s and V12s simply do NOT have the same torque and power curves. If you equalize the characteristic graphs, somehow, the V12s get killed in the low-end, because their absolute torque is lower, and don't have enough power at the higher end to make up for the better launch that the Fords, Chevrolets, and Nissans got. If you over-restrict the V8s, they get killed in the top-end, because they're gasping for air, and can't make the power up there to keep up with the Maseratis, Astons, and Lamborghinis on the long straights.

Get the numbers reasonably close on the dyno with various air restrictors, but factor in frontal area, weight distribution, and center of gravity (the Nissan's is quite high off the ground in relative terms) in the final specification. Also, accept that some cars will simply perform better at some tracks than others, because those tracks suit their characteristics better.

For those calling an Italian bias for the Bologna trident, I'll double check, but didn't the Corvettes AND Maseratis get added weight for this round?

EDIT: I checked, and the Maserati got 35kg added, while the Corvette got 40kg extra. I don't think there was a Japanese bias, as the Nissans weren't that good at Yas Marina, but only got a modest reduction of 20kg, as opposed to the -50kg for the Aston Martins.

If it were me, I'd leave the Nissans where they are (1230kg) for now. I'd put, say, 25kg back on to the Astons (up to 1175kg). I'd knock another 5kg out of the Lambos (to 1185kg). Take 15kg out of the Maseratis and 20 out of the Corvettes, to bring them both down to 1220kg. Hard to say what to do about the Fords, but maybe knock 10kg off (down to 1190kg total).

[rdjones]

I was at Silverstone yesterday, the GT1 race was a cracking race and I also really enjoyed the GT3's as well. I am still not sure about the new layout either, it just seem a a bit Micky Mouse for me (It is worth remembering the changes where designed for Bikes, not car's). Oh yes it was tad cold......

[Yakuncha]

Originally Posted by WMUCarGuy

Any word on whether the Corvette will be repairable? It looked like it burned for a long time before they got it out.

And it combusted again in the pits after the race,with spilled fuel in the doors and other crevices, it was being hosed down for a LONG time afterwards. Being made of SMC/carbon fibre fire damage will always look worse, but it was mainly confined to the rear of the car and the wiring loom. Id heard people say it was a fuel leak as a mist could be seen behind the car before it went up. It got away fairly lightly compared to the Alphand Vette last year. Looked repairable IMHO

It was Chassis #05 that went on fire. I claimed a rather unique (slightly melted) souvenir from it too

Re the rest of the racing, being media for the weekend meant I was shooting from different parts of the track so felt the racing was slightly too short, an hour is not a long time in motorsport photography. Granted its for TV audiences though and judging by the crowds that were there it worked.

Im glad I brought my hiking boots too, the mud/soft earth in places was a joke. I spent a good 45mins cleaning my rental car yesterday incase they thought I had taken it on the Silverstone 4x4 course..... As for the weather, even though it was May I was well prepared for it, had to snigger at people on Sunday wearing shorts and beach shoes!

Re Arena layout, jury is out, made for 2 nice overtaking spots though, but I think the corner onto the national straight could be faster though, but it still will never be as good as Bridge!

[Steven Humphrey]

Originally Posted by airbusA346

Oh right, the car looked as though it was before the flag post to me, from where I was standing.

Tom.

Was borderline really. I've not got much experience flagging (I usually do incident) but I did question whether the previous flag point should have shown a yellow aswell. At least it allowed overtaking into Brooklands for the last few laps

[MSportUK]

I thought the weekend was a good one. Just a shame I couldn't feel my fingers for most of it, or the PHOTOS would have been better!

Wouldn't TV audiences put up with a 2 hour race for GT1? A 1 hr race is fine for GT3, but I couldn't help thinking the big boys deserved a bit more! Maybe even 90mins. Hopefully they'll get good viewing figures this year and have scope to up it a bit in future.

Quite like the new Arena bit for photos, if not for outright action. That said, I saw a fair bit of bumping and barging on the turn onto the national straight. Can't wait till some grass grows though - shoes, clothes and car were all plastered in mud by the end of it. Almost lost my shoes at Club - like walking on tracle!

[Craner Curves]

I went yesterday and enjoyed it, despite the weather. The new section reminded me of the final few corners at Croft, anyone else get that impression? Fast left hander leading into a tight right, then a tight left.

My only gripe was the pitlane walkabout. £10 to go and see the autograph session? Is this the FIA getting more control over proceedings now? Last year it was inbetween the team trucks in the paddock. At least the LMS in September will be more fan friendly, with an autograph session in the paddock.

[d.rocky]

wish i was there even if it did look bloody cold!
i thought it was great to see the nissans fighting with mc12's and lambo's. it sort of looked wrong with the nissan towering over everything else but it was good racing i thought.
shame about the aston being stripped of the win but Jamie Campbell-Walter and Warren Hughes deserved the win just as much IMO.

i was surprised they hadnt done more to the edge of the track that runs along side the pit straight. i thought that the mosler rolling onto its roof a couple of weeks ago wouldve made them do something... but hey no one went off there so its irrelevent anyway!

[TheNewBob]

Enjoyed the weekend, but stupidly cold! Good racing, nice to see the new section lending itself to some overtaking too (although I fear it'll be a bore-fest in F1).

I think I was sat in the wrong place for GT3 on the Saturday, at Copse, but it seemed much better yesterday at Luffield (I spent most of the Sunday there because of the big TV screen). Surprisingly it, and sometimes GT4 too, became barge-fests at that corner!

It was a concern about the place being in a state, though. Obviously this will be something of a one-off until they finish everything, but I didn't think it was a good advert for Silverstone or for WGT1 to have cars racing through a building site.

I was pretty envious of those who remembered to bring hats, scarves, gloves, and even blankets. Really was bitterly cold.

[KingThomas]

http://www.racexpress.com/index.php?...ikel&nid=23947

Hezemans says he does not know if the car wil be ready for the next round.

[pederb]

Anybody knows what happen to the two new Mustangs that was entered in GT3? I did see anything about them in any lists except the entry list.

[Jameson]

Originally Posted by dxk1

It seems this Championship has a long way to go with how they performance balance the cars as Kumpen put it best in his interview: "We're driving a truck and everyone else is driving racecars." Just watching anyone and everyone fly past the Corvettes was quite sad. DK

I agree with you that the BoP needs to be improved a lot. It was a bit ridiculous to see the Aston's a second per lap ahead of everyone else after they were given -50kg and bigger restrictors. I hope the FIA get their act together soon, because otherwise the GT1 championship seems great!

However, I wanted to comment on the comments concerning the Corvettes. Kumpen said in an interview on gt1world.com Race 2 video that they have over 100kg of ballast which makes the car a truck. This is not true as they have only 40kg of BoP ballast. It's easy enough to check at the FIA website: http://private.fia.com/web/fia-public.nsf/vchp/301/$FILE/GT1_Corvette%20Z06_27.04.2010_49.pdf?Openelement

They should not mix 2009 rules with 2010 and BoP. Corvettes and other GT1 cars were allowed to run at 1100kg before this season, but now every car's base weight is 1200kg. Nissan and Lambo got that reduced by 50 and 10kg respectively and Corvette got 40kg extra, Maserati and Nissan a bit less. This, does not mean that Kumpen was carrying over 100kg extra weight and he should not say that to mislead people who are unaware of the rules.

[Blaze92]

Originally Posted by Jameson

They should not mix 2009 rules with 2010 and BoP. Corvettes and other GT1 cars were allowed to run at 1100kg before this season, but now every car's base weight is 1200kg. Nissan and Lambo got that reduced by 50 and 10kg respectively and Corvette got 40kg extra, Maserati and Nissan a bit less. This, does not mean that Kumpen was carrying over 100kg extra weight and he should not say that to mislead people who are unaware of the rules.

Every car's base weight is 1200 kg with the exception of the Nissan, it was the only car that went the 1250kg 600hp route,

[Matt Hunter]

Originally Posted by pederb

Anybody knows what happen to the two new Mustangs that was entered in GT3? I did see anything about them in any lists except the entry list.

The homologation wasn't completed in time so they couldn't race. The Marc VDS cr was in the pits, got a couple of pics of it, but it never made it out on track.
Same thing happened to the Apex Jag on its debut.

[Tim the Grey]

Correct. I have a copy of the Stewards official announcement at home. Car 98 was srutineered, and passed, but had no homologation papers, so could not take part.

I was VERY pleased to see Mike Hezemans late on Sunday, as I had only seen the fire from the inside of the Arena, and it looked VERY big. I was worried for a while.

Hearty congratulations to SUMO for winning second time out, but wonder what appeals are happening? I cannot see Prodrive, sorry, Young Driver, letting this slide... DPR was there in his Rapide, chauffeuring VIPs about, so he will want the win back!

[pauln]

Originally Posted by Tim the Grey

I was VERY pleased to see Mike Hezemans late on Sunday, as I had only seen the fire from the inside of the Arena, and it looked VERY big. I was worried for a while.

Agreed - it looked big enough going past us on post just before the Hangar Straight bridge. My friend who was on scene with the extinguishers at the next post said Hezemans sprinted away from the car with an "I'm alright" shouted at them as he headed for the armco.

[chunterer]

Shame to hear about post race DQ's for Aston.

The organisers have to make sure the Nissans are up front and winning though as they're the only cars built for the new regs!!

The meeting reminded me of when the BPR's visited Dubai or Zuhai at the end of 1996, when the army green 911 GT1 appreared and murdered the McLaren's for the first time - a bit of a mess outside the black stuff!

Didn't go for the first time in about 10 years to the British round. Last minute hiccups with a baby curtailed that. Gutted to miss 4 Lambo exahsust notes.

Very good racing though have to agree with what everyones said so far (from what I could see on Bloomberg!!!).

[Jameson]

Originally Posted by Blaze92

Every car's base weight is 1200 kg with the exception of the Nissan, it was the only car that went the 1250kg 600hp route,

You're right, I forgot to mention that they all have an option to weigh 1250kg and get bigger restrictors. In any case, my point was that the Vette guys should not cry about over 100kg ballast when that's not even close to the truth.

[Jameson]

By the way, if you check the race lap times, Gavin was by far the fastest non-Aston, over half a second clear of the Nissans and over a second quicker than anyone else, so the Corvette truck can't be that slow!

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by Jameson

By the way, if you check the race lap times, Gavin was by far the fastest non-Aston, over half a second clear of the Nissans and over a second quicker than anyone else, so the Corvette truck can't be that slow!

He did look very rapid and it would have been interesting to see how it worked out for him on Sunday if not for that 3 into 2 won't go at Vale!!

[mirkob]

italiaracing.net reports (I dont know if there is another source) that two Toyota managers went in Silverstone (plus Pascal Vasselon and another engineer) with Michel Andreani (Monaco GP steward) and talk with several team managers and costructors.

The JAF boss Kakimoto also was in Silverstone.

Maybe we have more chances to see the LF-A GT1 on track...

[kyoung]

Originally Posted by Jameson

They should not mix 2009 rules with 2010 and BoP. Corvettes and other GT1 cars were allowed to run at 1100kg before this season, but now every car's base weight is 1200kg. Nissan and Lambo got that reduced by 50 and 10kg respectively and Corvette got 40kg extra, Maserati and Nissan a bit less. This, does not mean that Kumpen was carrying over 100kg extra weight and he should not say that to mislead people who are unaware of the rules.

He is not misleading anyone concerning the rules, the “minimum” weight of the cars was changed; the Vettes “minimum” weight before ballast is now 1240kg up from 1200kg. The Astons minimum weight before ballast was reduced to 1150kg from 1200kg and their restrictors opened as well. So the Astons weighed 90kg less than the Vettes even before BoP ballast. It was by no small coincidence that that Astons were leading the pack; the Vettes set respectable laps until their tires went away, even Olly Gavin can’t overcome physics of tire wear and loss of mechanical grip. The Vettes were destined to be grid fodder by a knee jerk rule change as were the Nissans at Abu Dhabi.

[Jameson]

Originally Posted by kyoung

He is not misleading anyone concerning the rules, the “minimum” weight of the cars was changed; the Vettes “minimum” weight before ballast is now 1240kg up from 1200kg. The Astons minimum weight before ballast was reduced to 1150kg from 1200kg and their restrictors opened as well. So the Astons weighed 90kg less than the Vettes even before BoP ballast. It was by no small coincidence that that Astons were leading the pack; the Vettes set respectable laps until their tires went away, even Olly Gavin can’t overcome physics of tire wear and loss of mechanical grip. The Vettes were destined to be grid fodder by a knee jerk rule change as were the Nissans at Abu Dhabi.

I still think that when he clearly says that they are carrying over 100 kilos of extra weight because of BoP it is misleading. They do carry 40kg of extra weight in addition to the minimum weight of 1200kg set in the 2010 regulations. OK, in reality they do have much more additional weight because the car is originally built to a minimum weight of 1100kg, but that has nothing to do with anything in 2010 and should not be mentioned like that in TV when big part of the public are not aware of these details.

For sure, I agree on your comments about the Astons. Like I already wrote earlier, it is no great surprise that Aston was in the league of their own. After all, it's a car that qualified 2nd in Abu Dhabi and since then lost 50kg and got more power comparing to most of the rest getting slower.

But do you really think that Nissan found a winning form only by losing a few kilos since Abu Dhabi where they were nowhere? I would put my money on them playing the politics in the hard way like Aston did in the BoP test.

After all, these two brands are the 2 only pseudo-factory efforts among privateers and this was set to create problems from the beginning.