GT World Challenge Europe Season 2022

[tbtstt]

Originally Posted by chunterer

I noticed on some youtube footage that the majority of SRO GT3 guys were pushing beyond the kerbs out of Paddock. Lot of sand kicked up and high risk!

I only watched there for the last 15 minutes of race two but was surprised how aggressive they were all being through there. Really cool to watch though.

As others have already said, Brands may not be great for passing, but the spectator experience is in a different league to Silverstone.

Originally Posted by Badlands99

Watched the second race from the exit of Druids and have to say Marciello was in a completely different class ....... his positioning of the car going down the hill was so precise for lap after lap and he was absolutely 'on it' every lap - fully deserved the victory.

Missed this comment when I was catching up with the thread last night but fully agree: was a superb drive in race two, didn't put a wheel wrong the whole race.

Originally Posted by Badlands99

Great to see these cars at close quarters rather than miles away behind so much fencing.
All in all, had a good couple of days with a great atmosphere

Without meaning to sound like a broken record (because I have said it here several times before!) it is a real shame that the spectator experience isn't quite what is was on the GP loop (especially round by Westfield), but at least Hawthorns is still good and the inside of Druids is always fantastic.

Originally Posted by GregUK

Aside from Touring cars, I cannot remember the last time I saw the South Bank full of cars. It certainly wasn't during this century!

Last time I did BSB (which was probably 4 or 5 years ago) it was pretty packed there and, as you say, BTCC tends to fill South Bank, but that was unusually busy for "another" event.

Wished I'd have done Saturday now, as I am sure I could have got to a few more photo spots on that day!

[tbtstt]

Forgive the double post, but a few snaps from Brands...











...and a few more here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/229616...77720298797316

If anyone is interested!

[Anyopenroad]

..and here's more than a few snaps from Brands :

https://bit.ly/3MiWWv3

Enjoy!

[tux]

Never thought id say this but thank god for Ferrari. Getting really bored of Audi v Mercedes.

[tux]

Mercedes
Audi
Mercedes
Audi
Ferrari
Audi
Audi
Audi
Audi

Marciello & Boguslavskiy dominate race 2 again, 15 seconds ahead of P2.

[Badlands99]

Another absolute masterclass from Marciello - stunning drive!

[gomick]

It's his 9th win in the "Sprint" series, 2nd all-time behind Dries Vanthoor (10 wins)....

Leads the Championship Standings now with Timur Boguslavskiy...

[gert]

Nobody knows, but there's a race going on at Paul Ricard

[gert]

19:48:01 Race Control TEAM MANAGERS CARS 10,11,12, 25,26, 30,31,32,33,66,99 TO RACE CONTROL


They will be given permission to run Michelin tires?
(or Falken, Hankook or whatever ... just anything else than the junk they're currently on)

[gert]

Wow!

WRT have lollypop and pitstop board in different colors!
Who'd have thought that!

[gert]

Mandatory Valentino Rossi interview coming up...

[tux]

Rossi did well today imo, was running consistently for two stints, no mistakes, not far off the pace of the top guys.

[gert]

I don't know, it's just all that attention that they put on him that annoys me.

[gert]

No front lights on 87.
No rears either.

[gert]

ALL the cars in the field have a black number on a white numberplate.

All, except 1, that is.

Why that exception?

[J Jay]

We're veering rather close to "Why are you still watching?" territory here.

I'm going to assume there's some sincerity to your questions/statement. In order...

Originally Posted by gert

Wow!

WRT have lollypop and pitstop board in different colors!
Who'd have thought that!

This was rather trite to anyone with a cursory familiarity with sportscars. However, many people watching won't have that prior knowledge, because they haven't watched sportscars before, because they're only here to watch Rossi. Hence the filler during what was otherwise a neutralised race, that would have been informative to a non-negligible number of viewers. It didn't result in any loss of broadcasted action on-track.

Originally Posted by gert

Mandatory Valentino Rossi interview coming up...

Originally Posted by gert

I don't know, it's just all that attention that they put on him that annoys me.

They're making the most of their most valuable asset. Need I remind you of the way Alonso's time in the WEC was handled, by both the organisers and the media? This won't change for the rest of the season; Rossi isn't so green that he's stinking up each race, but he's not so quick as to merit the attention on merit. Again, for a lot of people watching, Rossi is who they want to see and then hear from. Hopefully, they'll learn to want the same from the 150+ other drivers on offer. But realistically, that's not going to happen.

Originally Posted by gert

ALL the cars in the field have a black number on a white numberplate.

All, except 1, that is.

Why that exception?

Because, for all his perceived and actual foibles, Ratel knows how to get eyeballs on his races, and he/the other leads at SRO felt it was a concession worth making. I would actually be interested in hearing what internal opposition there might have been to this (particularly on safety grounds), but ultimately it's SRO's regulations, and they can choose to not follow them/grant exceptional dispensations* as they wish. Would they have done it for anyone else? No, of course not. But nobody is going to stop you breaking the rules when you make them.

*Delete as appropriate.

I'm not saying the focus on Rossi isn't grating - it is - but it isn't changing anytime soon. GTWC powered by VR46: take it or leave it.

[gert]

I have nothing against Rossi per sé but all the attention towards him, and the stupid exceptions like that number board DO annoy me.

It annoys me just as much as all the attention on Jimmie Johnson in Indycar.

Things like that just almost make me wish his car to be out of contention ASAP, so I can enjoy the rest of the race without that distraction.


I just see this as my favorite soccer/football club spending a relative fortune to get a big-name onboard who turns out to be no better than what we already have and no better than the unknown player they bring in to finally replace him.

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by gert

Things like that just almost make me wish his car to be out of contention ASAP, so I can enjoy the rest of the race without that distraction.

Then I sincerely would recommend checking out until Rossi moves on. Mind, this will only be repeated when he inevitably steps into prototypes. Rossi is, to my mind, the biggest draw from outside sportscars I can think of. Wherever he goes, he's going to be milked for all it's worth.

Originally Posted by gert

I just see this as my favorite soccer/football club spending a relative fortune to get a big-name onboard who turns out to be no better than what we already have and no better than the unknown player they bring in to finally replace him.

As a Manchester United fan, I can relate to this with the force of a thousand suns. But, Rossi isn't there to light up the timing sheets, and, let's be honest, he isn't there for any spectators, fans of his or not. As long as he isn't stinking up each race (which he genuinely isn't - he's been 5.5/10 so far) he's there to gain experience of endurance racing for his own desires, and whichever series he chooses to race in is happy to oblige as long as he does more of their PR for them.

Edit - Let's stop moaning about Rossi and moan about a Vanthoor throwing his car's race away with an ill-advised move, like clockwork.

Edit edit - Which makes the lead Audi ... #46! You couldn't make it up

[gert]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Wherever he goes, he's going to be milked for all it's worth.

That makes me just dislike him more.

Originally Posted by J Jay

moan about a Vanthoor throwing his car's race away with an ill-advised move, like clockwork.

They're good at it, aren't they?
Second to none... ?

[J Jay]

Another puncture. It's almost as if running on a track with abrasive tarmac for run-off, which encourages teams to run to the extremes of their suspension setup, isn't a great idea.

[tux]

There needs to be some kind of website that does a car by car update on what happened to them during the race. I have so many questions about so many cars but the information is hard/not possible to find. Have to say im again surprised by the attrition rate, so many cars retired.

[J Jay]

Originally Posted by gert

Second to none... ?

Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Vanthoor, The Wise? I thought not. It’s not a story the organisers would tell you. It’s a GT3 legend. Darth Vanthoor was a Dark Lord of GT3, so powerful and so wise he could use the sportscar to influence the result of the race… He had such a knowledge of the sportscar that he could even keep the ones he cared about from retiring. The dark side of the sportscar is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural. He became so powerful… the only thing he was afraid of was losing his power, which eventually, of course, he did. Unfortunately, he taught his brother everything he knew, then his brother retired him in his stint. Ironic. He could save others from retirement, but not himself.

[BertMk2]

Originally Posted by J Jay

They're making the most of their most valuable asset..... Again, for a lot of people watching, Rossi is who they want to see and then hear from. Hopefully, they'll learn to want the same from the 150+ other drivers on offer. But realistically, that's not going to happen.
...

I'm not saying the focus on Rossi isn't grating - it is - but it isn't changing anytime soon. GTWC powered by VR46: take it or leave it.

This was very noticeable whilst watching at Brands Hatch - there were a lot of people there that clearly weren't sportscar fans (or even any sort of car racing fan) - they were there purely because Rossi was there. Some of them (maybe even most of them) won't bother with any other car events - but there were certainly some that seemed to be having an epiphany and were looking at coming back for more car events off the back of watching the GTs. From a promoter and circuit perspective that's a win and justifies the constant pushing of Rossi in front of the camera.

[tux]

I understand why they do it with Rossi but they are also doing it with Chris Froggatt all be it to a lesser extent, whats with that? SKY are backing him too?

BTW its not going to be long before some of the Youtube streamer/gamers get into higher level racing and then things will never be the same again. Its all about social media numbers. Like it or not.

[tux]

In hindsight I was talking nonsense, sorry about that.

On Chris Froggatt from what I found it seems SKY decided to back him because he’s not taken a “traditional” route to motorsport. No problem with it, it’s a good thing because we get British GT & GTWC on Sky F1 but I was just curious because it seemed somewhat weird they’d sponsor a PRO AM car.

Do you really think WRT will ditch Audi? Would they pull out of GT & focus on a customer hypercar program with someone like Lamborghini or Cadillac? I guess a crazy suggestion could be that they switch to Lamborghini in GTWC & run a customer hypercar team.