ILMC Round 7 - 6 Hours of Zhuhai

[gregtummer]

Originally Posted by Somatosis

Greetings. First post from long time lurker and two strange feelings coming along with that.

First, having been an endurance fan all my life but shut out from it here in Oz (except maybe the Sandown 6hr where TV infected me with the bug) I find myself a tiny fish in the pond of sportscar knowledge and experience here - many thanks to you all for the intrigue, entertainment and education you've passed on to me during my lurkings.

Second is to find myself questioning my favourite driver combo in my first post but it's really got me intrigued so I figured to go with it....

I've just read the comments on EI from McNish about their woes from the weekend (contact from ferrari and Rebellion effectively ending the event) and very surprised to see the following evidence from the HD highlights:

On lap whatever it was when the legality panel incident (when it fell off) occurred, there is clearly smoke (tyre rubbing?) visible from the left rear corner of the #2 R18 just before turn 5. McNish then makes a clean turn in with at least 2' clearance from the front of the 430 ferrari.

There was a bit of talk on RLM about the visibility from the cockpit which could easily cause such an incident - which I would wholeheartedly agree as being entirely possible, however, the lack of contact from the video evidence is somewhat confusing. In fact, having far too much time on my hands today I reckon I have just seen the panel bobble around a bit towards the end of the previous lap. To me it seems more likely there was contact with Montagny on the exit of turn 2 lap 1!

So I'm wondering if it's just me?

Welcome! As custom, the first round of beer is on you! :

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by Tom908V12

I really hope next year at the 6 hours of Sao Polo public stands will be CROWDED !!!! Brazilians are huge fans of motorsport, and not only F1...would be a disastrous failure to see many empty places

To fill the stands, there must be a few brazilian stars driving decents cars. I'd love Hélio and Kanaan taking a Corvette now that they are Chevy drovers.

[Pandamasque]

Originally Posted by Somatosis

There was a bit of talk on RLM about the visibility from the cockpit which could easily cause such an incident - which I would wholeheartedly agree as being entirely possible, however, the lack of contact from the video evidence is somewhat confusing.

I'm not sure if there was contact either. But if there was, I wouldn't blame the Audi driver in this case. Ferrari clearly yielded and was letting the cars by, so it was the Ferrari driver's responsibility to do it safely. If a lapped car in front clearly decides to go off the racing line and let you by, you'd naturally expect it not to dive into the corner side by side but let you by before the corner entry.
The Audi #1 vs. Luxury Racing incident is clearly Audi's fault. The lack of any action from the stewards was not surprising though, given the earlier record.

[Somatosis]

Thanks for the welcome guys. Hopefully you've all received a beer from me in the meantime, can't guarantee that the courier won't have taken the odd swig on it's way through though

I didn't stick around long enough on the weekend to hear the RLM guys comment on possibility of McNish's contact not being with the 430, or either of the Fassler incidents. At about 2 hrs in I found I had recorded a red screen from Audi tv, and the rest of the race seemed to be a non-event in pretty much every class

Would have to agree with you on the blame game Chiana. I would even go a bit further and say that the onus of safety resting with the overtaking driver has been sadly ignored (at the cost of patience) for the majority of the recent past by a lot of the P drivers.

Having said that of course there is the case of the lapped drivers which Hindy has stated his views very clearly and I agree with those (and therefore your point Pandamasque).

Anyway LM racing still several echelons above pretty much any category I can think of for many reasons, so here's hoping WEC brings fulfilment to those (like me) anticipating a positive future.

[vyselegend]

Originally Posted by Pandamasque

The Audi #1 vs. Luxury Racing incident is clearly Audi's fault. The lack of any action from the stewards was not surprising though, given the earlier record.

I disagree. You'd be right if the Ferrari had been entering turn one on a racing lap, but he wasn't.

He was exiting the pits, and by doing so his job was to watch his mirror to check what was comming on the racing line before rejoining it. In my book it's up to the one exiting the pits to ensure that he can rejoin the racing line safely. But he didn't care, despite the R18 comming at 290km/h with flashing lights, and he cut across the way in front of the Audi, which was subsequently forced to a last moment turn-in correction, resulting in him losing a place and making contact with the GT.

I agree prototype drivers (Audi's especially) have been responsible of lots of contacts with GTs this year, so I won't cry for them, but it's not a reason to justify everything GT drivers do.

[CTD]

Originally Posted by vyselegend

I agree prototype drivers (Audi's especially) have been responsible of lots of contacts with GTs this year, so I won't cry for them, but it's not a reason to justify everything GT drivers do.

Funny comment as it was usually Peugeot who where bashed with this
(Not saying you are wrong )

[ubrben]

Apparently the drivers briefing at Petit was full of very upset GT drivers who feel the Diesel drivers are taking far too many risks at the moment. I don't disagree to be honest.

Ben

[henk4]

Originally Posted by vyselegend

I disagree. You'd be right if the Ferrari had been entering turn one on a racing lap, but he wasn't.

He was exiting the pits, and by doing so his job was to watch his mirror to check what was comming on the racing line before rejoining it. In my book it's up to the one exiting the pits to ensure that he can rejoin the racing line safely. But he didn't care, despite the R18 comming at 290km/h with flashing lights, and he cut across the way in front of the Audi, which was subsequently forced to a last moment turn-in correction, resulting in him losing a place and making contact with the GT.

I agree prototype drivers (Audi's especially) have been responsible of lots of contacts with GTs this year, so I won't cry for them, but it's not a reason to justify everything GT drivers do.

Depends on whether a blue light was flashing when leaving the pit strait. It is was a green, he could have it his way.

[Pandamasque]

Originally Posted by vyselegend

I disagree. You'd be right if the Ferrari had been entering turn one on a racing lap, but he wasn't.

The accident happened on the exit of T1, not on pit exit. Was he supposed to park at the pit exit, watch the mirrors and make sure everyones finishes the race before accelerating? That would surely be more dangerous. The prototype wasn't anywhere near the possibility to overtake before the corner, so he decided to dive bomb at the apex and so failed leave the room on the exit. From what I understand a car rejoining the track is free to take any normal line (within the rules) once it has passed the white line separating the pit exit 'lane'.

[vyselegend]

Mmmmm. Since I'm alone to think like that I'm probably wrong.

But to be honnest, I still think the Luxury driver would have been in a safer position keeping the inside line and just following the furious protos through the corner. (I can admit he's not forced to do that, I just say it'd be wiser). My point is they were really close and fast when he exited pits (which means he was particulary slow at the end of the straight), so choosing to try so hard to pass the corner first was asking for troubles, and there was nothing to gain racing a faster class anyway...

[henk4]

Originally Posted by vyselegend

Mmmmm. Since I'm alone to think like that I'm probably wrong.

But to be honnest, I still think the Luxury driver would have been in a safer position keeping the inside line and just following the furious protos through the corner. (I can admit he's not forced to do that, I just say it'd be wiser). My point is they were really close and fast when he exited pits (which means he was particulary slow at the end of the straight), so choosing to try so hard to pass the corner first was asking for troubles, and there was nothing to gain racing a faster class anyway...

not racing a faster class, but avoiding to loose time against somebody in the same class, is what counts, so he had every right to go all out.

[vyselegend]

Peugeot have issued their traditional video review for Zhuhai race. Nothing great in it (I guess because the race was not so intense), but still nice to watch.