Silverstone Supercar - FIA GT1 World Championship 1-2 May
Discussion
JenkinsComp said:
So, Corvettes are leading the championship, and it's round 2 at Silverstone this weekend.
I'll be there to cover the event and generally hang out in the Corvette pit as much as possible.
Anyone else coming along?
Me too, I'll be there tomorrow through Sunday I'll be there to cover the event and generally hang out in the Corvette pit as much as possible.
Anyone else coming along?
I've also sent out 25 Infield parking passes for other Corvette owners so there should be a good crowd there supporting the vettes over the weekend.
GT1 Corvettes were heavily ballasted up after round 1, and were the heaviest cars on the grid for Silverstone. Didn't do too well, Hezemans car caught fire - I was standing next to his father Toine in the pit at the time and for a few horrible minutes we didn't know if Mike was out of the car or not. He was fortunately, but the car was well alight. Some kind of fuel tank leak caused it.
Oliver Gavin was really quick in the Mad Croc corvette, and matched the lap times of the leading Aston DBR9s, which were a huge 90kg lighter than the Z06s. Gavin was making his way up through the field until he was punted off bu one of the Nissans.
Qualifying race the C6Rs came 7th, 11th, 12th and 13th.
Championship race they finished 11th, 14th, 18th and 20th.
Phoenix Carsport still lead the point table though, as the Ford GT of Grosjean and Mutsch crashed out of both races.
The Nissan GTR of Jamie Campbell-Walter and Warren Hughes "won" the race after the Astons of Darren Turner/Thomas Enge and Accary/Makowiecki were handed penalties after finishing 1-2.
For full results, click here: http://gt1world.com/results/event/2
The good news is that the Callaway Corvette Z06 won GT3!
Oliver Gavin was really quick in the Mad Croc corvette, and matched the lap times of the leading Aston DBR9s, which were a huge 90kg lighter than the Z06s. Gavin was making his way up through the field until he was punted off bu one of the Nissans.
Qualifying race the C6Rs came 7th, 11th, 12th and 13th.
Championship race they finished 11th, 14th, 18th and 20th.
Phoenix Carsport still lead the point table though, as the Ford GT of Grosjean and Mutsch crashed out of both races.
The Nissan GTR of Jamie Campbell-Walter and Warren Hughes "won" the race after the Astons of Darren Turner/Thomas Enge and Accary/Makowiecki were handed penalties after finishing 1-2.
For full results, click here: http://gt1world.com/results/event/2
The good news is that the Callaway Corvette Z06 won GT3!
Unfortunately the pre-season balance of performance was done badly this year and subsequently the FIA / SRO made adjustments after the first race weekend at Yas Marina. The Astons and Nissans were really poor at the first round so were rewarded with an increased restrictor and no weight increase respectively. Every other car got some sort of penalty. Obviously the conditions in the gulf and Silverstone are vastly different so surprise surprise the Astons and Nissan were then 2 seconds a lap faster than anything else at Silverstone once their hands were revealed in qualifying.
I spoke to Patrick Selleslagh of Mad-Croc at the weekend and he said they would rather have a restrictor penalty over a weight penalty as weight is dangerous as the cars are not designed to run at these extreme weights. The weight ruins handling, braking, acceleration, tyre grip and wear etc. whereas a restrictor change just reduces the engine power.
The Corvettes engines are also struggling with the Magnetti Marelli engine management system which keeps breaking the engines by reversing them as they start them and the powershift gear change doesn't work with the new engine management system either!
I spoke to Patrick Selleslagh of Mad-Croc at the weekend and he said they would rather have a restrictor penalty over a weight penalty as weight is dangerous as the cars are not designed to run at these extreme weights. The weight ruins handling, braking, acceleration, tyre grip and wear etc. whereas a restrictor change just reduces the engine power.
The Corvettes engines are also struggling with the Magnetti Marelli engine management system which keeps breaking the engines by reversing them as they start them and the powershift gear change doesn't work with the new engine management system either!
Edited by vetteheadracer on Wednesday 5th May 10:23
Weight adjustment announcements were made by the FIA and published in the media centre above the pits.
I have copies of the announcements, this is what they say:
Nissan GTR: 20kg removed from minimum weight of car. This was 1250kg, now 1230kg.
Corvette Z06: 40kg added to the minimum weight of car. This was 1200kg, now 1240kg.
Aston DBR9: 50kg removed from the minimum weight of car. This was 1200kg, now 1150kg.
Lambo LP670SV: 10kg removed from minimum weight of car. This was 1200kg, now 1190kg. Intake restrictors size increased to 2x 32.8mm, instead of 2x 32mm.
Maserati MC12: 35kg added to the minimum weight of car. This was 1200kg, now 1235kg. Intake restrictors sized at 2x 31.2mm. No previous size stated.
I spoke to Aart Andriesson, the engine builder who builds LS7 race engines and runs APP who supply works teams. He said that the engine management can be reprogrammed to work with smaller intake restrictors, so that it makes a negligible difference to the torquey LS7.
The weight penalties however, do make a huge difference. On average the Astons were alot quicker but in race 2 Oliver Gavin managed a lap only half a second outside the best lap by the Astons, just before he was punted off after passing a Lambo and a GTR.
I think all this playing around just serves to complicate matters and spoils the sport. The Nissan GTR should run with 4WD and turbos, cos it is a Nissan GTR. It sounded like a NASCAR, which is nice but so un-GTR! The Lambo should be 4WD. There should be no restricotrs, and no weight penalties. There should just be a minimum weight of 1100kgs for everyone.
The differences in the cars is what we love to see, and sport means "may the best man win", not "lets take it in turns to win for publicitys sake".
I have copies of the announcements, this is what they say:
Nissan GTR: 20kg removed from minimum weight of car. This was 1250kg, now 1230kg.
Corvette Z06: 40kg added to the minimum weight of car. This was 1200kg, now 1240kg.
Aston DBR9: 50kg removed from the minimum weight of car. This was 1200kg, now 1150kg.
Lambo LP670SV: 10kg removed from minimum weight of car. This was 1200kg, now 1190kg. Intake restrictors size increased to 2x 32.8mm, instead of 2x 32mm.
Maserati MC12: 35kg added to the minimum weight of car. This was 1200kg, now 1235kg. Intake restrictors sized at 2x 31.2mm. No previous size stated.
I spoke to Aart Andriesson, the engine builder who builds LS7 race engines and runs APP who supply works teams. He said that the engine management can be reprogrammed to work with smaller intake restrictors, so that it makes a negligible difference to the torquey LS7.
The weight penalties however, do make a huge difference. On average the Astons were alot quicker but in race 2 Oliver Gavin managed a lap only half a second outside the best lap by the Astons, just before he was punted off after passing a Lambo and a GTR.
I think all this playing around just serves to complicate matters and spoils the sport. The Nissan GTR should run with 4WD and turbos, cos it is a Nissan GTR. It sounded like a NASCAR, which is nice but so un-GTR! The Lambo should be 4WD. There should be no restricotrs, and no weight penalties. There should just be a minimum weight of 1100kgs for everyone.
The differences in the cars is what we love to see, and sport means "may the best man win", not "lets take it in turns to win for publicitys sake".
Interesting that after the 1st round which the Ford GT romped away to win and yet no restrictor or weight penalty, Corvette comes second and gets a massive weight penalty.......Astons perform rubbish and get a weight reduction (and a restrictor increase) for their "home" race and go on to "win" before being penalised for naughty stuff!
I must say I have my doubts that all the cars weighed exactly 1200kg before the season started.
I reckon that BoP skewed the baseline, but they quote 1200kg as the cars had been "equalised" (or not as the case may be).
So really, when you watch a GT1 "race" you have absolutely no idea who is doing well and who isn't. It is a farce.
I saw that in this weeks Autosport Stephane Ratel was quoted in relation to the German Manufacturer Veritas wanting to join the series in 2011. Ratel said "I have a lot of supercar brands calling me, but the FIA GT1 World Championship is about true production cars".
Thats true production cars like the Maserati MC12 - which has been out of production for over 5 years, and out of the 50 cars built, less than 20% were road registered. Hmm.
And true production cars like the Nissan GTR, that popular Rear Wheel Drive, normally aspirated V8 coupe.
Or the Rear Wheel Drive Lamborghini Murcielago and Rear Wheel Drive Audi R8.
So where are the Caterhams, Radicals, Moslers, Koenigsegg, Caparo T1, Pagani Zondas, Hennessey Venom GT, Saleen S7, Noble M600, Fenix, and Ginetta/Farboud?
Maybe an alternative series should be started, the FIA Supercar Series, for road legal vehicles of any shape or production numbers. No limits on engine size, minimum weight, just that they have to be road legal and run on road tyres. No bulls
t BoP or Success Ballast. Just good old fashioned motor sport where the fastest car/driver on the day wins.
I reckon that BoP skewed the baseline, but they quote 1200kg as the cars had been "equalised" (or not as the case may be).
So really, when you watch a GT1 "race" you have absolutely no idea who is doing well and who isn't. It is a farce.
I saw that in this weeks Autosport Stephane Ratel was quoted in relation to the German Manufacturer Veritas wanting to join the series in 2011. Ratel said "I have a lot of supercar brands calling me, but the FIA GT1 World Championship is about true production cars".
Thats true production cars like the Maserati MC12 - which has been out of production for over 5 years, and out of the 50 cars built, less than 20% were road registered. Hmm.
And true production cars like the Nissan GTR, that popular Rear Wheel Drive, normally aspirated V8 coupe.
Or the Rear Wheel Drive Lamborghini Murcielago and Rear Wheel Drive Audi R8.
So where are the Caterhams, Radicals, Moslers, Koenigsegg, Caparo T1, Pagani Zondas, Hennessey Venom GT, Saleen S7, Noble M600, Fenix, and Ginetta/Farboud?
Maybe an alternative series should be started, the FIA Supercar Series, for road legal vehicles of any shape or production numbers. No limits on engine size, minimum weight, just that they have to be road legal and run on road tyres. No bulls
t BoP or Success Ballast. Just good old fashioned motor sport where the fastest car/driver on the day wins. Gassing Station | Corvettes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff