Friday 19th July 2002

Friday Testing

Saleen on top again

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[viperman]

why has the BRDC given the saleen a bigger air restrictor, firstly they gave it a smaller one and it still won all the races now theyve 'compromised' with the BRDC and they agreed to give them more power by a larger restrictor! ITS SO ANNOYING

[pete_brunton]

Its interesting that alot of people are frustrated by the Saleen this year, but I seem to remember last year and the year before it almost being a foregone conclusion that the Lister would win and the Cerbera would fail to finish. No one seemed to be complaining about the Lister Storm then.

I suspect that most of it is down to the fact that the GT has narrowed down. I agree with the sentiments that Viperman has posted elsewhere that the championship would be better with the Vipers back: bring back some serious fights for 2nd and 3rd places.

Still wouldn't beat the Saleen though!

[viperman]

yeah i understand that, but last year the lister didnt wn every round, it had serious competiton from the hayles racing viper, and it almost beat the lister but a string of unfortunate events put the championship out of reach for them, so in previous years it has ben closer and now the saleen is just running away with it!
i feel sorry for the TVR engenieering, lister storm, brookspeed, e.tc because this year non of them are even gonna get a look in, and brookspeed are finished, the company seem to have gone bankrupt, but i still think GT class will be around for sometyime yet (i hope) but next year i think something will be done to cut costs and attact more teams and cars to the series

[Thumper]

It's not that I'm playing Devil's Advocate here (although my comments elsewhere might be interpreted that way!) but there's another factor we shouldn't overlook. I know that the #8 Saleen finished second yesterday at Rockingham, but that's the first time the GNM squad has achieved a one-two, and it came about as much through the misfortune of others as any presumed dominance by the car. That second car doesn't carry the weight penalties of the #7, yet it has never really challenged the Erdos/McKellar partnership (although Geoff Lister got ahead in qualifying at Combe, of course). I think this is where the #7 Saleen really wins out over the other front-runners in GT. David Warnock is a good and much improved driver, but he's not as quick as Mike Jordan. McKellar and Erdos, however, are evenly matched and both exceptionally quick - in any car. Caine and Barff are fast enough in the TVR, but it still has reliability problems or, as yesterday, other handicaps.
As Tommy Erdos said after the race, the Saleens shouldn't be penalised again just because other people make mistakes or have difficulties. He may have a point.

[viperman]

yeah i totally agree that erdos and ian mckellar are excellent and very fast drivers, and mckellar drove a saleen S7-r last year to, so its bound to be a good combination, but seen as the saleen is still dominating, the BRDC decide to give it more power?, very strange maybe this is what grahm nash said to the BRDC director 'i'll give u a fiver if you'll let us have a bigger restrictor!' and he said 'ok'!!!!!
(jokin)!!!!

[Thumper]

The change in restrictor size may have given the Saleen a little more power, but that's not where the car has an advantage. If you look at the speed traps from Rockingham (visit mstworld.com ) you'll see that the #7 is sometimes seventh or eighth fastest through the traps, and rarely, if ever, quickest. (The fastest cars are typically the #77 GTO Porsche or the #55 Tuscan R) Going back to a smaller restrictor size might slow it a bit but, at the end of the day, the #7 wins races because it's a well sorted car driven by a pair of top drivers. It also stands out above the crowd because the crowd's so small, and when half the front-runners (that's only two cars, after all!) drop out or have problems, what might have been a close race looks like a walk-over.

It's worth pointing out that Mike Jordan's lap record for Rockingham, set in the Lister Storm last year, still stands. Thomas Erdos was almost a second off that pace, while Tim Sugden's new record for GTO was over a second faster than Kelvin Burt's 2001 record. Had the Storm not failed on Sunday I reckon we'd have had a very close finish.

[GrahamG]

Yep, it was noticeable last weekend that it was less a case of the Saleen running away with the race and more a case of the other major contenders falling by the wayside.