Spa 24

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Original Poster:

1,413 posts

133 months

Friday 30th July 2021
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Someone has done a great job of mic'g up the track, sounds great.

Not sure if Super Pole needs renaming to ' We Did a Clean Lap' :-)

FredericRobinson

3,938 posts

239 months

Saturday 31st July 2021
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1st support race about to get underway, French Touring cars, live on the GT world YouTube channel.

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Original Poster:

1,413 posts

133 months

Saturday 31st July 2021
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The GT4 race was a cracker.

Shocker: the rain is here!

FredericRobinson

3,938 posts

239 months

Saturday 31st July 2021
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Seems a bit worrying that they're not showing what's caused this FCY

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Original Poster:

1,413 posts

133 months

Saturday 31st July 2021
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Looks like 'Pass on the Grass' is ok; from Porsche:

We are relieved to hear that @kevinestre is ok. He has left the medical centre and arrived back at Team Rutronik Racing.

hmm:
https://twitter.com/NickdeBruyne/status/1421490764...

FredericRobinson

3,938 posts

239 months

Saturday 31st July 2021
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No life threatening injuries, that's a hell of a relief

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Original Poster:

1,413 posts

133 months

Saturday 31st July 2021
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Aye, as you say when nothing is shown it doesn't bode well :-(
Thankfully all is well considering.

There is some footage available via Twitter.

WonkeyDonkey

2,419 posts

110 months

Saturday 31st July 2021
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Crash was shocking, all apart from Aitken have been released from hospital now. Hoping Aitkens injuries aren't too bad as I've always quite liked him in F2/3.

So much has already happened and there's still just under 20 hours to go!

FredericRobinson

3,938 posts

239 months

Saturday 31st July 2021
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Time to head back to the campsite for steak frites before getting back trackside for the night running.
Well it would be, always next year.

df76

3,822 posts

285 months

Saturday 31st July 2021
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WonkeyDonkey said:
Crash was shocking, all apart from Aitken have been released from hospital now. Hoping Aitkens injuries aren't too bad as I've always quite liked him in F2/3.

So much has already happened and there's still just under 20 hours to go!
Fingers crossed that he’s ok..

FredericRobinson

3,938 posts

239 months

Sunday 1st August 2021
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Whoever's in charge of the ever expanding'highlights' package needs dunking in the Eau Rouge, ruins otherwise excellent coverage

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Original Poster:

1,413 posts

133 months

Sunday 1st August 2021
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FredericRobinson said:
Whoever's in charge of the ever expanding'highlights' package needs dunking in the Eau Rouge, ruins otherwise excellent coverage
lol. The last hour will consist purely of 'highlights' and '...track limits...'.

Other than that, a decent race; looking forward to Vanthoor getting back in the Audi.


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Original Poster:

1,413 posts

133 months

Sunday 1st August 2021
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I was wondering how various corners don't seem to be causing track limit warnings.

Turns out there are some exemptions:

https://www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com/document...

Track map:
https://driver61.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/sp...

Interesting to note it references drain covers not being able to withstand the abuse, which happened in the British GT race where a cover was ripped out along with the bolts.

FredericRobinson

3,938 posts

239 months

Sunday 1st August 2021
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Fairly boring race suddenly gets very exciting

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Original Poster:

1,413 posts

133 months

Sunday 1st August 2021
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Looking at the colour of the sky about 15/20 minutes ago, I can't believe anyone didn't think heavy rain was coming.

Easy for me to say as 'Sofa Team Manager'.

FredericRobinson

3,938 posts

239 months

Sunday 1st August 2021
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This'll be another example of the safety car procedure making things more dangerous, only 1 driver will be able to see anything

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Original Poster:

1,413 posts

133 months

Sunday 1st August 2021
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Goodness me.

Peir Guidi, chapeau.

MitchT

16,227 posts

216 months

Sunday 1st August 2021
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Watched the main event on and off throughout from the cockpit cam in the Sky-Tempesta no. 93 Ferrari after it happened to pop up in my recommended stuff on YouTube not long after the race had started.

A few observations...

I got a real sense of being a part of the team from following one car from within the cockpit for the duration of the race.

The night portion of the race was very atmospheric. Visibility was much better than I imagined it might be in the dark.

Towards midnight (UK time) there was patchy fog around the circuit - a little in Eau Rouge and thicker patches in various places from the end of the Kemmel straight to Stavelot. Made for some hairy moments!

In the final hour the 93 Ferrari came in for a pit stop just before it started raining and consequently had a rather eventful lap on new slicks after the heavens opened half way round the out lap, then had to come back in for rain tyres.

Once up and running in the heavy rain, visibility was non-existent. I can only surmise that the driver was relying on muscle memory to know where the corners were and the green lights around the circuit to be reassured that there wasn't something on the track to hit!

After the chequered flag I felt unexpectedly emotional seeing all the marshals lining the track for the cool down lap. It was like all these unsung heroes who've got your back throughout the whole event, but are largely invisible, are suddenly there to see and you feel an overwhelming affection for them.

Edited by MitchT on Sunday 1st August 23:34

freedman

5,909 posts

214 months

Tuesday 3rd August 2021
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boxedin said:
Goodness me.

Peir Guidi, chapeau.
Yes, great drive, but WRTs decision to go to wets before the rain hit should have won the race. Denied only by the safety car, or Peir Guidi would have still been 30 seconds down at the flag

Truckosaurus

12,046 posts

291 months

Wednesday 4th August 2021
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freedman said:
...Denied only by the safety car....
It seems to defeat the object of having the FCY/Code60/VirtualSafetyCar speed limit if you are going to bunch everyone back up behind the Safety Car for a lap or two before the restart.

I believe the official reason is to allow the tyres to warm up but it would probably be safer to allow the race to restart with everyone spread out.