Crown

Hey guys, the really hard 24h race is happening this week-end!

Here are a bunch of links to follow the race:

http://mikefrison.com/1160

 I know Pierre, but the ACO have castrated the Hybrid to such an extent that they have managed to dampen my excitement.

Also - BoP (Balance of Performance) is so weighted against the Porsche's, and in favor of the Audi's that it is positively revolting.

CORRECTION - I'm  sorry - I wrote ACO instead of ADAC. (I suppose it's habit)

Also - the funny thing is that the ADAC forgot (I assume) to apply BoP to the F458, and so I have a feeling that the Audi's are going to struggle.

Spyder, the really sad thing is that we're not going to be able to watch the 24hr race (nor the Carrera World Cup) in our neck of the woods - no SuperSport to the rescue this time. 

Have you managed to find an alternative (live streaming perhaps)?

Enjoy your weekend at the NoS guys

RT Moderator - 997.1 C2S GT Silver/Cocoa, -20mm sports suspension/LSD, PSE, short shifter, SportDesign rims, Zuffenhausen collection

PureBlue:

Spyder, the really sad thing is that we're not going to be able to watch the 24hr race (nor the Carrera World Cup) in our neck of the woods - no SuperSport to the rescue this time. 

Have you managed to find an alternative (live streaming perhaps)?

 Live timing here

Official site with timing (goes nuts at times ) and live streaming here

Live streaming here

A really great GPS driven site here

Finally - Radio Le Mans is providing coverage for the entire race Here

Enjoy my friend!

Fantastic, thanks for the info.

 this is one of the most spectacular races in the world, this year I cannot race it, as the last ones, and give my friend and co pilot of all mine races at the ring the best good luck in car numer 60.....  best luck guys..

993 c2

Spyderidol:

Also - BoP (Balance of Performance) is so weighted against the Porsche's, and in favor of the Audi's that it is positively revolting.

Sadly I have to fully agree with you, Spyderidol  BoP = Beschiss of Porsche  I hope Olaf Manthey doesn't have to eat his words from last years's 24h race "You can't buy success"
The SLS crowd isn't too happy about the BoP rules either. A friend, who's driving one of the SLS AMG GT3 (shame on him, normally he drives a GT3 Cup ) told me of ridiculously low top speeds on Döttinger Höhe due to the restrictor

Anyway, I hope justice prevails  and I'm looking forward to watch the race tomorrow - also can't wait for the Porsche Carrera World Cup: the sound of 100 GT3 Cup cars playing on the Nordschleife will be something  The Performance gap between the fastest (8:35,8) and the slowest Porsche drivers (10:18 ) is amazing.

public roads: Porsche 987 S Seal/Cocoa, toll road  : Porsche 997 GT3 Arctic/Black

 Enjoy it my friend! 

BoP is getting completely out of hand. Unfortunately it gives a lot of power to the organizers, and so it will now be very difficult to wrestle the power back from their grasp. They wont give up power easily.

Porsche Carrera World Cup at the Nurburgring...

Congratulations to Chris Harris for a second place podium finish in the 3.6-litre GT3 class in the Porsche Carrera World Cup at the Nurburgring...

...looking forward to the 2011 Nurburgring 24-hour race!

Nurburgring-24-hour_Porsche-Motorsport-coverage

Is it only me, or the live ranking on the official site is out of order from the very beginning?

is there any alternative site to know the ranking?

Boyko23:

Is it only me, or the live ranking on the official site is out of order from the very beginning?

is there any alternative site to know the ranking?

http://tv.sport1.de/player/player.php?id=s743873

Thank you Gauss, but I meaned the ranking, not the live stream... Any alternatives?

Porsche lap of the Nurburgring...

"Follow Sascha Massen on a lap of the legendary North Loop of the Nürburgring, the location of this year's 24 hour race..."

The number 18 SP7 Manthey Porsche is hanging in there in first place, fighting off the stronger SP9 cars. Let's hope he can keep his position!

edit: The 18 Manthey is an RSR, which equals GT2-spec, are these restricted to GT3-spec or what are the SP7 requirements exactly?

 They are heavily restricted. Less power than the GT3 but more aero.

Also - SP7 is for GT2 with engines up to 4.0L

http://adac.24h-rennen.de

--

- "I see dead pixels..."
- “When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

Congrats to Manthey Porsche for winning this race

 What a Birthday present!! Thanks Manthey!

The GT3 R Hybrid has many woes, unfortunately.

"The Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid also gave an impressive performance, even though its second start at the 24 hour classic did not yield the anticipated top finish. Fielded by Porsche Team Manthey with Porsche works drivers Joerg Bergmeister, Richard Lietz, Marco Holzer and Patrick Long, the innovative race car with its ground-breaking drive concept finished 28th, 17 laps behind the winner.  The 911 GT3 R Hybrid moved into the lead on Saturday about four hours after the start. But a broken flange in the differential sent it into the pits for repairs, which cost six laps to the leader.  After a good seven hours, the same problem struck again necessitating a second unplanned pit stop. This time repairs took 40 minutes. With a ten-lap gap to the front-runners, the 911 GT3 R Hybrid rejoined the race in position 105. Clocking lap times which were sometimes faster than those at the front, it ploughed through the field to the 23rd position. On Sunday morning the bad luck struck yet again when while lapping a slower competitor, Patrick Long was nudged and spun at high speed in the Flugplatz passage forcing another unscheduled pit stop for repairs."

"Form follows function"

Spyderidol:

 Enjoy it my friend! 

Manthey did it again

Yesterday was very exciting

> Carrera World Cup was awesome - very interesting to watch due to the typical Eifel weather (cold and wet): never saw so many Porsches going sideways on the Breidscheid bridge without anyone hitting the wall - great driving skills

> One of the things which make the 24h so special is that spectators are allowed to walk through the starting grid. I took the opportunity to visit 3 befriended drivers to wish them good luck. I never should do this again, bad Karma - two of them ended up in totalled cars  (luckily only bent metal though in one case quite expensive metal....400 kEUR ).

> the top teams make the 24h a 24h sprint race - 10 yrs ago no car would have survived this kind of torture;

> the speed of the top drivers in the night is unbelievable. Quote from Roland Dumas: "you must be much crazier to drive like this at the 'Ring than at Le Mans";

> bad luck for the SLS crowd - great performance and definitely an enrichment for the starting grid;

> some very hefty accidents luckily with no serious injuries for the drivers: 3series BMW jumping over the armco at Pflanzgarten, one SLS - leading the field at the time of the accident - crashing into a burning MINI at Fuchsröhre in the middle of the night.. 

> fantastic farewell race for Stuck sharing the driver's seat with his two sons

> for the private teams with no big budgets key for success (= finishing) is to keep away from the fighting big dogs. One of my friends - actually the pre-owner of my 'Ring toy - gained 70 positions by "just" driving very consistently but with "caution" .

> the fans still love the exotics - may it be the expensive Glickenhaus Über-Ferrari (spectacular to watch...and hear on the track) or the old Opel Manta...

Here's a great inboard vid from the 1st lap

http://youtu.be/OxUFkjDXZRE

--
 

public roads: Porsche 987 S Seal/Cocoa, toll road  : Porsche 997 GT3 Arctic/Black

Thanks P-J! I watched most of the race as it was being streamed. It was really fantastic.

As a long time sportscar racing fan, it's good to see that the sport is becoming more and more popular and appreciated by so many.

I really hope that its popularity does not spoil it too much (more on this later in another thread. - I am itching to put into words some thoughts I have had over the weekend on the future of Porsche motorsport).

Porsche-Jeck:

> One of the things which make the 24h so special is that spectators are allowed to walk through the starting grid. I took the opportunity to visit 3 befriended drivers to wish them good luck. I never should do this again, bad Karma - two of them ended up in totalled cars  (luckily only bent metal though in one case quite expensive metal....400 kEUR ).

Thank god you did not stop by my car

Interesting quote: (at least for me)

Wolfgang Hatz, Board Member for Research and Development at Porsche AG: “I’m proud to be part of such a troupe. What we saw this weekend was an immense team effort. The winning squad virtually just refueled and changed tyres. I promise that we will continue keeping the revs high in motorsport. There are wonderful things ahead of us. I’m looking forward to the future.”

TEE:

 

Thank god you did not stop by my car

Hahaha  Didn't know that you participated in the 24h - sounds as if you made it to the finish line ?

@ spyderidol: looking forward to your new thread

public roads: Porsche 987 S Seal/Cocoa, toll road  : Porsche 997 GT3 Arctic/Black

@ P-J : I have already written a 1,330 word document on my thoughts however, I have decided to hold off posting for the following reasons:

1. The quote from Wolfgang Hatz has intrigued me. I don't know what is coming up , but I decided that it would be prudent to give Porsche a little time before posting my thoughts. I can always post them if nothing comes up relatively soon, or if what they come up with wont "excite" the fans or more importantly , the organizers - (don't forget organizers have the BoP tool that they can use to promote what they consider to be "interesting" or "desirable" cars)  - (I think you can see the lines along which my document goes)
2. I would give certain members on this board a heart attack if I posted my thoughts at this time, so I decided to be ...less controversial.

Thanks for your interest anyway. It's always a pleasure to discuss motoracing with you!

Porsche World Cup Nordschleife onboard with Sean Edwards...

After the most important race of the year, the Porsche Carrera World Cup with more than 100 participating 911 GT3 cup cars from different one-make-cups at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, tolimit motorsport takes the lead in all championship with its drivers Sean Edwards, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Khaled Al Qubaisi finishing on places 4, 7 and 62 respectively. Changing weather conditions with a lot of rain and the high density of participants turned the race on the 25.378 track into a challenge for teams and drivers.

According to the regulations, the team started under the flags of ‘Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit’ and represented the partners from both one-make cups Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, Deutsche Post, aabar, Windreich and SR Technics. Qualifying, however, did not run according to plan.

Sean Edwards: “It was a tough qualifying with so much traffic and so many yellow flags. It was not so much about speed, but about getting a clear lap, which I hardly managed.” In the end, the Brit started from position 7.

Jeroen Bleekemolen, who’s 911 GT3 Cup represented the colours of Deutsche Post, made the same experience: “I am very disappointed about the qualifying. I was not able to drive one clear lap. When you put so many drivers with different skill levels together onto the Nordschleife, a lot is to happen for sure. And that messed up all my fast laps.”

Khaled Al Qubaisi, who as always represented his home country of Abu Dhabi on his car, experienced some difficulties with the steering in qualifying: “Something was wrong, but we sorted it out for the race. Other than that I am of course suffering a bit from the changing weather. The Nordschleife is a really challenging track.” The business man from Abu Dhabi started from position 82.

On time for the race start on Saturday, the weather became typical for the Eifel region: it was raining heavily. Sean Edwards had a good start and managed to catch up to position 4. The rain specialist then benefited from the crash of his biggest competitor Nick Tandy, however, had to give way to a harsh manoeuvre from Nordschleife specialist Lance Arnold. While the track dried down again, he finished the race on position 4. For the championship, however, he will get the points for position 3, as Arnold is a guest starter. So Edwards takes over the lead in the driver standings in Carrera Cup as well as in Supercup.

Sean Edwards: “A great, but also a difficult race. I could hardly see anything in the first two laps and realised that one mistake here would end in a huge crash. Tandy took a lot of risk and finally crashed into the barriers. After that I just wanted to finish the race. I knew that I would take over the lead in both championships. A huge thanks to the team for a great job, as always.”

Team mate Jeroen Bleekemolen made his way up to the front, too. The Dutch racer faced a double challenge on this weekend due to his start in the 24 hour race. After his constant fight for positions, he benefited from the drop outs of Huisman and Giermaziak in the second lap as well as of Thiim in the third lap and finished the race on position 7. Due to the guest starters in front of him, he collects the points for position 5.

Jeroen Bleekemolen: “It was quite a good race. I was very careful at the beginning, because I couldn’t see anything. After two laps it cleared up, but I had already lost some time to the frontrunners. The speed was there, however and I would have needed one more Grand Prix track lap in order to catch two more competitors. 7th place is ok compared to where I started from on the grid.”

Khaled Al Qubaisi probably had to solve the most difficult issue in the race. The tight starting grid and the different skill level of the participants resulted in him constantly facing yellow flags and overtaking manoeuvres. Nevertheless, he competently took the challenge and moved from starting position 82 to a great 62nd place. For the driver championship in Supercup, he therefore collects his first two points of the season.

Khaled Al Qubaisi: “I managed to stay out of trouble in the race and kept on improving step after step. It’s great to collect my first two championship points in the Supercup here on the Nordschleife. After a mixed start into the weekend, this is a satisfying finish.”

tolimit head of motorsport Michael Seifert: “It was an extreme weekend that turned all legalities for one-make-cups upside down. It was more an endurance than a sprint race. Nevertheless, we took the challenge and finished as the best team of the championships. With the points collected, we take over the lead in both the Supercup and the Carrera Cup. For me personally, the result in this important race is a great relief. Team and drivers gave their best. Thanks for the performance. It makes me really proud.”

tolimit managing director Hans-Bernd Kamps: “Team and drivers did a great job this weekend. Despite of all adversities such as weather and traffic, we jointly showed a great performance. Sean now leads the driver standings of both championships and Jeroen is the runner-up in Carrera Cup. We can’t complain and keep on working to win the title.”

Boxster Coupe GTS:

Porsche Carrera World Cup at the Nurburgring...

Congratulations to Chris Harris for a second place podium finish in the 3.6-litre GT3 class in the Porsche Carrera World Cup at the Nurburgring...

 ...looking forward to the 2011 Nurburgring 24-hour race!

Nurburgring-24-hour_Porsche-Motorsport-coverage

 

2011 Nurburgring 24-hour race evo magazine drivers' interviews...

Evo magazine had three drivers at the 2011 Nurburgring 24-hour race -- Chris Harris in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (no.56), John Barker in an Audi R8 LMS (no.28) and Richard Meaden in an Aston Martin V12 Zagato (no.5)

...thanks to Chris Harris, Richard Meaden and John Barker from evo magazine!