Jun 25, 2013 6:12:33 PM
Spyderidol:
reginos:
Spyderidol:
I have just returned from 4 days in the bush. I missed the race, but the news has made my day!
The best Birthday present by far!!!
Happy birthday. I wish next year you celebrate with an Overall win!
You were not expecting Porsche to defeat Aston and Ferrari. Strategy and coincidences played their role. But, do you think that the 991 is there with the frontrunners? Of course, last year's car won too in Am.
Thank you Reginos my friend. I also hope to celebrate next year (at Le Mans) with an overall win.
I did not expect the 991 to win, but I think the last round of BoP gave it the necessary power that it needed to be competitive. To be fair however, I think the handling of the car itself has also improved tremendously.
Congratulations to Porsche!
Do you know if the problem with rear tyre wear on the 997 RSR, has been reduced/eliminated on the new model?
"Form follows function"
I still don't get BoP. So was the 1mm "fair" or as it turned out, should it have been 0.75mm..?
Spyderidol: is there a better way of doing it? The new LMP1 rule is great: no engine capacity restriction, no air restriction. Simply certain overall car size parameters - seems fair as there is no subjectiveness that will always exist when trying to artificially make BoP adjustments.
with GT cars, why not simply stick to engine capacity classes. If you want to compete, make sure your homologated engine is the maximum size to start with, or stick to a very simple turbo / normally aspirated ratio. Within 5 years the sports car makers that want to compete will have decided on a common ground. Is this too simplistic? Is there another better option than the unsatisfactory one we currently have? (Or is it satisfactory to you?)
--
Porsche Carrera GTS (2012); Porsche Cayenne Diesel (2012)
Jun 25, 2013 7:30:53 PM
reginos:
Spyderidol:
reginos:
Spyderidol:
I have just returned from 4 days in the bush. I missed the race, but the news has made my day!
The best Birthday present by far!!!
Happy birthday. I wish next year you celebrate with an Overall win!
You were not expecting Porsche to defeat Aston and Ferrari. Strategy and coincidences played their role. But, do you think that the 991 is there with the frontrunners? Of course, last year's car won too in Am.
Thank you Reginos my friend. I also hope to celebrate next year (at Le Mans) with an overall win.
I did not expect the 991 to win, but I think the last round of BoP gave it the necessary power that it needed to be competitive. To be fair however, I think the handling of the car itself has also improved tremendously.
Congratulations to Porsche!
Do you know if the problem with rear tyre wear on the 997 RSR, has been reduced/eliminated on the new model?
From what I have read, the issues with the 991 was actually related to the front suspension. It seems that the car had over-steer (I suspect mid-corner over-steer). It seems that Porsche have solved this issue but lets see when we get to a track with more corners.
According to the drivers, Porsche was able to three-stint their tires, which would indicate that the rear tire ware issue has been mitigated (at least at Le Mans.)
Jun 25, 2013 7:36:18 PM
Budster:
I still don't get BoP. So was the 1mm "fair" or as it turned out, should it have been 0.75mm..?
Spyderidol: is there a better way of doing it? The new LMP1 rule is great: no engine capacity restriction, no air restriction. Simply certain overall car size parameters - seems fair as there is no subjectiveness that will always exist when trying to artificially make BoP adjustments.
with GT cars, why not simply stick to engine capacity classes. If you want to compete, make sure your homologated engine is the maximum size to start with, or stick to a very simple turbo / normally aspirated ratio. Within 5 years the sports car makers that want to compete will have decided on a common ground. Is this too simplistic? Is there another better option than the unsatisfactory one we currently have? (Or is it satisfactory to you?)
--
Porsche Carrera GTS (2012); Porsche Cayenne Diesel (2012)
I'll try write a bigger post tomorrow outlining some of my thoughts on this issue. I hate BoP and that although some BoP will always be needed, it must/should have some goalposts established. I don't think it is reasonable that a car with a 15% bigger engine capacity (Aston) is given the same size air restrictors as the smallest engined car of the same class (Porsche).
Jul 1, 2013 1:40:44 PM
Hi Budster - My apologies for the delay. In continuation to what I posted earlier, I recognize that in order to provide sustainability to GTE racing through rules that entice a fist full of manufacturers to compete, some BoP is required. It has always existed and will most likely, always exist into the foreseeable future. However, (and this is where the cookie begins to crumble) it has never been as pervasive and evident as it is currently in both GTE-AM and GTE-Pro. The ACO loves it. Manufacturers love it. Most fans hate (oh ok, "dislike") it. The ACO loves it because Manufacturers love it and they get huge car counts (which is one of the ways that the success of a series is measured) on the starting grids. The other reason is that it gives them a tremendous sense of power (in effect, they are able to "manage" each make's performance). Manufacturers love it because it cuts the engine development investment required to play "catch-up" if the opposition becomes too aggressive (or overpowering). Remembering that most manufacturers race in GTE in order to sell their products to their racing clients (and provide brand recognition, credibility, and status for their road-going products), less investment can (in the short-term) lead to greater profit margins. Fans of my ilk, hate it! It insults our intelligence. It falsifies results and finally it takes real merit away from victories. (I'm being a little harsh...but you get my drift). A compromise must be found at the risk of all credibility disintegrating and may eventually lead to a lack of interest with the final consequences being the downfall of the series itself. My suggestion is to establish goalposts in which BoP can operate. For instance: If the base restrictor for a 4.0L engine is 23.8mm (just a random number for illustration purposes), then the maximum BoP that the particular size engine can benefit from would be say 0.3mm. This would have some influence on performance, but would avoid BoP-mobiles (like the Astons and BMW's). Similar goalposts need to be devised for waivers. Finally, the base numbers for air restrictors for the various engine sizes need to be recalculated so that the obvious need for BoP be eliminated as far as possible. Fortunately, there are people far better qualified and smarter than I that will no doubt come up with better solutions. I hope to see them in practice in the near future.