550s over C5Rs: Was it the tires?

[pgtr]

Today the 550s got a very solid victory over the C5Rs. I didn't observe any errors on the part of Corvette Racing and the announcers on NBC said it had a lot to do w/ the tires. Up until the last race (and this one) the C5Rs had been unbeaten in GTS - so was it just the combination of this particular track and the tires? Or has something else changed on the part of the ProDrive or Corvette Racing team?

[Dani Filth]

... the cars are good .. the drivers are good .. the tyres are good .. the whole package is good .. the wins comes ...

[Jack Man]

I agree Dani they got their act together now and it's showing results.

[pirenzo]

I read an interview with Rory Byrne once.
He said:
"If your tyres aren't the best, you won't win. Simple as that"

If you don't know who Rory Byrne is, he designed the Championship winning Ferrari's of recent years, as well as the Benettons that Schumacher took to the title in 94, 95.

[Nick M]

Equally you can have the best tyres in the world, but if the rest of the car isn't doing them justice....

[RacingManiac]

Tyres simply is the most important part of ANY race car....the whole cars are designed for the optimum use of it. Simple as that. When the cars are close in quality, the tyre will make a huge difference. With good tyre one can make a bad car looks relatively good. By switching brand on our FSAE car we can gain or lose 2 sec on a 1 minute autocross course....

BTW, I don't think the 550 is a "better" car than the Vette and that the Vette has only been winning because the Prodrive is not doing as good a job as they could have been. The P&M Corvette team is a very solid operation with a good car. They deserve every win they've got. IMO people like Johnny O, Ron Fellows, Kelly Collins and Oliver Gavin are just showing that open wheel hotshoe aren't the only great crop of drivers in the world. Not to take anything away from Jan or Brabham or Enge, but experience still counts, and they still have speed too....

[Chevyguy]

Check out the most recent F1 GP and the difference will show. Ferrari with Michelins=win, Ferrari against Michelins=loss. The Vettes and 550s have proved equal in terms of the car, but the Goodyears have failed the Vettes two races in a row. If GM wants to dominate GTS, their long time ally has to match up. Always keep in mind that the tires are all that are supposed to make contact to the road. Traction is the most vital element to racing effectively.

Nick M, you could have the best race car in the world, but if the tires aren't doing them justice...

[RacingManiac]

Not exactly quite that simple with Ferrari with Michelin = win. Not to go off into F1 here, but with the level of technicality in F1, the car would have been designed to optimize a particular type of tyre. For instance, the Ferrari would have been designed to use the characteristic of the Bridgestone but not so much made to use the Michelin. So you can't really just swap one out for another and expect it to work as well as the Michelin team....But thats F1....

BTW, Corvette always seems to have done poorly at Laguna Seca, last year they had rare mechanical failure, and the year before I think they lost it to Saleen....

[veeten]

then again, one has to look at the Oreca Viper team, circa '97-'00, for the example of that.

3-time FIA GT champions
3-time LeMans GTS winners
'00 Daytona 24hrs Overall/GTS champions
'00 ALMS GTS Champions

...and all with the same main driver pairings and Michelin tyres.

[GP Racer]

Originally posted by Chevyguy
Check out the most recent F1 GP and the difference will show. Ferrari with Michelins=win, Ferrari against Michelins=loss. The Vettes and 550s have proved equal in terms of the car, but the Goodyears have failed the Vettes two races in a row. If GM wants to dominate GTS, their long time ally has to match up. Always keep in mind that the tires are all that are supposed to make contact to the road. Traction is the most vital element to racing effectively.

Nick M, you could have the best race car in the world, but if the tires aren't doing them justice...

One thing you forgot to mention in the F1 tire controversy is that, Michelin seems to have been caught cheating! They've used tires that are wider than the regs allow, thus giving a huge advantage to the Michelin cars. That's why your Ferrari against Michelin = loss theory may not be quite correct!

Could Michelin have been doing the same for the 550's here? Just asking.

[Chevyguy]

You guys might have read me the wrong way. My point was that the superior tire won in both instances, and in both circumstances against more developed racecars. My point being, it has everything to do with the tires, and no one makes them better than Michelin.

[veeten]

Originally posted by GP Racer
One thing you forgot to mention in the F1 tire controversy is that, Michelin seems to have been caught cheating! They've used tires that are wider than the regs allow, thus giving a huge advantage to the Michelin cars. That's why your Ferrari against Michelin = loss theory may not be quite correct!

Could Michelin have been doing the same for the 550's here? Just asking.

Just reminds me of last season, when Dupasquier had similarly accused Bridgestone of similar tactics, with the "funny smelling" tires that Ferrari was using. It seems that the compound they were using was giving off that unusual aroma, while giving them an "unfair advantage" in grip. Didn't seem to slow down Ferrari any, as they went on to win both Driver's & Constructor's championships.

So why should Michelin be any less worried...

we now return to your regularly scheduled thread, already in progress...

[C_g]

I would think tires had a great deal to do with the Prodrive win at Laguna, as that track has a very slick surface, one that changes depending on the time of the day. Corvette has always had problems there with their Goodyears. Prodrive beat them at Laguna last year, and beat them again this year. Perhaps Goodyear just can't get a tire working properly at Laguna? No one tests at Laguna until the race weekend, which maybe has something to do with it.

That said, the Goodyears on the Corvettes have been on par with the Michelins on the Prodrives all season. And they've had the measure of them at certain tracks.

Also remember, the win by Prodrive was helped by the Corvettes losing a lap during a full-course caution. If that hadn't happened, the final result may have been much, much closer.

[pgtr]

Originally posted by C_g
Also remember, the win by Prodrive was helped by the Corvettes losing a lap during a full-course caution. If that hadn't happened, the final result may have been much, much closer.

I missed that. How did that occur and affected the C5Rs and not the 550s?

The NBC coverage was bouncing around and it was difficult for me to follow the GTS class specifically but I do recall the coverage focused on what the announcers called an "unscheduled" stop by the C5Rs for tires and a quote from one of the drivers about the tires being fried or toast or something or other...

I believe teh C5Rs finished 2 and 3 laps down respectively. They didn't crash. They didn't have any mechanical failures (tires?).

[slicktsax]

hey veeten u also forgot that teh factory Oreca Vipers won the ALMS GTS championship in 99 too as well as the 99 petite lemans. but it is widely known that Michelins are the superior tire in sportscar racing as their tires can be double stinted or tripple stinted, look at teh prodrive ferraris at sebring and lemans, they were able to double stint their tires, the vettes weren't