Will V8 Development Series cars race in the endurance events?

TilkeWannabe · 17 Jun 2008, 06:58 (Ref:2230575)

I don;t know whether they are or not. Plz ratify this fact, if it is a fact.

racer69 · 17 Jun 2008, 08:06 (Ref:2230610)

Not this year, the plan seems to be to include them next year

DAVID PATERSON · 18 Jun 2008, 07:47 (Ref:2231649)

What a great idea. Imagine Bathurst with 55 cars.

Tony C · 19 Jun 2008, 02:29 (Ref:2232334)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DAVID PATERSON

What a great idea. Imagine Bathurst with 55 cars.

Definitely showing your age if you can remember seeing 55 start at bathurst. mmmm those were the days, cars starting from back near the chase.... those were the days... ooops showing my age now.

Seriously, I would love to see it happen but highly doubtful when you allow for the DVS guys that get into L1 teams for the weekend there wont be many teams left to 'have a crack' like was the tradition.

stoned pony · 19 Jun 2008, 02:03 (Ref:2232331)

Could the pit garage facility handle 55 cars?

sizzle · 19 Jun 2008, 02:54 (Ref:2232337)

Quote:

Originally Posted by stoned pony

Could the pit garage facility handle 55 cars?

From memory it was built to have 2 cars in each "garage" wasn't it.

marcus · 19 Jun 2008, 05:22 (Ref:2232361)

maybe not 55 but Im sure we could bump the field to 35 possible 40, now that would be great.

Their would have to be some sort of criteria for the Fujitsu cars to get in , the top 10 in the championship perhaps and if they pass it gets passed to the next guy. But where do they draw the line as to yea or nay ??

Excellent idea though and one that would be a good reward for the Fujitsu guys

racer69 · 19 Jun 2008, 08:25 (Ref:2232440)

There's 36 two-car garages, therefore allowing 72 cars to fit in the pits (the pits were designed with the old 24hr in mind)

Of course as far as i know the CAMS track density is still at 55.

mountainstar · 20 Jun 2008, 06:34 (Ref:2233157)

I don't see any reason why they can't allow the top five fujitsu cars to race at Bathurst.

Falcadore · 21 Jun 2008, 05:38 (Ref:2233852)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mountainstar

I don't see any reason why they can't allow the top five fujitsu cars to race at Bathurst.

The top five are the least likely to be able to because the drivers, who almost always are the source of the teams funding, directly or indirectly, have jumped ship to the main game teams who need co-drivers.

The co-driver concept is almost preventative of allowing Fujitsu teams enterring.

TilkeWannabe · 21 Jun 2008, 05:56 (Ref:2233855)

I only asked because IMO, 28 cars starting a race 1000kms long on the longest track in the country definitely isn't enough. I'm only 17 and I can still remember, especially the '99 FAI 1000 where there were about 55 cars in the field for that year's race, including privateers. The number of cars entering ever since that year or something has gone down every year and I found that kind of saddening. I say bring back the days of the big Bathurst grid because i believe that would be better to watch and the privateer teams.

If it were up to me, with the V8 Development cars, I would have them running on chassis 1-2 years old and that's it. You don't, or I wouldn't want the Development cars being heaps slower that the regular V8 cars. That's just what I think.

Also with the issue of a possible driver shortage, I'm sure that some of the Carrera Cup drivers and possibly a couple of Australian GT drivers would relish the opportunity to driver in the Bathurst 1000.

MPA · 21 Jun 2008, 10:31 (Ref:2233983)

Quote:

Originally Posted by TilkeWannabe

If it were up to me, with the V8 Development cars, I would have them running on chassis 1-2 years old and that's it. You don't, or I wouldn't want the Development cars being heaps slower that the regular V8 cars. That's just what I think.

"Heaps slower" is subjective. In general I think you will find that the "Heaps" would not be as slow as the pre V8SC days when more than one class was running.

How things have changed hey? Here we are discussing if a larger grid of the same category can run.

Sad really.

racer69 · 20 Jun 2008, 16:20 (Ref:2233570)

Why only the Top 5?

Especially considering that most of the top 5 in the development series will be picked up by a main series team. Some of the cars outside the Fujitsu top 5 would probably produce a stronger pairing

If they want to continue keeping the battlers away, at the very least open it up to any car that did the full fujitsu series. For the size of the track anything under 40 cars is a joke.

And for those who will say that it will lead to more safety cars...we get more safety cars with 30 entries nowadays than we did when the field was around 45.

Reload · 20 Jun 2008, 21:57 (Ref:2233781)

Would there be a safety issue with the lower bracket of Fujitsu cars amongst the big guns and the differential in speed.
Also the amount of inexperienced drivers amongst a massive field, and at a track like Bathurst.

chavez · 21 Jun 2008, 01:58 (Ref:2233832)

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowgto

Would there be a safety issue with the lower bracket of Fujitsu cars amongst the big guns and the differential in speed.
Also the amount of inexperienced drivers amongst a massive field, and at a track like Bathurst.

The differential in speed would be insignificant compared to that experienced during the running of the race from 1963 to 1994.

Dealing with slower traffic is sadly missing from today's touring car races.

I have always thought adding the Carrera Cup cars to the field would be a good idea.

MPA · 21 Jun 2008, 02:53 (Ref:2233841)

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowgto

Would there be a safety issue with the lower bracket of Fujitsu cars amongst the big guns and the differential in speed.
Also the amount of inexperienced drivers amongst a massive field, and at a track like Bathurst.

Check out the qualifying times at Sandown for the two classes. Pole for the Fujis would have been on the tenth row in the main game. or thereabouts.

I'd say regardless of the car they'd have to qualify within the 107% ?

Open the event up for all V8SCs I say. But I guess the main game drivers will cry about once a year

drivers getting in the way and costing them series points. But stuff 'em! They manage to do a good enough job with lost points and panel damage on their own, so it's time to put away the Kleenex.

One must also remember that if we have 55 cars on the grid we need at least 110 drivers. Now that would be a sore point for the main game guys if the Development Fujis chose to race in their own cars.

mountainstar · 21 Jun 2008, 01:51 (Ref:2233831)

Quote:

Originally Posted by racer69

Why only the Top 5?

OK, the top 10 or 15, that's fine by me!

Rombles1 · 21 Jun 2008, 02:46 (Ref:2233840)

Seems to me to be a good way to increase the amount of passing.... even if a significant amount of it is due to Fujitsu cars getting lapped. Class racing works well in other series. I can't see any genuine downside to this plan.

MPA · 21 Jun 2008, 06:09 (Ref:2233863)

Falcadore, you do raise a valid point. Why spend your cash entering your top 5 Fujicar when you can park it and get a co-drive for the weekend.

I doubt you would have too much trouble finding 110 willing drivers to race in the Blah Blah 1000. Finding 110 with enough funding might be an issue.

One must see past the V8 spin doctoring and see that these cars are not the hardest cars to drive. Sure it might be hard getting the last few tenths from the machines to get you up the front end, but most of the guys at the really sharp and pointy end have both the talent and funding behind them. Go back a few years and no Team Owner would trust anyone under 30 to drive a touring car.

Now we give these cars to teenagers. Granted, they have sharp reflexes and think they're invincible but I think you'd find the driving talent pool would be big enough to put 55 cars on the grid.

Qualifying rules and the concrete walls should act as natural attrition to weed out the "Planet Morks" before Sunday morning.......

**GTRMagic** · 21 Jun 2008, 06:35 (Ref:2233871)

From the 2007 Bathurst timing...

Quickest Fujitsu Series Practice/Qualifying lap: 2:09.0264 T.D'Alberto Q1 Here
Quickest Main Series Practice/Qualifying lap: 2:07.0093 G.Tander P3 Here
Difference = 2.0171 seconds = 1.588% slower

Quickest Fujitsu Series Race lap: 2:11.1454 M.Caruso R2 Here
Quickest Main Series Race lap: 2:08.4651 J.Whincup Here
Difference = 2.6803 seconds = 2.086% slower

Or if you take the slowest main game fastest race lap: 2:11.1473 F.Coulthard or the next nearest 2:11.0347 M.Noske....

... the development series cars appear in the ballpark (or the quickest one does anyway)... with those pilots... who each have main game endurance duties....

MPA · 21 Jun 2008, 06:41 (Ref:2233873)

And with a 6 kay circuit it should take a few laps before the leaders start lapping.

But we could use the Safety Car to sort that out.

**GTRMagic** · 21 Jun 2008, 07:00 (Ref:2233879)

Would someone really pay to drive a car that is likely to be lapped at least 5 times during the event?

chavez · 21 Jun 2008, 07:08 (Ref:2233880)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Would someone really pay to drive a car that is likely to be lapped at least 5 times during the event?

There has probably been at least one person every year since 1963......

peckstar · 21 Jun 2008, 09:28 (Ref:2233939)

Quote:

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

Would someone really pay to drive a car that is likely to be lapped at least 5 times during the event?

i would

MPA · 21 Jun 2008, 07:39 (Ref:2233890)

Only one per year?

Surely there's more than one car per year that finishes 5 laps down.

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