FIA GT Sprint Series 2013 (SRO GT3)

[Rodger Davies]

Absence of consistently strong rivals definitely, only two other real championship contenders and one of them got shafted by McLaren (amongst others).

Don't underestimate Vanthoor though, he's not bad and especially fast in the wet; Silverstone BES last year he was the only one in the same postcode as the Max Martin BMW.

[Marcel ten Caat]

Who got shafted by McLaren? ;-)

[NightStalk3r]

Originally Posted by Marcel ten Caat

Who got shafted by McLaren? ;-)

Everyone who bought a MP4-12C GT3

[Purist]

How's that?

It's not like it's a slow car. I can't say that it's had a horrific reliability record for a pretty darn new car; it's certainly more than adequate for the shorter-duration races.

[Marcel ten Caat]

The only one in FIA GT Series was Sebastien Loeb Racing...and they were also the only team that was thrown out on a number of occasions.

Yet they blamed McLaren for the problems...

[Rodger Davies]

Ah, not all were McLaren's, not all were theirs. Some were neither (I thought the Slovakia situation was particularly harsh, the Audi got a penalty but still finished way up whilst the McLaren got punted off by all and sundry behind). Was a mix of bad fortune all around. I didn't think the factory supplied driver, Parente, had a particularly good year either, despite his ability.

With the McLaren in general, it's never really taken off as the platinum cars of the GT3 class. From the few people I've spoken to who've driven one (far far fewer than Marcel of course!), I get the impression that it's fast when you get it right, but difficult to set up correctly and more difficult to drive as an amateur than some of the other contenders.

SLR might have made most noise, but they weren't the only team to drop the McLaren over 2013. The factory won't be producing many at the moment I suspect, there are likely to be plenty of second-hand ones on the market.

[cmk]

Originally Posted by JoestForEver

Too bad. Literally having no knowledge of German, but AFAIK Vanthoor as such a young driver, a large part of the champion this year should go to Stephane Ortelli's job, and, the absence of strong rivals like Marc Basseng

Really? In the various races I've watched over the past couple of years I'd rate Vanthoor's performance higher than Ortelli's, despite the difference in experience.

[JoestForEver]

Originally Posted by cmk

Really? In the various races I've watched over the past couple of years I'd rate Vanthoor's performance higher than Ortelli's, despite the difference in experience.

IMO through the season of 2012, Vanthoor cannot match up with the rest of the field, but Ortelli at least has better pace. Can't remember how often I saw a frustrated Audi behind someone else when he is behind the wheel. This year, however, he does make progress, I admit.

Ah... and the Mclaren thing. I don't think it's Loeb's problem. After all, the crew won French GT champion. In 2012, Hexis suffered much more reliability problems. Every pit stop is nerve-racking for me.
Is it Makowiecki or Dusserdorp got sacked?

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by JoestForEver

Is it Makowiecki or Dusserdorp got sacked?

Makowiecki will get the sack simply because he is now a Porsche factory driver, so I suspect his contract there will prevent him from racing many things that aren't a Porsche.

... although, when thinking of Marc Lieb's outings in V8 Supercars this year, there are some exceptions, but probably in series where there are no Porsches racing.

[JoestForEver]

I thought Mako is a AF corse driver. :-(, Now it seems that I'm wrong, but I like him very much though.