[WEC Race] 6 Hours of Nurburgring

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Er, I'm not condoning the use of racist lanaguage or being racist. I'm just saying that it's particularly prattish thing to manage to slip up like that over such an irrelevance.

I'm disappointed you thought I could think it is fine to say something racist.

I didn't say you thought it could be used. I agree that whilst it may not have been meant in a racist way (because tyres aren't people!), all I said it was that still doesn't make it appropriate whether he meant to use it that way or not.

I'm not the kind of person who'll write in with a complaint but I wouldn't be surprised if that did get one. Mistakes happen in broadcasting and are usually apologised for. That one was a bit beyond a mistake and was so shocking it just got glossed over during the broadcast.

[chernaudi]

Profanity often gets aired by mistake in NASCAR and other racing and sports broadcasts. But there's a difference between swearing, even the F-word, and something that can be taken as an offensive racist or sexist term. And you can bet that when it goes that far, someone will probably complain, be it issuing a formal complaint to a TV network, or going on social media or even writing an editorial in a newspaper or a news site criticizing the use of the word.

[TF110]

So the potential issue with the Toyota is that it over recovers too much braking energy here. In sc365's Saturday write up, Pascal Vasselon explained it

Toyota Gazoo Racing technical director Pascal Vasselon admitted they weren’t expecting to get pole, as the Nürburgring has historically been one of the the Japanese manufacturer’s worst tracks, because its double KERS system produces “far too much” energy.

“It means we have to detune it and it has negative effect on the car balance and on the brake temperature,” Vasselon explained. “Basically we have to drop recovery and our car is designed, and our systems need to have the recovery work well. Our brakes have a hard time when we do it. The success of recovery hurts us.”

I guess the formula for allowed energy deployment based on track distance hurts Toyota here because of the amount of braking for the length of the track is very high. Seemingly the amount recovered by their two kers is a good deal more than what they are allowed to deploy so they downtune it and that causes balance issues.

[Akrapovic]

In keeping with the original post of this thread being a website type round up post, here's a couple of race reports. One for LMP, one for GTE. Note that these have not been proof read, or edited (my partner is a professional editor...she hasn't taken her read pen to these yet!). Feedback, ideas etc are welcome.

Porsche dominates the Nürburgring

Porsche took a dominant 1-2 win at the 6 Hours of Nürburgring, extending their championship lead over the #8 Toyota. Bernhard crossed the line as the winner, just 1.6 seconds ahead of Andre Lotterer.

Toyota’s race got off on the wrong foot when the #8 slowed dramatically on the formation lap. Sebastien Buemi brought the car back to the pits where it was diagnosed as fuel pump failure. An impressive change by the Toyota crew saw the car rejoin losing just 5 laps, but any challenge for the podium was already lost.

Toyota lead the opening 90 minutes, with Kobayashi managing to keep both Porsches at bay. After the second round of pit stops the tide of the race turned, with Porsche passing the Toyota on track before stretching their lead. Jose Maria Lopez struggled to double-stint the Michelin tyres to the same affect as the Porsches, and slid to 50 seconds back. The time lost was never regained and Porsche strengthened its grip on the race.

Andre Lotterer rediscovered his mojo and pulled away at the front in the #1 Porsche, extending the gap to over 10 seconds. Ultimately a late call by the Porsche pit wall decided the race winner. Lotterer was held an additional 20 seconds in the pits, allowing Bernhard to cruise to the victory without the drama of swapping the cars on track.

The Mighty 38 of Jackie Chan DC Racing took a third victory of the year in LMP2, in similarly dominant fashion. The Jota-Sport run Oreca 07 took the lead from the Rebellions and never looked under threat for the remainder of the race.

Senna, Canal and Albuquerque brought the #31 Rebellion home in second, whilst a Nico Lapierre late race charge gave Signatech Alpine its first podium of the year.

After having its pole position lapped removed for a technical violation, G-Drive racing started from the back of the grid and had to serve a further 3 minute stop and go penalty after Rusinov’s incident at Le Mans. The team managed an impressive come back as substitute driver Ben Hanley claimed 6th in LMP, after overtaking ex-F1 star Petrov in the final laps.

The #4 ByKolles Racing ENSO CLM P1/01 NISMO managed to finish the race 14th overall. The car suffered vibration problems all weekend and was unable to diagnose the root cause. The team is unlikely to continue the remainder of the WEC season, instead choosing to concentrate on the 2018 car.

Pier Guide and Calado win at the Nurburgring

Alessandro Pier Guidi and James Calado won in dominant fashion at the 6 Hours of the Nurburgring. The #51 AF Corse Ferrari 488 GTE crossed the line 50 seconds ahead of the Porsche 911 RSRs, who take their best finish of the year for the new car.

The first round of the “Auto BoP” was in place for this race, and in the opening laps it appeared to have done its job. Aston Martin took the lead off the line and a train of GTE cars formed behind it, unable to pull off a pass. As the Aston Martin challenge tapered off, the Porsche 911 RSRs emerged at the front and stretched their legs, leaving the Astons to fend off the chasing Ford GTs.

Starting down in 7th, Pier Guidi and Calado managed the tyres better than the competition through the double stints, allowing them to extend the gap whilst other teams struggled. Around the halfway point, the Ferrari strategy was playing out as the #51 made its way to the lead and pulled away.

Ford and Aston Martin were left fighting over the lower spots, with Daniel Serra attempting to hold both blue ovals behind. Priaulx and Pla would eventually make their way through, but not without incident. Pla, growing frustrated, short-cutted the Schumacher S to take the position. Race Director Eduardo Freitas quickly intervened, ordering the Frenchman to give the position back. In doing so, Priaulx took advantage of the opportunity and nipped by his team-mate, relegating Pla a further spot. The Fords would both clear Serra a couple of laps later.

#77 Dempsey-Proton Porsche was victorious in GTE-Am, fending off a late race charge by Molinain the #61 Spirit of the Race Ferrari. It was Ried’s first win since 2012, and the first victory for co-drivers Dienst and Cairoli.

[gert]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

...whilst a Nico Lapierre late race charge gave Signatech Alpine its first podium of the year.

I haven't read everything yet (lunch break is coming to an end) but I think Signatech (the other car) already got a podium at Le Mans after Rebellion got thrown out of the results?

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by gert

I haven't read everything yet (lunch break is coming to an end) but I think Signatech (the other car) already got a podium at Le Mans after Rebellion got thrown out of the results?

Yes, the #35 got elevated to 4th overall and 3rd in LMP2.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by gert

I haven't read everything yet (lunch break is coming to an end) but I think Signatech (the other car) already got a podium at Le Mans after Rebellion got thrown out of the results?

Oh well spotted! Cheers for that.

[Akrapovic]

And here's a little debrief. Formatting might be slightly off due to a copy and paste from the web editor.

» Porsche's decision to swap their cars has been met with mixed emotions. Neel Jani and Andre Lotterer were visibly frustrated post-race. Rather than create drama on circuit, Porsche opted to hold the leading #1 car longer for its final pit stop, allowing the #2 to take the lead. The decision was clearly championship based, as it allowed the #2 Porsche to extend its lead over the #8 Toyota in the championship.

» Tyre wear and rubber pick-up was an issue throughout the race. Pickup was visible on the 'honking holes' on the front wheel arches of the Toyotas from the onboard cameras. Both Porsche's suffered from aero degradation at various points in the race. Both teams had mechanics wiping clean the rear gurney flaps to dislodge built up rubber. High tyre wear was expected, but perhaps not to this extent. LMP1 teams only had 4 new sets of tyres to work with during the race, requiring double stints of a set.

» Toyotas opening pace was surprisingly quick. The leading Toyota in the hands of Kobayashi managed to hold off the Porsche's for the first 90 minutes of the race. As tyre wear became an issue and the track rubbered in, Lopez was unable to hold the lead and slipped to 30 seconds back in a stint.

»*Fantastic pit work from the Toyota mechanics managed to turn the #8 car around after only losing 5 laps. A faulty fuel pump was changed in just 8 minutes. The car proved hard to service at Le Mans, a fact which cost them the overall victory. The quick repair allowed the #8 car to recover to 4th overall, and minimise the loss of championship points.

» The #26 G-Drive car was hampered by penalties throughout the weekend. The car was carrying a 3 minute stop and hold after Le Mans, but being sent to the back of the grid after failing post qualifying scrutineering rubbed salt into the wounds. The car recovered strongly to 6th in class, overhauling both Manors and the sister TDS Racing car. The 26 was extremely fast throughout the weekend and will be a thorn in the side of the championship contenders for the rest of the season.

» The #38 Jackie Chan DC Racing victory can largely be credited to a strong middle stint by the Silver driver. Thomas Laurent extended the gap after the car was handed to him, whilst the Rebellion's lost ground. It gives the Mighty 38 a massive 27 point lead over their team mates.

» The first round of the auto-BoP system has now been run and might raise some questions. Aston Martin showed strong single lap pace, but were unable to translate this over a race distance. As the only team running Dunlops, it could be that tyre wear was a bigger issue for them. Porsche and Ferrari made gains during the race, whilst Ford were the most vocal about the unfavourable BoP.

» Keita Sawa deserves a mention for his excellent drive in the last few hours. As the TV focused on the titanic Aston Martin versus Ford battle, Sawa was in the back of every frame, matching time with the factory cars. Whilst laps down and not in contention for a pass, it was a very visible show of speed and consistency from the Japanese driver.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

... whilst Ford were the most vocal about the unfavourable BoP.

No?! I find that difficult to believe........


Nice summary - thanks a lot. I had a busy weekend and couldn't really keep up with the goings-on.

[chernaudi]

And didn't Porsche try and redesign parts of the car to prevent those problems? They had issues last year, and so did Audi. Maybe it's time to ditch the open front diffuser design in favor of the Oreca 07's approach or like what Toyota have done with their take on the Bentley style nose.

And sour grapes much, Toyota? They tried to protest to the ACO over Porsche cleaning mirrors during refueling, but that falls under ACO regs for the WEC and LM as it's part of what can be done during driver changes.

[Akrapovic]

I chose not to include the Toyota protest because honestly, I only knew about it from reading DSC. I'd rather find my news myself and try to form a report/brief as it'll be good practice for the future. I need to be smoother at finding the details and stewards decisions, etc. Sometimes the media sections aren't the best if you're not already part of the inner circle of news.

The Porsche design might be an issue with tyre pickup, but it clearly had a performance advantage. So maybe it's worth living with because of that.

[chernaudi]

Doesn't the WEC issue such things (officials decisions and reports) on their site? Or at least on the ACO's or FIA's sites? I remember them doing that, but I'm not exactly sure how to access them. However, like their technical regulations and sporting rules, they should be accessible for public consumption.

[Aysedasi]

I certainly saw them for Le Mans - not sure where though - buried on the ACO site somewhere....

[Akrapovic]

Yeah you can get all the stewards decisions and technical regs easy enough in the media site. But right now I have to keep checking for them, and I'm maybe being a bit ambitious as I'm trying to cover WEC, ELMS and IMSA all together. So checking the sites isn't the best way of doing it, as I lose track. And IMSA currently won't even talk to me. WEC and ELMS (and Le Mans Cup) were easy enough to get started with though. I just need a system to find the data (or have it emailed to me automatically). I don't want to sponge off of DSC content, as that just isn't cool.

Blancpain very kindly writes its own race reports and emails them to you! Which is very nice of them. They're a bit long winded, but if you cut some paragraphs of bumph (do like that word...need to get it in a post some time) then it makes a nice easy report. I'll still be doing my own for practice though.

Currently, IMSA and Ferrari won't give me access to anything. Everyone else has been find and easy though. I'll try IMSA again when the site is launched.

[PascaLM]

The last refuelling of the Porsche was a pure scandal even if strategically useful.

[chernaudi]

Then blame the ACO for giving double points for Le Mans. The #1 Porsche and #7 Toyota are both out of the title hunt because of their LM DNFs (and not scoring points) and are there basically as buffers and pawns unless something happens to the #2 Porsche and #8 Toyota to have them reeled back in.

Personally, I don't think that LM should be a points paying round since it's the only extra points round. If there's one race that should be an all star race for sportscar racing it's probably Le Mans. I know that a lot of people won't agree with me saying that the LM24 shouldn't be a points paying round, but it also doesn't make sense for it to be in the championship and it pay the same number of points as a 6 hour/1000km race does.

Or a compromise can be if you run 70% distance or time you automatically get points like you used to do in the ALMS. Wouldn't help the #7 Toyota and would only help the #1 Porsche if they were scored in LMP1 alone and not overall in a combined LMP1/LMP2 points situation.

[Irie]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

I certainly saw them for Le Mans - not sure where though - buried on the ACO site somewhere....

You can get the stewards decisions if you click on Notice Board on the Alkamel site

[Racing Harz]

I was at the N´Ring - here is my clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHiX...ature=youtu.be

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Irie

You can get the stewards decisions if you click on Notice Board on the Alkamel site

Thanks for that!