FIA GT Race FIA GT Rnd 2: Silverstone 4-6 May 2007 - Page 11

KA · 6 May 2007, 20:10 (Ref:1907912)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeH

Shame that the 90's Revival was a bit of a let down but it's a seed that I'd love to see grow.

That's the important thing about the Revival race- it's a starting point, they've got some owners interested in bringing the cars out, and hopefully more will come. As I remember a lot of the the early races for historic Group C saw some very small grids, and that's now flourishing...

MikeH · 6 May 2007, 20:34 (Ref:1907929)

Fingers crossed then.

Though it does start to worry me when a "historic" series is made out of the types of cars I loved "when I were a nipper."

Sodemo · 6 May 2007, 20:47 (Ref:1907944)

Quote:

Originally Posted by minimangler

http://a51.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/...1b43d06152.jpg
any ideas what happened?

I saw a Porsche door halfway down the Hangar Straight as I walked down to Stowe, so I guess at some point it must have made its bid for freedom after Chapel.

Had a good day (apart from my car breaking down afterwards).
I thought the FIA GT race was, interesting, though I lost the jist of what was happening after about lap 20 and couldn't tell if people were lapping or actually overtaking for positions. I do what I usually do in long distance races, and walk around the entire track (if its possible to). Have done it since I first went to sportscar race in 1992 (again at Silverstone).

I saw a (red) Ferrari 430 spin off at Stowe after being bumped by a black car, possibly another Ferrari. Not too sure what some of those other MC12's were doing, but jeez they looked slow compared to the two "Shell" sponsored ones (which looked really quick).

The best race by far was the GT3 race, big field, lots of action, especially at Abbey. I also saw the white Lambo stick it in the wall at Farm, I was standing between Bridge and Luffield, and I heard a scream of tyres, I looked right and just saw this car slam into the wall just before Bridge, nasty crash, which would have no doubt triggered the safety car had it not been the last lap.

The best part (or worst part depending on which way you look at it) was the pit road walkabout. I queued up for some 20 minutes, only to be told at the point of entry that you had to have a "special" pass to get in to the pits walkabout, I felt a bit cheated by that really.
However, as I walked away I noticed a big gaggle of people hanging around one of the Aston Martin pits, it turns out they were just letting people into their garage, past the cars, and through onto pit lane - great I thought.
So I just wandered around the cars in the garages, poking my head inside the open doors of the MC12s - I was amazed they let you do this.
Saw a few cars being fired up, a DBR9 being revved for all its worth, expecting to see a huge Batman type flames to come out of the exhaust, but sadly there were only occassional small blue ones.

Overall it was a good day, but only because the pit road walkabout made it, which if I had followed "proceedure to the letter" wouldn't have happened for me anyway.

MikeH · 6 May 2007, 21:08 (Ref:1907965)

I'll agree with you on the walkabout thing - nowhere in the programme did it state it wasn't for the fans but just for the lovie hangers-on who weren't even there for the racing so a lot of people got turned away. My gripe about the "us and them" attitude from most of the FIA GT teams (I found it a huge disappontment that I couldn't get a look at the Scuderia Ecosse cars thanks to Silverstone deeming it necessary to wrap their poster-boy in five layers of security and razorwire) stands tbh - though I'm just not used to International events - think I prefer the open nature of clubbies myself when it comes to paddocks.

Great racing all weekend though - can't fault the track action.

Splendid Cat · 6 May 2007, 21:20 (Ref:1907976)

Mansell was rubbish, or was there a reason /excuse..?

Hezemans was, as ever, mighty. He looked fed-up when Deletraz went for an excursion - guess that he has to accept that Jean-Denis pays much of the bills.
BMS Astons were shockingly bad - tyres I suspect.

Anthony Kumpen was superb as well. Great 3rd place - with ballast.

Gt3 - the Ford GTs -great noise, Saleen-esque. Beautiful looking cars.

Finally - how fabulous did the Solution F 550 look in it's navy blue? Gorgeous IMHO

MikeH · 6 May 2007, 21:32 (Ref:1907985)

Yup, the 550 was a nice bit of kit - looked very tidy. The 575 also looked good but was an absolute menace on track - ran cars off the road while being lapped on the pit straight twice, looked as though it ran the leading GT2 car into the gravel in the stadium too. Was nice to see the Viper GTS-R guys get a little reward with the G2 win - they plugged away gamely despite being the slowest car out there by some way - added a bit of variety too, though it may have been better poised for success in the 90s series!

zac510 · 6 May 2007, 22:13 (Ref:1908009)

Quote:

Originally Posted by minimangler

Here they are

I know there's a lot...
these are just pure as taken, just a few are cropped.
Thanks

I picked up some junk on my lens too - must have been one of those weekends for us..

Although i only went on Saturday, I agree with Monster, the GT3s were great! I still enjoyed the FIA GT as the 'fastest/loudest' show though.

Couple of pics:

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../fiagt07_1.jpg

Brake lockup
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../fiagt07_9.jpg

#12 Masa
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...fiagt07_10.jpg

"Cap'n, we need to jettison some oil!"
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../fiagt07_6.jpg

Another Maserati
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1.../fiagt07_4.jpg

Still picking through some pit photos too.

Hazard · 7 May 2007, 00:29 (Ref:1908067)

Quote:

Originally Posted by redshoes

The #34 JMB Ferrari failed the post-qualifying ride height check so got sent to the back of the grid. Just as the grid was being cleared ready for the start an amended grid came through - the team had appealed and could start from their initial slot. That meant everyone from row 9 backwards had to move back a slot, which of course meant swapping from one side of the track to the other at the same time.

The sensible thing would be to instruct each driver to swap sides as they pulled away on the green flag lap, but instead they got the start line marshals to push every car into it's new position.

Total farce

The GT3 races were great when underway - but one driver being turned away due to paperwork issues, the Jaguar XK and Morgan exclusion, and the above made the management side stupid.

Re: the above. Hilarious thing of the weekend being that because JMB appealed the grid was reset so than Khan/Daoudi could start from where they'd qualified with that illegal ride height - but since the car has to be locked into parc fermé conditions from qualifiying to the race, they weren't allowed to correct it! So even when they finished 2nd in the first GT3 race, they get disqualified again! Insane.

Justin Moran · 7 May 2007, 04:17 (Ref:1908101)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeH

I'll agree with you on the walkabout thing - nowhere in the programme did it state it wasn't for the fans but just for the lovie hangers-on who weren't even there for the racing so a lot of people got turned away. My gripe about the "us and them" attitude from most of the FIA GT teams (I found it a huge disappontment that I couldn't get a look at the Scuderia Ecosse cars thanks to Silverstone deeming it necessary to wrap their poster-boy in five layers of security and razorwire) stands tbh - though I'm just not used to International events - think I prefer the open nature of clubbies myself when it comes to paddocks.

Great racing all weekend though - can't fault the track action.

Try the LMS for relaxed! No probs there walking into the back of the garage and talking to teams /drivers and all! Much bigger event but none of the stupid FIA A***s being over efficious and "protecting" the teams!

cmk · 7 May 2007, 04:45 (Ref:1908110)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hazard

The GT3 races were great when underway - but one driver being turned away due to paperwork issues, the Jaguar XK and Morgan exclusion, and the above made the management side stupid.

Re: the above. Hilarious thing of the weekend being that because JMB appealed the grid was reset so than Khan/Daoudi could start from where they'd qualified with that illegal ride height - but since the car has to be locked into parc fermé conditions from qualifiying to the race, they weren't allowed to correct it! So even when they finished 2nd in the first GT3 race, they get disqualified again! Insane.

Given the past history of the gentleman turned away, one would suggest it is both unsurprising and just that he was. If you bring a car filled with non-homologated parts to a series that is heavily tested and performance-balanced (in theory at least), you cannot be surprised when you're told you can't race. Sure, exemptions are nice, but if an exempted car does well, the other competitors would not be happy to be upshown on the track.

The JMB snafu was a little pathetic, I will definitely say.

**John Turner** · 7 May 2007, 08:06 (Ref:1908153)

Great cars and good action but it needs to be better organised and the spectators, as has been mentioned, were not best catered for particularly in the paddock area. However, if you hung about after the racing yesterday, you did get the opportunity to get closer to the cars. I was even able to get into a couple of garages and do my 'anorak' bit by getting some Aston chassis nos, so thanks to BMS Scuderai Italia and Chris Needell of Barwell for that.

Guys, of course the grids were poor for both the GT4 and GT90; almost inevitable for first races in a new series. The GT4 races on both occasions provide excellent dices for the lead and as the numbers swell this could turn into a great series. The short lead up time to the GT90s meant that some of the cars entered didn't arrive and some of those that did were clearly not really race ready! Give it time; this too, could be great, And, oh yes, they will race properly, despite the value of some of the cars. They do in other 'historic' series with vastly more valuable cars, so I'm not expecting these to just 'parade' around.

Fabulous grids for the GT1 races and GT3. Great sights and sounds.

As an Aston fan, I was disappointed that apart from the first GT4 race on saturday, and despite leading both GT3 races at one stage and the GT1 race, they failed to deliver any victories.

There was a lot of time lost time as far as the spectator was concerned and far too many large gaps between races. There wasn't the slickness either that I have seen at meetings with a far more amateur status that this. This has such a great potential to be turned into a GT extravaganza. There was time to fit in some more racing. I suggest the addition of a couple more historic GT races; one for early 60's front engined GT cars (the true ancestors of many of the current cars) and one for the late 60's mid engined cars, but then, I would say that wouldn't I?

roys1 · 7 May 2007, 09:53 (Ref:1908211)

Quote:

Originally Posted by redshoes

The sensible thing would be to instruct each driver to swap sides as they pulled away on the green flag lap, but instead they got the start line marshals to push every car into it's new position.

Total farce

I agree that would have been a sensible thing BUT if the drivers that were swapping sides collided doing so there could have been more problems ... in the end it was a correct decision even though it took time.. moving 25+ cars was a task that the startline marshals and ES team took on and did well.

KA · 7 May 2007, 10:15 (Ref:1908219)

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikeH

Fingers crossed then.

Though it does start to worry me when a "historic" series is made out of the types of cars I loved "when I were a nipper."

It's a scary thought- I always find myself thinking 'these can't be historic cars yet, I remember them when they were current a couple of years back' then I remember how many years back it actually is....

The Badger · 7 May 2007, 10:52 (Ref:1908250)

Like somebody racing an Audi R8 in historics in the States ...... ridiculous ..... guess that makes me Jurassic !!!

**chunterer** · 7 May 2007, 11:12 (Ref:1908259)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Splendid Cat

Mansell was rubbish, or was there a reason /excuse..?

Hezemans was, as ever, mighty. He looked fed-up when Deletraz went for an excursion - guess that he has to accept that Jean-Denis pays much of the bills.
BMS Astons were shockingly bad - tyres I suspect.

Anthony Kumpen was superb as well. Great 3rd place - with ballast.

Gt3 - the Ford GTs -great noise, Saleen-esque. Beautiful looking cars.

Finally - how fabulous did the Solution F 550 look in it's navy blue? Gorgeous IMHO

Great sumary and pretty much what I thought as well!

Hezemans had built up a decent lead before the first stops with Biagi not really able to do much about it, although the cars were fairly evenly matched? J-DD's error (at Becketts was it?) lost them the race I suspect because once he'd recovered and then during Mike's final stint the gap never got lower than 23-27 seconds or so IIRC?

Wendlinger's starting to look like a truly aggressive driver again! Storming opening few laps before he got gobbled back up by no5 C6 and No1 MC12.

As you say the BMS cars were horribly slow, particularly in the early stages and I don't think Pirelli's were that keen on the Northants tarmac? Davies seemed to hold up Kumpen and Ramos and also the Monfradini 22 ruined any chance of the faster Lambo doing anything of note, even if it did conk out by us later on. The no 12 Playteam also possibly restricted Peter's progress in the PSI early on as well?

But driver of the race for me was probably Kumpen in the older Vette. He was electric once he got shot of Davies and I thought him and Bert Longin might have been on for the win at one point!

Andrea Bertolini's a bit rattled at the moment, seems that's 2 races in a row he's been a bit overzealous in the opening laps - flying into Abbey like he did braking impossibly late was never on and Lechner was unluckly to get snagged. Andrea's recovery drive was top notch though, he was overtaking a car a lap once he caught back up!

Ryan Sharp also impressed me, fast and aggressive (i'll forgive him for the gravel moment at Abbey which lost him some time).

Tremendous scrap for the lead of GT2 throghout, but the first 30 laps or so was a real balls out scrap between Sean in the Tech9 997, who was very very impressive to lead like that, Ruberti who was over the limit most of the time, (how he didn't lose it coming out of Abbey for several laps i'll never know) the 2 Motorola's and Kirkcaldy's car.

GT3 race was superb, great racing, plenty of overtaking and it's clearly a serious championship judging by all the battered bodywork! GT sounded phenomenal, but is it just me or does it seem like a bit of overkill having that thing up against the other cars in it?!!

Can't wait until next year's event which will hopefully see another half dozen GT1's, a good Citation Cup entry, the excellent GT3's and further development of GT4 and GT90's.

Erki · 7 May 2007, 12:13 (Ref:1908286)

Quote:

Originally Posted by chunterer

Can't wait until next year's event which will hopefully see another half dozen GT1's, a good Citation Cup entry, the excellent GT3's and further development of GT4 and GT90's.

Weren't there actually more like one and a half dozen GT1s this time?

Kidzer · 7 May 2007, 12:54 (Ref:1908303)

Quote:

Originally Posted by chunterer

Ryan Sharp also impressed me, fast and aggressive (i'll forgive him for the gravel moment at Abbey which lost him some time).

We never saw that on TV, I haven't spoken to Ryan since the race, FIAGT.com reports he went off while passing a GT2 car?

Bit of a shame, was doing well in 2nd, could've gotten a podium without that moment perhaps.

I wonder what M.Hezemans thought when he got into the garage and saw JDD spinning almost instantly, he was quite calm about it when he was interviewed!

Duffacus · 7 May 2007, 13:40 (Ref:1908326)

I had a very enjoyable Sunday, an extra race here or there could have been fitted in but the quality of the main race and the GT3's certainly made up for that.

I weren't there on Saturday so I missed most of the GT1 cars that went out on track, (at least I've seen the pics!) so the Sunday race was a little disappointing, great idea though. I sort of remember the 1998 FIAGT race at Silverstone which was when I first got into it, so it would be great to see those cars out again.

I was one of the many who worked their way into the grandstand at the end of the straight at the start of the main race, whose idea was it to lock these up? Not enough security staff perhaps? It was the same at the LMS race a few years ago. I think this could be a good improvement for next year. We got kicked out eventually, although some people were tucking into their lunch by then!

Apart from that I have to say it was a good day, even the sun came out for a while!

I've put a selection of pics here on my website, enjoy!

redshoes · 7 May 2007, 14:10 (Ref:1908338)

Quote:

Originally Posted by roys1

I agree that would have been a sensible thing BUT if the drivers that were swapping sides collided doing so there could have been more problems

Could have released the cars from the grid one at a time to ensure there were no problems. Being an FIA meeting I suppose it was inevitable they did it all by the book. As Hazard said, the fact the JMB car was excluded from the subsequent race result for exactly the same reason makes it even more laughable.

Despite the Keystone Cops start, I was actually very impressed with both GT3 races.

Saturday's GT4 race (didn't see Sunday's), I thought showed a degree of promise despite the obvious lack of entries. The BMW and Mustangs in particular seemed very well matched - the BMW better in the corners and the Mustangs quicker in a straight line. Sure, it's not the big hairy GTs most fans are used to, but I can see it working well on a National level, if not a European level.

The less said about the GT90 race the better.

rdjones · 7 May 2007, 17:50 (Ref:1908435)

I have now come some photos from the weekend online and they can be found at http://www.rdj-pics.co.uk/Photos/200...Sat/index.html and http://www.rdj-pics.co.uk/Photos/200...Sun/index.html

**chunterer** · 7 May 2007, 18:12 (Ref:1908445)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kidzer

We never saw that on TV, I haven't spoken to Ryan since the race, FIAGT.com reports he went off while passing a GT2 car?

Bit of a shame, was doing well in 2nd, could've gotten a podium without that moment perhaps.

I'm sure it was no 33, and it might have been whilst trying to get past a GT2 Ferrari. I was walking away down towards Club when it happened, watched Ryan go past, with the 430 (not sure which one) saw a puff of smoke from the tyres as he braked quite late trying to 'do' the backmarker, the car squirmed a bit and then bumped across the gravel trap and out of site to the left.

Next time round, Deletraz was back in front again about 10 secs up on him?

With that in mind I reckon the 33 could well have nabbed second, although it lost more time a bit later on didn't it?

Sean Edwards · 7 May 2007, 18:17 (Ref:1908448)

Quote:

Originally Posted by chunterer

Tremendous scrap for the lead of GT2 throghout, but the first 30 laps or so was a real balls out scrap between Sean in the Tech9 997, who was very very impressive to lead like that, Ruberti who was over the limit most of the time, (how he didn't lose it coming out of Abbey for several laps i'll never know) the 2 Motorola's and Kirkcaldy's car.

Thanks

We were going well until the "factory" Porsche hit me off on purpose...

Should have had 2nd or 3rd!

KA · 7 May 2007, 18:25 (Ref:1908457)

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Badger

Like somebody racing an Audi R8 in historics in the States ...... ridiculous ..... guess that makes me Jurassic !!!

I'm still trying to get my head round historic Group C

- it's so easy to forget how old some of those cars really are. It's a bit like talking about retired 1990/early 2000's' F1 drivers like Hill and Irvine etc, suddenly remembering that I watched them in Formula Ford in the 80's and realising I'm not quite as young as I think I am...

I'd agree with you that the R8 is just a bit too young to be classed as a 'historic' for a few years yet....

KA · 7 May 2007, 18:30 (Ref:1908463)

Quote:

Originally Posted by roys1

I agree that would have been a sensible thing BUT if the drivers that were swapping sides collided doing so there could have been more problems ... in the end it was a correct decision even though it took time.. moving 25+ cars was a task that the startline marshals and ES team took on and did well.

Would it have been easier to have sent them round on a second green flag lap and then re-ordered the grid as they came back to the start?

BILTEL · 7 May 2007, 18:32 (Ref:1908464)

Quote:

Originally Posted by KA

I'm still trying to get my head round historic Group C

- it's so easy to forget how old some of those cars really are. It's a bit like talking about retired 1990/early 2000's' F1 drivers like Hill and Irvine etc, suddenly remembering that I watched them in Formula Ford in the 80's and realising I'm not quite as young as I think I am...

I'd agree with you that the R8 is just a bit too young to be classed as a 'historic' for a few years yet....

I know what you're saying. It was very bad, saying to my mate " Let's go and watch the old stuff from the grandstand."

I thought we were still living in the eighties.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
[FIA GT Race] FIA GT Rnd 6: Spa 24 hours 27-29 Jul 2007.	minimangler	Sportscar & GT Racing	290	5 Aug 2007 18:56
[FIA GT Race] FIA GT Rnd 5: Oschersleben 7-8 Jul 2007	gino	Sportscar & GT Racing	130	26 Jul 2007 08:18
[FIA GT Race] FIA GT Rnd 4: Monza 22-24 Jun 2007	mirkob	Sportscar & GT Racing	48	4 Jul 2007 09:50
[FIA GT Race] FIA GT Rnd 3: Bucharest 19-20 May 2007	Sean Edwards	Sportscar & GT Racing	161	27 May 2007 09:21