The Best Mid-Season 2006 GT1 Car? It is Aston Martin by my calculations….

[David]

..and here are the results of those calculations:

2006 Mid-Season GT1 World Championship Standings - by David’s Reckoning

1..Aston Martin..80
2..Chevrolet......62
3..Saleen..........51
4..Maserati........29
5..Ferrari...........18
6..Lamborghini....16

I truly miss the old, single World GT Championship so I have created my own. Scoring method details and race-by-race points are calculated on my 2006 GT1 World Championship web site - click here.

Chevrolet Corvette won my 2005 championship - click here.



There was considerable discussion about my methods last year - 2005 GT1 Championship discussion.

What do you think?

[TWK]

I think Aston Martin is a joke and a pustual on the butt of sports car racing. There is no win on this side of the Atlantic (North America) that hasn't been manufactured by that team's threats and consequent weight, restrictor, and fuel advantages. Moral? If you can't race, then ***** - loudly.

[mirkob]

I dont agree with yuor kind of analisys; you consider only championship were AM runnig; Maserati dont run ALMS, LMS and LM, but runs Italian GT ;
Saleen dont run ALMS (Konrad....) but races in FFSA ;
Corvette also present in FFSA and Belcar.

I think you should consider all the championship where GT1 can run;
also JLMC in addition (F550 rulez);

IMHO you need if you sum the points for all car in a single event, you need to divide for a number result of % of the car of the same model present.
If I have 5 AM in a race and 1 Saleen, the win of Saleen sholud be more important of second and third place of AM.

Sorry for my bad bad English

byez :-)

[McLarenM8]

Originally Posted by TWK

I think Aston Martin is a joke and a pustual on the butt of sports car racing. There is no win on this side of the Atlantic (North America) that hasn't been manufactured by that team's threats and consequent weight, restrictor, and fuel advantages. Moral? If you can't race, then ***** - loudly.

On the contrary, it's the C6-R that's the joke and pustual. It's a car that drives a cart and horses through the GT regulations - last time I looked a fairly basic part of GT racing is that the car should at least share the chassis of the road car. What's a road Corvette chassis made of? Aluminum. What's the C6R chassis made of ? Steel. Not even Maserati when they wanted to produce the MC12 went as far as changing the chassis. Now that Corvette are having some of the performance advantage they basically cheated their way into taken off they winge like something that winges a lot.

Bruce

[TheNewBob]

Well without the Astons and 'Vettes, GT1 would be non-existant in America and in very low numbers around Europe. Joke or no joke, cheat or no cheat, they're propping up the class right now.

[Adam43]

Ah didums, did someone beat the Aston? Ah, didums did someone beat the Corvette?

Anyway, back to the thread. The BARC do a similar thing when awarding their Gold Star. They rank each kind of event and give points for finishing in it. Every event counts to differing degrees. For instance the Le Mans 24hours attracts loads of points, a regular sportscar race less, etc...
I don't know the current ratings, although it always explains it in Silverstone programmes (I haven't been this year yet).

I think for fun it is a good thing to do. Each event or series needs ranking sensibly. I like what you have done, but the number of cars in the event perhaps doesn't do it realistically. Make a judgement call instead.

Originally Posted by mirkob

IMHO you need if you sum the points for all car in a single event, you need to divide for a number result of % of the car of the same model present.

I disagree with this. Firstly it doesn't reward racing in as many races as possible! Secondly it will hamper those that give out the most customer cars. Just look at the results of the best car (or maybe the best two?). If you supply more cars then you have a better chance of doing well - that should be rewarded.

[Adam43]

I found some information on the Gold Star: http://www.brdc.co.uk/sub_page.cfm/t...utus/editID/99
I'm not sure if the rankings change, but it is mainly based on race length.

[The Badger]

I would have to go with the C6R ..... they had to screw with it to make the Aston competitive , and I dont think any of the private C6R teams are opperating their cars to their full potential , or just plain bad luck .

C6R for me .

[Francesco]

That's not Aston Martin for sure!
they are racing in FIA-GT and still they didn't won a race

The official Corvettes are still the best by a big margin... i would put in second Aston Martin because i think that in the battle with the Corvette they still have a "weak" point in tyres and so probably they are not at "full potential", then in third place Zak's and ORECA's Saleen and the Maserati Mc12 which is very fast and reliable this year and probably is at the same level...

Ferrari 550 e Lamborghini are from another "generation" that's at least my point of view, i don't think you should have to consider nat championship because there are a lot more of "succes ballast" and too many gentlemens to judge if a car is competitive or not

[Fogelhund]

Rating chassis vs others is pretty difficult, though I commend you for trying.

There is a reality that certain combinations are better than others though. The Corvette/Michelin combination is undefeated without sizable penalties against it though. Even with some rather sizable penalties, it still proved superior to the Aston/Pirelli combination, until the penalties were draconian in nature. I believe this is down to two factors, one the tires, and second, P&M as a team is superior to AMR.

Otherwise, the Aston chassis and the Corvette chassis seem fairly equal to each other, so I'd call it a draw that we won't see an answer to anytime soon.

[JAG]

1. Factory Corvette
2. Oreca Saleen
3. Factory Aston

The Aston just can't seem to get it together on anything other than super quick circuits.

BTW, is it correct that Audi Sport have recently taken over development of the Lamborghini?

[TWK]

Originally Posted by McLarenM8

On the contrary, it's the C6-R that's the joke and pustual. It's a car that drives a cart and horses through the GT regulations - last time I looked a fairly basic part of GT racing is that the car should at least share the chassis of the road car. What's a road Corvette chassis made of? Aluminum. What's the C6R chassis made of ? Steel. Not even Maserati when they wanted to produce the MC12 went as far as changing the chassis. Now that Corvette are having some of the performance advantage they basically cheated their way into taken off they winge like something that winges a lot.

Bruce

Road chassis of ALL Corvettes except the new 2006 Z06 are STEEL. So the Corvette is/was homologated on the road car. Your entire conclusion is based on a fallacy. If you want to go check it out in Bowling Green, Kentucky, I've got a contact for you. You can stand and watch the build yourself.
They could, of course, now homologate the new aluminum chassis (there will be nearly 10,000 Z06' built and sold this model year). Then, of course, with increased stiffness and the ability to better manage weight distribution, they'd wump the big-buck, so-called "supercars" even more easily.

Thanks, by the way, for offering the very good information that the frame rails are steel (all Corvettes share the same aluminum structural pieces and carbon fiber panels that together with the frame rails make up the "chassis"), thus making clear that the Corvettes are properly homologated from the vast numbers of road-going Corvettes.

[McLarenM8]

Thanks for proving my point TWK - you do know the C6R was homologated from the Z06 don't you? And those Aluminum structural pieces that you claim aren't part of the chassis (but the regulations would disagree with you on) are also changed to steel for the race car... You're not supposed to mix and match bits from different models in the range.

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by JAG

BTW, is it correct that Audi Sport have recently taken over development of the Lamborghini?

Murphy the Bear states so in his latest blog. I would really like to see some confirmation of this.

[TheNewBob]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

Murphy the Bear states so in his latest blog. I would really like to see some confirmation of this.

Agreed. Any car with an engine note as awesome as that deserves some money thrown at it!

Seriously though, it would be good news - GT1 needs a little boosting for '07 and '08...

[WouterM]

Originally Posted by TheNewBob

Seriously though, it would be good news - GT1 needs a little boosting for '07 and '08...

How about a 599 GTC ?

[The Badger]

I forget about the 599 GTC , whats the word with that then ?

[TheNewBob]

Originally Posted by WouterM

How about a 599 GTC ?

Very true, I did neglect that option. Is that an '07 or an '08 car, do we think?

In an ideal world, of course, we'd all love a situation where teams can realistically go for the Ferrari, OR the Lambo...

Regarding Aston Martin again, to me it feels like it's a project picking up where the Ferrari 550 left off. Of course they're very different cars, but the DBR9 doesn't really "stand out" for me. In other words, my impressions of it so far are that the car is kinda "average". I could easily be on my own with these thoughts. Maybe it's just because there are numerous of them in privateer hands in Europe, most of which aren't doing as well as expected. Either way, I've been more impressed by the general pace of the Corvettes, Maseratis and Saleens during 2006.

[David]

Thanks to all for your insights and comments on my attempt at a "2006 World Grand Touring Championship". Most of the suggestions for improvements add complexity to the scoring. For now, I will keep the simple concept currently used.

Here are the standings after the FIA GT Spa 24 hour race:

1..Aston Martin..90
2..Chevrolet......71
3..Saleen..........57
4..Maserati........40
5..Ferrari...........18
6..Lamborghini....16

During the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa Weekend, chairman of SRO (Stephane Ratel Organisation) and promoter of the FIA GT Championship, Stephane Ratel, addressed the teams in the annual Spa press conference. He discussed the past, present and future of the growing championship. A particularly interesting comment is quoted below:

“Our strategy remains the same as that which we presented last year. I am still working on the project of a GT World Championship for GT1 cars. I don’t know when it will happen, if it will happen, but I am still working on it. We came to the conclusion that it is impossible to do without the support of the manufacturers. I will do my round of presentations, going round those manufacturers who have shown interest for GT1, and see if one day, with their support, we can have a World Championship for GT1 cars. The day that we have a World Championship with GT1 cars, we will have a European Championship for GT2 cars, and with the European Championship for GT3 cars, the idea is to have a format based on the Motogp idea, with three classes running in the same meetings, which I believe could be a success."