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But this year had Rolex 24 Qualifying (and as a result, pit box position) held during the Roar.
Last year, they had a 1 hour, 40 minute Qualifying race that determined pit box position and starting position for the Rolex 24 held during the Roar.
Any team that sandbags in qualifying for the main event, held the week before last year and this year, would hurt more than help themselves in many different ways.
Now, I haven't done a full analysis yet, nor have I reviewed the B Pillar report (like GOLD), but I believe some GT cars did go faster in the race than in qualifying, whereas almost none of the prototypes did.
That is to be expected since there are a fair number of pros driving new platforms for the first time and gaining confidence, but there was no breakthrough for any of the teams I looked at.
The Porsches did finish fifth and sixth (out of ten finishers, in front of the new BMW and Ferrari) in GTD Pro.
In GTD, the Wright Motorsport cars finished ninth and eleventh (out of twenty-three finishers) in GTD. The Heylen/Hardwick car turned a fast lap the SAME tenth as they qualified and the Brynjolfsson car went a few tenths quicker in the race, but both need a lot more. Like 2.2+ seconds, on average.
Let's see what happens at Sebring.
All true. Lets see in Sebring. Hope they haven't got this car wrong. They made it gentleman driver friendly I heard
All true. Lets see in Sebring. Hope they haven't got this car wrong. They made it gentleman driver friendly I heard
I prefer to call it "more refined." <grin>
Here's hoping...
__________________ -Peter Krause www.peterkrause.net www.gofasternow.com
"Combining the Art and Science of Driving Fast!"
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Consultation Available Remotely and at VIRginia International Raceway
The NBC broadcast was horrendous. The first 30 minutes have to be some of the worst coverage to open the race ever. Who the hell cares about Jeff Burton's kid winning the Michelin Challenge race the day before! At least Earnhardt Jr wasn't there saying nothing but comments about drafting all race long.
IMSA completed effed up the BoP for the new Porsche and Ferrari cars. I can't imagine the manufactures and teams driving them not being pissed off to put the time and effort into the race only to get walked on. And the "hey, it's a new car, we don't have any data" is an excuse. Laurens Vanthoor tweeted during the race the Pfaff car got passed by five in-class cars in one stretch of banking.
quick look at these, two things jump out to me:
-Restrictor went from 40 in 2022 to 33 in 2023
-Min wing angle of +5.7 deg vs. Mercedes being able to run -1
And the manufacturers have to PAY to get treated that way. From DailySportsCar:“Take the IMSA manufacturers fee for example, which each marque must pay to allow customers to race whether it has 1, 5, 10 or 15 cars on the grid.
It is 800 thousand Dollars a year for the Sprint races and 1.2 million for the full season (a third of this, DSC is told, goes to IMSA, a third goes to the TV coverage and a third must be used by a manufacturer to activate its products at events).
You may think it’s a no-brainer to get that paid up and allow customers to put cars on the grid, but the figures sometimes don’t add up.”
Then there's Roger Penske, the team owner with the greatest longevity in modern racing right up there supporting Porsche. He doesn't jump in to things without making money-somehow. My brother and I were talking with his son, Greg Saturday morning. It sounds like Roger is just happy there's a parity between IMSA's top class and the WEC as Roger has been working on that rules marriage for 7 years. 18 manufacturers in ONE series is pretty incredible; NASCAR-3; and, Indycar 2.
Oh yeah, Hyde Park Chop House is the real deal. When I made the reservation a month ago for last night, I had no idea the restaurant was actually in our hotel. Really wonderful meal there last night. Top of the line NY steakhouse for sure.
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My brother and I were hanging with Wayne, Ricky and Jordan Taylor; Michael Andretti, Filipe Albuquerque, Louis Deletraz and Bendon Hartley at Hyde Park Friday for a while. Andretti is super quiet, barely says two words to anyone, Wayne is off the charts in the opposite direction of Michael. lol
My brother and I were hanging with Wayne, Ricky and Jordan Taylor; Michael Andretti, Filipe Albuquerque, Louis Deletraz and Bendon Hartley at Hyde Park Friday for a while. Andretti is super quiet, barely says two words to anyone, Wayne is off the charts in the opposite direction of Michael. lol
You win!!
Wife and I stayed an extra day and went back to Hyde Park for dinner/drinks again Sunday night and to watch the late game (KC/CIN). Sitting at the bar next to us is a guy who says “nice jacket” to me (it’s my Watkins Glen track outline jacket). I said thanks, turned around to introduce myself, and it’s Mike Printup (sp?), the president of Watkins Glen. Needless to say, I don’t think my wife got a word in as the stories he was telling us were pretty cool. Talk about dinner company. Nice guy. Not the Andretti crew that you ran into, but heck, was quite the interesting dinner conversation. Glad we stayed until yesterday.
Made it to Rocky Mount NC last night with the trailer and car in tow. Should make it home later this afternoon depending on Beltway traffic. Already looking forward to next years 24.
Michael Printup is my brother! I was the one who spotted your jacket! Small world. I saw your wife @ Hyde Park Sunday evening, she said you were out smoking. Come to the Glen's 6 Hour Race, you won't regret it. PM me if you're looking for tips on accommodations and such, happy to help.
Michael Printup is my brother! I was the one who spotted your jacket! Small world. I saw your wife there Sunday evening, she said you were out smoking.
Lol…small world indeed. Did I meet you outside the restaurant on Friday? Was that you with him? Too funny. Who were we talking to at the bar? That was him, yes? I was so wasted when we got back in Sunday night that I woulda forgot who he was.
It was Friday when we talked or Sunday? Thought it was Friday. I gotta lay off the booze and @&$#…..lol.
Small world is an understatement…..
yup, we met outside the restaurant Friday and that was me with him. We didn't speak inside the restaurant that night as I recall. Sunday I saw your wife only, like I said she said you were outside smoking.
yup, we met outside the restaurant Friday and that was me with him. We didn't speak inside the restaurant that night as I recall. Sunday I saw your wife only, like I said she said you were outside smoking.
Gotcha. I need to pay more attention. Not.
Nice meeting you guys.
See you at Watkins.
Had an awesome time, another weekend of life memories with my son. Crowd this year was remarkable, really encouraging signs for motorsport and performance automotive in general. The public's fascination isn't dead yet.
963 is a proper space car in the flesh, sweet. After years of unfailing RSR and GT3R competitiveness, was very odd to see the new one so off the pace. It was evident in every part of the track absent any timing screens. Also seemed quieter, but hard to tell for sure in the middle of all that. Pfaff car was earliest off throttle into T1 vs any car in the field, must have been on a fuel save/reduced pit strategy from the get-go. Just so odd to see the 911 not in attack mode, never seen it before…
Had some fun timing Dixon trackside during his morning stint, answered my question on how consistent he and the GTP's could be through traffic. He was gapping the 60 Acura in this stint, thought the 01 & 02 might have had the pace heading into the final hrs. but the 60 was lights out from Le Mans (bus stop) exit to T1. Cadillac was clearly better through the infield and under braking, but no answer for that back ½ of the track.
New Porsche 911 GT3 R in GT classes without realistic chances
The customer teams fielding the new Porsche 911 GT3 R in the GTD-Pro class already realised during the practice and qualifying sessions that they faced a difficult situation. In the GT classes, in which different manufacturers compete with a variety of vehicle concepts, the playing field is levelled out via a so-called Balance of Performance system. The governing body of the IMSA series did not succeed in achieving this at the season opener in Daytona: The new GT3 vehicles from Weissach were so severely handicapped in terms of engine performance that the seven vehicles contesting both categories had next to no chance of success.
As the defending GTD-Pro champions, Pfaff Motorsports reached the finish line in fifth place after a valiant effort from works driver Laurens Vanthoor (Belgium) as well as Klaus Bachler from Austria and the Frenchman Patrick Pilet. The identical vehicle campaigned by MDK Motorsports took the flag in sixth place. In the GTD category, Wright Motorsports’ No. 16 car finished the race in ninth as the best-placed Porsche.
Porsche 911 GT3 R, Porsche Penske Motorsport, IMSA, 24 Hours of Daytona, 2023, Porsche AG
“Our starting position was difficult due to the classification of our Porsche 911 GT3 R,” says Thomas Laudenbach, describing the situation of the Porsche customer teams in the GT classes. “Regardless, all teams fought their hardest – and that deserves the highest respect. Pfaff Motorsports finished fifth in the GTD-Pro class, just one lap behind – hats off! That’s the best morale in sports. Even if we can’t be right at the front at times, we still don’t give up; instead, we fight to the end, take home the points and continue at the next race.”
“It was a turbulent start to the season, which we would’ve liked to conclude with a different result,” comments Sebastian Golz, Project Manager Porsche 911 GT3 R. “Everyone attempted to make the most out of the situation. Seven customer cars started, six saw the chequered flag – that alone is a great debut for the new 911 GT3 R. However, the result is of secondary importance this weekend and we were only able to do damage control. Our focus is now on the future. Sebring will be challenging. We’ll take all the experience we gained with the new car from Daytona and work with the organiser on an updated BoP.”
Last edited by ParadiseGT3; 01-31-2023 at 11:55 AM.
Nice meeting you too @dgrobs , I'll be in the Jack Daniels Club at the Glen if you're there be sure to look for me. I'll have my new GT Silver T parked in front of the Club. Can't wait!
Nice meeting you too @dgrobs , I'll be in the Jack Daniels Club at the Glen if you're there be sure to look for me. I'll have my new GT Silver T parked in front of the Club. Can't wait!
Nice. Will see you there.
Funny that we were a foot away from each other and had no idea.
I know I was (possibly) hammered, but my wife said I asked your brother if he could move the blue bushes back a few yards. I did not ask him that, right?
01-30-2023, 05:28 PM
