2019 IMSA Mid-Ohio and WEC Spa

[Sinovac]

Lots of Ford GT racing this weekend. Check it out.

https://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/mid-ohio-friday-notebook-3/

#67 sitting on the pole at Spa after breaking the Pro lap record.

Toyota locks out Spa front row as lap records fall

Toyota Gazoo Racing will start from pole in tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, after a record-breaking performance. The team’s No. 7 TS050 HYBRID broke the WEC qualifying lap record at the Be…

racer.com

FIA World Endurance Championship

www.fiawec.com

 

[dbk]

Bad weather coming in a few minutes. Crazy snow last night.

 

[dbk]

I do believe this is the first race I've ever watched under heavy snow.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1124641689925246976

 

[dbk]

 

[Sinovac]

Yeah, I’ve never seen that before either. Crazy.

 

[Sinovac]

Hour 5:
The WEC Six Hours of Spa is under the safety car with one hour to go following a major accident for the No. 66 Ford GT of Stefan Muecke.
Muecke’s GTE-Pro contender, which battled turbo issues, lost control going up Eau Rouge and slammed hard into the barriers.
Per Ford, Muecke was checked and released from the medical center, with no major injuries other than some bruising.
Up front, the No. 8 Audi R18 of Oliver Jarvis leads the race outright, with Signatech Alpine (LMP2), AF Corse (GTE-Pro) and Aston Martin Racing (GTE-Am) pacing their respective classes.
Trouble for the leader:
Kazuki Nakajima has been forced to enter the garage from the overall lead of the WEC Six Hours of Spa, with smoke pouring out of the back of the No. 5 Toyota TS050 Hybrid.
The Toyota had led the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship season for almost four hours until a reported engine failure struck it with one hour and 55 minutes remaining.
Nakajima completed an in-lap with smoke coming out of the exhaust, until he entered the pit garage. Team members swiftly crowded around the front of the car, blocking it from view.
Toyota Gazoo Racing has confirmed that both of its cars have now retired from the race.

 

[dbk]

Well, not a great result for the final factory effort at Spa, but that was a bananas race. Never seen anything like that in racing. GT too easy on the tires to really have a chance. Constantly lacked temp coming off safety cars and FCY and monster changes in the weather. At least it was entertaining. When they pulled the safety car for the final time...holy cow are these guys nuts to drive flat-out in blinding rain (sleet, snow).

Hopefully the IMSA guys can do better from pole tomorrow.

 

[Cobrar]

Frankly surprised that the race (Spa) wasn’t red flagged.

 

[dbk]

Technically it was. Just with 10 minutes left.

Hopefully Drew Gibson will have some good snow pics.

 

[BAT]

Last time I raced there, 17% of the cars never finished. I get it.

 

[Cobrar]

Technically it was. Just with 10 minutes left.

Hopefully Drew Gibson will have some good snow pics.

Great pics!!

 

[canibl]

well...it shouldn't be snowing at LeMans

 

[Saint Ho]

How to explain that the Ford GT has achieved the best time in practice and such a poor performance in the race, at SPA ? Is this a tactic for Le Mans ? Yet it seems to me that the BOP for Le Mans is already fixed.

 

[Apollo]

How to explain that the Ford GT has achieved the best time in practice and such a poor performance in the race, at SPA ? Is this a tactic for Le Mans ? Yet it seems to me that the BOP for Le Mans is already fixed.

BOP usually have our GTs lowest boost meaning lowest HP and torque- usually by a lot. Ballast usually makes them close to the heaviest cars on grid. They also have their boost limited at different points in RPM. I think the GT is also running the smallest displacement engine. On a flying qualifying lap where there is no traffic, these talented drivers can use the efficiency of the design to still post blistering times. In traffic, if the momentum is held up, the other cars with more HP and torque, can pull car lenghts out of each turn, Time after time other teams will get a lap down and be able to make it up. If the GTs make an error or have a mechanical, it usually means they will not make it up. BOP also limits how fast and how much fuel, different for different teams making pit strategy hard to use. In essence, We have to be near perfect with no mistakes to have a chance at winning.

 

[Saint Ho]

BOP usually have our GTs lowest boost meaning lowest HP and torque- usually by a lot. Ballast usually makes them close to the heaviest cars on grid. They also have their boost limited at different points in RPM. I think the GT is also running the smallest dispalacement engine. On a flying qualifying lap where there is no traffic, these talented drivers can use the efficiency of the design to still post blistering times. In traffic, if the momentum is held up, the other cars with more HP and torque, can pull car lenghts out of each turn, Time after time other teams will get a lap down and be able to make it up. If the GTs make an error or have a mechanical, it usually means they will not make it up. BOP also limits how fast and how much fuel, different for different teams making pit strategy hard to use. In essence, We have to be near perfect with no mistakes to have a chance at winning.

Thank you APOLLO, for you answer.