WEC Spa

[richebets]

My first Visit to spa ! had an awesome time although after two nights out with my mates on Belgium beer and a very busy circuit.. I did not manage many photos !!

FIA WEC SPA 2015 by richebets, on Flickr

FIA WEC SPA 2015 by richebets, on Flickr

FIA WEC SPA 2015 by richebets, on Flickr

FIA WEC SPA 2015 by richebets, on Flickr

FIA WEC SPA 2015 by richebets, on Flickr

FIA WEC SPA 2015 by richebets, on Flickr

[Great Dane]

hdrflow said:

They've tested in the US with good success apparently. They're not expected to win but even if they hit trouble being able to fix quickly (or not as the case may be!) is also good practice for them next year.

We will be lucky to see them start... no more spares after practice

[hdrflow]

LeMans practice? It's possible although I read they managed 2000km trouble free. I'm definitely very curious about it anyhow.

[ben5732]

Ended up doing a day trip to spa. Finished work at 10 pm drove to spa watched the race then drove back. Brilliant race and brilliant circuit! Absolutely shattered today however.

[hdrflow]

Would be more of a surprise if Porsche and Audi didn't manage more mileage than Nissan.

I didn't expect everyone to be so downcast about their entry. The guy was told not to do an Audi copy and so he did. Are they going to finish or even start? I don't know but I certainly want them to.

[williamp]

Maybe because nissan make a lot of noise about their racers, then fail to deliver on many levels. Deltawing, etc...

[sirtyro]

N0ddie said:

Quick question for those using the WEC app. Which commentary team do you get with it? I assume it'll be RLM?

It's John H and Graham Goodwin, so basically the team from Radio Le Mans but it isn't a Radio Le Mans broadcast. RLM are only at Silverstone and Le Mans for live broadcasting.

The App is worth every penny. Really really good, HD quality broadcasting and no problems.

[Leithen]

PW said:

hdrflow said:

I didn't expect everyone to be so downcast about their entry.

They came out of the gate making a lot of promises, and I was on board. Very soon after it became clear that they weren't actual promises they would deliver on, they were saying things that would get headlines.

Only thing that's true so far is that it's a very unconventional race car - conventional race cars go racing.

I really like Nissan, and have supported them in Super GT, GT3, the GT Academy drivers for years. Maybe it's the "right" thing to do for them to get the biggest marketing return on the investment, but the PR BS is really wearing thin on this one.

It would appear that they've had genuine issues to deal with that have set them back, but I suppose the lingering question is over what budget Nissan are prepared to commit over what timescale.

I think everyone would love them to commit fully for a number of years and develop the concept.

[Allyc85]

Was there any explanation given for the bouncy number 9 Audi? Fair play to the drivers, as it must have been horrible to drive!

[McSam]

Allyc85 said:

Was there any explanation given for the bouncy number 9 Audi? Fair play to the drivers, as it must have been horrible to drive!

An aero car porpoising like that used to be a pretty common sight. It happens due to the huge amount of suction the underfloor aero generates under the front of the car - this is intentional, to produce downforce, but the amount of suction you get is extremely sensitive to ride height. If a compression on the track surface or rising downforce pushes the nose lower, the ground effect increases dramatically and the nose gets pulled further down. It will eventually either stall or be disturbed by another compression, upon which the force will drop very rapidly and the nose will bounce back up.

If you're really unlucky, the springs, dampers and aerodynamics will all work together to start oscillating the nose up and down at the suspension's resonant frequency, which is what the #9 appeared to be doing! You're right in thinking it's horrible for the drivers. With the other two Audis running such a dramatically different front end, I get the impression the #9's configuration was never intended to run on prolonged high-speed stretches or on bumpy circuits.

[DiscoColin]

PW said:

hdrflow said:

I didn't expect everyone to be so downcast about their entry.

They came out of the gate making a lot of promises, and I was on board. Very soon after it became clear that they weren't actual promises they would deliver on, they were saying things that would get headlines.

So what you are saying is that Darren Cox is more suited to standing in the UK election than running a racing project?

[H100S]

McSam said:

n aero car porpoising like that used to be a pretty common sight. It happens due to the huge amount of suction the underfloor aero generates under the front of the car - this is intentional, to produce downforce, but the amount of suction you get is extremely sensitive to ride height. If a compression on the track surface or rising downforce pushes the nose lower, the ground effect increases dramatically and the nose gets pulled further down. It will eventually either stall or be disturbed by another compression, upon which the force will drop very rapidly and the nose will bounce back up.

If you're really unlucky, the springs, dampers and aerodynamics will all work together to start oscillating the nose up and down at the suspension's resonant frequency, which is what the #9 appeared to be doing! You're right in thinking it's horrible for the drivers. With the other two Audis running such a dramatically different front end, I get the impression the #9's configuration was never intended to run on prolonged high-speed stretches or on bumpy circuits.

i thought this was a issue with the hydraulic suspension, either badly set up or damaged in some way.

[RobGT81]

DiscoColin said:

So what you are saying is that Darren Cox is more suited to standing in the UK election than running a racing project?

He could have got the Deltawing voted in with a majority. #CastironCox

[Great Dane]

A few bits of info about the race:



P1 Lap times:





P1 Top speed:




P2 lap times:



P2 top speed:




PRO lap times:



Pro top speed:




AM lap times:



AM top speed:

[Vocal Minority]

Toyota have been comprehensively over taken haven't they?

[RobGT81]

Tincknell is proper quick. Dempsey starting to get shown up, although his first full season of WEC.

[McSam]

H100S said:

i thought this was a issue with the hydraulic suspension, either badly set up or damaged in some way.

Well, it was certainly aerodynamic porpoising, but perhaps the suspension is designed to inhibit it and was, as you say, badly set up or damaged. I may have put two and two together and made five - since only the #9 car with the old aero had the issue, I put it down to that aero package being unsuitable for Spa's very long straights.

[greeny12]

Those topspeed stats look interesting in P2 - if they can carry that straight line speed advantage into Le Mans it should be good news for KCMG...

[SpeedMattersNot]

RobGT81 said:

Tincknell is proper quick. Dempsey starting to get shown up, although his first full season of WEC.

What's he getting shown up on? Whilst his overall pace isn't good enough to make him a professional driver he's more than competent to warrant being there. His laps are actually very consistent which, I believe shows he isn't pushing beyond his abilities which is what you need for endurance racing.

The sport heavily relies on people like Dempsey. It's possible that without him, there wouldn't even be a team there and that's several employees in the team, all the way down to the local engineering companies and parts suppliers that would be affected.

[RobGT81]

SpeedMattersNot said:

hat's he getting shown up on? Whilst his overall pace isn't good enough to make him a professional driver he's more than competent to warrant being there. His laps are actually very consistent which, I believe shows he isn't pushing beyond his abilities which is what you need for endurance racing.

The sport heavily relies on people like Dempsey. It's possible that without him, there wouldn't even be a team there and that's several employees in the team, all the way down to the local engineering companies and parts suppliers that would be affected.

I've no issue with him being there, like you say the sport relies on the AMs. He was starting to look quite handy at Le Mans and Daytona but he is consistently the slowest AM and way behind his team mates. That was his first race at Spa to be fair to him!