Spa 6 Hours 2014....Toyota Looking Strong
Discussion
This was my second Spa 6 hours and I think the fight is well and truly on for Le Mans. Still very hard to call it with Porsche taking P1, #1 Audi fighting back from 6th to 2nd and the Toyota's still on top form. If Porsche get the electrical gubbins sorted on the 919, then I think they will be the dark horses of the race.
I have a full race report here so check it out
http://www.autolifers.com/event-fia-wec-round-2-6-...
The better half get me tickets for Spa as an xmas present which included two PAX laps with a professional driver followed by a tour of the facilities, and then two laps in my own car!
The passenger laps were in a Megane RS 265 with Marc Duez at the wheel. The guy was awesome and in the two laps he showed me loads in terms of breaking points, lines and gearing. This left me REALLY stoked for my own laps!
Good news: The car didn't break
Bad news: I had to stay behind a "pace car" and "couldn't overtake"
This meant I had to trundle around at a relatively easy pace or else drop back to crawling pace on the straights so I could attack the corners. So I did what anybody else would do and switched off traction control and made the most of it!
Needless to say I have some unfinished business with Spa so I hope to be back before the year is out to get a proper track day in.
I have a full race report here so check it out
http://www.autolifers.com/event-fia-wec-round-2-6-...
The better half get me tickets for Spa as an xmas present which included two PAX laps with a professional driver followed by a tour of the facilities, and then two laps in my own car!
The passenger laps were in a Megane RS 265 with Marc Duez at the wheel. The guy was awesome and in the two laps he showed me loads in terms of breaking points, lines and gearing. This left me REALLY stoked for my own laps!
Good news: The car didn't break
Bad news: I had to stay behind a "pace car" and "couldn't overtake"
This meant I had to trundle around at a relatively easy pace or else drop back to crawling pace on the straights so I could attack the corners. So I did what anybody else would do and switched off traction control and made the most of it!
Needless to say I have some unfinished business with Spa so I hope to be back before the year is out to get a proper track day in.
But the race itself was epic! This year is really shaping up to be a classic with Porsche, Audi and Toyota all evenly matched in LMP1. Toyota seem in the strongest position to take Le Mans this year though, going by the first two races at least. Then again, 24 hours is a long time!
I couldn't get over the noise (or the lack of!) of the Audi's. In comparison to the rest of the field, all you hear is air displacement really! Not dissimilar to last years car, but I am really liking the new color scheme they have this year.
In contrast, the Aston Martins were just brutal. Every time one passed you would shudder a bit, but in a good way! It never gets old
But what I enjoyed the most was trying to get these low shutter speed pans through the trees. I only got it right a couple of times, but each time I did, it was an explosion of color and gave a good idea of the speed they reach on the Kemmel straight.
Next weekend, I'm off to Cologne to see the HQ of the Toyota Le Mans operation, TMG Europe, and then a day at the Nurburgring for a round of the VLN (and maybe a couple of laps afterwards
). I am gonna be eating soup and raw potatoes for the next while to get through this month, but to be honest I wouldn't have it any other way!!
Ciaran
So if you have time, take a look at the article and let me know what you think. It takes me a long time to put these together and it's all out of my own pocket, so hopefully it's worth all the time and effort!
http://www.autolifers.com/event-fia-wec-round-2-6-...
I couldn't get over the noise (or the lack of!) of the Audi's. In comparison to the rest of the field, all you hear is air displacement really! Not dissimilar to last years car, but I am really liking the new color scheme they have this year.
In contrast, the Aston Martins were just brutal. Every time one passed you would shudder a bit, but in a good way! It never gets old
But what I enjoyed the most was trying to get these low shutter speed pans through the trees. I only got it right a couple of times, but each time I did, it was an explosion of color and gave a good idea of the speed they reach on the Kemmel straight.
Next weekend, I'm off to Cologne to see the HQ of the Toyota Le Mans operation, TMG Europe, and then a day at the Nurburgring for a round of the VLN (and maybe a couple of laps afterwards
). I am gonna be eating soup and raw potatoes for the next while to get through this month, but to be honest I wouldn't have it any other way!! Ciaran
So if you have time, take a look at the article and let me know what you think. It takes me a long time to put these together and it's all out of my own pocket, so hopefully it's worth all the time and effort!
http://www.autolifers.com/event-fia-wec-round-2-6-...
Certainly looking tough for Audi - but I wouldn't write them off. They are absolutely focussed on the 24H and - as said above - have often struggled in the 6H prior and on outright pace, but looked very strong over the full 24H.
Going to be good this year though. Can't wait to see the LMP1s scything through traffic up close.
Going to be good this year though. Can't wait to see the LMP1s scything through traffic up close.
ciaran mk1 said:
Likewise, Kristinsen, Duval and Di Grassi pulled 4 places back in 6 hours. The #3 car was running a low DF configuration in preparation for Le Mans but didn't make any impact in Spa.
I still think it's a 3 horse race given the strengths that each team has.
4 places in 6 hours?I still think it's a 3 horse race given the strengths that each team has.
Nothing to get excited about really is it....!?
Go Toyota!
Sometime in the wee small hours of the night the stats guru on Radio LM will put some figures into his spreadsheet and say, "That's interesting, XX have just done a Y-tuple stint and ZZ are getting n+1 laps per tank. It is going to come down to..."
Strange things happen at Le Mans and things like how quickly a contender can get a stricken car back to the pits come into play.
Strange things happen at Le Mans and things like how quickly a contender can get a stricken car back to the pits come into play.
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