Spa 24

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Someone has done a great job of mic'g up the track, sounds great.

Not sure if Super Pole needs renaming to ' We Did a Clean Lap' :-)

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The GT4 race was a cracker.

Shocker: the rain is here!

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Looks like 'Pass on the Grass' is ok; from Porsche:

We are relieved to hear that @kevinestre is ok. He has left the medical centre and arrived back at Team Rutronik Racing.

hmm:
https://twitter.com/NickdeBruyne/status/1421490764...

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Aye, as you say when nothing is shown it doesn't bode well :-(
Thankfully all is well considering.

There is some footage available via Twitter.

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FredericRobinson said:

Whoever's in charge of the ever expanding'highlights' package needs dunking in the Eau Rouge, ruins otherwise excellent coverage

lol. The last hour will consist purely of 'highlights' and '...track limits...'.

Other than that, a decent race; looking forward to Vanthoor getting back in the Audi.

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I was wondering how various corners don't seem to be causing track limit warnings.

Turns out there are some exemptions:

https://www.gt-world-challenge-europe.com/document...

Track map:
https://driver61.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/sp...

Interesting to note it references drain covers not being able to withstand the abuse, which happened in the British GT race where a cover was ripped out along with the bolts.

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Looking at the colour of the sky about 15/20 minutes ago, I can't believe anyone didn't think heavy rain was coming.

Easy for me to say as 'Sofa Team Manager'.

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Goodness me.

Peir Guidi, chapeau.

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Truckosaurus said:

freedman said:

...Denied only by the safety car....

It seems to defeat the object of having the FCY/Code60/VirtualSafetyCar speed limit if you are going to bunch everyone back up behind the Safety Car for a lap or two before the restart.

I believe the official reason is to allow the tyres to warm up but it would probably be safer to allow the race to restart with everyone spread out.

I must admit whilst watching I was thinking is it time to bin off the Safety Car for all Endurance racing?

They could have a FCY at higher speeds for a couple of laps before release?

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Bonjour. Mr Robinson.

I drove past the circuit yesterday to check out the parking. As you say there's parking by the camping at Les Combes and that's it. I'm hoping the fields get opened up today otherwise its going to be a pain.

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Ha. I suspect the Belgian plated VR 46 car I saw yesterday will be there in a yellow homage.

Yup, great weather at the moment.

The field car parks are open, all is well!

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FCYs are popular...

As were punctures in the first hour and a bit.

It's nice to see the Beechdean AMRs out there.

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I'm quite happy the Sunday had less visitors:

• parking was a breeze, found a spot under the trees.
• after sunning myself on the rubble between La Source and Eau Rouge I was glad to see lots of space in the shaded grandstand compared to Saturday's fullness ( double edged sword here, it was cold in the wind up there! - colder than the EWC race ).
• rossi fans started queuing at the audi section as soon as the track opened for walking around.

• its the baggi fans in my experience who are more aggressive, but in a nice way once you talk to them ;-)
• he will always extend himself to the public and is a great ambassador for any motorsport series.

Bit of a shame the AMR got squeezed by the Merc, but these things happen...

Edited by boxedin on Monday 1st August 13:13

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freedman said:

Re the Astons spin

I was surprised the incident wasn't reviewed, as Gounon didn't give Thim any space at all, and went from apex to apex even though Thim was completely alongside at Eau Rouge

Maybe Thims, st happens, type response when he got out of the car, helped Gounon?

There were a couple of similar moves by other front running cars earlier in the race where they went side by side but avoided contact by both cars allowing space

I did throw my arms up in the air when I saw it happen and was waiting for the 'Stewards of the Meeting' intervention. But, as you say, Thim's interviewed response did seem to put paid to that happening. Odd, but he seemed ok with it, not sure the AMR team would feel the same.

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Red Firecracker said:

Or his response to winning the esports contest (Pro class), which also gives points to the real Championship:

"It's the fking only points we have this season..." And gives the cheque to the Christmas party.

I like Nicki.

Ha. Very good; IIRC he slipped another f-bomb into his Sunday interview.

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Here's an end of race shot.

Pro 'First World Problems' Tip: don't send off your DSLR as a trade-in against a replacement which has slipping ship dates :-(

20220731_171818 by bmw_motorrad_uk, on Flickr