2017 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship - General Season Discussion ThreadSports Cars

[catamount39]

Still hurts to see a Corvette wrecked like that. ;-; Glad Marchell is okay though, P&M makes a very safe car thankfully.

 

[IforceV8]

Did you read that entire article?

They had to add front down force as well as the gurney flap threw the car off-balance. Considering how aero-dependant the track is I could see that combination causing a 9mph loss.

I did, and I went back and looked at the pictures from the Dec. test and the Roar and could see the difference in the front aero. There is no mention of what size restrictor they used at the Dec. test (it wasnt published publicly either) vs now.

A few turns of front wing and a Gurney flap = 9 mph, I have a hard time buying that. Sandbags, missing plug wires, politics, pick one. BTW the Rebellion is running a double element front wing today and only lost 1.5 mph compared to the single element they used Saturday.

 

[catamount39]

I did, and I went back and looked at the pictures from the Dec. test and the Roar and could see the difference in the front aero. There is no mention of what size restrictor they used at the Dec. test (it wasnt published publicly either) vs now.

A few turns of front wing and a Gurney flap = 9 mph, I have a hard time buying that. Sandbags, missing plug wires, politics, pick one. BTW the Rebellion is running a double element front wing today and only lost 1.5 mph compared to the single element they used Saturday.

Agreed, a gurney is going to have effect but not almost 10 MPH. Just how much front downforce (numbers) did they add to the front to compensate?!

 

[Panoz]

That a lot of work for P&M to do.

Hopefully they've built a spare chassis ready to go if this car is beyond repair.

 

[catamount39]

What the heck happened?!

 

[Formidable]

What the heck happened?!

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/fassler-escapes-injury-after-massive-corvette-fire/

According to this, it just decided to catch fire going into the oval Turn 2. Not sure what exactly caused it

 

[catamount39]

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/fassler-escapes-injury-after-massive-corvette-fire/

According to this, it just decided to catch fire going into the oval Turn 2. Not sure what exactly caused it

And here I thought it hit something then caught fire...it just caught fire. Hopefully it never happens again and they find the issue.

 

[Panoz]

Whatever started the fire happened near the headers, could be a number of things that caused it.

 

[GTRacer22]

Jim Campbell says it started from an issue with the fuel line, but no one is exactly sure of the root cause. Corvette has parked the #3 and packed up early.

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/corvette-parks-no-3-car-packs-up-early-after-fire/

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Makes sense to just play it safe and pack it in. No point in taking chances on the same thing happening to the 3 since they don't even know what made it happen to the 4. At least Fassler is okay. That's all that matters in the end.

 

[IforceV8]

Agreed, a gurney is going to have effect but not almost 10 MPH. Just how much front downforce (numbers) did they add to the front to compensate?!

This Sat.

December.



Looks like they added a upper element.

 

[AnthonyD1993]

Looks like the Caddys got the lap time back based off of the times for session 7.

 

[IforceV8]

I think I have this list right, best ideal lap for each P car.

81 Oreca 1.37.579
85 Oreca 1.37.692
55 Mazda 1.37.951
5 Caddy 1.38.415
52 Ligier 1.38.453

13 Oreca 1.38.467
10 Caddy 1.38.701
8 Caddy 1.38.772
90 Riley 1.38.914
2 Nissan 1.39.485

70 Mazda 1.39.519
22 Nissan 1.39.608

 

[NRG MBL59]

Nah don't worry GM will pqy up to IMSA and we'll see the "penalty gurney flap that can't slow the car by 9mph" removed

Considering BoP for sportscars over the years has seen gurney flap adjustments of 5-10mm only used a 30mm gurney is massive for a LMP. Get learnt people and sir above, please take off the tin foil.

*EDIT*
Conspiracy theorists beware, insurance is why the Caddies have been slowed.

***The quickest Cadillac DPi-V.R in the speed traps was the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing entry, at 191.5 mph. The Cadillacs were hampered by a 30mm gurney, among other aero adjustments that limited their top speed. It’s understood IMSA has been forced to restrict the top speeds to under 200 mph for insurance reasons.

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/daytona-sunday-notebook/

 

[Organ-Donor]

That a lot of work for P&M to do.

Hopefully they've built a spare chassis ready to go if this car is beyond repair.

Couldn't this have been 1 of the 4 army of Ford's instead, or 2 for that matter..

"The fire damage was limited to the engine compartment of the car, with the Pratt & Miller squad not expecting to need a replacement chassis for the rebuild."

At least a new chassis isn't needed.

 

[trustjab]

Amazing what a little over an inch worth of bodywork does to cars aero traits.

 

[JohnBM01]

I'm sorry... I'm not really buying the Cadillac DPi's looks-wise. On the other hand, those new NSXes look great along with the sweet Lexus GT car. I especially enjoyed seeing the Lexus GT cars since seeing those Lexus commercials featuring that GT car. It's great to see the Mercedes-Benz GT machines also. The Mazdas look very cool.

This post is all based on the "Roar Before the 24" video posted from RACER Channel's YouTube channel. The variety of cars and all the different sounds only confirms my love of this discipline of motorsport.

 

[twitcher]

Day 2 footage


This ones mostly in the garage area

 

[01GTP]

Unfortunately IMSA's not caring about balance shelved quite a few Porsche GT3 cars last year...so the one chink in the armor continues to be unattended.

Porsche in general suffered in the hands of anyone other then Earl Bamber or Kevin Estre globally in GT3, GTLM and GTE, the 2016 chassis seemed confused in any guise, it was usually the lightest and most powerful car in its class but the chassis ley it down, aside from the Daytona BoP which was quite good bar the exception of a specific Lamborghini....

The balance was fine.

IIRC the GTLM Porsche's (Michelin) changed the tires, causing the lack in competition with the Porsche. They then switched back to the previous years WEC tire. Bop'ed just the same by IMSA.
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/porsche-switches-to-2015-michelin-wec-tire/

New car this year IIRC..??

 

[NRG MBL59]

No, they mean Porsche in GTD. The 23 was fine as it had 2x 'super silvers' who could get the best from it but Ams couldn't .

 

[Mike458]

Is it me or from the videos posted earlier the 911 and 912 Porsches sound very quiet?

 

[mwoodski]

ROAR Footage in glorious 1080p

 

[dQuim]

Can't wait for the Rolex 24. Hard to see how it could get any better than last years GTLM finish, though!

I think i'm actually going to miss the Corvette DP's. I've always thought it was a good looking race car.

 

[IforceV8]

Nah don't worry GM will pqy up to IMSA and we'll see the "penalty gurney flap that can't slow the car by 9mph" removed

GM will pay up huh, interesting "theory" you have come up with.

Considering BoP for sportscars over the years has seen gurney flap adjustments of 5-10mm only used a 30mm gurney is massive for a LMP. Get learnt people and sir above, please take off the tin foil.

PDF learnin for ya. http://competitors.imsa.com/sites/d...wnlods/iwsc_tb_17-07_01_p_pc_gtlm_gtd_bop.pdf

Amazing what a little over an inch worth of bodywork does to cars aero traits.

Good thing that Riley doesnt have a GM V8 in it huh? A 65mm flap would make it hard for a Riley GM to pass a PC car. Troy Flis made the right call it seems.💡

 

[Eh Team]

I was just having a think about the schedule and I'm still quite seriously wondering why on earth they send anything to the Detroit Street race? Barber is a rather nice facility, why not go there, it's nice and wide so P class would have an easier time with traffic, there's places to actually put stuff. It just blows my mind that they even go to Detroit, I just don't get it, and I don't really understand why they go to Long Beach either, if anything that should be a GT only round. A return to Montreal would be nice too but I'm pretty sure the pit lane would be a bit small for the field size.

 

[Dylan]

 

[mwoodski]

I was just having a think about the schedule and I'm still quite seriously wondering why on earth they send anything to the Detroit Street race? Barber is a rather nice facility, why not go there, it's nice and wide so P class would have an easier time with traffic, there's places to actually put stuff. It just blows my mind that they even go to Detroit, I just don't get it, and I don't really understand why they go to Long Beach either, if anything that should be a GT only round. A return to Montreal would be nice too but I'm pretty sure the pit lane would be a bit small for the field size.

Factory GM and Ford teams. The manufactures themselves want it. It's a garbage track. Made more sense when there was a Ford presence in P as well.

 

[twitcher]

I actually really like the Detroit Circuit, but agree it is too small for the LMP cars. It's great for the GT cars though.

One of the things I really like about the IMSA series is the variety of the style of tracks they go to. High speed smooth tracks like Daytona or COTA, street circuits, bumpy road courses...they do it all. Only other series with that much variety in type of circuit I can think of is Aussie SC.

 

[Eva]

I actually really like the Detroit Circuit, but agree it is too small for the LMP cars. It's great for the GT cars though.

One of the things I really like about the IMSA series is the variety of the style of tracks they go to. High speed smooth tracks like Daytona or COTA, street circuits, bumpy road courses...they do it all. Only other series with that much variety in type of circuit I can think of is Aussie SC.

Umm...IndyCar as well.

 

[twitcher]

Umm...IndyCar as well.

Yes, I thought about that after, complete oversight You're totally right though.