GT Racing - GT1, GT3, Blancpain Endurance Series & National GT SeriesSports Cars

[twitcher]

Who's idea was it to have a night race? I can't see 🤬 Blinded by headlights most of the time

 

[The Stig Farmer]

Dolby and Brito though.

I didn't even mean to land on this channel, lol

Luck and all that.

 

[sgohsixthree]

Ok, Sorry for being lame... but are there english broadcasts of the ADAC GT Master series? I would love to watch some past races, but all I can find is the German commentary. And maybe that is just how it is. Maybe it's just time to learn German.

 

[Telstar]

Ok, Sorry for being lame... but are there english broadcasts of the ADAC GT Master series? I would love to watch some past races, but all I can find is the German commentary. And maybe that is just how it is. Maybe it's just time to learn German.

I don't know if there are English commentators available, but you don't miss out on anything if you don't understand the German ones. Patrick Simon, the color commentator, is okay. However the primary commentator, Jan Stecker, has no clue at all. He once was the quaterback of the German national American Football team and somehow becomes the commentator for everything right now. He should just leave everything else alone and stick to Football, and even there he was/is mediocre at best. I even invested in the Gamepass for the first time this season to avoid him and the other German commentators.

Having said that, it never hurts to learn another language.

 

[G.T.Ace]

The end of an era for the Marc VDS Racing Team
Published: 6 Oct 2015

Gosselies, Belgium – 6 October 2015: The distinctive feline emblem, for which the Marc VDS Racing Team is renowned, will be absent from the GT grid next season, following a decision by Team President, Marc van der Straten, to cease car racing activities after the final race of this year’s European Le Mans Series in Estoril.

The decision was a hard one to make, as the Marc VDS Racing Team has enjoyed unprecedented success in recent years. In 2013 they were crowned as the Pro Cup Team Champions in the Blancpain Endurance Series and they have twice finished on the podium in the prestigious 24 Hours of Nürburgring. This year the team achieved their greatest result to date, with victory in the 24 Hours of Spa, the biggest GT race in the world.

But this success has come at a cost; a significant cost. Racing to win in any series in the closely contested GT3 class is expensive, but when these costs are almost doubled due to financial mismanagement by those entrusted with the responsibility of running the team, it is no longer viable to continue.

The decision to cease car racing activities was made not because of the financial cost, but because of the moral cost to a team that no longer operates with the same principles that Marc van der Straten holds dear and which were instilled in him by his late father, with whom he started his motorsport adventure.

For Marc van der Straten racing is about passion, competition, honour and professionalism. For car racing his passion has now gone, crushed by the deceit of those he thought shared his vision for the Marc VDS Racing Team, but who turned out to be thinking only of themselves.

The Marc VDS Racing Team will continue to race on two wheels, in the FIM MotoGP and Moto2 World Championships, but the final ELMS round at Estoril on 18th October will mark the end of an era, as the team’s distinctive yellow emblem is seen on the GT grid for the final time.

More here: http://www.marcvds.com/car/news/detail/the-end-of-an-era-for-the-marc-vds-racing-team#.VhOqhxOqqko

I'm sad, really, really sad. I love the VDS guys, this... this is horrible.

 

[MatskiMonk]

More here: http://www.marcvds.com/car/news/detail/the-end-of-an-era-for-the-marc-vds-racing-team#.VhOqhxOqqko

I'm sad, really, really sad. I love the VDS guys, this... this is horrible.

Shame not see them on track but it sounds like somethings been brewing behind the scenes. I'd be curious to know the full story. I thought it was odd that Bas Leinders left when he did.

 

[Bo]

I'm not really surprised. As @MatskiMonk said, Leinders leaving in such a manner hinted at something dodgy going on.

 

[Clark]

Gutted about Marc VDS, don't really think there's another team that does as good a job with BMW GT cars in Europe.

 

[catamount39]

Here are some photos (in the spoiler to keep this page clean) of Marc VDS through the years. We're losing a truly great race team.

Spoiler: Memories

Ford Mustang GT3

Ford GT GT3

Ford GT GT1

BMW Z4 GT3

BMW Z4 GTE

 

[Holdenhsvgtsr]

Shame not see them on track but it sounds like somethings been brewing behind the scenes. I'd be curious to know the full story. I thought it was odd that Bas Leinders left when he did.

Me too on the case!

 

[MatskiMonk]

Here are some photos (in the spoiler to keep this page clean) of Marc VDS through the years. We're losing a truly great race team.

Well, you kinda stole my thunder, but I was going to post my own photo's of MarcVDS racing cars I've had the fortune to watch first hand.. and I'm not going to spoiler them - 'cus sexy BMW


Marc VDS, Ford GT, GT1, FIA GT May '10 by Matt Stokes, on Flickr


Marc VDS, Ford Mustang, FIA GT May '10 by Matt Stokes, on Flickr


Marc VDS, BMW Z4 GT3, Blancpain Endurance Series, Silverstone, Oct '11 by Matt Stokes, on Flickr


Marc VDS, BMW Z4 GTE, Silverstone, FIA WEC & ELMS '15 by Matt Stokes, on Flickr


Marc VDS BMW Z4 GT3, Nürburgring 24hr '15 by Matt Stokes, on Flickr


Marc VDS, Z4 GT3, The Winners, Spa 24 by Matt Stokes, on Flickr


VDS on the top step, Spa 24hr '15 by Matt Stokes, on Flickr

 

[TDZdave]

Did that mustang even get to race properly? I remember it being garaged a lot over its "rule breaching"

 

[catamount39]

Did that mustang even get to race properly? I remember it being garaged a lot over its "rule breaching"

Probably the reason for buying a GT GT1 and GT GT3 shortly after getting the Mustang lol.

 

[CarreraGT]

I'm sure this has already been posted, but looking forward to seeing this thing on track:



I much prefer it when race cars run the same engine as the road car (TT V8 in this instance). I was never a fan of the fact that the Z4 GT3 ran a V8 when the road car was never offered with a V8

 

[IforceV8]

2016 GT3 shopping list. http://www.dailysportscar.com/2015/...-cars-revised-cars-three-we-wont-see-yet.html

 

[catamount39]

Wow! 200,000 Euros for the Camaro GT3?! That's considerably cheaper than the others. Surprised nobody in the U.S. has considered this, it's only about $225,000 dollars! For a racecar that's not bad at all. I mean that's half the price of the Viper!

 

[Bo]

Since the Camaro's on offer I'll take two, and throw in a Rex while you're at it.

 

[IforceV8]

7.9L of Katech fury.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Did that mustang even get to race properly? I remember it being garaged a lot over its "rule breaching"

I've got no pictures of it on track that weekend, which makes me suspicious!

 

[JohnBM01]

Watching CBS Sports Network here in the States, I'm seeing Misano raced on at night for the first time ever. One of the highlights I saw was a vicious crash involving a Bnetley and an Audi (VW/Audi on VW/Audi violence?). As I noticed some of the entrants in this race, I saw a familiar surname- Walkinshaw. One of the divers of the #73 Nissan GT-R is Walkinshaw. I'm sure there's some special relation with this Walkinshaw apart from one of the greatest racing teams and one of the greatest to ever be involved in racing- Tom Walkinshaw Racing.

Anyhow, this is pretty cool what I've seen so far.

 

[RACECAR]

Speaking of said race:

That gap...2spooky4me

 

[IforceV8]

Blancpain 6hrs of America two weeks before Sebring. http://www.racer.com/latest-stories/item/122441-us-gt-enduro-set-for-six-hour-format

 

[catamount39]

Blancpain 6hrs of America two weeks before Sebring. http://www.racer.com/latest-stories/item/122441-us-gt-enduro-set-for-six-hour-format

Sweet!

 

[TheCracker]

As I noticed some of the entrants in this race, I saw a familiar surname- Walkinshaw. One of the divers of the #73 Nissan GT-R is Walkinshaw. I'm sure there's some special relation with this Walkinshaw apart from one of the greatest racing teams and one of the greatest to ever be involved in racing- Tom Walkinshaw Racing.

Yeah, Sean is the son of Tom Walkinshaw. Tom was a pretty successful driver too before he retired to concentrate on TWR full time. 👍

Sean's also the team mate of my friend Craig

 

[Snaeper]

Blancpain 6hrs of America two weeks before Sebring. http://www.racer.com/latest-stories/item/122441-us-gt-enduro-set-for-six-hour-format

Those last two paragraphs though.

 

[IforceV8]

Those last two paragraphs though.

Yeah I was wondering what happened to that considering the last BSS race is this weekend and the entry list which was released yesterday contains no PWC teams.

 

[TDZdave]

Yeah I was wondering what happened to that considering the last BSS race is this weekend and the entry list which was released yesterday contains no PWC teams.

Have we ever seen PWC teams jump the pond before?

 

[IforceV8]

Have we ever seen PWC teams jump the pond before?

No.

 

[Northstar]

I'm not really surprised that the crossover thing didn't work out considering Blancpain uses a completely different format for their races.

That being said, hopefully there is a team or two that decides to do double duty at COTA.

 

[twitcher]

I'm not really surprised that the crossover thing didn't work out considering Blancpain uses a completely different format for their races.

That being said, hopefully there is a team or two that decides to do double duty at COTA.

Ya doesn't PWC use a single driver format, whereas every BP team is at least 2 drivers, even for the sprint races?

Not an impossible adaptation to overcome, but adding a second driver adds a whole world of complication that a team would really need to think over whether or not the effort is worth it...plus the logistics of actually getting there.

The Euro guys face the same logistical issues to come to NA, but it's much easier for a two driver team to switch to one driver than the other way around.

All that said, I would love to see some crossover events. My favoritism leans towards North America, simply because I feel there are a handful of tracks that would provide excellent racing, and which really deserve more recognition on the world stage. I'm thinking of tracks like Road America, Watkins Glen, Mid Ohio Leguna Seca...CTMP in a perfect world . I love Road Atlanta, Sebring and Daytona too, but they already have premier level events. A couple to a handful of GT3 Endurance events at the tracks I mentioned would make me one happy guy