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Post by René on Sept 2, 2024 21:23:03 GMT
After the Monza success, the Ferrari party wasn't over yet because they also triumphed at the Circuit of the Americas! It was the first 'non-Le Mans' victory for Ferrari in the World Sports Car Championship since Jacky Ickx and Brian Redman won at the Nürburgring in 1973 with the 312PB! A historic and glorious day for the Scuderia. Two celebration flags were added at the main entrance in Maranello. Enzo would be pleased. A great outcome for Ferrari and Robert Kubica!  Yes, it was a great result, certainly for Robert Kubica. Robert would have been a Ferrari Formula One driver if not for that terrible rally accident. He had a signed pre-contract to join Alonso in red. But Ferrari have not forgotten about him and gave him the chance to join the two young protégés in the third Hypercar. And he delivered. Great stuff.  |
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Post by chrisb on Sept 3, 2024 7:15:54 GMT
I did think Kobayashi was going to catch the Ferrari yet anywhere offline was pure ice, well done Ferrari, please UK take note! It was exciting and once the German cars get up to speed as inevitably they will we are in for some fantastic racing.
the GT cars are great enjoyment as well,
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Post by mikael on Sept 3, 2024 18:10:24 GMT
Wonderful for Ferrari and - in particular - for Kubica. He really deserves this success after all he went through to make it possible!  
I think I might have posted this video earlier, of Kubica driving a rented BMW M4 around the famous Nürburgring. I re-watched it yesterday, and I think it's really, really interesting. (Hence I re-post it.)
Thinking about how hard the track is on the car when it's really driven on the limit, it's really no wonder that most Grand Prix drivers actually disliked the circuit and called it "the green hell". Just notice how many times this set-up-to-racing-spec BMW "bottoms-up" on a single lap!
There's a second video which shows that having Kubica to drive on the limit for several laps around the Nürburgring actually took its toll on the car. (Perhaps Kubica is also not exactly a Jim Clark-type of driver - I suspect he's actually a bit hard on his car ...)
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Post by René on Sept 4, 2024 17:00:21 GMT
Kubica is so cool and relaxed. Must be a great experience to sit next to a Grand Prix driver in a high performance car... at the Ring! |
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Post by René on Sept 13, 2024 9:26:49 GMT
WEC Fuji 6 hours The sports cars have arrived in Japan, the home race of Toyota.  The Japanese will be very keen to do well here, but they are hampered by a new BoP 'penalty' (will have reduced maximum power and increased minimum weight). But of course you can never write them off because strategically they are often the best. The biggest competition comes again from Ferrari and Porsche, but BMW was surprisingly fast in FP2. 1. BMW M TEAM WRT 1'29.577 2. PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT 1'29.586 3. CADILLAC RACING 1'29.592 4. AF CORSE 1'29.904 5. TOYOTA RACING 1'29.923 6. BMW M TEAM WRT 1'29.956 7. FERRARI AF CORSE 1'29.975 8. HERTZ TEAM JOTA 1'30.013 9. TOYOTA RACING 1'30.017 10. PORSCHE PENSKE MOTORSPORT 1'30.131 
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Post by René on Sept 14, 2024 16:23:11 GMT
A surprise maiden pole for Cadillac beating Toyota on home soil. Porsche and Ferrari disappointing.  1st #2 Cadillac Racing (Bamber/Lynn) 1min 28.901secs 2nd #8 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +0.041secs 3rd #15 BMW M Team WRT (Vanthoor/Marciello/Wittmann) +0.158secs 4th #7 TOYOTA GAZOO Racing +0.164secs 5th #6 Porsche Penske (Estre/Lotterer/Vanthoor) +0.251secs 6th #35 Alpine Endurance Team (Gounon/Habsburg/Milesi) +0.253secs 7th #50 Ferrari AF Corse (Fuoco/Molina/Nielsen) +0.295 |
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Post by René on Sept 15, 2024 16:57:15 GMT
Porsche wins. Drama for Toyota and Ferrari!  1. Estre, Lotterer, Vanthoor Porsche Penske Motorsport 6:00:32 2. Vanthoor, Marciello, Wittmann BMW M Team WRT +16.601 3. Lapierre, Schumacher, Vaxiviere Alpine Endurance Team +42.321 4. Jensen, Muller, Vergne Peugeot Totalenergies +45.846 5. Stevens, Ilott, Nato Hertz Team Jota +49.689 6. Button, Hanson, Rasmussen Hertz Team Jota +51.916 7. Gounon, Habsburg, Milesi Alpine Endurance Team +54.316 8. di Resta, Duval, Vandoorne Peugeot Totalenergies +54.324 9. Fuoco, Molina, Nielsen Ferrari AF Corse +57.874 But there was still Ferrari success as the #54 Vista AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3 of Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, and Davide Rigon triumphed in LMGT3. |
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Post by René on Oct 31, 2024 17:06:11 GMT
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Post by René on Nov 1, 2024 16:20:08 GMT
Front row lockout for the Toyotas. A Ferrari and the Proton Porsche on the second row and the second Ferrari and the works Penske Porsche on the third row.  1. Buemi, Hartley, Hirakawa Toyota Gazoo Racing 1:46.714 2. Conway, Kobayashi, de Vries Toyota Gazoo Racing +0.323 3. Pier Guidi, Calado, Giovinazzi Ferrari AF Corse +0.366 4. Tincknell, Jani, Andlauer Proton Competition +0.520 5. Fuoco, Molina, Nielsen Ferrari AF Corse +0.813 6. Estre, Lotterer, Vanthoor Porsche Penske Motorsport +0.828 |
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Post by chrisb on Nov 2, 2024 11:58:46 GMT
looking at the drivers I just think Toyota has probably the best line up, maybe after this years F1 discards that may change as I am sure Perez, Magnusson, Ricciardo would find seats in other cars quite easily
the good news for us UK fans, is that next September Silverstone is hosting a ELMS race and are talking to WEC organisers about them racing back here. It just brings back such wonderful memories, those wonderful Jags, vs Mercs, ve Porsche etc and those beautiful Lancia's et al - gosh how fortunate I was to have gone to so many brilliant races
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Post by René on Nov 3, 2024 10:48:30 GMT
looking at the drivers I just think Toyota has probably the best line up, maybe after this years F1 discards that may change as I am sure Perez, Magnusson, Ricciardo would find seats in other cars quite easily the good news for us UK fans, is that next September Silverstone is hosting a ELMS race and are talking to WEC organisers about them racing back here. It just brings back such wonderful memories, those wonderful Jags, vs Mercs, ve Porsche etc and those beautiful Lancia's et al - gosh how fortunate I was to have gone to so many brilliant races Chris, I really hope, also for you, that WEC will return to the UK soon. These cars are amazing to watch and now with Ferrari and Porsche back in the game, it feels like a real championship again. Aston Martin will most likely also join the club. I actually wish that WEC and IMSA would merge so Daytona and Sebring would also be part of the championship. |
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Post by René on Nov 3, 2024 10:58:58 GMT
Toyota won the race and the Constructors title, against all odds. Porsche looked set to win the title but the Toyota #8 somehow, with good strategy and good racing, managed to turn the race and the championship around.  It really was a good race and it looked like a Ferrari win for a long time. The #51 car lead most of the race, fell back to fifth, fought back to second at the finish…. and was than disqualified for exceeding the number of used tyres… pfff. That was disappointing. But still, a great race to watch and Ferrari won in the GT class. |
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Post by chrisb on Nov 3, 2024 11:15:32 GMT
Rene, so do I, the biggest problem I fear is that people will cotton on that the WEC is better than F1 and we know what happened last time that happened. totally agree it would be wonderful if Daytona and Sebring were part of the World championship - encouraging all those great drivers currently in NASCAR or Indycars etc compete with their WEC competitors
Unfortunately I haven't seen the race, what with the rugby, cricket and football all a bit too much. oh and the MotoGP
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Post by René on Nov 21, 2024 18:56:09 GMT
Max getting his first taste of driving a prototype. It won’t be too long before he’ll do Le Mans and/or Daytona.
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Post by chrisb on Nov 22, 2024 10:43:20 GMT
that will be interesting René- I look forward to hearing more of this,
one piece of potentially great news is that Silverstone is talking about hosting a round next year, fingers crossed
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