DTM/SuperGT/V8 Supercars a United family?

I recently made a few comments on my Twitter account regarding the future of the V8 Supercar series and how they should adopt the new DTM/SuperGT class 1 regulations from 2017. 

I think I need to explain myself a bit more, it might not be as mad as you might think. Apart from an obvious name change to something like "Aussie Supercars".... 

Let's get something out the way early.... V8's are looking for a new rule set from 2017, rumours of Ford leaving after next year with Ford moving away from V8 engines and the Falcon. So I propose they join forces with DTM and SuperGT. Also you will need to ignore the previous years of racing, I for one find current DTM  boring, however a new rule set we'll get new racing.  

The two touring car giants have agreed a shared rule set that involves a 2.0ltr turbocharged engine that is expected to produce around 700bhp. Chassis regs have also been agreed with a shared platform across both series. Testing is expected to begin in 2016 or even late 2015. 

You may or may not have noticed how this all links in yet. 

Others things to remember are that the new class 1 regulations have some extrodinary manufacturers BMW, Audi, Mercesdes, Honda, Nissan and many more... imagine that lot at the Bathurst 1000! 

Aussie Supercars could mange there format as they like too, race length, tyre compound, pit stops and so on.

So could Volvo and Holden be persuaded to join the party? because remember Nissan and Mercesdes are all ready there.... 

Best ever helmet design?

Today my Mrs asked me a few motorsport related questions, which is a first....

I got "who's your favourite driver ever?" to which I replied "Mika Hakkinen and Colin McRae"

Then I got asked "favourite track?" again not a too difficult answer "Le Sarthe and The Nordschleife"

Then the Mrs threw a curve ball, "your favourite racing helmet design?" Now the obvious answer would be Aryton Senna but it's extremely distinctive but great design? Who knows.

So that conversation set my mind into overdrive, racking my brains for the best helmet design. I have a few in mind but I want you're input. Send me your all time favourite helmets. I will accept them from any form of motorsport including bikes.

So the plan is to hold a vote via the blog/twitter to decide on the greatest helmet, and for the first time in my Motorsport World Blog history I 'm going to allow # votes.

Get thinking.. send them too my via my twitter account @jimmyb_84 #HelmetEntry or leave a comment to this blog. You have 7 days.

I'm going to start the ball rolling, I nominate Sebastian Wheldon

The Winner is........

So the race has been run and the winners have been decided, many incidents took place and obviously our thoughts are with Marcus Mahy and his speedy recovery.

The final results of the Fantasy Sportscar are in, the winners are;

1st Rupert Coales 49pts
2nd Red Firecracker 47pts (Kelvin Pope)
3rd Marshals Racing 44pts (Rob Jaina)
4th Nicks Nutters 40pts (Nick Holland)
5th Johnny P 27pts
6th BBRE4L 26pts (Ben Clarke)
7th Kurt Hoegh 23pts
8th Shy Ted Motorsport 20pts (Alistair McLeod)

*Note* I have awarded 5pts for pole position to the team that were quickest in superpole, the original way I planned to award the points was to the fastest driver in qualifying, however an aggregate qualifying doesn't work for this.
Drivers points have also been awarded according to class results not overall results. Manufacturer and Team points have been awarded for overall results.

Find a link below to the spreadsheet I used to calculate the scores (I know it's basic so don't laugh).

Teams and Points(Link to Excel Online)

Thank you all for entering and taking the time. You're feedback would be brilliant and hopefully will help for future games.

Fantasy Sportscar is LIVE

The entry list for the Spa 24hr has been released, so you know what that means it's time to pick your dream team....

Just to refresh your minds, you'll need to choose the following;

2x Pro Drivers
2x Pro-Am Drivers (Regardless of driver ranking)
2x Gentleman Drivers
1x Team (will score points in class entered, highest places car scores)
1x Manufacturer (will score for overall only)

See the link to PDF below for your team selection.

Spa 24h Entry List

For some help CLICK HERE for the results of last years race.

You'll also need a team name. You can can enter by emailing you're team to me via the email link below or comment to this thread. Entrants will be excepted right up until the wednesday 23rd July before the race.

Points are outlined in a previous thread

How the points work 

Email Entry

If we can get enough interest, I would like to roll out a full season league for WEC and Blanpain Sprint/Endurance series next year. I've also received a very kind offer technical help which would really take this to the next level if we can get the interest.

Fantasy Sportscar

 Once again I was having random thoughts on the afternoon of the Nurburgring 24hr and decided a fantasy league for sportscar drivers was missing. I started in the usual place, Google. however no useful search results appeared. 

  So I decided to try myself, a few draw backs are that I'm not a genius program/software designer so an apps out of the question, so I propose, providing I get enough interest, a trial run. I have selected the GT3 main event, The Spa 24hr.

The Game

I propose the following system,

The player i.e you select the following,

2x Pro Drivers

2x Pro-Am Drivers

2x Gentleman Trophy Drivers

(The drivers you select CANNOT be in the same car.) 

1x Manufacturer (Audi, Mclaren, Bentley)

1x Team (Marc VDS, Beechdean, M-sport)

Driver Points

5 points for pole position (only for the driver that actually sets the time)

If your driver finishing in the top 10, points will be awarded as follows

1st- 10pts

2nd- 9pts

3rd- 8pts

And so on.... (Think you get the idea) 

Manufacturer Points

You will score points for the highest placed finish for your chosen manufacturer however points will only be awarded inside the top 10, using the same points system for the drivers.  

Team Points

Points will be awarded in exactly the same way as manufacturers, you will only score points for the highest placed car from that team. 

I hope all the above makes sense, it was something I've thought of within a few hours. 

Now for the sort of downside, as I'm no programming genius I'll have to track and update the scores manually and update the blog. I'll only be able to except entrants either via email or as a comment to this thread. If anyone is a genius I'd happily take for expertise via a fancy spreadsheet or something. I'll also be unable to give prizes for the winner however if anyone would like to donate something that would be great too. 

I will be unable to get a list of drivers until the Spa 24hr test day on the 2nd of July so start thinking of who'd you have in your all-star team.

You never know, if it's successful we may try again.. 

Audi v Rebellion in Detail

Many of you who follow me on twitter may be aware of my recent interest in the LMP1 privateer situation in the World Endurance Championship.

I will attempt to analyse the data from the #12 Rebellion and pitch it against the current World Endurance champions Audi #1 E-tron Quattro.

I'm going to start by breaking down the sector times and compare them, I have selected the first 10 laps of the race to keep the varibles to a minimum and also to get the cars at ultimate pace. I will start with the obvious, Sector 1.



You will notice starightaway that Audi was the faster car but we expected that, it's not that I expect the Rebellion Toyota to be faster but it's the amount of distance between the cars that we are intrested in.
Reviewing the data as you will see above my first impressions are not quite so good. I calulated the average distance between the cars to be 1.3 seconds in Sector 1 alone. Once the cars hit traffic on lap 4 for the Audi, and lap 5 for the rebellion, the splits between them flutuate somewhat.



Once again the Audi was the faster of the 2 cars, until once again traffic appears on the scene. The average time distance between them in sector 2 is an eye-watering 1.4 seconds. So currently the Rebellion is 2.7s slower on average and we havent even got to sector 3 yet. An early conclusion would be that Rebellion's drivers need to push through traffic to gain any advantage possible and minmise the gap.



Again first impressions prove the #1 Audi faster through the laps until lap 9 where the Audi must have caught traffic at a bad time. The average distance through sector 3 reads better than the previous sectors at 0.7s slower, however it's only a 31s sector mainly consisting of the Hanger straight, Stowe, Vale, Club and across the line. I proved a previous blog that the rebellion has near enough the same straight line speed as the Audi but it appears they have sacrificed downforce as proven by the slower times in the previous sectors.

I also checked the overall time both cars spent in the pits during the race. Both pitted 8 times, The Audi being Diesel and Hybrid is aloud only 61 litres but the Rebellion Toyota has a 75 litres allowance. On the face of it used think Rebellion could gain sometime back by pitting less than the Audi? However as I just mentioned they both pit 8 times. So looking into it further did rebellion gain anytime back by not changing the tyres as much? Well I can say the #1 Audi spent a combined time of 9 min 44 seconds in the pits and the #12 Rebellion 9 mins 48 seconds. Not much to be gained back in the pits then, with similar times spent servicing the cars.

Still struggling to find anywhere were Rebellion have had a chance to gain anything back from the Audi during the race, I have looked through plenty of data and I can find no evidence where the Rebellion is suprior or the FIA/ACO have manufactored the sporting/technical regulations to give the LMP1 privateers a chance to snatch a podium should any of the top cars suffer with problems. My calulations have shown that over a lap on average they trail by 3.4 seconds and have proven that Rebellion's pit crew are just as savvy at servicing as Joest.

I fear the evidence suggests that FIA/ACO want to put off (intentionally or not) privateer teams from enetering LMP1 unless they give them more of a break. I don't think giving them bigger fuel tanks is the answer surely it just adds weight, incresses tyre wear and possable component fatigue. Also bear in mind both cars have the same base weight of 900kg. I'm not claiming to have the answers but just pointing out something needs to be addressed.

Hopefully the the big news that is due from Bart Hayden (Team Manager of Rebellion) at Spa will be a step towards securing the privateer in the top class of sportcar racing, long term.

All comments and thoughts are welcome.

Audi v Toyota v Rebellion, Silverstone Speed Traps

I haven't blogged for quite a while as some of you may know, but I'm going to give you all a little flavour of the direction I'm hoping to turn my blog into.

My opening example is the data from Silverstone speed traps from the first round of the FIA World Endurance Championship. I have pitched the top 10 speeds recorded by the #1 Audi, #8 Toyota and #12 Rebellion.



You'll notice straightaway that the #8 Toyota has the slowest recorded speed in all 10 laps, I was originally surprised by this too. The obvious reason for this is down to the setup route Toyota chose with their cars for Silverstone, preferring a complete high downforce setup.

Rebellion on the other hand are a lot closer to Audi in terms of top speed than I anticipated, even with the recently installed aero upgrade. This explains, to a degree why Rebellion at the start of the Silverstone race were chasing the #7 Toyota of Alex Wurz.

Audi on the other-hand were the class of the field as you would expect with their latest 2013 spec E-tron Quattro. Recording a top speed of 272Kph (169Mph).

With the recently announced debut for the Audi E-Tron Quattro Long tail that will compete at the second race of the season, joined by the latest Toyota and possably a slippery version of the Rebellion. Spa already shows signs of a classic and you can rest assured I will trawl through the data.

All your comments and feedback are welcome.