Daytona 24 Hour Discussion Thread

[Andrew Harper]

On the broadcast here they said it is an over heating issue and trying to keep it under control by setting a rev limit.

Thanks for that. I did hear that but must of got my Caddy's mixed up! Lol

 

[T_rac3]

Still on pace
706 laps @ 21 hours = 33.619 laps per hour X 24 hours = 806 laps X 3.56 miles per lap = 2,869.36 miles

Good calculation 2 laps error

 

[Andrew Harper]

Well done to the #5 team. Great drive.

Good job by Ford. Just a perfect race by them.

Finally though as a long time Lamborghini fan it's great to see them get a 24 hour win

 

[T_rac3]

Amazing race
I'm glad I could watch it with you guys

 

[Tbear]

The rain stayed up for the finish.

Ford 1 - 2 in GTLM. As well as they ran, Chip Gagnassi is probably wishing he brought more cars.

On to Sebring.

 

[SunBro]

Don't you guys think the second half was really boring too? I'm yawning over here. Only GTD was exciting.

 

[DND]

Nice chatting with everyone. Good Day

 

[Jusek]

That was fun to watch, on to Bathurst 12h next weekend!

 

[Andrew Harper]

Don't you guys think the second half was really boring too? I'm yawning over here. Only GTD was exciting.

I'm a petrolhead buddy. They could be ten laps in the lead and I'd still love it.

In all fairness. No it wasn't a classic but there were still battles all the way and it only took one small thing to go wrong for the #5 to lose the race.

Still a thousand times better than an F1 race though. Lol

 

[SunBro]

Still a thousand times better than an F1 race though. Lol

There can be some exciting f1 races when hamilton and vettel are both out of the picture but yeah, i get where you're coming from. I fell asleep about 4-5 times during 2017 races (and i'm paying for the damn thing. lol)

 

[RichardHessels]

Ok race, a shame for BMW to get their car so bopped that they had to drive at the back of the field with their castrated BMW M8 GTE.

 

[Andrew Harper]

Ok race, a shame for BMW to get their car so bopped that they had to drive at the back of the field with their castrated BMW M8 GTE.

I kind of agree with you, but it was a new car (up against proven equipment) and they had lots of teething issues during the race. In testing I read they had lots of problems as well. Which is to be expected from a very new car.

I don't feel the car at the moment the car has the pace of the Ford or the Corvette but as you say, with BoP it's tricky to tell anyway.

Of interest I've read on Sportscar 365 it was given a weight break, and more boost than the other turbo'd entries before the race so maybe the car is just not up to speed yet.

"The new BMW M8 GTE, which struggled at the Roar, meanwhile, has been given performance breaks for the race, in the form of a turbo boost increase and a 10kg minimum weight decrease.

It brings the new-for-2018 GTE contender down to 1240kg, the same base weight of the Corvette C7.R, which along with the Ford GT, have adjusted minimum rear wing angles"

There was also the issue of bodywork. BMW wanted to make the car 10cm shorter but the other teams blocked it as against the spirit of the regulations. This would have probably had an effect on the aero.

It's a great looking race car, hopefully they'll get some more pace soon.

 

[Sabine Schmitz]

I watched all the 24 hours. So boring. Ford staged the whole race, it was never a question who was going to take first and second, they played it. The race distance record in at least 2 classes has been broken so that tells enough. The only exciting part was all the Right-Rear Continental hocky pucks blowing up left right and center.

 

[Red_Falcon]

Don't you guys think the second half was really boring too? I'm yawning over here. Only GTD was exciting.

It was, but not even close to the abomination, that was the performance of the Tyres and IMSA Streaming.

Can't wait for Bathurst on the weekend and hopefully with a more enjoyable broadcast.

I watched all the 24 hours. So boring. Ford staged the whole race, it was never a question who was going to take first and second, they played it.

~1 sec. faster than the other Cars in Class + better fuel consumption. Nice BoP...

 

[Isaac Chavira]

Looks like I have some new Lambo's to make.

 

[2112]

I watched all the 24 hours. So boring. Ford staged the whole race, it was never a question who was going to take first and second, they played it. The race distance record in at least 2 classes has been broken so that tells enough. The only exciting part was all the Right-Rear Continental hocky pucks blowing up left right and center.

I don't understand. When Merc, Red Bull or Ferrari outright owns F1 for years no one complains about them staging races. When Audi, Toyota or Peugeot own a race no one complains about them "staging" a race. If Ferrari were to go 1-2 at Daytona no one would complain about them "Staging" a race.

Yet if an American auto maker excels in a race then Trump, NASCAR, the automaker, IMSA and everyone else involved has determined, prior to the green flag falling, that the American auto maker has "staged" the race.

Is the reason why Ford wins bring about so much animosity the fact that the engines in the GT are mere truck engines, as opposed to expensive bespoke engines "befitting a proper supercar"?

Everyone always makes fun of American automakers until they win, then everyone complains about American automakers winning when they win.

Facts are that Ford had the better cars, the better drivers and no small amount of good luck. Would I have liked to have seen a closer race? Yeah. I would have liked to see Pilet charging back from laps down to challenge in the last hours. I would have liked to see Gavin and Garcia duking it out in the last moments with nary enough space to fit a slip of paper between them.

But we did not see that. What we did see was an American automaker run away with a race, thus people have issues because it was Ford and not Ferrari, or Porsche, or BMW. Imagine the uproar if Chevy had won with their outdated V8...

 

[Eckhart von Glan]

i do not really think one has to politicize the daytona 24h. two classes saw dominant wins by makes which were competing for the all-important home market, nothing new there. most fans would have loved to see some more action, but if a car / make / brand delivers the winning formula there is little one can do. it is up to the competition to rise to the challenge, if they do not, bad luck but only their fault. in gtd the race was not quite as close as in other years but still great. i mean, what are the odds of two or three cars finishing within 5km of each other after 4,500km+ run? that's once across Europe! cars even being within three to five laps still looks like a minor miracle to me.
I, for one, was entertained watching the craft and the stamina of each and every team involved. expecting a race down to the line in each category at a 24h is simply unrealistic and having very few yellows is more fair by any count than a race heavily influenced by luck rather than engineering, talent and coordination. bring on the other classics like sebring, spa, nordschleife, always fun!

 

[Sabine Schmitz]

I don't understand. When Merc, Red Bull or Ferrari outright owns F1 for years no one complains about them staging races. When Audi, Toyota or Peugeot own a race no one complains about them "staging" a race. If Ferrari were to go 1-2 at Daytona no one would complain about them "Staging" a race.

Yet if an American auto maker excels in a race then Trump, NASCAR, the automaker, IMSA and everyone else involved has determined, prior to the green flag falling, that the American auto maker has "staged" the race.

Is the reason why Ford wins bring about so much animosity the fact that the engines in the GT are mere truck engines, as opposed to expensive bespoke engines "befitting a proper supercar"?

Everyone always makes fun of American automakers until they win, then everyone complains about American automakers winning when they win.

Facts are that Ford had the better cars, the better drivers and no small amount of good luck. Would I have liked to have seen a closer race? Yeah. I would have liked to see Pilet charging back from laps down to challenge in the last hours. I would have liked to see Gavin and Garcia duking it out in the last moments with nary enough space to fit a slip of paper between them.

But we did not see that. What we did see was an American automaker run away with a race, thus people have issues because it was Ford and not Ferrari, or Porsche, or BMW. Imagine the uproar if Chevy had won with their outdated V8...

I also complain about F1 dominance. But at least those cars are not BoP'ed so they can't "cheat" the system. Ford does and always did. They sandbagged for the Le Mans 24h when they entered the car. They sandbagged massively again for the Daytona 24h. In the P class it's the DPi cars that rule, sure, but there are around 8 of those and there's not 1 team that dominates complete races, there's a lot of fighting for the lead and leadchanges throughout the race. Ford however sandbags left right and center to get a favourable BoP and then utterly dominate the race, cruising to the finish for 23 hours with their cars comfortably cruising within a second of eachother.

It's not the nationality of the brand I'm criticizing, it's the team and it's crew. If it was BMW that had gone so increadibly slow in during the ROAR, practise and quali sessions and then completely dominate the race, I would've been mad at them. But ford keeps doing this and IMSA accepts it.

 

[2112]

I also complain about F1 dominance. But at least those cars are not BoP'ed so they can't "cheat" the system. Ford does and always did. They sandbagged for the Le Mans 24h when they entered the car. They sandbagged massively again for the Daytona 24h. In the P class it's the DPi cars that rule, sure, but there are around 8 of those and there's not 1 team that dominates complete races, there's a lot of fighting for the lead and leadchanges throughout the race. Ford however sandbags left right and center to get a favourable BoP and then utterly dominate the race, cruising to the finish for 23 hours with their cars comfortably cruising within a second of eachother.

It's not the nationality of the brand I'm criticizing, it's the team and it's crew. If it was BMW that had gone so increadibly slow in during the ROAR, practise and quali sessions and then completely dominate the race, I would've been mad at them. But ford keeps doing this and IMSA accepts it.

If they are cheating then why are they not penalized? To say IMSA lets them get away with it is, in my judgement, tantamount to saying that they cheated and IMSA just did a "wink, wink". In other words you are unhappy that Ford played within the rules and won. That is what the complaining is all about.

When Corvette and Ford get BoP'd so much at Le Mans that they become back markers (as happened in the last two races for Corvette and last race for Ford) are you going to complain that a European Governing Body (ACO or FIA), did it on purpose so a European car maker can win?

If you do not, then aren't you being hypocritical?

As far as F1? The BoP is there, they just pick the automaker they want to dominate and write the rules around that team. I have been watching F1 since the '70's and that is one series that is chock full of predictable seasons and rules made to cater to the team with the most money to throw at the FIA.

 

[wombat999]

Just an observation but the Fugly Fords (How dare they call it a 'Ford GT!) do get far too many breaks, so I guess they deserve what they get at LM.
"Is the reason why Ford wins bring about so much animosity the fact that the engines in the GT are mere truck engines, as opposed to expensive bespoke engines "befitting a proper supercar"?
If they were running truck engines at Daytona then the engine note was really strange.
Of course they sounded odd, a 4 cylinder Ford EcoBoost is nothing like a V8........