GT350R-C is Going to be at Watkins Glen!

[FTD]

Keep in mind, the brakes on the race car are not stock so whatever they did to make those wheels fit doesn't mean they will fit on the street car.

If you look at the street car, those front rotors damn near fill up that entire inside diameter of the wheel. Add in the extra inch or 2 for the brake caliper and you're going to be hard pressed to fit an 18 inch wheel on there no matter the back spacing.

I know they are not stock. It seems they used a smaller disc and caliper. I haven't seen a GT350 in person nor have I seen measurements so I'm just speculating like you are. I'm hopeful, but if I have to settle for 19x11's that's ok.

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[Spa2k]

I do not see one good video of this race with the GT350 R racing/ Does anyone know where one is? thanks

I haven't found a decent video of the whole race, but you can watch an edited rebroadcast on Sunday, July 5, from 10 a.m.-noon on Fox Sports 1. You also may be able to catch it sometime on the app Fox Sports Go, but be warned - 90% of the race is a snooze fest.

 

[Carguy68]

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[thePill]

Save the conspiracy theories for poilitics. It also is exactly the same time the downpour got worse and corner workers reported standing water in the corners. Stevenson just got lucky; it won't happen again on a dry track.

LoL...

No...


How many cautions and actual crashes happened before the Red flag? There was water on the track from the very start. Max slid the first few laps and Rum Bum capitalized.

They also ran the Porsche GT3 series after that in the same conditions so... I'm pretty sure the first turn in that event had a multiple GT3 pile up. No red flag...


Not a conspiracy, I made it pretty clear that this was the z28's year. They were suppose to win last year and Porsche (Rum Bum) wasn't having it. This will likely be Porsches last season in GS.

Let them win... It takes an LS7, major weight loss and equipment changes for it to be competitive in a 350-405rwhp class.

They couldn't do it with a 6.2 SS or 1LE. They could barely manage a win last year too. So, by hook or by crook, Stevenson HAS to win the Championship or Chevy will pout and leave IMSA. Nothing new, they threatened to pull the Camaro in 2012 unless NASCAR catered directly to their cause.


THE 5th GEN CAMARO IS WORTHLESS IN MOTORSPORT.

The rules and rulebook needed to be altered for them to be successful. They ran last year with LESS WEIGHT and MORE POWER and did WORSE...

I will absolutely howl if they still can't manage a Championship.

Only 22 points separated Stevenson from 4th Place. That's waaaaaaaaaay too close for IMSA's comfort.



So just leave it be... Rum Bum spun, both GT350's pulled in to change drivers, Maxwell just got his lap back... Yeah... I'm sorry, and endurance race... period... wet or dry, your racing.


Has ANYONE considered that the Stevenson Camaro could have been pressured into a critical mistake? Yes, absolutely... If anything, IMSA stopped the race because Stevenson was about to be challenged again.

THEY WERE NOT THE FASTEST CAR OUT THERE. If the race continued, I doubt it would have ended clean.

All the GS cars returned to the lead lap, first time since the first pits. It would have been too difficult for Stevenson to hold off Rum Bum and Multimatic.


FACT... Stevenson may have wrecked out under those conditions.
We didn't get to see the rush to the finish, we got to see how long it takes Stevenson to acquire 1st.

It's lame...

 

[1320']

So it was much easier watching the full rebroadcast on FS1 and being able to carefully pick it apart while not trying to do battle with my Galaxy Tab. This is what I took away from it, some is fact, some is opinion, some is conjecture of circumstance:

1: The drive through penalty leveled on Maxwell early on due to a "jumped restart" did seem to be applied in error. The on board camera shows Rum Bum Porsche fouling up it's restart and resulted in a "false positive" as it were for Maxwell.

2: The GT350's were struggling with rear traction in the rain, quite badly actually. It was pretty obvious they were over-sprung int he rear, especially given that until they were permitted to respring the rears I rarely saw them take a corner at speed that didn't result in a bit of butt wiggle. However given this was their very first run in the rain and their first "run in anger" as it were I think they did a very good job.

3: While the MFR's may be frustrated with how things are working out, it's obvious from the way the drivers and teams are talking that BMW and Porsche are still very claws out, going for blood in this series. They ( BMW and Porsche corporate) could drop next year, but I don't think the teams are any less enthusiastic about the prospects in the future.

4. This is a biggie for me. While the collusion of uncontrollable circumstances may have resulted in the appearance of shutting down the race to give the Z/28.R's the win, I really don't think it's like that. Yes there may be personal bias, desire to rig the results, what have you, but I cannot read minds or hearts, so I will not speak to that. Robin Liddell is simply an exceptionally good driver and did his job well. I would not accuse the IMSA of "rigging" the results if Rum Bum had finished under a yellow in 1st, or Mutlimatic, or any of the other teams.

The IMSA is progressively dealing with the Z/28's, they had another BOP after Laguna, are running a smaller restrictor and had to add in an additional 100+lbs of ballast. I understand people are passionate, but the IMSA must balance as much reasonable safety in racing as possible while keeping true to endurance racing. The race was called when conditions were bordering on potentially fatal levels of water collecting on turns 3 & 4 and exceptionally poor visibility. I would rather see Chevrolet/ Stevenson Racing walk away with the championship this year by winning under yellows than have a single driver badly injured, crippled or killed by other teams "trying to force a crash".

Race clean, take advantage when you can, win and lose with class and grace. If you have to win by "forcing a crash" then you need to check your ethics, because they're seriously lacking.

 

[Spa2k]

Interesting analysis, 1320, and I agree with much of what you said. One note on your point No. 1: It's up to the leader to set the pace for a restart no matter what the conditions, and it's up to the following cars to adjust their pace to whatever the leader does to make sure they don't jump the restart. In the crummy restart conditions, the GT350 jumped the restart by what was reported to be less than .2 second, and it was a clear, if tight, violation of the rules deserving of a penalty. The fact that the team didn't officially protest the penalty is pretty clear evidence that they knew they got caught.

 

[thePill]

Endurance Racing is always up to the drivers, they agree to race under the forecasted conditions. They get all of us in a room and ask us GO or NO GO.

After that... it's literally on until the race is finished or someone is fatally injured. It's your right to pull off as a team or driver. It is not okay for the governing body to stop the race... It's not an endurance race if that's the case.

I understand Stevenson has worked their asses off, especially on a shitty platform. They do deserve a Championship and they have earned their reputation.

But giving this car absolute freedom for almost 20 races is bad. Finally restrictions have been removed and another 500hp car enters a 400hp class... they stop the race.


I am a racing fan but I find it hard to watch racing. Given the conditions, it was highly unlikely the lead Stevenson car would have finished unscathed. THAT is the issue...

We were robbed of a good 30 stressful minutes of racing and Stevenson was handed an easy out. Plus all those points... People were crashing all day, suddenly safety was an issue when the Champs got first.

If Rum Bum would have won, they would have moved the z28 out of first. Porsche is a threat and they know it...

 

[wildsailor]

I actually taped the rebroadcast and watched it last evening. I did not see any evidence to suggest any sort of conspiracy in the Chevy team winning. It was pretty obvious at the beginning when the rain was light that the GT350R-C was very fast but with the windshield fogging issues and the road splash limiting visibility it looked to affect everyone. The heavy rain later on in the race with all the puddles was really making it difficult and finishing the race under the yellow was unfortunate but it isn't like this was the first time.

Maybe they will have a good dry track for the 11-Jul race and we will see what happens then.

 

[Spa2k]

Endurance Racing is always up to the drivers, they agree to race under the forecasted conditions. They get all of us in a room and ask us GO or NO GO.

After that... it's literally on until the race is finished or someone is fatally injured. It's your right to pull off as a team or driver. It is not okay for the governing body to stop the race... It's not an endurance race if that's the case.

I have never read anything as absurd and completely without compassion or common sense as this. On what planet are you racing?

I am a racing fan but I find it hard to watch racing. Given the conditions, it was highly unlikely the lead Stevenson car would have finished unscathed.

We were robbed of a good 30 stressful minutes of racing ...

Wow, it sounds like just watching racing is going to kill you. It's not a blood sport. Might I suggest a new hobby? How about inventing a time machine so you can go back to the Coliseum and watch gladiators fight to the death?

 

[traxiii]

After watching the race yesterday, the drive through penalty did in any chances for the 15 car to win in those conditions, bummer. The 158 car was getting racy after the driver change, but again track conditions and the red flag ended that in a hurry. I do feel sorry for the Nissan and BMW cars in 2nd and 3rd that never got a chance after the red flag to actually challenge the z28. The Porsche blew it all on his own, no sympathy there.

Very happy to see the potential of the GT350R-C and looking forward to a dry race next weekend. Or if not dry, at least better prepared for rain "softer rear springs and anti-fog measures" Mustang GT350R-Cs.

 

[Erik427]

In this kind of racing. These cars should be made to run at the production weight, tires, brakes and the motors left unrestricted. Anything else just allows for cheating.

 

[1320']

In this kind of racing. These cars should be made to run at the production weight, tires, brakes and the motors left unrestricted. Anything else just allows for cheating.

It's been this way for decades. Even the original Boss, Z/28 and Trans Am cars weren't truly street stock.

 

[Mountain376]

I can say this from being there, there was standing water on multiple corners. I see a lot of mention of turn 3 and 4. It was more than 3 and 4. From being there, sitting in the rain, trying to watch the race from multiple stands and listening to IMSA announcements, the Watkins Glen and IMSA were doing what ever they could to try to keep the race going. Eventually, it was deemed too risky to try and race. The Conti 150 was called to end under those conditions and the later Porsche GT3 and Lamborghini Challenge races were cancelled. Even the Sunday morning TUDOR Sahlen's 6 warm up and qualifying was cut short due to the events of Saturday.

I've driven track days full-on, as best I could, in similar rain... It's difficult. Especially when you have a good amount of torque. It is an equalizer to less powerful cars as there is less demand to throttle control and, most times, weight. I also got to drive on Watkins Glen that weekend before the Sahlen's race. Very fun track, but I can fully appreciate the driver skill needed to drive that track wet and can understand IMSA/Watkins Glens decision.

I don't believe the race was ended in the way it was purely to elevate the Chevy teams... However, I do think there is a favoritism played toward the Camaro Z/28.R cars in general. It's clearer to see that when you have another race series, PWC, where you have an opposite effect, but pretty similar car setup mindsets. If anything, I'd expect the Z/28.R cars to be doing way, way better in PWC than CTSCC due to the allowance of better brakes and larger tires...

 

[Erik427]

It's been this way for decades. Even the original Boss, Z/28 and Trans Am cars weren't truly street stock.

I understand changes for safety. But weight breaks and such is a bit over the top for me.

 

[thePill]

I can say this from being there, there was standing water on multiple corners. I see a lot of mention of turn 3 and 4. It was more than 3 and 4. From being there, sitting in the rain, trying to watch the race from multiple stands and listening to IMSA announcements, the Watkins Glen and IMSA were doing what ever they could to try to keep the race going. Eventually, it was deemed too risky to try and race. The Conti 150 was called to end under those conditions and the later Porsche GT3 and Lamborghini Challenge races were cancelled. Even the Sunday morning TUDOR Sahlen's 6 warm up and qualifying was cut short due to the events of Saturday.

I've driven track days full-on, as best I could, in similar rain... It's difficult. Especially when you have a good amount of torque. It is an equalizer to less powerful cars as there is less demand to throttle control and, most times, weight. I also got to drive on Watkins Glen that weekend before the Sahlen's race. Very fun track, but I can fully appreciate the driver skill needed to drive that track wet and can understand IMSA/Watkins Glens decision.

I don't believe the race was ended in the way it was purely to elevate the Chevy teams... However, I do think there is a favoritism played toward the Camaro Z/28.R cars in general. It's clearer to see that when you have another race series, PWC, where you have an opposite effect, but pretty similar car setup mindsets. If anything, I'd expect the Z/28.R cars to be doing way, way better in PWC than CTSCC due to the allowance of better brakes and larger tires...

The fault is IMSA's... The reputation of the entire class was at risk to begin with. The only team happy with that decision is Stevenson, it benefits them the most.

IMSA did not cancel the GT3 Cup, there was a multi-car pileup on the first turn of the first lap.

http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/standing-water-causes-mass-911-gt3-cup-spin-out-at-firs-1714484408

I didn't hear the Lambo class was cancelled but I must admit, I don't really follow that class.

The situation was poor from the start to the time Rum Bum spun. The decision to call the race just as Stevenson took 1st annoys me. But not as much as it annoys BMW and Porsche.

If BMW, Porsche and Aston Martin leave, the class will be merged with another class.

In my opinion, regardless of how well Multimatic does, they should be prohibited from winning a Team Championship. I'm not sure how to handle manufacturers points :(

Ford and Multimatic changed vehicles mid-season. Driver points should be fine but, Multimatic 's Team points should return to zero. I guess manufacturers points could stay but, none of this should be allowed.

The GT350 and the z28 shouldn't be permitted to class in CTSC GS. The GT350 is probably Tudor GT worthy, the z28 would be amoung the heaviest in the group though. In SCCA GTS, the z28 is said to have a 44mm restrictor and is limited to 425rwhp. It does use more OEM equipment but, it is still 25rwhp stronger than everyone else :(

The M4 isn't slated to appear in CTSC AND, we should have seen a replacement by now. The E92 will probably just ride it out (2009 FR500). Porsche looks like they are dumping money into GT and their own 911 GT3 class. Aston? I have no idea... and the GT350 was a direct response to Chevy's overreaction to the Boss 302 and M3 in the class. None of the z28 should be permitted in GS.

All pretty much a product of z28 placement in the class. Some manufacturers and teams got pissed off last season. The current situation didn't help anything...

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