480 replies to this topic

[Afterburner]

Back from the most amazing day at the track yesterday. My wife and I only had time to go Sunday and arrived at 7:00 AM. Some impressions:

 

• MK, I should’ve followed this thread more closely! I didn’t realize you were at the race. We could’ve met up! I’m sorry to hear about your stroke. 

• I did get to see paulb, who is great company and as awesome as ever. I really want to get back to marshaling some of these races but just do not have the time these days…

• Watching the sunrise over the back stretch was one of the most picturesque experiences in racing…

• Fan turnout was absolutely as immense as they described on TV. Virtually every campsite was full. Nobody was hoonish or annoying. There were lots of families of all kinds of backgrounds and everyone was having a great time.

• There were so many people wearing gear not only specific to IMSA’s teams, but surprisingly also its drivers as well—there were quite a few people wearing gear specific to NASCAR/IndyCar drivers (lots of Newgarden/McLaughlin fans), but I couldn’t believe that I was seeing people wearing shirts featuring Ben Keating, Nick Tandy (a few of these), Tom Blomqvist, and even Dorsey Schroeder (worn by a younger fan no less)! Sadly I didn’t see a single piece of Dinner with Racers gear, but I think that those guys are partly responsible for the increase in fan interest for IMSA’s personalities.

• Garage access was fantastic. Got to watch the early-morning panicked floor change on the #7 Porsche, which needed to be scrubbed of some sort of mysterious red fluid. Also unfortunately watched the #6 explode on the banking… 

• I was at the Roar last year; the new GTP cars had a higher top speed and faster acceleration that was visually apparent. All of them sound REALLY cool in person, too. The exhaust note on the Acura is much improved.

• Also ACURAAAAAAAAAAAA           SHAAAAAAAAANK         

• My wife and I watched the end of the race at the start/finish. I was so preoccupied with the GT battle that I didn’t have any idea who the LMP2 leaders were. When they were barrelling to the line everyone stood up and shout-gasped audibly—I thought it was just because they were so close, but didn’t realize it was for the win until Hindhaugh started frantically screaming.

 

From what I understand, Shank has an automatic invite to Le Mans as last year’s IMSA champions. I hope they go. The boys and girls at HPD have thoroughly outdone themselves and I’m so happy for all of them, and hope to see them take many more victories. Shank is such a down-to-earth great dude and he and his organization deserve all the success they’ve had recently.

 

This new era for IMSA is so promising—the cars look and sound amazing, there’s global interest and involvement, and there’s a buzz I haven’t felt from US sportscar racing since I first got involved way back in 2012. Looking forward to following it this year!

[Dan333SP]

Love to hear all of that. It reminds me of my first major endurance race that was also the dawn of a new era, the first official ALMS race at Sebring in 1999. Similar buzz, crowd, fascinating new prototypes, giant field, close finish… just hope GTP lasts longer than the heyday of the ALMS.

[loki]

I've been actively attending F1 races since 2012.  I generally go Paddock Club or with a team...the access I had with a $600, 4-Day pass was equivalent to my F1 Club.  Moreover there were thousands of people allowed to go into the garages, into the pit lane, and...OMG on the actual track 1 hour before the race.  This has NEVER happened at an F1 race.  F1 can learn a lot from this and Daytona could also learn from F1...Monitors around the track, PA system, leaderboards and all-around keeping attendees  informed during the race.  F1 can also learn TV direction from Daytona...it wasn't pull-your-hair-out awful like many F1 races we've been subjected to!!  

 

Historically the crowds haven’t been big enough to justify the expense of bringing more fan amenities.  Perhaps if things keep going like they did this year with more interest Nascar will find a way to make it happen.

 

Although true in terms of the actual direction while the feed was on, the TV coverage itself was abysmal. Someone on Reddit reported that they timed an hour of Peacock's coverage (during a green flag period, mind you) and it was more than 50% commercials. Apparently a lot of people paid for peacock premium on a promise of ad-free viewing and were left with 16+ hours of ads out of 24 hours of racing. Pretty bad. Thank god I have a VPN service and could watch the non-US stream.

 

But yes, agree on access. The only thing remotely close to an IMSA experience for F1 that I've personally experienced is when they have the thursday open paddock in Montreal which is free to attend and you can see some teams in pitlane, but it's a mob scene and not nearly as cool as an actual gridwalk on race morning being included in your ticket for Sebring/PLM/whatever. 

 

That Reddit post was exaggerated.  Commercial breaks are a standard 16 mins per hour.  Except for some of the overnight hours and a bit more the coverage was also on USA.  It seems like more but it’s still about a quarter of the time.  Peacock isn’t touted as ad free for all programming particularly for live simulcast sports.

[JRodrigues]

 

https://twitter.com/...030973470728192

[highdownforce]

#25 had 3x drivers lapping faster than the fastest lap of #24.

[Afterburner]

I love this. Thank you so much for sharing!

[Dan333SP]

Very cool data! Tom may have had the fastest 10+ laps of the race but on average he was a tick slower than Felipe, guess that can happen when there are 60 cars and 200+ laps per driver. 

 

Also a little surprised to see Helio faster on average than Colin, age is a non-issue for him it seems. 

[red stick]

More time in the team, more familiar with the car and the operation. It's not as if Helio seems to be losing motivation.

[paulb]

I am questioning the data for the 101 and 102 Cadillacs.   They were definitely not in the race.

 

 

And Colin Braun will get faster.

Edited by paulb, 30 January 2023 - 21:26.

[ARTGP]

 

 

 

https://twitter.com/...030973470728192

 

Interesting, but tricky to draw conclusions between the different drivers since the track condition, tires, and economy runs used during stints would vary.  Additionally, sometimes a driver had to double stint the tires where another did not near the end of the race. 

 

Nevertheless, some things were clear. Blomqvistthe battlelacs show up quite favorably here even though they were getting their doors blown off by the 60 on the oval. 

Edited by ARTGP, 30 January 2023 - 22:20.

[jcbc3]

 

 

Nevertheless, some things were clear. Blomqvistthe battlelacs show up quite favorably here even though they were getting their doors blown off by the 60 on the oval. 

 

Maybe I misunderstand your comment but Blomquist was driving the #60?

[jonpollak]

I am questioning the data for the 101 and 102 Cadillacs. They were definitely not in the race.


And Colin Braun will get faster.

And I was so hung up on not seeing Sheena Monk in GTD that I totally missed the 101&102 debacle.

https://twitter.com/...fCOUNVO3dpwMhXg

Still, interesting stats.
Jp

Edited by jonpollak, 31 January 2023 - 11:31.

[paulb]

And I was so hung up on not seeing Sheena Monk in GTD that I totally missed the 101&102 debacle.

https://twitter.com/...fCOUNVO3dpwMhXg

Still, interesting stats.
Jp

I guess she did not create any issues so thats good. I have no idea what her pace was since she did not show up on that list.

[jonpollak]

Kat said it was ‘reassuringly solid’.

Jp

[FLB]

Had not spotted the Liberty Bibberty (©Jp) sticker on the winning Acura until this morning (right above AutoNation and to the right of Curb records).

 

https://racer.com/20...awa-takes-lmp3/

 

 

I wonder if anybody had a chat with Michael Andretti and Mark Reuss...?   

 

 

 

Edited by FLB, 31 January 2023 - 15:04.

[Kev00]

And I was so hung up on not seeing Sheena Monk in GTD that I totally missed the 101&102 debacle.

https://twitter.com/...fCOUNVO3dpwMhXg

Still, interesting stats.
Jp

https://twitter.com/...846971656916993

You can find her if you follow that thread down

[loki]

And I was so hung up on not seeing Sheena Monk in GTD that I totally missed the 101&102 debacle.

https://twitter.com/...fCOUNVO3dpwMhXg

Still, interesting stats.
Jp

[paulb]

^She was named after...

 

[juicy sushi]

Marshall sums things up pretty well here:  https://racer.com/20...ake-a-bow-imsa/

 

 

...DIS president Frank Kelleher confirmed what we were seeing when he revealed the legendary endurance race set an all-time attendance record last weekend...

 

The same was true for the NBC broadcast on Saturday, which had 766,000 viewers — up a whopping 25 percent over last year’s Saturday viewing average of 611,000. On Sunday, it was up to an average of 986,000 viewers, which was slightly better than 2022’s 964,000 average, and peaked at 1,200,000 viewers, according to NBC. Those are the kind of numbers that make sponsors and car companies happy...

 

Hell, those are good Indycar or F1 numbers in the US.  Those are a sign in 50-foot high flaming letters that you got something right.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Is that statistical error or some other contributing factor, hard to believe you got like a 1/3 increase in TV viewers, just in America, on the back of Porsche and BMW joining.

 

What was the attendance figure? Or are we being vague about that.

[Dan333SP]

Is that statistical error or some other contributing factor, hard to believe you got like a 1/3 increase in TV viewers, just in America, on the back of Porsche and BMW joining.

 

What was the attendance figure? Or are we being vague about that.

 

It's not just those two joining, it's the fact that it's an entirely new class of cars with a name that has some resonance stateside (GTP) with all of the accompanying marketing by the partner brands, OEMs, IMSA itself, etc. My personal belief is that there are a ton of people who have had some exposure to sportscar racing but go dormant as fans when the product is stale or repetitive. When something new and big occurs that adds diversity and competition, they'll return to the fold in large numbers. Whether they stick around will depend on the quality of the racing, which at Daytona was excellent IMO. 

[juicy sushi]

I got a few F1 only people to tune in and off the back of the GTPs and that LMP2 finish they are now looking at IMSA tickets for later in the year.

GTP as the top name also helps because a lot of 30-40 something potential fans initially entered via Gran Turismo or Forza, where the old 80s beasts are heavily featured hero cars.

[FLB]

I got a few F1 only people to tune in and off the back of the GTPs and that LMP2 finish they are now looking at IMSA tickets for later in the year.

GTP as the top name also helps because a lot of 30-40 something potential fans initially entered via Gran Turismo or Forza, where the old 80s beasts are heavily featured hero cars.

 

It's crazy how big of a ball IndyCar may have dropped.

 

 

From what I'm seeing online, quite a few gamers are getting into GT/Sportscars (so IMSA) because of the iRacing thing. 

[juicy sushi]

I mean, everyone really started there, as the casuals were never leaving GT or Forza, and the hardcore won't give up on the best platforms to join Indy in a stupid move.  The sports cars also have the advantage of better aesthetics (you have visual variety, not just different paintjobs) and all those different sounds and styles.  

 

The only issue sports car racing really faces is that endurance racing is a time commitment casuals don't really have.  But that is pretty solvable with an alternative format using the same cars.  And the same applies to real world racing too.  Single driver sprint races with GTP/Hypercars would go over like chocolate covered heroin.  It's not easy to launch a series initially, but all you need is a critical mass of cars to make a viable grid and people would probably tune in quickly.  

[jonpollak]

https://twitter.com/...846971656916993

You can find her if you follow that thread down

Hey Thanks Kev00

She did as well as Kevin Estre !!!! That's Impressive.

https://twitter.com/...5822208/photo/1

Jp

[paulb]

Hey Thanks Kev00

She did as well as Kevin Estre !!!! That's Impressive.

https://twitter.com/...5822208/photo/1

Jp

.... except that Kevin was in a Porsche.

 

Seems like she did a solid job and most importantly did not bin it.

Edited by paulb, 02 February 2023 - 01:08.

[Anja]

We've been blessed with a Bus Bros episode from Daytona. 

 

[red stick]

Five sheep!!!!!

[TennisUK]

Yes, last time they had a top class car was the LMR in '99-00.

depends if you include Daytona Prototypes (old style) as top class cars.

(I do not)

[Risil]

GTP as the top name also helps because a lot of 30-40 something potential fans initially entered via Gran Turismo or Forza, where the old 80s beasts are heavily featured hero cars.

 

Gran Turismo and Forza are active video game franchises so surely they're bringing in younger fans too. (As opposed to BTCC which for my age group and above must still be getting some residual name recognition from the original Playstation game.)

[FLB]

What I'm mostly curious about it if it's the exact sames tires given by Michelin in both series, does both series apply same allocation, camber & pressure recommandation, stuff like that.

 

A bit of info in regards to that.

 

Source: Sebring Friday Notebook – Sportscar365

 

 

 

CGR’s global director of competition Mike O’Gara said the biggest change is actually the series-specific data logger systems. Additionally, WEC Hypercar teams will be allowed to utilize both Michelin’s SHT (soft high temperature) and MHT (medium-high temperature) compounds, whereas only the SHT will be in the GTP class at the 12 Hours.