#gtp cars

[stone-cold-groove]

Nissan Grand Prix - 1989.

[simplyisa]

she’s so real, i would grab his butt any chance i could get

[wheelsgoroundincircles]

1988 Chevrolet Corvette GTP Coupe

[visualvocabulary33]

[radracer]

Ford Mustang GTP Group 5

[sixcylinderdean]

The new Lamborghini SC63 GTP car seen today at the Daytona IMSA test.

[headlight-district]

Speed Sunday

[blackros78]

[theonyxranger]

A coworker walked up to me and handed me this the other day and said "I know you don't have any of these cars and I don't think you've ever owned any of them but I was cleaning my garage and I didn't want to throw this out because I thought you'd like it."

He was right I love it

[countingstars-17]

max getting into a gtp car shouldn't be THIS hot

[cuzikan]

This is the Mosler Consulier GTP,built in Riviera Beach FL, it’s a car that was so quick it went on to dominate IMSA racing for six years before being banned. It would later dominate the Longest Day of Nelson 24-Hour Race before being banned, and would then be banned for being too successful in Car and Driver magazine’s One Lap of America series.

[robinfrinjs]

I have 2 questions about Rolex.

How does qualifying work? And do All the classes race at the same time? If so, how does that work?

Hi Anon! Thanks for the question, I'll try my best to explain it all, but if new questions arise or some questions remain, please don't hesitate to reach out again.

How does qualifying work?

Qualifying for the race is done in 4 segments, each class having their own segment each. all classes GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD have 15 minutes of running time. (GTD qualifies first followed by GTD Pro, LMP2, and then GTP ends qualifying)

In each class with an exception of the LMP2 class the team is allowed to nominate any driver regardless of their rating (Plat, Gold, Silver or Bronze). Teams however are only allowed to nominate one driver for qualifying and that same driver is required to start the race.

In the LMP2 class teams are only allowed to have their Bronze rated (Amateur) driver qualify. This means in LMP2 all Bronze drivers have to start the race too.

The GTD Pro class and the GTD class essentially have the same cars, the only difference between these classes is the rating of the drivers in the car. In GTD teams have to choose a maximum of one Platinum and Gold rated Driver, or a maximum of two Gold Drivers. This means GTD cars will have 2 drivers that are rated Silver and/or Bronze.

For GTD and GTD Pro this means for qualifying as only one driver is allowed and teams are likely to choose their fastest driver. That some GTD cars might set quicker times than majority of the GTD Pro field. Unlike previous years however, the two classes will still start separately with all GTD Pro cars ahead of the GTD cars no matter their times.

Qualifying awards points towards the championship too. The points table below is points awarded for the race, but taking only 10% from each position (P1 - 35, P2 - 32, P3 - 30... etc) will get you the amount of points awarded for qualifying positions.

Do all the classes race at the same time?

Yes! They do. Which can be a little confusing at times - but it's easy enough to explain! As previously mentioned, the race consists out of four classes. GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD. These all have different speeds, especially when amateurs (Bronze drivers) are behind the wheel in GTD and LMP2. It's part of the excitement, but can also be part of frustration when faster cars get caught in traffic - it's all part of endurance racing!

There are a few things to watch out for;

Start of the Race

This is not described precisely in the regulations, which I used to make sure my information is correct and not outdated. So this is solely based on previous years. There's a small chance there's a slight difference in how the starting groups work, but I don't think there is.

For the start of the race, the field is divided into two groups the prototypes (GTP, LMP2) and the GT cars (GTD PRO, GTD). These two groups have a little bit of distance between them. All cars line up with 2 cars on each row. The prototypes take the green flag first, and then a few moments later, the GT cars take the green flag.

Traffic

Traffic is always a difficult thing in multi class races. This means there will be accidents. During a 24h race I'd say it's statistically near impossible for an accident between two classes not to happen.

There are rules set in place, and it's always the faster driver's responsibility to get around slower cars. Whenever a bronze driver is in a car, a special light will be on so Pro drivers can easily identify that they're approaching a bronze driver.

Full Course Yellow (FCY)

When a FCY starts, there's usually a lengthy process in getting the field back to green (unless it's a specified Short FCY).

First, the pits close. Then, Race Control declares the overall leader. Then, a pass around follows for any car having their class leader behind them.

After that, the pits open, first only for the Prototypes and the lap after the pits open for the GT cars. Following the pit-sequence, there will be a final wave-by and then the class split starts.

First comes the Prototype/GT Category Class Split

• Prototypes overtake GT cars, while the GT cars remain in order

Then comes the GTP/GTD PRO Class Split

• The GTP class overtakes the remaining LMP2 class cars

• then the GTD Pro class overtakes the GTD cars

Once this is all done, a restart follows.

Winners

Because there are 4 different classes there are also four different winners. Cars only compete against other cars in their class and their overall position will not matter.

[coimbrabertone]

Le Mans vs. Daytona, Two Sides of the Endurance Racing Coin.

A bit of a belated blog on the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans, how it compares to the other major 24-hour race - the Rolex 24 at Daytona - and how IMSA and WEC differ.

First things first, sports car racing in general is at a peak right now.

The largest prototype fields in decades, interclass competition of sorts with LMDh/GTP cars on one end and Hypercars on the other, and equally diverse GT3 fields to go with it. It's not a competition between IMSA and WEC as far as I'm concerned, both series collaborated on these regulations and that has benefitted endurance racing as a whole.

That being said, I've noticed some differences between the two, and I've had some discussions with friends about it lately.

The crux is this: the Rolex 24 at Daytona is the curtain raiser for the racing season, where drivers from every discipline from Formula One to NASCAR to half the Indycar field, plus all the regular cast of characters from endurance racing come to play. It's all within the confines of a 2.5-mile oval with big grandstands and clear sightlines, and the lights are all over the track, meaning you can see all the action pretty well. It's also in Daytona Beach a few weeks ahead of the Daytona 500.

Daytona is a party, a celebration of motorsport to kick off the next season of racing.

Le Mans, meanwhile, is a beacon of history. The start-finish line is where it has always been, the Dunlop Bridge has outlasted Dunlop itself making racing tyres, and it's an old school reminder to when those types of circular bridges were all over racing. Then onto the Mulsanne, the long, dark highway, with bits of civilization interspersed with woods, a theme with continues in the back half of the track. Some corners are named after historic tracks, like Indianapolis, others are named after the marques which defined era of Le Mans history - Corvette, Porsche, and Ford in particular.

Corvette, which has dominated GT racing at Le Mans for decades now.

Porsche, which is the most successful brand at Le Mans, and

Ford, who went back-to-back-to-back-to-back in the late 60s with the GT40, and then returned with the GT1 and GTE models in more recent decades.

That dedication to history shows in the broadcast too, with the broadcast often cutting to Tom Kristensen for interviews or by harkening back to similar events in Le Mans' past. Obviously, that's something that comes up in all racing broadcasts, but it was very apparent at Le Mans this year.

For the record, I'm not saying that's bad, this blog is proof that I'm a massive nerd when it comes to racing history, and I love that, I'm just noting it's a difference.

The crowd burning a couch in celebration after the 12 Hours of Sebring? Fans celebrating the misadventures of the Sean Creech Motorsports American flag Ligier LMP2 with its many cautions at Daytona and now Watkins Glen? You don't really see that at Le Mans.

In fact, there was one very fun thing from the 2023 Le Mans that was missing this year: the Garage 56 NASCAR. Now, i understand that was a one-off thing, and I do get the impression that the hydrogen car they showed off before the race - which was numbered #24, just like the NASCAR had been - was supposed to be a G56 entry for this year but they couldn't quite get it working yet, so I know that it's a bit of an unfair criticism to levy against Le Mans.

Still, 2023 had the big Camaro memes, the V8 sound, all those Freebird on the Mulsanne edits, it made Le Mans more fun.

And of course, Le Mans is fun even without those things - ferris wheels, fireworks, and, you know, the whole twenty-four hours of motor racing thing - all make for appointment television for racing nerds like me, but it is something I've noticed coming out of the 2024 race.

So does Le Mans need to change? No, i don't think so.

I like seeing cars coming down the Mulsanne, I like seeing the Ferrari hypercar racing against Toyota in addition to all the cars that do both IMSA and WEC, I like the announcers getting increasingly delirious as it gets into the night stint, and I like the fact that Valentino Rossi is now a BMW GT3 driver who competed at Le Mans.

The Rolex 24 at Daytona is probably more fun that Le Mans and its position on the calendar probably lets it get a handful of one-off drivers that may not be able to do Le Mans, but Le Mans also attracts plenty of unique talent as well. Ferrari doesn't do IMSA, nor does Toyota, nor does Valentino Rossi.

Would I like them to? Absolutely.

Am I fine with just having two different, successful endurance racing series on either side of the Atlantic? Absolutely. It's like the modern version of CART vs. Formula One as far as I'm concerned, only this time, I'm in a position to enjoy it.

So yeah, there are some things I prefer about IMSA, but there's plenty I love about Le Mans as well.

Hell, the fact that after the sister Ferrari won last year, we got to see the #50 Ferrari of Nicklas Nielsen, Miguel Molina, and Antonio Fuoco win. Both cars have now won Le Mans, and this means that last year's Antonio Giovinazzi, and this year's Antonio Fuoco - two drivers I've followed since the mid-to-late 2010s when they were actively in the open wheel junior series - are both Le Mans winners.

That's cool. I love the fact that drivers can fulfill their dream of winning for Ferrari, not just in Formula One, but now at Le Mans too. It's a great time to see, and between this and Indycar, I'm developing a lot of hope for talented junior drivers without F1 prospects.

Hell, on that very note, Felipe Drugovich raced at Le Mans for Action Express Cadillac this year, which seems to be his first time back in a major racing series since his F2 title campaign. Glad to see him back behind the wheel, just wish it went better for him.

Anyway, this last weekend of racing was a bit of a dud for me and I find myself busy yet again, so I'll leave the blogpost here, but do let you know what you think!

[visualvocabulary33]

[nick-cassidy]

7/11 of the GTP cars are under extended technical inspections so who knows who actually has the podium LOL

[sixcylinderdean]

Penske Porsche 963 GTP, IMSA Laguna Seca 2023 [x]