Start into the vln season

http://www.motorsport.com/vln/news/gt3-cars-banned-from-nordschleife-after-fatal-accident?lang=en
Let's see what they decide ...

 

i read about wind that got under the splitter on the news.
official investigations are still ongoing.

 

try the SLS street car

 

lol. Whatever the reason, they RACE with real oponents while you were still trying to put together a Kinder surprise toy.

I think it's reckless to put Gran Turismo players in the mix with 'real' racers just like that.. don't even know how it's legal. And i'm not even talking because of this accident.

 

I think you're missing the point dude.
GT champions are only picked because they show a predisposition to racer mentality, not because they have already learned everything they need from GT.
And ofc they are not thrown from console to racecar, it takes alot of time and training/teaching for them to get ready for a real race.

 

If Jann didn't have any skills, Nissan wouldn't put him in a LMP1 car this season in the WEC.
If you've got the mentality and physical requirements you can become a real racecar driver.

 

I partially agree people, it's a great oportunity and not all real drivers are good drivers, offcourse, but then again it must mean something when you start with 6, 7 years, and when you start with 17, 18..

 

have a chat with damon hill m8

 

He was chosen from 10000 gran tourismo players. just think about it. 9999 players where rejected.
you saying gamers should not be racers is basically true anyways! So thats not an arguement really...

They just picked out the racer that happen to be a gamer.

 

So much BS in this thread........

The only thing that Jann was missing is Nordschleife Experience. That may have lead to too much speed at this point coupled with bad outside conditions. It was very cold, air temperature around 6°C? so the cars had slightly more HP than in summer. The GTR is one of the faster accelerating cars, meaning his speed at that part of the track was probably among the fastest. A slight gush of wind from the front (it was a bit more windy than usual) plus slightly more lift at the front from the first bump meant that too much air went under the car.

Then it was just bad luck in the way the safety zone is designed. There are tires in front of the barrier which are supposed to soften the impact of a car going off there while doing 220kph. In this atypical crash this tire barrier caused the car to begin a somersault which in the end made the car crawl over the catch fence.

Last unfortunate circumstance were the spectators being in a location which they should not have been in and where they should be fully aware of the dangers associated.

The banning of GT3s is an overreaction from public pressure which bares no reasoning as of now. The cars are not quicker than last year(s), at least from the laptime. The consequnece should have been closing the area for spectators or move them further away from the race track. Look for similar places on the ring to do the same and that's it. The drivers know the dangers of motorsports and the Nordschleife is and has always been a dangerous place to drive. I'm just waiting for the call to modify the track at that part to make it less dangerous......

 

That's alot of speculation about what happens with the accident!
Is it also speculation whether he has Nordschleife experience or did you research that?

 

He never raced in either VLN or 24h races. That's basically the only way to "race" there. Maybe Nissan had a private test day, but I doubt that. So no, I did not make a thorough research on that other than digging through my mind to see if I saw him on any starting list.

 

As I was also driving in the race I got some first hand information from the pit-lane regarding the experience of Mardenborough.
Even though normally impossible due to the new "Nordschleife License" this was supposedly his first time / race on the Nordschleife.
I won't be saying that this is correct or anything. It's just the Chatter between some Team Managers.

Such a sad ending for the opening of the Vln Season. This will have severe consequences for the Ring. The DMSB, as a first step, revoked the track License for all cars of the SP7 class and above.
We will see how all of this turns out in the end.

My condolences to the affected families.

 

Maybe GT3s could do with LMP style vents in the bodywork to reduce lift?

 

The only reason the car went over the fence is because the car hit the tire-barrier just at the starting point of it. If it hit the barrier head on I think it wouldn't have vaulted over the fence.
(what I mean with hitting the barrier at the starting point, check pic)



Another thing, though:
Why the hell did the SCG003 get black flagged for too loud while other cars were way louder than the SCG?

 

Banning the cars isn't the answer, but I guess its the only thing they can do in the short term. I don't think anyone wants them to actually alter the track, so the only thing they should be doing in my opinion is looking at the spectator area, and maybe the barrier construction / height. I've heard conflicting reports about the spectator area and am unsure what is accurate. From what I can decipher, there are two fences up there, and these people were stood between them, which from what I can understand, isn't allowed.

 

idk but what might be a possibility to alter there is place a higher fence, also put a second armco barrier in front of the fence itself and make a 'ramp' so the spectators can still see enough of the track/race.

 

I was wondering about the same. I know there are ways to avoid to acquire the licence, AMuS brought an article about that I suppose.

Unfortunately this shows the "necessity" of such a licence. Probably even more than for a gentleman driver because he's most likely going faster than any gentleman driver in his first race.

@PhenOm that is actually exactly the point I was making some posts above. Due to the unique way of the accident, the arrangement of safety measures such as fences and tire stacks made the accident worse in this case. Just like in LeMans with the Audi R18 a couple of years back.

 

Changing the catch fencing seems to be the easiest short term solution. I'm not sure how you cold actually prevent people standing there though if they want to.

Longer term you have to question how compatible modern flat bottom race cars are with the Nordschleife. Single seaters were excluded a while ago, maybe race GTs will be next. Jumps and modern race cars just don't mix, it may come to a choice, modify the track further or exclude GT race cars from events.

 

As crazy as some politicians and officials are with their ideas I hope that modifying the actual track is out of the question. Regarding the fences: there are already full FIA fences around the track. The sequence of circumstances was just unlucky and it could have happened to any GT3 car. And nobody would want or could pay for increasing the safety around the track. It just isn't any F1 Track with Asphalt safety zones. It's the green hell and everybody should be aware of that fact. Participants as well as Visitors.
Even though alot of racedrivers aren't aware of the danger of the track And therefore drive like there is no way anything could ever happen.
The next week will be crucial to the Future of the Vln and the 24h.