2013 Blancpain Endurance Series

[Beetle]

I'm surprised no one has made a thread about this wonderful series!

CALENDAR

Sunday, April 14, 2013 - Monza (ITA)
Sunday, June 2, 2013 - Silverstone (GBR)
Sunday, June 30, 2013 - Paul Ricard (FRA)
Sunday, July 28, 2013 - Spa (BEL)
Sunday, September 22, 2013 - Nurburgring (DEU)

LAST YEAR...
...was spoiled by rain.

The heavens opened in Monza, which was not the way I, or anyone else, wanted to start the season. The race started under safety car and the championship ended under safety car (or red flag). Silverstone and Paul Ricard were (relatively) dry, but Spa was a nightmare in the early goings with that crippling rain. Nurburgring was the best race I've seen in the BES... a classic. And, of course, Navarra was red flagged for the rain. Who would have thought it?

Anyway...

Let's hope for better weather this year. I'm not trying to be overly negative, just realistic.

NEWS

Alexander Sims joins Hexis McLaren for Blancpain Endurance Series

I know... it's only 1 article leading to what will be happening in the 2013 season, but it's a start! Hopefully 10 Tenths members can contribute and make this the discussion and updates thread for the world's best GT series (IMHO!)... the Blancpain Endurance Series!

[Breitling24]

I've followed it on the www, and would love to see a live race someday.

[rich07]

Fantastic to see Hexis entering, should keep McLaren in the championship hunt.

WRT have said they will return which is good news.

Just hope Marc VDS do the same.

[Jameson]

Originally Posted by Beetle

Silverstone and Paul Ricard were (relatively) dry

The entire Silverstone race was wet, but I guess it was relatively dry for UK as it wasn't flooding...

[Jameson]

Originally Posted by rich07

Fantastic to see Hexis entering, should keep McLaren in the championship hunt.

WRT have said they will return which is good news.

Just hope Marc VDS do the same.

I think you just brought up the 3 main contenders of the coming season. Of course, there might be others, I hope so, but these 3 teams are heavy hitters. Can't wait for the season to begin!

[rich07]

It should be a good battle for the title indeed.

Where to for Maxime Martin though? Marc VDS will certainly be weaker without him if he's distracted by his new factory drive in the ALMS.

[sublimao]

Yes it is true BES is a great championship with great racing.
The rain did not ruin the show.
I was at Monza, there were more than 50 cars and in the heavy rain the show was brilliant. Vale Rossi was present as well and it spiced the lot.
More well known drivers should partake to the series. Looking forward to
watch alive at Monza and Le Castellet cheers to all.

[GregoryDG]

Originally Posted by rich07

It should be a good battle for the title indeed.

Where to for Maxime Martin though? Marc VDS will certainly be weaker without him if he's distracted by his new factory drive in the ALMS.

Seems like he'll still be at Marc VDS, at least for the Spa 24 Hours and the 24 Hours of the Ring.

[NaBUru38]

I'd love the Blancpain Endurance Series to race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It could be the 24 Hours, or a 3-hour race with some GT4 and 911 Carrera Cup cars to fill the 25 km.

[urdragon]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

I'd love the Blancpain Endurance Series to race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife. It could be the 24 Hours, or a 3-hour race with some GT4 and 911 Carrera Cup cars to fill the 25 km.

Ratel said the actual GT3 are not prepared for the Nordchleife, maybe he refers to the setup changes between a BES car and a N24 car, or simply the AM drivers don't want to take such a serious risks, cause lack of runoff area at the ring.

[MitchZ06]

Ratel said the track is too big for TV purposes and that the parts needed to sustain a car for the 3 hours would be too costly for teams to do it as a one off. Thus no full 'Ring BES round.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by Breitling24

I've followed it on the www, and would love to see a live race someday.

I'm pretty sure I'll be seeing the race at Paul Ricard after I attend Le Mans for the very first time.

Originally Posted by rich07

Fantastic to see Hexis entering, should keep McLaren in the championship hunt.

WRT have said they will return which is good news.

Just hope Marc VDS do the same.

I'm sure they will. I hope Marc VDS forms a WEC team eventually with the BMW Z4 GTE, perhaps in 2014, with Henri Moser, Mike Hezemans, Burt Longin, Bas Leinders, Markus Paltalla, and (perhaps) Maxime Martin. That would be a stellar team. It was last year, as well.

Originally Posted by Jameson

The entire Silverstone race was wet, but I guess it was relatively dry for UK as it wasn't flooding...

I didn't see any of this race, but I heard it was halfway dry. I guess not, now that I see the pictures.

[TheNewBob]

Originally Posted by Beetle

I didn't see any of this race, but I heard it was halfway dry. I guess not, now that I see the pictures.

I can tell you it was not a pleasant experience to be a spectator that day!

I hope they can fill out the days racing a little more this year. As nice as it was wandering freely down the pitlane and in the garages for an hour, having only the Lamborghini Trofeo for support with a couple of hours at least between races was not my idea of good value for money. Assuming the revival series isn't being attempted again this season I'm interested to hear with whom the series will be sharing the paddocks in 2013.

[jondownunder]

I do know that Formula Renault NEC will be a support at Silverstone this year. Can't vouch for the racing being much good, but no doubt there will be some stars of the future amongst the field.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by MitchZ06

Ratel said [...] the parts needed to sustain a car for the 3 hours would be too costly for teams to do it as a one off. Thus no full 'Ring BES round.

I dont't understand that. It's the same 3 hours as in other races, right?

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by NaBUru38

I dont't understand that. It's the same 3 hours as in other races, right?

GT3 cars need special suspension components and set-ups for the Nordschleife as far as I'm aware, an unmodified car around there wouldn't last very long with normal GT3 chassis set-ups.

[MitchZ06]

The Ring is unlike any other track for sheer roughness on a car.

[urdragon]

Even considering we are talking of three hours, not 24.

[Breitling24]

Originally Posted by Beetle

I'm pretty sure I'll be seeing the race at Paul Ricard after I attend Le Mans for the very first time.

Hope that works out for you, it will be fun. The week after going to the '07 Le Mans, we went to Monza and watched FIA GT1. It's cool the scheduling will let you "stack" a couple of races.

[GT3.14]

If I remember correctly, Porsche mandated that all teams had to use a set of non-standard dampers for the Carrera World Cup that was a support race at the 2011 N24. I think they were built by exe-tc, but I'm not 100% sure.

[Dead-Eye]

Originally Posted by urdragon

Even considering we are talking of three hours, not 24.

Doesn't matter. Even for a single lap a GT3 in normal circuit configuration would need mods. The suspensions just aren't designed for the amount of travel they'd need on the Nordschleife.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by Victor_RO

GT3 cars need special suspension components and set-ups for the Nordschleife as far as I'm aware, an unmodified car around there wouldn't last very long with normal GT3 chassis set-ups.

Ok, thanks! By the way, the Ultra version of the Audi R8 does the trick?

[GT3.14]

Originally Posted by Beetle

I hope Marc VDS forms a WEC team eventually with the BMW Z4 GTE, perhaps in 2014, with Henri Moser, Mike Hezemans, Burt Longin, Bas Leinders, Markus Paltalla, and (perhaps) Maxime Martin. That would be a stellar team. It was last year, as well.

Dagys said that VDS was planning to enter a BMW powered P2 next year, but that plan has been postponed until 2014.

[Beetle]

Originally Posted by GT3.14

Dagys said that VDS was planning to enter a BMW powered P2 next year, but that plan has been postponed until 2014.

LMP2 seems a bit strange since most everyone on the driver lineup are GT drivers.

[Rodger Davies]

Originally Posted by MitchZ06

Ratel said the track is too big for TV purposes.

Aside from the fact that the 'parts needed' debate is a weird one (pretty sure MVDS, Black Falcon, Haribo, WRT etc used the same cars for both), that comment on TV can't be true? If so, it sums up what's wrong with thinking sometimes. I can think of numerous reasons why it wouldn't be suitable or preferred, but that being one of them is sad. Especially as I was under the impression that BES is mainly run for privateers and gents.


That note aside, I can see the series taking a plummet down towards realistic grid numbers this year, much less than the garage-bursting numbers of last year. National series seem to be back on the rise in some quarters and I can see a few of the major teams giving this one a miss. We already know we're down 4 AF Corse cars and it wouldn't surprise me to see a few more join them.

Hoping Marc VdS are back, but fear that, even if they are, they'll struggle without an adequate replacement for the rounds Martin'll miss; hopefully BMW will help them out with a decent name, someone like Nico Bastian, or they unearth another gem in Belgium.

Hope to see the Bentley join in a round or two at the end too!