2023 Nürburgring 24 Hours

Not blocked in the U.S. this year, although it was supposed to be but the streaming service that has the rights isn’t even operational yet.

I’d like to see ABT or Frikadelli pull off the upset for the Italians for once but it’s so hard when you don’t have strength in numbers.
 
This has to be one of the most difficult races anywhere in the world. I can barely put a lap down at speed by myself around this place in Gran Turismo without making mistakes. These guys in GT3 cars racing each other and navigating traffic at such high speed for 24 hours just blows my mind. It’ll never not impress me.
 
The Dacia got torn up pretty bad shortly after 4 am.
I’d like to see ABT or Frikadelli pull off the upset for the Italians for once but it’s so hard when you don’t have strength in numbers.
It actually feels pretty weird that this car is no longer a Porsche but the Frikadelli-Ferrari is in a pretty commanding lead right now.
 
The Dacia got torn up pretty bad shortly after 4 am.
The team released a statement that the engine is damaged beyond repair and the engine is no longer in production so that may be the end of the Dacia project. That thing just got walloped from behind by the Pirelli Porsche, I wonder if the evolution of the SP9 class is a big part of why so many other classes have dwindling car counts. These GT3 cars are just so quick these days and the pace of the race dictates all take and no give.
 
Race organizers just announced a marshall collapsed during the race and passed away in the hospital. RIP
 
The team released a statement that the engine is damaged beyond repair and the engine is no longer in production so that may be the end of the Dacia project. That thing just got walloped from behind by the Pirelli Porsche, I wonder if the evolution of the SP9 class is a big part of why so many other classes have dwindling car counts. These GT3 cars are just so quick these days and the pace of the race dictates all take and no give.
It's probably a constellation of different factors, I don't really know what's happening on the financial side but I'm sure that plays a role as well.
Are the GT3 cars really that much faster than 10 years ago? I thought the difference was around 10-15 seconds which isn't really that huge on a 25 kilometer track. The Dacia on the other hand was the slowest car in the field by about 50 seconds, even with a modified Renault engine.
 
It's probably a constellation of different factors, I don't really know what's happening on the financial side but I'm sure that plays a role as well.
Are the GT3 cars really that much faster than 10 years ago? I thought the difference was around 10-15 seconds which isn't really that huge on a 25 kilometer track. The Dacia on the other hand was the slowest car in the field by about 50 seconds, even with a modified Renault engine.
Yeah, I don’t know about the financials over there but I would always assume that’s a factor as well.

One of the Bilstein Mercedes set the pole record and Frikadelli set a race lap record so they’re back to being as quick as ever, a lot quicker than a decade ago. It was around 2014-2015 GT3s started to get really quick and then in ‘15 was when they had to slow them down after the Nissan incident at Flugplatz. So, they’ve gained all that back and then some. These cars are mostly gaining time cornering and braking now too so I think that’s where the trouble stems from. Cars are just coming together in the worst spots, high-speed corners where there’s not much reaction time for either party.

I’m not sure what the solution is, if that’s just kinda the way it’s going to keep trending or what. It’s become one of the biggest GT3 crown jewels in the world so you can’t really eliminate the class. Not when you get 30+ GT3 cars a year, with mostly all-pro lineups. I guess sometimes things just outgrow themselves.
 
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