ADAC GT Masters 2012 - Round 6 - Lausitzring

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neil
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ADAC GT Masters 2012 - Round 6 - Lausitzring

Post by neil » Sat Aug 25, 2012 6:55 pm

Almost forgot that round 6 was this weekend !

ALPINA Car 1 qualified 16th and 4th in this weekends round.

They finished 9th in the first race but suffered a drive through penalty and by the look of it didn't do it as this was converted to a 30 second penalty. As a result they finished 23rd :(

Team Liqui Mobile Car 2 qualified 29th and 25th.

In race 1 they finished 25th.

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Post by Charles » Sat Aug 25, 2012 9:39 pm

Problem is that they are still carrying about 80kg of extra ballast as a result of some wins earlier in the season.

Given that these cars are all so close on performance, that makes quite a difference.
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Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order ;)
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
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Post by neil » Mon Aug 27, 2012 6:45 pm

So race 2

Started 4th - got up into 3rd immediately - dropped a couple of places. By lap 8 they were down to 21st and then 30th the following lap - not sure of reason.

They did post the fastest lap and a record for GT Masters at this track.

Finally finished in 19th.

Not sure if crash or puncture...

Car 2 finished in 26th

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Post by neil » Mon Aug 27, 2012 7:03 pm

Both Car 1 drivers have now slipped to 5th position

ALPINA is now 4th team

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Post by Charles » Tue Aug 28, 2012 11:14 pm

Motors TV, Wednesday 5th Sept @ 9pm
Charles
Teacher of Chemistry and driver of ALPINAs - not necessarily in that order ;)
B3S Touring (49/116) - been to the moon and now on the way back!
Renault Grand Espace - not mine but the wife's!

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Post by neil » Mon Sep 03, 2012 12:41 pm

Official ALPINA race debrief:

One of the strongest driver pairings of the grid and a fast car, but a big portion of bad luck and unforeseeable external circumstances: The BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 of defending champion Dino Lunardi (F) and Maxime Martin (B) had a great pace in the ADAC GT Masters round at the Lausitzring, Germany, but finished only 23rd and 19th after a penalty in the first race and a puncture in the second race.

"We expected a tough weekend, and it turned out to be one" said Dino Lunardi. The Frenchman started from 16th place in the first race and had to attack to make up ground. While working his way up the positions Lunardi made contact with the Corvette of Wirth/Frentzen, which caused the Corvette to spin. Lunardi handed over the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 to Maxime Martin during the mandatory driver change in 12th position. A good pit stop and a strong performance meant Maxime worked his way up to 7th but he had to let a Corvette and a BMW Z4 pass to finish in 9th position. After the race, Lunardi/Martin were penalised with a 30 second penalty for the incident with the Corvette – meaning 23rd position.

In Sunday’s second race, Maxime started from a very encouraging 4th place. “This position is an incredible testament to the driver because it is much more than the car is usually capable of on this track under the current circumstances“ praised ALPINA´s Andreas Bovensiepen. However, in the eighth round, all hopes for a good result vanished when the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 had to pit with a puncture. Due to the extra stop, the ALPINA dropped to second to last place but again Maxime managed to claw back eleven (!) places, eventually finishing in 19th.

"In the tight corners at the Lausitzring the car was good, but in terms of top speed and traction, it was no match for the Porsches" said Maxime. "The B6 GT3 is the heaviest car on the grid (currently ballasted by the organisers with 110kg) and has very high down force due to our big rear wing. This resulted in the Yokohama rear tire overloading. We experienced three punctures already this season and hence used the so called ‘Porsche tyre’ at the Nürburging, which has the same dimensions, but a stronger construction. But they did not let us use the tyre again.”

Dino Lunardi says he is “worried about the third puncture of the season, something has to happen here. Unfortunately, our gap to the championship leaders has increased substantially this weekend and Porsche continue their really strong performance. But we will certainly attack at the next round and hope for a good race at Nürburgring.”

“After the puncture at the Sachsenring, the so called ‘Porsche tyre’ had been granted to us by the organiser ADAC and the sanctioning body DMSB following a recommendation from Yokohama”, ALPINA´s Andreas Bovensiepen explained. “When competitors also requested this tyre, they simply withdrew their recommendation and we were suddenly not allowed to use it. A tyre which is overloaded causes a serious safety concern and after three puncture this season, all involved parties should be interested to avoid further punctures and damage. Therefore, our claim is to use the ‘Porsche tire’ again with immediate effect.”

“The BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 was forced to undergo a reduction in output this season by mandating smaller air restrictors and also they made us add more weight, while other cars got more power and less weight. This is not only a difficult situation for us, but also makes life for our customer team LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler very difficult. Johannes Leidinger and Florian Spengler finished midfield in 25th and 26th position of 40 cars.“

The next round of the ADAC GT Masters takes place from September 14th to 16th on the Grand Prix circuit of the Nürburgring. The ADAC GT Masters will visit the Nürburgring for the second time this year – at the series’ first appearance there in July on the short-sprint circuit, ALPINA claimed a second place finish and a victory.

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