WTCC Considering Nordschleife...

[RacingManiac]

autosport.com - WTCC News: WTCC eyeing the Nordschleife

Thats pretty cool....

[henk4]

apart from the idea which is good, it struck me how minimalistic touring car races actually are these days: They propose a two-lap race....as a photographer it will be very difficult to catch all cars during these two laps, and apart from that, as a spectator, you have about 30 seconds when all cars pass by and then 7 minutes of eerie silence. Once the cars should start to spread out over the track, the finish has already been long before.....

[RacingManiac]

How long are typical WTCC races? 30 min?

[henk4]

How long are typical WTCC races? 30 min?

probably short enough to fit in between two commercial breaks.

[Commodore GS/E]

Interesting, to say the least. I hope the'll do it because that could finally lead to more racing series using the Nordschleife and not just the GP track.
Also, I saw thefirst race of the season last weekend. The Polestar Volvo may not be the fastest car out there, but it sounded insane .
Also, my bet is on Chevrolet to win (again). They absolutely dominated both races.

[Cobrafan427]

This is a great idea because it would bolster efforts to save the Nordschleife. Two laps does sound very short though even if the mileage/length (time-wise) of the race would be the same as the others on the schedule. Maybe they could double it to 4 or 5 laps and hand out double points.

[LeonOfTheDead]

They would probably cover a full lap in something like 7:30 minutes me thinks, so 4 laps are not such a big deal. The thing is managing to have enough security personnel around the track, while at the same time gathering enough sponsors and people to make it cost effective.

Would be great though. Coming next, DTM and a FIA GT3 round.

[Ferrer]

Interesting, to say the least. I hope the'll do it because that could finally lead to more racing series using the Nordschleife and not just the GP track.
Also, I saw thefirst race of the season last weekend. The Polestar Volvo may not be the fastest car out there, but it sounded insane .
Also, my bet is on Chevrolet to win (again). They absolutely dominated both races.

Damn it! WTCC started and I didn't notice!

[ScionDriver]

That's a cool idea, but yeah it sounds like it might still be in the early stages, a lot of kinks to work out on that. They could almost do a couple "heats" or something, like 2 different 2 lap races each race being half points or something. That might not work though and I'm no avid follower of WTCC anyway. I just catch when it is occasionally on American TV.

[Commodore GS/E]

Damn it! WTCC started and I didn't notice!

Yep, I nearly missed it, too. But it isn't hard to sum both races up: Chevrolet dominated, maybe because they had the longest time span to develope and improve their car. The Cruze is massively fast and doesn't have real weaknesses. The only cars that could come close were the BMW's which had nearly similar speed and handling, only with a bit more acceleration at the start line (because of rwd). The Seats were practically statist in the races as they couldn't compete in speed and handling. Their best result was Tarquini finishing fifth in race 2 (but with a big time difference to the one who finished 4th). The Volvo was one of the very few cars that still run on N/A engines, but it finished in an acceptable 12th and 13th place considering that their engine was less powerful and that this ist their first season.
Seems like Chevy has a big lead, though. The BMW teams will probably work on the brakes (because the Chevys managed to outbreak them very often) while Seat hasn't much else to do than wait for the new turbo engines as their TDI isn't competitive anymore. Volvo can't do anything because their single racer isn't a works car. Maybe the'll improve cornering.

There also was a significant amount of car-car and car-wall contact .

[Dino Scuderia]

So a couple laps around the 'ring it'd be a very spread out procession.

[Matra et Alpine]

you dont get processions on the 'Ring racing
It needs to be minimum 5-6 laps imho and I'd rather see cars trying to pass each other in racing than lap slower cars on a short circuit. Not all "overtakes" are equal
( Admit, I hate ovals for that reason )

[RacingManiac]

Even if WTCC races only lasts ~30 min, at their lap time(mid 7 min sounds reasonable for ~300bhp car on slicks), they should be able to squeeze 4 laps in....

[henk4]

Even if WTCC races only lasts ~30 min, at their lap time(mid 7 min sounds reasonable for ~300bhp car on slicks), they should be able to squeeze 4 laps in....

in theory but expect several local yellows.....

[Dino Scuderia]

you dont get processions on the 'Ring racing

You will with the disparity of performance Commodore described....unless I'm misreading your meaning and/or due to the nature of the 'ring it's an equalizer in itself.