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There has been a fair amount of conjecture and man banter the last couple of days with regards to what it would actually take to be quicker than the Seat Supercopa and still fit within the current regulations of the UAE National Racing Series.
Now as much as I have tried (well not really) to give chasing down the Seats a shot, I am still at best (Club Circuit), two seconds a lap off the pace…which is an absolute eon! So that idea is off the radar! Oh by the way, the rule is no Seats aloud as that would just be boring for the sake of this debate.
So after batting back and forth we had to dig into the history books to pull out a 2.0 Turbo monster that could potentially kick some ass. 2.0 Turbo had to be the route as any 3.0 N/A is either not a touring car or would just get stuffed.
So that led the conversation towards the truly awesome and fire breathing Ford RS500. We did get some neigh sayers out there though claiming Seat aero and modern engineering would just kill the RS500…I almost agreed and summoned to the truly brutal Seats until one of crankandpiston resident racecar driver readers made the below comment…
“When I raced there (Bathhurst) in 2003 the fastest Tim Harvey and Brabham could do in a current spec Porsche RS was 2:16. Seat….. no problem”
After clocking the time Dick Johnson managed in the video thats good enough for me…Now someone just needs to step up to the plate and buy one.
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theshadow
How to win Class 1…
Yeah, a monster Sierra like this one:
http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listing/30456/Ford_Sierra_RS500_GRPA_RACE_CARS.html
always be tempting eh?
I always thought that, the way the regulations are written, a properly done BMW M3 or 3 series based touring car should be able to whup those Seats sideways though. Something like this perhaps:
http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listing/23638/BMW_E46_WTCC_2003_003.html
or this:
http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listing/27111/BMW_320si_S2000__STCC_title_winner_2008.html
… except with an M3 engine under the hood for good measure. Heck, make that a fully built M3 engine if you’re *really* serious. There’s no power to weight in TCC officially so you ought to be allowed to get away with a power advantage to a point. M3 engine swap *should* technically be allowed under the regulations as well, since engine swaps are allowed (and practiced widely enough already i.e. historical precedent) in TCC as long as the engine is of the same manufacturer and same configuration as originally sold in the street version of the car. No shortage of 6 cylinder BMW 3 series around anyways…
Bottom line – proper combo of a touring car BMW chassis and an M3 engine making, say, competitive power with the SEATs should logically see the BMW win out eventually; less influenced by heat hence more reliable in terms of power and more responsive in terms of power delivery. Rear wheel drive and a much better balanced chassis hence should be much more consistent, quicker and (in particular) less harsh on the front tires over a race distance etc. etc.
Or you could just leave a 2.0 in the above uber-delish Bimmer and use it to walk away with the Class 2 title instead. Heck, any FIA S2000 car should probably be capable of grabbing the Class 2 title really. But Class 2 is not the point I guess, right?
How to win GTA….
GTA class should theoretically be easy to win if you have a decent budget – simply look at the current FIA GT3 grid and take the car that’s the quickest, or has the most potential, before the FIA “slows it down”. Just a matter of homework there really. Done.
The aston DBRS9 looks mightily good this year and the GT3 Cup S would likely be a strong and consistent runner but if you really want to win…(and MUST beat a certain Corvette without being in another Corvette) then the Ford GT40 sticks out as the way to go IMO. It’s already up there on the official FIA spec sheets in fully homologated form (power to weight wise anyways) and it’s a proven chassis but it’s supercharged, and as such would be extremely easy to add power to if and whenever needed since we don’t run exactly to FIA GT3 regs here. Bingo.
How to win GTB…
GTB is the fun one simply because it’s not hamstrung by rules which (for better or for worse) are designed around FIA GT3 cars to the exclusion of almost anything more extreme such as a Time Attack style car, for example, which basically disincentivises anyone from trying a one off build. Heck, even the mightly DXB Racing Viper couldn’t break the formula (must have been very tempting, and possible if desired, to simply add more power, if not for those pesky power to weight regs).
GTB is still ripe though. Almost anything what’s well specced, well bui;t and well driven could win GTB I reckon. Newer Porsche a natural candidate, but I wouldn’t rule out a nicely turned out older Porsche of almost any type or vintage, or a well done Lotus Elise or Exige, or a particularly well driven Ginetta, or a Corvette of some sort (hm I wonder where Moh. Falasi’s old UAETCC Vette is these days)… perhaps another Evo even….or a supercharged Honda S2000…even in reach of a 350hp, 850kg turbocharged Mazda MX5 should somebody be crazy enough to try that *cough cough* or plenty of other wild concoctions (Mustangs, Nissan Silvia time attack cars, Mazda RX7s, Honda NSXs, TVR, Marcos, you name it).
Shame that GTB is the only class where we’re rather likely to see much creativity from now on in terms of car choice then but it should be an interesting one to watch, while providing an interesting contrast with the sure-to-be-hard-fought-balls-to-the-wall-pride-on-the-line contest between the GTA cars (don’t bother to run with an eye on winning in GTA if you don’t have a new or nearly new FIA GT3 car ready for next year).
Personally, my GTB weapon of choice would be something like this:
http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listing/29333/Porsche_911_35_RSR_Spec_Engine_350bhp__830Kg.html
Sure it’s a bit of a sentimental (and potentially lethal) choice but at the same time it’s hard to argue with 350hp and 850kgs and sheer fracking style. 😉