I don't watch much racing on TV. Enjoyed the competitiveness, but answer me this: In the production class cars, given that the officials slow cars down in the interests of parity, doesn't that make the manufacturer's battle fairly meaningless? i.e. the winner is the one that they don't slow down as much.
Kreb wrote: I don't watch much racing on TV. Enjoyed the competitiveness, but answer me this: In the production class cars, given that the officials slow cars down in the interests of parity, doesn't that make the manufacturer's battle fairly meaningless? i.e. the winner is the one that they don't slow down as much.
No, it's not meaningless. The BOP only equalizes the speed(and sometimes fuel capacity)of the various manufacturers. Things like pit stops, reliability, tire wear and fuel efficiency are still in the hands of the teams to get right. The fact that the top 5 competitors from several different manufacturers were all so close after 24 hours proves that the system works. It is the only way you could guarantee good battles between cars that are so different in engine size, engine location, horsepower and level of sophistication.
Streetwiseguy wrote: Ricky- clean attempt or not?
I think he was 4' short of a real pass, but since it appears Albuqerque shifted his line a touch before impact, they let it go. Even his Dad thought it was a bad pass based on his reaction at the time.
Great race all around with a lot drama at the end.
Awesome race. Nice to see a solid outing for the new 911 RSR as well. Lots of variety in the GTLM class, which makes it far more entertaining to watch, IMO.
Not having TV I listened to the last two hours on Radio LeMans, wow was that some intense racing.
Having listened live then watched the replay several times later on YouTube, I don't think the pass for the overall lead was fair. It was a move that was never going to stick. Still, despite that less than a second separated them after 24 hours wow.
GTLM was amazing. The top seven cars covered by 7 seconds after 24 hours of racing!! People may not like BOP, but it was a close close race.
Fastest race laps for the top 4 cars were:
Ford GT 1:43.522
Porsche 911 RSR 1:43.964 (+0.442)
Ferrari 488 GTE 1:43.654 (+0.132)
Chevrolet Corvette 1:43.979 (+0.457)
And the fastest race lap by each Marque were:
Ford GT 1:43.385
Ferrari 488 GTE 1:43.654 (+0.269)
Porsche 911 RSR 1:43.964 (+0.579)
Chevrolet Corvette 1:43.979 (+0.594)
BMW M6 GTLM 1:44.247 (+0.862)
Considering the Porsche and BMW are both fresh out of the box chassis while the Ford and Ferrari both have a year of development under their belts I'd say it's pretty damn close.
GTD was another great race, pity the Ferrari had an engine size so close to the end. Only the Prototype challenge was a bit of a let down.
In reply to Adrian_Thompson:
I thought BMW ran the same M6 last year. I think last year was the first year for that car. They had the Z4 before that.
In reply to Devilsolsi:
Seems you're right. All the fuss over the unfortunately crappy art car made me think it was new.
Note. I love many of the BMW art cars over the years, I guess I'm just not well enough educated to see the art in this art car.
I guess it was a minimalist approach to the art car..Their cars from last year looked much cooler
They interviewed someone at BMW and hinted that they would be running something different in 2018 but couldn't say what. They need to have a v10 powered i8 instead of the M6.
I only got to watch about 15 minutes of the race, but it was the last 15 - so I'll call that good 
BOP is goofy, but it allows you to essentially have spec class tight racing with widely different cars. I think I like it better than the F1 style of super-tight regulation that forces the cars to be very similar. Simply listening to the sounds of the different cars is enough to make BOP worthwhile. That pack of cars at the top of GTLM was great.
The GTD finish was fantastic! Even more so, as my friend Andy Greene leads the crew for the winning car. The cool thing about the Rolex is immediately after the race, they open up victory lane to spectators. Although I didn't have any sort of a "special" pass, I was able to cut through the crowds, and give my buddy a big hug just after the race. He's been toiling away for years, and it was fantastic to see him and his team so happy!
It's a grueling race--- it's hard to imagine the joy / relief of winning after such an ordeal. Kudos to the Alegra racing team!
Here's just a few of the pictures I took during the race (and night practice run) I've put in a test folder for now: 2017 Daytona - Test Folder
Once I get time to weed through all the photos and edit as needed then I'll post the final link. Not having any real wide angle lenses is killing me though...
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