Spa Grand Prix thread

[flohtingPoint]

With Spa this weekend, and rain predicted for the area, this should prove interesting....

During the hotter months of this season, Brawn's cars have dominated. Honestly, Button looked invincible for a while... Now that the weather has cooled off some and air pressure has changed, the KERS cars have been having a much better showing. So much so that Renault is thinking of going KERS for this weekend. All I know is that Eau Rouge should be VERY exciting in inclimate weather.

Your thoughts?

[Gonz]

my thoughts is that Brawn, since they were winning, didn't do much development during the season. McLaren has done a lot of development (wind tunnel?) and has caught up. I don't know what Ferrari is doing, not to mention BMW.

It's amazing how much the car, rather than the driver plays a role in F1. I like to think autoX is the same. Gives me a good excuse for being slow.

for the race, it would be nice to see everybody make it through T1 for a change. I know it's hard to pass, but it seems like the last bunch of races, several contenders get wiped out at the very first turn, and that makes the rest of the race less interesting.

[flohtingPoint]

my thoughts is that Brawn, since they were winning, didn't do much development during the season. McLaren has done a lot of development (wind tunnel?) and has caught up. I don't know what Ferrari is doing, not to mention BMW.

It's amazing how much the car, rather than the driver plays a role in F1. I like to think autoX is the same. Gives me a good excuse for being slow.

for the race, it would be nice to see everybody make it through T1 for a change. I know it's hard to pass, but it seems like the last bunch of races, several contenders get wiped out at the very first turn, and that makes the rest of the race less interesting.

McLaren definitely looks like the month summer break did them a lot of good. Heikki looked strong and Hamilton was in top form until his tire temp got the best of him in Valencia.

Auto-x is like that for cars w/drivers aids vs no drivers aids. Give me a car with ABS and TCS and I'll easily shave a few seconds off my Corolla's times, but whats the fun in that? I drive the GTS for the plain fact that it's a drivers car, raw and untamed, much like how F1 was during it's glory days of small turbo motors making 1k+ hp and no electronics on board to dumb up the ride.

LOL! T1 was a mess in Valencia and it didn't get much better after that when Button got overtaken by nearly the whole top field and then jumped a corner. It could be worse though, Schumi could still be driving. He was a terrible starter and he got around that by nearly driving into everyone, causing them to wreck their starts also.

[flohtingPoint]

Italians post 1 and 2 in Q3! Fisi got pole followed by Trulli. Easily the best qualifying session of the season, VERY exciting. It's a great day to be a second generation Italian...

[awptickes]

ABS doesn't make any difference for me. I never have ABS engage on-course. I like to think of ABS as more of a learning-aid for driving an unfamiliar car, when it engages, you've braked too hard.... Hit something? Didn't brake hard enough...

[flohtingPoint]

It's not a matter of how hard, it's a matter of when. On most of the surfaces we autox at, it's not terribly great, Summit being the worst. Due to not having ABS, I have to brake much sooner than folks with it, and cannot come in as hot as I want into certain corners that I know my S13 could make (which had ABS).

[Dan133]

I don't care what anybody says-- I LIKE my ABS. Yes, it does allow me to be a bit lazy about braking points but we don't drive on prepped surfaces and in fact the surfaces WE drive on are not as good as public roads. At Bowie and Frederick it's gravel and at Summit Point it's just the damned variably, intentionally slippery surface plus the dust.

[flohtingPoint]

I don't care what anybody says-- I LIKE my ABS. Yes, it does allow me to be a bit lazy about braking points but we don't drive on prepped surfaces and in fact the surfaces WE drive on are not as good as public roads. At Bowie and Frederick it's gravel and at Summit Point it's just the damned variably, intentionally slippery surface plus the dust.

As you should Every time I'm on the triple skid pad at Summit, I'm punching my steering wheel after every run because I inevitably lock my brakes up at least once per run due to the tarmac. Heck, even today I'm sure several people noticed me locking them up, something that could have been saved had I had ABS.

[hepcatz]

Yeah, ABS is a good thing as long as it is not to intrusive and only engages at wheel lock like it should. Jim, now everyone just notices your skills at pirouetting around a lightpole.