The 2011 Season of Grand Touring Amateur League is finally here! Round 1 is on October 30th, but qualifying has already been started. The first of two days for qualifying was on Sunday, October 24th. The typical season opener at Blackwood Grand Prix Reversed has been replaced by Kyoto National Reversed. It is a fast, flowing track which requires a compromise between straight line speed and cornering speed. With approximately forty of the 100 seconds of the lap on the flat-out Kyoto Oval, a good run is needed through and out of Turns 10, 11, and 12 to maximize this part of the lap.
Qualifying started right on time, and most of the grid was in attendance to set a time early. Marking a change from last season, telepitting is now expressly prohibited at all times - last season, it was permitted from inside a pit stall. Two drivers may still take part in the session, but must enter the car by standard driver swap. This only allows pit-stop level setup changes, and a driver cannot get a fresh engine should they damage theirs in an incident. Strategies on the session varied, with some drivers electing to run all thirty minutes allotted without changing tyres, and some doing a single flying lap on a set of tyres.
Two-time series champions E-Team (foreground, image at right) return this season with a largely new team. Aidas Staskevicius drove in Qualifying 1 for the team, setting a time of 1:41.13, only good enough for 13th position. Canadian Michael Craven drove for Great White North Racing (following car in image at right), last season known as White Water Radicals. Great White North Racing have decided to select a different car for this season - the XRR. It may be a step from their collective comfort zone, but the team drivers have had experience with the car in League of the Americas.
The session was largely free from major incident, running wide into the grass being the most common issue. Newcomers to the series Auto Motive Godz (AMG) were involved in the two most major incidents of the day. First, pictured at left, with just under half the session complete, Ryan Cullen in the team's FXR pulled off the racing line to move for a car on a hot lap, but collected the tyres on the inside of Turn 2, sending his car spinning into the path of Sascha Schwer of The Xcite Inferno. Schwer was committed to the corner, and had no time to react. Fortunately, both cars escaped without major damage, but the lap was disturbed for the two cars as well as others traveling the yellow flag zone. Both teams pitted for repairs at the end of that lap. Five minutes later, Cullen clipped the tyres at the apex of Turn 3, and does a quarter-roll into the outside wall, smashing the roof of his car. He landed on his wheels, and was able to continue after another pitstop.
New teams claimed three of the top five spots, the other two going to the guest team Adenoids Racing and series regulars Sonicrealms Racing. Argentinean Pablo Navarrete of Just Driving is the first series points-eligible team on the time sheet, running a lap of 1:40.48, behind Adenoids by a mere 0.07 seconds. Just Driving is continuing their foray into the international league community in Live for Speed, and has started their GTAL campaign very well.
DRUNK Team's Axel Falck (MonkeyHead) came third, setting a 1:40.53 during Sunday's session. Mpower Team is classified 5th, followed by Team Identity, Serbian Chromed Pistons, and GraVt Racing Team, who have the current highest classified FXR.in 8th.
The final qualifying session will be held on Friday, October 29th starting at 19:00 UTC. Each team is permitted to run on both Sunday and Friday, with the fastest time of the two being used to set the grid. The 3 Hours of Kyoto National Reversed is scheduled for 18:00 UTC on Saturday, October 30th, 2010. Broadcast information will be available later in the week.
Top 5 and Selected Other Results are available below.
Official Session Results
New Dimension Racing
Qualifying started right on time, and most of the grid was in attendance to set a time early. Marking a change from last season, telepitting is now expressly prohibited at all times - last season, it was permitted from inside a pit stall. Two drivers may still take part in the session, but must enter the car by standard driver swap. This only allows pit-stop level setup changes, and a driver cannot get a fresh engine should they damage theirs in an incident. Strategies on the session varied, with some drivers electing to run all thirty minutes allotted without changing tyres, and some doing a single flying lap on a set of tyres.Two-time series champions E-Team (foreground, image at right) return this season with a largely new team. Aidas Staskevicius drove in Qualifying 1 for the team, setting a time of 1:41.13, only good enough for 13th position. Canadian Michael Craven drove for Great White North Racing (following car in image at right), last season known as White Water Radicals. Great White North Racing have decided to select a different car for this season - the XRR. It may be a step from their collective comfort zone, but the team drivers have had experience with the car in League of the Americas.The session was largely free from major incident, running wide into the grass being the most common issue. Newcomers to the series Auto Motive Godz (AMG) were involved in the two most major incidents of the day. First, pictured at left, with just under half the session complete, Ryan Cullen in the team's FXR pulled off the racing line to move for a car on a hot lap, but collected the tyres on the inside of Turn 2, sending his car spinning into the path of Sascha Schwer of The Xcite Inferno. Schwer was committed to the corner, and had no time to react. Fortunately, both cars escaped without major damage, but the lap was disturbed for the two cars as well as others traveling the yellow flag zone. Both teams pitted for repairs at the end of that lap. Five minutes later, Cullen clipped the tyres at the apex of Turn 3, and does a quarter-roll into the outside wall, smashing the roof of his car. He landed on his wheels, and was able to continue after another pitstop. New teams claimed three of the top five spots, the other two going to the guest team Adenoids Racing and series regulars Sonicrealms Racing. Argentinean Pablo Navarrete of Just Driving is the first series points-eligible team on the time sheet, running a lap of 1:40.48, behind Adenoids by a mere 0.07 seconds. Just Driving is continuing their foray into the international league community in Live for Speed, and has started their GTAL campaign very well. DRUNK Team's Axel Falck (MonkeyHead) came third, setting a 1:40.53 during Sunday's session. Mpower Team is classified 5th, followed by Team Identity, Serbian Chromed Pistons, and GraVt Racing Team, who have the current highest classified FXR.in 8th.The final qualifying session will be held on Friday, October 29th starting at 19:00 UTC. Each team is permitted to run on both Sunday and Friday, with the fastest time of the two being used to set the grid. The 3 Hours of Kyoto National Reversed is scheduled for 18:00 UTC on Saturday, October 30th, 2010. Broadcast information will be available later in the week.
Top 5 and Selected Other Results are available below.
Official Session Results
New Dimension Racing