If you haven't already noticed, MINI are running a pair of endurance prepped new JCW Coupe racers for the Nürburgring 24 hour race this weekend. Just in case anyone else might be interested, I thought we should have a separate thread to consolidate updates. There were a few other posts clogging up related threads and I've moved some over here and will try to keep up adding to them. PLEASE add your own if you have them (and comment all you like) as I'm having a devil of a time getting good info that I can actually read (i.e., English) and understand.
I've been trying to follow the action with one feed or another ... mostly failing. According to MINI Motorsport the Endurance cars (#146 and 147) finished the 1st quali session 10th and 11th respectively in their class -- don't know how many cars are in that class -- and the 2nd quali 12th and 13th. Best lap times #146, 9:44.248 and #147, 9:44.449.
A few more random facts for anyone following along somewhere or other. The class the MINIs run in is called SP 3T. There are 201 qualified starters. Best MINI qualifier was not one of the factory entries. #152 entered by Schirra motoring is 3rd the SP 3T class and 59th overall.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMK45xkw-MQ&NR=1]YouTube - MINI John Cooper Works Coupé Endurance testing for the 2011 Nürburgring 24 Hour Race - In the pits[/ame]
201 qualifiers total or in that class?!?! Man, that is a lot of cars... First lap has GOT to be one REALLY long butt pucker... ut:
:lol: Yeah, 201 is a lot, though at least that's the entire field. I still don't know how many are in the SP 3T class. I was listening to the RadioLeMans audio feed earlier and a commentator was talking about a conversation with one of the leading team drivers. He said given the size of the field, the length of the track and the speed differential front to back, the fastest cars will pass something like 30 cars per lap. :eek6: Likewise, back markers will be passed as often.
This is a pretty good and funny... Understanding the N24 http://audio.rpix.org.uk/n24/2011/n24_guide.mp3 It's a podcast.
That is good. I heard it on RadioLeMans today. When there's nothing going on out on the track they're re-playing earlier practice and quali sessions, etc. I think they're re-playing the second qualifying session right now.
How to listen to Radio Le Mans on the iPhone Step 1: Head over to iTunes and grab the free app Fstream (will open iTunes). Step 2: Open Fstream and tap the star (favorites) at the bottom. Step 3: Tap Edit at the top/left. Step 4: Tap Add new webradio Step 5: Enter one of these two mms urls. (don’t worry about format and bitrate) mms://mercury.radica.com/radioshowltd mms://venus.radica.com/radioshowltd Step 6: Tap Save. Tap Done. Step 7: Tap Play at the bottom (next to the Star) Step 8: Tap your saved url in the list. It will buffer in and play. *I had to go into More… and turn on Cellular network *We are not responsible for any issues/damage to your iPhone/iTouch
Cool, here's the remaining schedule (ET): Saturday, 25 Jun 03:05-04:05 -- Mini Challenge / Seat Leon Supercopa / Renault Race Festival (race, 4 laps) 05:20-06:35 -- Porsche Carrera Cup World (race, 6 laps) 07:00-08:00 -- 24h-Race (Drivers Parade) 07:30-09:10 -- 24h-Race (Grid) 10:00 -- 24h-Race Start Sunday, 26 Jun 10:00 -- 24h-Race Finish
Good shot of the leading MINI qualifier, the Schirra entry #152, qualified 3rd in the class and 59th overall.
The video feed at Sport Auto (thanks for pointing that one out Scott) is very good and fun to watch so far but the audio commentary is in German. I've muted that and I'm watching it while listening to the audio from RadioLeMans which is in English.
I agree. Having a little trouble keeping up sometimes when they start throwing out car numbers and little else, but you can find a pdf of the full entry list as a reference here.
I missed it but apparently the 147 had some sort of incident at its lap 5 about 2 hours ago. They've been working on it and it may return. As a reference for light levels, etc, add 6 hours to ET (adjust for your time zone).