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FIA GT1 2011: Follow Nismo GT1 Driver Michael Krumm’s Video Diary
I think it’s great Nissan are improving the visibility of their FIA GT1 teams with more and more of this kind of social media. Michael Krumm is a fantastic ambassador for Nissan Motorsports in Japan, Europe and all over the world. This year he drives for the JR-Motorsports team in the #23 GT1 spec Nissan GT-R.
Take a tour with him from round 1 of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season at Abu Dhabi where he’ll take you behind the scenes. Introduce team mates and other drivers and give some personal insights into the cars performance of late.
Link: Nissan’s Youtube Channel
FIA GT1 2010: Podium Finish for Nissan GT-R at Brno for Round 3
A great weekend for the Sumo Power GT team as they bring home another podium finish for the #23 FIA GT1 Nissan GT-R at Brno in the Czech Republic. The drivers Michael Krumm and Peter Dumbreck were able to pull off a superb double podium weekend in fact after they finished the main event in third place after also taking third place honors in the qualifying race.
At the start of the race Krumm found himself in front as the Aston Martin DB9 in second spot on the grid fell back with trouble and the first place Maserati MC12 was penalized for jumping the gun. With this unexpected breathing room he tried to open up some space behind but the safety car ended that idea quickly.
Almost every team and almost every car on the track pitted under that safety car period which caused a traffic jam in the pits. Nevertheless the #23 GT-R still made it out in good shape, 3rd place behind the Matech Ford and the Aston DB9.
It was a battle for the top three places now with evenly matched machines and superb drivers who gave Dumbreck very little opportunity to work with. They crossed the line in a very respectable third place. Congratulations to team Sumo Power GT and the drivers for a job well done!
The #22 Sumo Power GT GT-R of Hughes / Campbell-Walter didn’t have such a great weekend in contrast. Firstly they were lumped with success ballast after their win in round 2. Next they suffered a mechanical issue in qualifying, finally, they were hit and required two different pit stops which took away their chances during the final race. Next round they go back to the standard race weight so will be gunning for those points.
Swiss Racing Team sound like they’re feeling far more positive about the GT-R’s race performance this round and have found the pace they need. The Wendlinger / Moser #3 GT-R even managed a 10th place points scoring finish. After the pit stop traffic jam however their hopes of finishing higher faded.
Click the read more link for a full race report with quotes from the drivers and teams thanks to Nissan…
| Pos | Car | Drivers | Car | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Grosjean / Mutsch | Ford GT Matech | 1:00:46.852 |
| 2 | 7 | Enge / Turner | Aston Martin DB9 | 1:00:47.569 |
| 3 | 23 | Krumm / Dumbreck | NISSAN GT-R | 1:00:47.818 |
| 4 | 10 | Hirschi / Piccione | Aston Martin DB9 | 1:00:48.405 |
| 5 | 1 | Bertolini / Bartels | Maserati MC12 | 1:00:48.618 |
| 6 | 2 | Bernoldi / Ramos | Maserati MC12 | 1:00:55.909 |
| 7 | 38 | Pastorelli / Schwager | Lamborghini Murciélago R-SV | 1:01:00.137 |
| 8 | 13 | Rosina / Hennerici | Corvette Z06 | 1:01:03.565 |
| 9 | 9 | Makowiecki / Sarrazin | Aston Martin DB9 | 1:01:07.726 |
| 10 | 3 | Wendlinger / Moser | NISSAN GT-R | 1:01:09.514 |
| 15 | 4 | Ara / Nilsson | NISSAN GT-R | 1:02:09.183 |
| 17 | 22 | Hughes / Campbell-Walter | NISSAN GT-R | 1:01:00.391 |
FIA GT1: GT-R Teams Threaten Boycott Over Weight Penalty
A controversy has been brewing in the FIA GT1 World Championship race team camps recently over botched pre-season testing for the series’ “Balance of Performance” rules. The plan for the testing is that former F1 pilot Heinz-Harald Frentzen would test each of the 6 makes of GT1 car on the track for 10-15 laps and then recommend weight additions or other measures that would balance the cars overall.
It turned out to be quite a farce however as Frentzen took a single flying lap in the GT-R on new tyres before lumping it with the heaviest penalty of 30kgs. Other makes are also questioning the testing and Frentzen’s testing methodology after running some of the cars for too few laps or barely running them at all.
The GT-R teams which finished poorly in round 1 of the series in Abu Dhabi are saying that the cars are not competitive when lumped with this weight penalty. The cars have a higher center of gravity than the competition and higher weight to begin with and the teams believe this was not factored into the penalty.
Due to this, Swiss Racing team has said that they refuse to compete again with the 30kg penalty weight.
“We will not go to Silverstone under these conditions … We cannot be a grid filler.”
– Othmar Welti, Swiss Racing Team Director
So far the FIA is defending the weight penalty system and the testing that got it to the current state. Teams are saying do it properly or they will boycott the next round which is at the new Silverstone circuit, the Sumo Power GT team’s home ground.
Dramatic stuff but I agree, if the championship hinges on fair testing then test properly and test fairly across the board in equal conditions with no excuses.
GT1 GT-R Driver Henry Moser Shows the Porsche Crowd a Thing or Two at Paul Ricard
As far as displays on why the GT-R is a great party pooper to take along to Porsche track days it doesn’t get much better than this. Take a GT3 world champ and GT1 racing driver like Henry Moser, give him the keys to your mildly tweaked GT-R and let ‘er rip. This video is the result.
Thanks to Philippe the owner of the car for the heads up and for giving Henry the drive.
You can see more of Moser’s skills when he pilots the 2010 GT1 spec GT-R for Swiss Racing Team in Abu Dhabi for round one of the FIA GT1 World Championships in just 20 days time!
FIA GT 2010: Season Launch in Paris – Swiss Racing Team Livery Uncovered
Swiss Racing Team has unveiled their FIA GT1 spec Nissan GT-R’s race livery in a ceremony to launch the 2010 FIA GT season at the Automobile Club de France in the Place de la Concorde, in Paris on Monday.
Up until now in testing the car has been seen in stark white so to see it finally in Swiss Racing Team red and white, while not a huge change, is great.
The Sumo Power GT-R on the other hand had already been seen in testing. Their livery was on show at the Paul Ricard HTTT and it too has a strong white theme with lots of exposed carbon.
The first race of the season is coming up fast and is set for the 17th of April in Abu Dhabi. You’ll be able to watch it live online via GT1world.com.
Link: Swiss Racing Team Website
Link: Sumo Power GT Website
Link: GT1World.com Photo Gallery
Nismo Festival 2009: FIA GT GT1 Specification Nissan GT-R Up Close and Personal
Nismo Festival is here again and although it officially doesn’t start until tomorrow, we’ve been able to, with thanks to help from Nismo get some unprecidented access to get under the skin of the 2010 GT1 specification Nissan GT-R.
A total of three GT1 spec GT-Rs are at Fuji Speedway less than 100 meters from me as I type this from the media center. I was up at 5:30am this morning to get this chance to get some interesting shots of the car without any members of the general public around. So I hope you enjoy these.
There’s 62 photos in total I’ve selected for this article so go ahead and click the read more link below to browse. I’m sure you can keep yourself busy for quite a while picking up on the finer details.
I’ll be making a post shortly on interesting points I noticed myself…
Link: Nismo FIA GT1 @ Nismo Festival 2009 – Photo Gallerty
Nissan Motorsports Wallpaper Collection 2009 – SuperGT and FIA GT Wallpapers
Nismo and Nissan have given motorsports fans a bit of an early Christmas gift this year by releasing a few new wallpapers from SuperGT and FIA GT championship season. I’ve hosted up the new ones and some classics from 2009 and 2008 as well.
Enjoy and if you have any GT-R art of your own, we’ll be making another wallpapers post around Christmas time so if you want it out there, send it in.
GTC Carbon Fibre GT1 Spec Hood for Your Street GT-R
Inspired by the 2010 FIA GT1 specification Nismo developed Nissan GT-R this full carbon fibre hood by GTC Racing is getting closer and closer to production.
The aggressive appearance of the hood is equaled by the quality of construction and attention to detail. For example, the factory hood intakes are remodeled in carbon fibre and retain their factory turbine cooling function. Even the underside of the hood is finished to the premium standard you’d expect for a part going on your GT-R.
Functionality is there too, the GTC GT1 Carbon Hood weighs in at just 4.8 kg – a 7.2 kg weight saving over the standard 12kg OE item. Not to mention the engine bay cooling benefits of the copious air vents.
As for the price, it’s not finalized exactly yet, but expect to pay around the £2,500 mark when ready.
Up next for GTC are other carbon parts you might be able to peep in the photo gallery below.
Link: GTC-R Website / GTR23.com
FIA GT: 2010 GT1 Nissan GT-R GT1 Podium Finish at the 24hrs of Spa
A great result for the 2010 GT1 specification Nissan GT-R in it’s biggest test to date in the FIA GT championship season of 2009 – the 24hrs of Spa endurance race in Belgium this weekend. The 2010 GT1 specification GT-R is a significant change over the current season’s GT1 specification and has more weight and less power to get the job done.
The GT-R began the race from 8th position on the grid, already a great achievement and finished 13th overall and 3rd in the GT1 class overall. Of the 2010 GT1 specification cars entered in the race, the GT-R was 1st place.
Overnight the team was battling it out maintaining 4th – 5th position overall and was seriously considering an overall podium place, a mammoth achievement. It wasn’t to be however when the car had a mechanical issue around 6:30am leading to a 90 minute pitstop which cost them 15 positions.
They re-entered the field in 19th spot and clawed back those places without further mechanical troubles.
“Not one of the drivers made a single mistake throughout the 24 hours, and that is something really special, especially in such tricky conditions. We had oil on the track, we had water when we were on slicks, we had all sorts of changing weather. It was slightly disappointing that we missed an overall podium – but if you’d told me before the race that we’d be in with a chance, I’d have said, ‘Come on, that’s not realistic.’ I am really proud that we finished and I’m much more relaxed now about the NISSAN GT-R’s final race of the season, at Zolder. Spa was the main test for us, and we now know we can last 24 hours!”
Michael Krumm, Nismo
In further GT1 GT-R news, the team has announced the previously undisclosed final race for the 2009 development season will be on the 25th October 2009 for round 8 at Zolder in Brussels.
You can read the entire press release from Nismo after the jump. More GT-R specific photos hopefully to come from Nismo / Nissan in the coming week.
Images: (C) DPPI via FIA GT
FIA GT: Nissan GT-R Qualifies in Position 8 for Spa 24hrs
A “slight” headlight upgrade sees the GT-R ready for night racing and the 24hrs of Spa which kicks off today. The GT-R put in a good showing in qualifying in typical Spa weather. That is crazy… sunshine plus sudden thunderstorm… light rain and then torrential downpours.
On slicks in light rain the GT-R, Michael Krumm put in a great effort for position eight on the grid on just his second lap. The very next lap was looking good for sixth or seventh put was aborted due to sudden heavy rain
…when I was on my next lap, I was scheduled for about P6 or P7, but just 2 corners before the start/finish line there was suddenly a “curtain” of water right in front of me. It was a rather amazing experience. It was very unreal to see this heavy rain just starting at exactly one spot. Of course when I entered this curtain of water with slick tires, there was no way to continue even one corner so I had to abort the lap…
Michael Krumm
While the grid position is good, it means very little in a 24hrs endurance race where strategy matters far more. The goal here is still just finishing.
The race can be watched live online at GTRLive.tv thanks for Gigawave.
Images: DPPI via FIA GT
Link: GTRLive.tv – Live Action Stream from 24hrs of SPA
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