r/wec • u/valteri_hamilton • Dec 29 '21

SuperGT/DTM How are gt500 cars so fast?

So my question is basically this, how are gt500 cars so quick while still looking like normal cars. I mean the lmp1 cars looked crazy and ppl tell me that the gt500 cars would be faster at Fuji speedway so how is this possible.

Also if the gt500 regulations really are that good at speed then why weren't they used as a basis for lmh regulations? We could have had silhouette hyper cars going insane speeds.

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u/kwantus Bentley 8-Speed #8 Dec 29 '21

Loads of downforce, they aren't designed to be fast at Le Mans but at loads of downforce-dependent tracks as well; more downforce but less aero efficiency.

Tyres also make a difference; GT500 has several tyre manufacturers competing against each other, something I'd absolutely love to see in WEC.

DTM used to have the same regulations except with a spec tyre; not quite sure about the numbers but the Hankook DTM tyres were significantly slower when they did this combined race at Fuji a few years back

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u/SomeGuyCalledPercy Snatch-Tractor Le Mans 2018 Dec 29 '21

Tyres also make a difference; GT500 has several tyre manufacturers competing against each other, something I'd absolutely love to see in WEC.

to add to this, the tyre war is so present in Super GT That the GT500 cars will have as far as driver specific tyre sets, crafted bespoke for that driver, in that car, for that team - it's seriously advanced over there

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u/kinto--un Dec 29 '21

Do you have a source on those "driver specific" tires? Because that doesn't sound very plausible.

Tyre war brings a lot of R&D in GT500, but I seriously doubt they are making specific compounds for certain drivers; it doesn't make any sense.

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u/shigs21 Toyota Gazoo Racing TS050 #7 Dec 30 '21 edited Dec 30 '21

The tires aren't driver specific, but its more like drivers will be works drivers for tire manufacturers, who work together to develop tires. For example, jenson button had a relationship with bridgestone in the past, and so he went to a bridgestone tire team in supergt (kunimitsu). Another example is when James rossiter moved from lexus to nissan, he went to another bridgestone tire team.

in a recent interview, kovalainen also mentioned how tire manufacturers will test exclusively with certain teams from each manufacturer. The development war gets pretty intense.

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u/kinto--un Dec 30 '21

That's pretty much how things work whenever you have a "tire war". But tires being developed for particular drivers is pure nonsense; I don't think such a thing has ever happened in any championship out there.