Although car company investment in the Lerance Raceway waned in the previous decade, most companies were still enthusiastic about keeping the Raceway legacy alive and return to the venue. Lobbyist pushed hard for a “street-legal GT-style” race series to demonstrate their engineering and tuning prowess through cars that are “accessible to the masses”. In other words, make relatively cheap race cars with minimal capital investment but maximum skill.
With the minimal investment in the Raceway itself, the owners of the track saw little opportunity to make substantial changes to the lay-out. The main focus was to re-open the long track for the GT series, and make minor changes to the track to bring it up to modern safety standards. A few long and fast sweeping corners from the past were re-designed with slower, more technical elements, but the 270 degree “roundabout” was made faster with steeper banking. The long rear straight was broken up by a chicane to reduce dangerously excessive high speeds, and another chicane was added to the end of the straight to reduce speeds in the following sweeper. Finally, modern gravel traps and barriers were installed all around the track.
With the limited budget available, spectator seating was barely increased compared to the previous decade. Instead of increasing seating capacity, the main focus was on the less sexy, but more important aspect of spectator safety: barriers were erected to prevent flying debris to enter the stands and proper egress routes were established. Despite the lack of construction of new stands, it was hoped that with modern televised races overall viewership would actually increase, and that enthusiasm for car racing would remain just as high in Letara as it has always been.
The cars
Left row, left-right: Zephorus 450R @Riley, Levante 320 SuperTurismo @TanksAreTryhards, Benetsch Blitz GKR8L @Texaslav, Mocabey Kemmel GT4 V8 Clone @SheikhMansour.
Right row, left-right: Mons (Porsche) 356A T2 rev5 M @cake_ape, KHI Clara RTV @doot, Wolfram Warlord V12 5.0 GTR @abg7, Tarske SW612 GTRS @Danicoptero, Rhania Rolandier-RS @happyfireballman, Wolfe XSR V8R, @karhgath, Swanson 237 CTRX 61184 @Ludvig, Torshalla Griffin IV @Maverick74, Daniloski KimiKup Letara89 Racer @MrdjaNikolen, DCMW Nashwar LRC @moroza.
Foreground: 1989 special edition safety car (Collis Celer mk1 GT-R by LMJ Design by @Knugcab).
Early in 1989 each company brought a prototype of their prospective race car to the track for scrutineering. Most cars passed with ease, but a few were found to have breached one or more technical regulation(s). After some debate and a public hearing, the organizers decided to allow each car to race, albeit with minor modifications for those in breach. Once all modifications were completed, each car was allowed to do a test run in ideal conditions to set a qualifying lap time, and a few longer runs in various conditions to determine other critical statistics about the car.
Qualifying pace and statistics of the cars.
The test day was televised and closely watched track-side by many eager fans who wanted to see the new crop of cars to race around the legendary Raceway. Two new race commentators joined the team for the televised portion - AJ Tamarin and Derek Quinn, both former professional race drivers with race engineering experience would endow the masses with their insights and wisdom. Here is a snippet from their conversation during the test day:
DQ: Looking at the qualifying times, it looks like we have a clear top three…
AJ: Well, yes, the Zephorus, Mons, and DCMW seem to have a clear pace advantage over the rest of the field. But as you know there is a lot more to winning races than a single-lap effort. The races will be 100 laps!
DQ: Indeed, you have a point. What about the Benetsch and Mocabey? Do you think they will be duking it out for 4th in the championship? Or are either in the running for a podium or two?
AJ: I’m still looking at the top three… Look, on the long runs the Zephorus seems to be guzzling gas. It’ll need one, likely two more pit stops than the other contenders.
DQ: Yes, and it seems to be a bit sluggish - if that is the right word to use - in certain conditions, but quite easy to drive. What about the puffs of smoke at the end of the longest runs?
AJ: The puffs of smoke may be a little worrisome. but not quite as bad as the DCMW that threw a piston through the block on that last run. That was quite the fireworks!
DQ: I asked them about that. Seems like the con rods in the car are a little… failure-prone. The team was a little secretive, but one of the mechanics blamed the engineers for allowing over-revving the engine, leading to catastrophic con rod failure and pistons shooting through the already stressed engine block.
AJ: Oh, that seems to be a bit of a problem. I wonder how much that will affect them in the races. But what about the Mons? Have you found out anything?
DQ: Not really, actually. The mechanics just quietly got on with the job, and got through the testing program without much drama at all. The car seems to be a little more peppy than the Zephorus, but less twitchy than the DCMW.
AJ: Hmm. Ok. let’s talk about the Benetsch for a second then. It’s a little off the pace, but seems very solid otherwise.
DQ: Indeed! All of its driving character points to a very solid car that can perform above and beyond whatever conditions are thrown at it. It is also pretty good on gas, and has shown no real issues with reliability either.
AJ: Yes, if any of the top three struggle in any race, the Benetsch will surely pounce and take the opportunity for a podium, maybe even a win.
DQ: Let’s also not forger the Mocabey. It is only marginally slower than the Benetsch, and seems to handle even better! Surely it will be up there too, no?
AJ: Yes, I think so. Its two main weaknesses are fuel consumption, and some minor reliability issues seemed to creep in during the longer runs. Nothing major, but may be enough to drop them a little back. However, I would not count them out by any means!
DQ: We have one more car under the 6-minute mark: the Torshalla. Quite a bit off the leading pace… but…
AJ: But, they have built a reliable car. It’s not the easiest to drive, but if the driver keeps it on the track, and there is much mayhem up the road… who knows….
DQ: A podium?
AJ: Like I said, if there is carnage up ahead. And the drivers stay ahead of the cars behind.
DQ: Indeed, the Tarske and Levante are not too far behind, even the Wolfe could be considered of this mid-pack.
AJ: That’s a bit of a stretch, but you’re right. In the longer races the pack tends to get stretched and compressed as reliability and driver fatigue make their presence known.
DQ: Speaking of which, the Tarske mechanics seemed pretty busy in the garage, what happened there?
AJ: The mechanics said that they had to deal with some micro-fractures in the engine block. Perhaps they pushed their little B6 a little too far.
DQ: That sounds a little worrisome. But the drivers I talked to were very happy. They told me the car was easy to drive. So as long as the engine holds, they are in good shape they reckon.
AJ: After talking with the Levante and Wolfe crew, I heard similar stories in both garages. Mechanics and drivers alike satisfied and hopeful for a strong showing.
DQ: All right, let’s take a look at the tail pack with qualifying times above 6:10 now. What do you reckon are the hopes of these cars?
AJ: It’s always tough being near the rear. But that doesn’t mean that the fight for points is over before it begins! Some of these cars have absolute bomb-proof reliability, such as the Swanson, KHI, and Daniloski.
DQ: Indeed. As the saying goes, to win, you have to finish. Period. And barring anything drastic happening, these cars will finish strong, without reliability affecting their pace one bit even near the end of the 100 laps.
AJ: Yes, they may fall behind, but their chance is catching up in the late race as the faster cars start to falter.
DQ: Especially the Swanson seems to be cut out for this tactic. It is so easy to drive, that driver fatigue will also be a negligible factor.
AJ: The Rhania…
DQ: and Wolfram…
AJ: Yes, both cars… Well, they qualified in the same pack too, however their reliability doesn’t quite match the others. And while the Wolfram has great driving characteristics, it may be hard to no fall off the rear toward the end of the marathon races.
DQ: So, you’re not putting your money on these two, is what you’re saying?
AJ: I mean, crazy things do happen during races, right? And with the top 10 receiving points each race, I predict even these cars to occasionally pick up a point or two.
DQ: Well, that about concludes our coverage of the pre-season test. Thank you all for listening…
AJ: And see you on race day!
With the above information in hand, eager Letarans wanting to test their fortunes will be able to make “informed decisions” regarding their bets come race weekend. What do you think, how will these races pan out?