In The World Of Endurance GT Racing The Littlest Thing Can Make You Go Faster And Therefore Can Make The Difference Between Victory And Finish Second

There are three types of GT cars. These are GT1, GT2 and GT3 and the following are all cars. Unlike LMP cars in endurance races, they have a similar shape to the cars you can buy from the car showroom. These GT cars are not based on the average cars you see on the streets, but on the top of the range sports cars, like Porsche 911′s, Aston Martin, and Ferrari’s. These types of cars are not cheap to buy and turning them into race winning cars can cost millions and millions of pounds. It would be extremely hard to go through all the design specifications of GT1, GT2 and GT3 types without writing a book, but here is short description of what is allowed in each type of GT cars.

GT1 cars are the fastest of all the GT types, these cars have to be based on production cars where at least 25 cars a year are sold. These cars are heavily adapted to turn them into race cars, and in this type teams are allowed to use exotic materials, the biggest wings, the biggest wheels and the biggest breaks. All of this makes GT1 cars, the fastest of all GT cars, and only their look of the cars and the wiper blades are the same as the original motor.

GT2 cars are very similar to GT1 cars, they also have to be based on production cars. However, they are not allowed to use expensive materials in the construction, the wings are also smaller as are the wheels and the brakes. This results in a heavier automobile with less aerodynamic and mechanical grip, which is therefore slower round a lap. These cars are however less costly to develop and run, making them a good alternative for teams with a smaller budget.

GT3 cars are basically road going cars that have had all the seats and other luxuries stripped out. Then the one race seat is added along with an FIA approved fuel tank, seat belts and safely cage. This is the cheapest type of GT cars to develop and run. All types of GT cars must remain road legal cars, this means that all the lights and wiper blades must all work after being race modified, although you would not be able to use these cars on the road without first putting on some road legal tyres, as slick racing tyres do not meet the minimum 1.6 mm legal requirements.

To be victories in any of the GT types it takes a lot of attention to detail and not one thing can be overlooked, just take the wiper blades for example. It is important to make sure the wiper blades are in operational condition, just in case it rains during the race, and replacement wiper blades will have to be fitted to the automobile regularly, maybe as often as once a race. The replacement wiper blades that are normally used are called flat wiper blades, these wiper blades could make the difference between victory and losing. How could you think this is possible, unless the race was wet and the flat wiper blades were necessary to enable the driver to see? But in a dry race the flat wiper blades could also make the difference and this is because of their frameless design, which is lays closer to the windscreen giving an aerodynamic advantage over classic wiper blades. This advantage may only be small but it’s all the small things that lead to race wins. The flat wiper blades can make the airflow over the windscreen smoother, resulting in a little bit more top speed, a bit more down force from the rear aerofoil and a bit of better fuel economy. All of which over famed wiper blades could make a lot of difference, and this difference could be the difference between victory and losing.