NEW SEASON IS HERE AGAIN!
After few weeks break, we are close to SRF GT-MES Season 12, last season of 2020 and maybe in PS4-console, depending what happens next 4 months. We have couple new drivers joining us, with many drivers returning from last season. Should be great action once again, in both classes.
Nurburgring has opened all 11 seasons before, and that is not changing. With plenty of racing history and lot of pre-season testing, track should be very familiar for everyone. Tire wear has increased bit for new season and this circuit is known to be hard for tires, so we could see lot of tactical battles, looking for that edge.
Round 1 is first opportunity to see how field is lining up performance wise, but history says not to trust it that much. No Round 1 winner has gone to win that seasons championship since Season 8.
Gr2
Nissan celebrated end of last season, with j
onimestari91 getting the job done once again in Le Mans, winning his second title in a row, joining very small group of drivers to successfully defend their title. He is now looking to win 3rd title in a row, feat that has not been done since his teammate,
sota59 won 5 titles in a row from Season 1 to Season 5. sota59 still looking to returning winning ways, he has been runner up last 3 seasons, that 6th title clearly very hard task. Finnish-pair are in Nissan for second season in a row, but field behind are stronger than ever:
''Last season was tough for us, joni got the job done in the end, but it was closer than we wished it to be. No room for mistakes this year, need to take every point we can, and again set both cars to be fighting in Le Mans''. sota59 had good pace in Nurburgring last season, but jonimestari91 struggled. Testing been solid by sound of things, and no doubt, both drivers want to start their title campaign with a bang.
Lexus might have had their strongest season yet, but dropping down to 3rd in Manufacturers-championship after strong start and neither of the drivers finishing in top 3 in Gr2-championship, was disappointment.
Spookyluki and
Hatton93 continue with their Fail Race Motorsport-liveries, and both hope for more consistency. Spookyluki started last season with a win in Nurburgring, but after than small errors and technical issues kicked in, dropping him to 5th in standings:
'' Hoping I'll be more consistent this season, going to be fully on pad however so I doubt I'll get a win, if I do then excellent if not oh well''. Hatton93 was close to wins several times, only to just miss out, and having to miss 2 races did not help either:
''Confident of a better race for myself at Nurburgring compared to last season, hope to finally get that elusive win at some point during the season too, hopefully we can challenge for the drivers and teams crowns again''. Potential in both drivers and car is capable, question if they can win Lexus's their first title, will be answered next 8 weeks.
Honda made radical changes ahead of last season, after winning both titles in Season 10. Result was worst ever finish in Manufacturers-championship, even though
G4 Rotary fought for Gr2-title until the end. G4 Rotary has finished 3rd in championship now twice after winning title in his debut season, in Season 9. But general feeling ahead the season is, that he is better than ever:
''Round 1 will be interesting to see how everyone stacks up against each other after, even though most of the Gr2-drivers are in the same car as last season. Having a new teammate is exciting and I think with Nils's help Honda can definitely make a serious challenge for the Manufacturers-title, and hopefully he can push me to find the something extra that I need for title number 2''. You read that right, 3-time champion
Nils is jumping to top class for first time since Season 3. Honda is very familiar for him, having won Gr4-titles in NSX in Season 2 and Season 7:
''Let's be honest, S11 wasn't wasn't what I wanted to see, except of Barcelona and Spa ofc. Moving to Gr.2 might be looking risky from the outside but I'm well aware what I'm doing. Gr.2 fits my driving style better than Gr.3, that's what I learned during this year. I don't know what my pace is though, as I can only compare it to last seasons results Let's just hope for a better start into the season than last time around''. Nils has won in his home race in Nurburgring 5 times, most in GT-MES history, including one in Honda NSX Gr2 in Season 3. Let see what he can do now.
Gr3
Mazda returned to GT-MES last season with a bang, dominant force in Gr3 and in the end won Manufacturers-title, with
RLH_Wesley99 ''stealing'' Gr3-title with amazing Le Mans-victory. Dutchman is looking defend his title, but field is stronger than ever. Round 1 is also interesting, as he has had to DNS last 2 seasons due technical issues:
''Have the feeling I can be in the top 3 at least in the championship and hope to defend my title. For Round 1 I hope I can get off the grid this time and not do circles and get a good start to the season with a podium''. There is change in other car, with
TSR_Tomsoft joining Mazda. Rookie to GT-MES, but has good record in other series, so German might be contender for title:
''Hoping to be competitive throughout the whole season and maybe a good result for Round 1''. Mazda was car to beat in Season 11, will that continue in Season 12?
Audi had disappointing season finishing 5th in both championships, after being top runner in previous seasons, and with
Ryslan Zharinov winning Season 10 Gr3-title. Ryslan had difficult title defense, only finishing 6th, not able to win a race. With some better luck, he is hoping to return winning ways, and maybe challenge for title.
BlueXephos22 from Australia joins the team, and he is very exciting signing for Audi. Great results in other series, and he even has made one off-outing in GT-MES Season 4 in past. He should be one of the top contenders:
''Happy to be a part of the season, gonna just try to do the best I can round to round. The Nurburgring GP circuit suits my car well so hopefully I get a good result''.
Porsche another old favorite that suffered bad Season 11. Having challenged for drivers titles 4 seasons before and winning 2 Manufacturers-titles, last season they were out of both championships early.
y_bearr_ won once and had some good pace time to time, but lacked consistency:
''Preparation for Season 12 has been very good, got basic setup for every track. Last season revealed my setup weakness, I drove fast when I had clear air but struggle when I had somebody in front. Round 1 gonna be tough, I like Nurburgring and I have decent setup, but my car need some trick to be fast there. So can I win or not depends on whether I can do the trick constantly or not''. He is joined by
de-luck4, who finds himself in Gr3 after having to make room in Gr2. His time in Gr2 was filled by inconsistency, but got race win and couple podiums when stars aligned:
''New group of people, new car. Have no idea what to expect. If i can finish not last after the season, it will be positive result''. He is one of the hardest workers in the GT-MES, doing plenty of testing, so improvement is expected as season goes on. He will miss Round 1, but will be back rest of the season.
Mercedes is back after one season away, and with amazing line up.
osully14 was man to beat last year, only to just miss out on title after difficult Le Mans. Mercedes should be more competitive than in past, due new BoP, so expect to see osully14 challenging for victories. He will miss start of the season though, but hopefully we see him making his season debut soon. Other car will be driven by
TSR_JoeToGuy, now entering full time, after making 2 appearances for Lexus in Gr2, winning once. His CV suggests he will be man to beat in Gr3-class, but is modest himself:
''It should be a competitive class, with the fast drivers from the previous season + me and TSR_Tomsoft, it will be close all season. Its always good to start the season with a win, but I'm not the best at Nurburging. With the Gr2-cars lapping us, I have experience in the slower class of a race before from NES 5, so that should pay off by losing less time than others when being lapped''.
Aston Martin make their return to GT-MES, having appeared last time in Season 8.
amuda74 is driving one of the cars, now heading into his 3rd full season. He has been improving race by race, and finally took his first podium in Le Mans. Will be tough to score them regularly in tough Gr3-class:
''The car is good, but very different in handling compared to the others I’ve driven in the past. Hopefully I can get some good points early in the season''. Other car is driven by German
GTO250GTO. He had difficult season in Ferrari last year, only scoring couple 5th places, but hopes to do better in Aston Martin:
''I like the Aston way more than the Ferrari, although I'm slower over one lap. I hope I can compete for a podium at some point during the season, but it's probably not gonna be Round 1''.
