The Spa 24 Hour Casino

Trying to follow a race when you're not actually there is never easy. But even if you are there, you really need to be able to see the track to stay on top of things. For the Spa 24 hours, John Hindhaugh, Martin Haven and I were following the race from afar, with invaluable information
being provided by Graham Goodwin, who was talking to us from media centre at Spa-Francorchamps. Although we managed to stay on top of things, (I think), there is nothing like trawling through the numbers afterwards, to make sure that the contemporary impressions are matched by the data.

Thanks to the kind folks from 'Blancpain Timing', a few days after the race, I managed to get hold of the data file which provided such analysis.

The first thing that I wanted to confirm was the impression that for the HTP Motorsports Mercedes SLS AMG and the Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R, Bernd Schneider and Patrick Pilet, respectively, were the outstanding drivers. Looking at single laps is often misleading, so in the table below, I show the average of the best 50 laps of each driver.
No. 84 HTP Mercedes

Driver	Average of best 50 laps
Schneider	2m 23.314s
Buhk	2m 23.621s
Götz	2m 23.848s

No. 150 Manthey Porsche

Driver	Average of best 50 laps
Pilet	2m 23.792s
Lietz	2m 23.963s
Lieb	2m 23.994s

This shows quite clearly, the contribution that each of the respective team's drivers made to their result. Looking at the time spent by each driver behind the wheel is also interesting:

No. 84 HTP Mercedes

Driver	Driving Time	No of Laps
Buhk	8h 17m 26s	205
Götz	6h 38m 05s	161
Schneider	8h 07m 27s	198

No. 150 Manthey Porsche 911

Driver	Driving Time	No of Laps
Lieb	8h 03m 49s	196
Lietz	7h 57m 02s	195
Pilet	7h 06m 09s	172

Note that the driving time does not include the time spent in the pits, which explains why the total does not add up to 24 hours (in case you were wondering)!

Another way of looking at average lap times is to take the time of a driver's stint and divide it by the number of laps completed. On this basis, let's look at the best full stint for each of the drivers of the no. 84 Mercedes and of the no. 150 Porsche.

No. 84 HTP Mercedes

Driver	Best Stint	Average lap time
Buhk	8:09am - 9:11am	2m 23.4s
Götz	5:10am - 6:12am	2m 23.8s
Schneider	1:54am - 2:57am	2m 24.2s

No. 150 Manthey Porsche 911

Driver	Best Stint	Average lap time
Lieb	9:27am - 10:32am	2m 23.8s
Lietz	10:34am - 11:39am	2m 23.8s
Pilet	8:23am - 9:25am	2m 23.9s

Somewhat surprisingly, both Schneider and Pilet are the slowest! Undoubtedly, Schneider's ability to set a quick time for a stint was compromised by the safety car periods during the fastest part of the race on Sunday morning. But perhaps also, although he and Pilet are quick when the track conditions allow, they are a little more cautious in the traffic? It's a theory, at least.

Another thing that was noticeable during the race was that the HTP Motorsport team was far more eager to have its drivers do double stints than Olaf Manthey's team was. Here are the longest stints done by each driver:

No. 84 HTP Mercedes

Driver	Driving Time	Driving Laps	Stint Time
Buhk	2h 07m 15s	52	3:00am - 5:07am
Götz	1h 51m 17s	44	5:10am -7:01am
Schneider	2h 08m 19s	52	6:56pm - 9:05pm

No. 150 Manthey Porsche 911

Driver	Driving Time	Driving Laps	Stint Time
Lieb	1h 04m 41s	27	9:27am - 10:32am
Lietz	1h 42m 36s	40	0:06am -1:48am
Pilet	1h 04m 14s	22	11:42am - 12:46am
Pilet	1h 03m 03s	26	6:40pm - 7:43pm

I have shown Pilet twice in the table because the 22-lap stint was partly behind the safety car, and although his 26-lap stint took less time, it is perhaps more relevant as a 'long stint'.

The other key to the Mercedes win was the speed with which the HTP mechanics changed the brakes at half distance. The Mercedes brake change was 1m 51s quicker than on the Porsche.

However, the amount of time spent in the pits for each car was as follows:

No	Car	Time Spent in pits	No of stops
84	HTP Mercedes SLS AMG	57m 11.467s	24
150	Manthey Porsche 911 GT3	53m 15.354s	23
2	Team WRT Audi R8 LMS	56m 08.677s	23

(Note that, for the purpose of this table, I have excluded Manthey's drive-through penalty.)

Arguments can no doubt be put forward from both Renaud Dufour (from HTP) and Olaf Manthey that they lost out due to safety car interventions, and it would be naïve to suggest that none of the five safety car periods had an impact on the race. Dufour had a strategy though and pitted on four of the five occasions that the safety car came out. The Porsche pitted only once when the safety car was out, but try as I might, I could not find conclusive evidence that either strategy was the correct (or the wrong) one.

It seemed to me a bit like betting on 'red' or 'black' at roulette - it is the best way of ensuring that you win something, but neither of them is better than the other: whether you win or not ultimately comes down to chance.

But it does seem to be clear that the key to the Mercedes win was its pace on the track. And also, that Schneider (who, don't forget, set the fastest lap of the race), was very ably supported by his two co-drivers. Oh yes, and the Manthey car had a misfire.