SRO’s GT2 concept has had a start-up of mixed fortunes with initial demand for the first cars launched from Porsche and Audi fairly strong, albeit with the majority sold as track day and/ or collector cars rather than with an intention to race.
Plans though from other manufacturers, including McLaren and Mercedes AMG, were put on ice as the realities of developing a GT2 car became clear, and the demand seemed to rapidly reach a glass ceiling. KTM though will join the party shortly with the much-upgraded version of the Reiter-developed X-Bow and others, both mainstream and more bespoke, are keeping a watching brief to see if the market takes off as the economy recovers.
SRO, ever-aware of the tone of the marketplace revised their plans for the racing opportunities for the cars, but all of that mote or less came to a grinding halt with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The cars are eligible to race in the GT Sports Club America, the GT Sports Club Asia and the GT2 Sports Club Europe but the ongoing crisis has left a dent in the plans for those Series.
The thinking caps though are already back on, and as racing resumed in Europe, the SRO-owned Curbstone Events revealed their Clubsport Challenge.
The concept sits at the apex of the track day market, open to top-end roadgoing supercars and hypercars only, plus a variety of very capable GT race cars, including the current and near future GT2/ Clubsport cars.
Whilst, not a racing series, there is a competitive element to the concept with Curbstone launches the Pirelli Track Adrenaline™ Award.
The track days do not permit Professional drivers to run, but the new initiative utilises high-performance GPS technology to help drivers to interpret and understand how to improve their driving performance on track.
At the end of each round, Curbstone will reward the driver who was able to drive the best racing line and, at the end of the season, the PIRELLI Track Adrenaline™ Champion will be crowned.
One difficulty has been to introduce the GT2 cars into a marketplace flooded with current GT3 machinery, the idea of the concept being to create a very high-performance package that has characteristics that are more attuned to a skilled Gentleman driver, giving the high-octane thrills on big power, huge acceleration and race-tuned braking, but less reliant for ultimate lap times on the aerodynamic grip that is more appropriate to a full-pro race driver.
With thanks to SRO and to Audi Sport, DSC was given a look behind the scenes at a Curbstone launch event last month – and we got the chance to hear from an experienced driver just what GT2 is all about.
We first met Sam Dejonghe a couple of seasons ago when he took up an LMP3 seat with ELMS team Inter Europol Competition.
Sam’s ‘day job’ is as a development and Sim driver for the Mahindra Formula E team but he is also very familiar with the rhythm of the Curbstone events:
“I’ve worked for Curbstone as a coach for the last five years now and was at Spa to help with the launch of the Curbstone Clubsport Challenge.
“Both Audi and Porsche were there with their new GT2 cars as a first taster for potential new customers.”
And you got the opportunity to sample both cars?
“Yes, I started off my day with the Audi who brought Pierre Kaffer along to display and introduce the car.
“The full introduction for a customer is a very comprehensive process, going through all sorts of aspects of the car and its systems and controls. Because Pierre was aware that I was a professional race driver I got a rather shorter version of that before I went out with Pierre driving to experience the car for the first time.
“That’s a process I am very used to when I coach people at track days. It would be fair to say though that there aren’t many that are as quick and committed as Pierre, or in a car that had the capabilities of the Audi GT2!”
The most relevant comparison it seems is with a GT3 car. How much opportunity have you had to drive those cars?
“Not a lot, but oddly there is likely more of a relationship between the GT3 car that I have raced and a new GT2.
“I did one race at Spa with an older GT3 Aston Martin and then did the Spa 24 Hours with the same car (The Aston Martin Brussels V12 Vantage GT3).
“When you look at the current GT3 cars wih big downforce, the older Aston Martin is perhaps not a good comparison, but the big power, less aero package makes it very relevant to the GT2s.”
Tell me what it was like to be a passenger. And then let’s go on to talk about the driving experience.
“As a passenger, of course, it’s impressive to feel what the car is capable of.
“Pierre wasn’t wasting any time that’s for sure. So he was getting on with it and quite aggressively drove the car on the limits, so let’s say that I do still prefer to be on the other side of the car!
“Joking aside, it was good to drive with someone you trust, a professional racing driver and to know already before I drove myself what’s this car doing on kerbs? How far can you go in the oversteer out of a corner?
“Pierre also showed me the difference in traction control, ESC (stability control) and ABS, which is basically controlled by one button. And he went from pretty full assistance to much more limited electronic help at the end.
“And during those two laps he was showing me a bit how the car responded.
“I could see there was a slip angle on the dash. So I can imagine for people who never really drive on the limit or are not used to all of this, they would likely be totally immersed in the experience without having the time to look at something else. But for me, it was nice to really see a professional at work and to see how everything worked.”
So the car is more powerful than a GT3 car. Can you feel that extra power?
“Yeah, you can feel it straight away. When you come out of the pits and come off the pit limiter you feel straightaway the grunt of the engine. It’s very, very aggressive and very rapid.
“You also feel that there’s less downforce, although the car has massive grip, there’s not a lot of downforce compared to a GT3.
“That difference in the way in which the lap time is delivered, when you go, for instance, through Eau Rouge does make a difference, the top speed is not that much different, but there is definitely more power in the GT2.
“For me, the GT2 is a very enjoyable playful car without being too dangerous. I think it’s a very fun mix. I think the concept is more back to how it was in older GT cars with not a lot of electronics and with power.
“When I drove the GT3, aero wasn’t that big of a thing and that surprised me. But also, I enjoyed that car myself, because then there’s more to do as a driver. I think that was good.”
So presumably there were some potential customers for the car as well. Did you have a chance to get any reaction from some of the gentlemen drivers that tried the cars?
“I spoke to a few, They liked the cars a lot but I think what they all liked too was the experience of feeling like a factory driver at Audi or Porsche. I think that the experience was very well done.
“When you are buying in at this level the experience is everything.
“Both cars are superb, but for me, the Audi is the most spectacular one from the outside. They did a very good job building that car, the panels they put on, the aero bits they put on and the colour schemes they chose. It gives you a very aggressive impression much more than the GT3 in my opinion and I think everyone was quite like intrigued, even people that didn’t get the chance to drive, they were all standing by the box and looking at it!
“The feedback from the other drivers was much the same as my feedback, that it was a very powerful car. it was very playful.”
And the Porsche?
They all more or less said the same between the two cars, that the Porsche was actually set up very safe with a lot of understeer and a rear that didn’t move, making it a bit more difficult to drive but I think for a gentlemen better.
“And the Audi, I think they perhaps set it up a bit more like Pierre maybe liked which was quite oversteery on the exits. For me, it was a lot more tricky than the Porsche. It was a bit more enjoyable because it felt more like a race car.
“But the Porsche was was the safe option, let’s say.”
Aside from those observations about the kind of setup, were there any other immediate differences you could point to? Was there a noticeable difference in power or grip between the two?
“It’s difficult to say. I think in power they were both very impressive. But beyond that, the Porsche seemed to be less aggressive. That probably has to do with with the rear being safe.
“But it didn’t have the grunt out of the corners. But once it’s going it seems like there’s such a big engine in the Porsche. it just keeps on going and drags you along on the straights.
“So for me, it felt even a step up to the Audi on top speed and mid-range speed. But the Audi was more like the nimble pocket rocket because the dimensions also in the Audi feels a lot narrower than the Porsche.”
Okay, so you’re a professional driver. You, I’m sure, come across all sorts of people that are interested in racing. Would you recommend GT2, and at what point in someone’s career as a gentleman driver would you recommend the GT2?
“For me, it’s somewhere between racecar and an extreme track day car.
“It’s difficult to say whether it sits on one side or the other so I would probably describe it as a perfect combination.
“But I think there’s a point where gentlemen drivers go from their everyday car, which is probably a very nice Porsche or Ferrari or Lamborghini or similar, then they take it out on trackdays a couple of times, they notice that it’s not really a car to drive hard on track, because you need a race car.
“Then, they buy maybe a Porsche Cup or a Cayman GT4 or something like that. But in the end, they’re not always able to go to the limit of those cars because it’s difficult and tricky. And sometimes it does help for them to buy something which has more power but is within a brand that they love?
“At the moment there’s Audi or Porsche with other brands (including KTM) that will arrive later perhaps in GT2. And I think for some of these customers it’s the perfect car.
“It’s obviously not cheap. But for those people who have the money to spend and they want something spectacular, that is quite easy to run I think for them, it’s perfect that when they’re at the point where they think, okay for me and my abilities and my skillsets and the time I have (because they normally still have work to do besides doing track days!)
“I want to be in something quick and spectacular and something I enjoy, I think then it’s a good step to do, instead of, for example, going into prototypes or LMP3 or something like that, because that’s a totally different thing.”
Let’s presume for a moment you found yourself a gentleman driver and persuaded him that GT2 might be good fun for a couple of seasons. Is this the kind of car you’d like to share with a gentleman driver for aseason?
“Yeah, I would. Like I said, it’s a very cool car. It’s a different concept for me without real experience in depth in GT3, but I have experienced other cars without any aids in single seaters. It’s like an AutoGP car or like an LMP2 car, it’s aggressive and it feels difficult to drive. And I think sometimes maybe in a modern GT3 if you’re not on the limits, you don’t really get the feeling that it’s very difficult because there’s a lot of help in the car.
“I think when you’re a gentleman and you don’t go that far into those limits it’s sometimes frustrating because you’re not able to get to those times. And I think for them, this is the perfect extreme, really extreme trackday car. So yeah, I would recommend it.
“But as a professional driver, I think the aim of these cars and the championships that they will be driving in is that the professional driver is just a coach and can do reference lap times and stuff like that. But the Pro isn’t there to really do a championship with someone.
“I think that would be nice if that’s just the gentleman’s car, and we are there to help them to get the best out of it, rather than us showing them perhaps how far they are from the limit!
Audi R8 LMS GT2
- 5.2 litre normally aspirated V10
- 640 bhp
- 550+ Nm of torque
- Rear Wheel Drive
- 7-speed double-clutch S tronic transmission with paddle shift
- Length 4,568 mm
- Width 1995 mm
- Height 1280 mm
- Dry Weight 1350 kg
- Base Cost 338,000 Euro
Porsche 911 GT2 RS Clubsport
- Twin turbo-3.8 litre flat 6
- up to 700 bhp
- up to 750 Nm of torque
- Rear Wheel Drive
- 7-speed PDK-gearbox dual clutch transmission
- Length 4743 mm
- Width 1978 mm
- Height 1359 mm
- Dry Weight c.1390 kg
- Base Price 405,000 Euro
KTM X-Bow GT2
- Turbocharged 2.5 litre Audi 5 cylinder engine
- Dual clutch transmission with paddleshift
- Weight < 1000 kg
- Over 600 bhp
- Length 4700mm
- Width 2040 mm
- Base Price 294,000 Euro
With thanks to Sam Dejonghe, SRO, Audi Sport and Curbstone Events
