No decision yet on BOP for Japanese cars
The DTM’s technical department hasn’t come to a decision on a possible balance of performance for the three Super GT cars racing in the 2019 season finale at this weekend at Hockenheim.
The Honda NSX-GT, the Nissan GT-R and the Lexus LC500 took part in two one-hour sessions on Thursday to evaluate their performance, with Nick Cassidy at the wheel of the Lexus just half a second shy of Nico Müller’s best lap time at Hockenheim back in May.
Further evaluation is set to take place after Friday’s free practice sessions, with no decision expected to be taken tonight.
“We have to analyse the lap times and other performance in detail,” a DMSB spokesman told TouringCarTimes. “It’s not just a question of looking at the best lap times, but also looking at sector times and speeds when the track was drier and how they compare to the DTM cars.
“A final decision won’t be reached tonight and there is a possibility that not even before Saturday’s qualifying session.”
With the adaptation to a single compound specification tyre seen as the biggest challenge for the drivers of the Super GT entries, it’s seen to be unlikely that the Japanese cars will be faster than the DTM grid.
“In any case, what won’t happen is that we’ll BOP the DTM cars if the Japanese are much slower, as they are still racing in the championship,” the DMSB spokesman concluded.
Running during the first free practice session was marred by the rain, with Jenson Button taking the Honda NSX-GT to 16th place, ahead of Audi Sport Team Rosberg’s Jamie Green and BMW Team RBM’s Philipp Eng.
