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JHS18

Sports Car Racing Thread

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Of course, to make that all work, you'd need two things to happen, I think:

The Bailey LemansZA and Riley Mk XXV to be available for next year.

Which leads me to ask...what the hell happened to the Riley that looked much like a 908?

2011-Riley-MK_XXV_LMP2-Image-01.jpg

11_RileyMkXXV.jpg

The car was supposed to be ready for 2011...it wasn't. It was then rumored that CORE Autosport could run two in 2012, but they stayed in LMPC (and formed some kind of alliance with Starworks I believe, since they run Dalziel, Kimber-Smith, and Popow from time-to-time). When it was confirmed Dempsey would need a coupe, no one even mentioned Riley (just Lola and Bailey).

So is the Riley dead? If it is, that makes going to P2 spec harder. If it's not, Dyson fielded Rileys before for a long time, and a lot of these Grand-Am teams have Riley ties, like MSR...

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Grand-Am finish was superb.

16 minutes to go, João Barbosa sells Alex Gurney a beauty in lapped traffic to get the lead.

11 minutes to go: Barbosa has a four second lead on Gurney, but Gurney starts working his magic and with 2 minutes to go, Gurney is right on the back of Barbosa. He tried and tried the final two laps, but got in some dodgy traffic, and Barbosa held on to win by .238 seconds after over six hours of racing.

I'm not a big Grand-Am guy but that was cool.

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As I've said before and I'll say it again - I like Grand Am. I like the current generation cars - I think they look a lot better than they once did. Was enjoying watching the Watkins Glen race too - just caught Barbosa's pass for the lead - what a great overtake. But now my stream appears to have switched to golf for some reason, so...

Interesting to hear that LMP2 thing. Guess it makes sense. If they re-introduced LMP1 for '14, could they not just balance the cars so P2s were close to P1s and then just make it one extended LMP class? Then you could have the Deltawings, LMPC, and GTs as well. Not sure what difference it'd make to Starworks either, but I doubt it'd change much. They've got an automatic invite to Le Mans for next year as every class winner, so they'll probably do that. Plus WEC and ALMS races seem to be spread out quite a bit, so maybe they could do a duel programme quite easily.

Also a bit I'm hearing on WEC - apparently there's a good chance that the last race of the season, set for China, will not go ahead. That'd make the Japanese round in Fuji the last round of the year. I believe the Chinese race was scheduled to take place at Shanghai, and I'm not entirely sure why it may not be going ahead. But what is it with motorsport is China? I'm pretty sure you could write some kind of essay about motorsport's failures in China, what with the recent cancelling of the Indycar race and a whole bunch of other stuff too.

Still trying to get to the bottom of how many cars Toyota will run for the rest of the WEC season. As you'd expect, it is down to budget - but there seems to be a small chance they'll run two cars for Silverstone, but more likely than not it'll just be one car, which in a way is a bit of a shame. If they do run two cars, it'll be for the race in Fuji, which being in Japan will be their home race and could now be the last race of the year, would make sense.

Additionally on Toyota - which is kinda relevant - there's heavy speculation they'll enter the WRC in 2014 with their new Yaris. However, they do say that it'd be alongside their sports car programme, so I think that is great to hear for both parties. As I expected, Toyota seems to be in it (all being well) for the long haul.

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Take it for what it is but another forum has a post suggesting that two Bailey LemansZA LMP2 chassis have been purchased for racing. Who the customers are and when they plan to run them is unknown, but if ALMS is making P2 the top class next year, having the Bailey actually be a working race car, whether in WEC/ELMS/ALMS would be good for the supply. The car looks fast...

I asked someone who would know about the Riley LMP2 I mentioned. The car was never built, has never been built, and never will be built without a customer up-front. But no one is going to buy it until it gets built. So...no Riley.

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On another note, this is a reminder that ALMS will be racing at Lime Rock on Saturday. That race can be watched in many ways:

For those within the U.S.:

Streamed LIVE Saturday at 3:00 PM ET on ESPN3.com/Xbox Live

Televised SAME DAY Saturday at 4:00 PM ET on ESPN2

For those outside the U.S.:

Stream LIVE and free Saturday 3:00 PM GMT -5 on alms.com

3 LMP1s, 4 LMP2s, 8 LMPCs, 11 GTs, and 6 GTCs making 32 cars on a 1.5 mile track. Should be really tight. Lime Rock's my home track, too, if anything (it's like two hours away :P).

www.alms.com/sites/default/files/races/entry_lists/Lime%20Rock%20Park%20Entry%20List.pdf

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Here's a pretty cool video from the ALMS race in Monterey. Camera on a crewman's helmet as they take the car to the garage and try to fix an issue:

http://www.alms.com/...problem-solving

Also from ALMS.com were two articles, one saluting Butch Leitzinger and the other Jan Magnussen, both of whom will make their 100th career ALMS starts on Saturday. From the Magnussen article, written by David Brabham:

When he first turned up, I would go out and set the car up and I’d bring it into the pit. He’d have a cigarette in his mouth and ask “Is it ready Brabs?” He’d put his foot on the cigarette butt, jump in the car and drive the wheels off it. That’s how the relationship worked!

:lol:

And, from ALMS.com as with everything else, Pickett's livery for the weekend:

ZPdqV.png

It coincides with Muscle Milk sponsor $250,000 worth in grants to recover high school athletic programs.

Race is Saturday. Really looking forward to it.

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RE: RE: Riley...it was never born but it's not dead yet...

And one of these teams may need it for 2013. But they expect to be all set for 2012:

http://auto-racing.s...lola-situation/

In that article, a Colin Kolles Kodewa or Lotus prototype that is planned for 2013 in WEC etc. I'm sure this was mentioned but I'd never seen it:

1112551_article_img_large3.jpg

And now the big stuff:

John Dagys said yesterday that Toyota are in discussions with ALMS to do a full factory effort next year. Dagys implied that Audi would follow if Toyota came. I will unbold to tell you how much I do not want this. Audi and Toyota is fun at Le Mans and in the WEC but I really would rather ALMS go in the LMP2 direction. Personal preference. I've just always found that I like having ALMS be a little separate from the main show. Simply because, well, it's fun to watch both ALMS and the European or world series because they have a different roster and different rules and all that. I like every series to have its own identity and character and I think ALMS needs to be careful to not "cash in" now with two big P1 guns and hurt the sport in the long-term. It's not as stable as the WEC, there's no denying that.

Dagys also says that 3-4 Daytona Prototype entries (Starworks and Shank, as said earlier) will leave if Grand-Am's version of Balance of Power doesn't get fixed to catch them up to the Corvettes. Starworks already said they'd do LMP2 if ALMS got rid of LMP1. Maybe ALMS could compromise and allow the P1s to compete in a combined LMP class at Sebring and Petit, assuming Sebring is off the WEC calendar as many of us do? You could just boost up the P2s for those two races, since ALMS likes BoP a lot. The other races, you'd just have "LMP" be LMP2-only. Maybe?

Dagys further suggests that there are two interest buyers at Lola. One is Multimatic, a Canadian company that has been and is still involved in sports car racing. It would be safe to assume that Multimatic would keep Lola in prototype racing. Dagys made no mention of the second party, but I believe it is a German firm, Rotary Sports Cars or something like that...

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RE: RE: Riley...it was never born but it's not dead yet...

About Riley, there is actually a modified Riley running in Super GT (GT 300) under the name of Mooncraft Shiden.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncraft_Shiden

Its supposed to be a modern remake of a 1977 car. It was a GT 300 championship winner back in 2007 and is still racing this season in Barney colours.

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Did a bit of digging on the Rebellion/Lola situation, here's what I found.

The team have now officially confirmed that they will run with their two Lolas for the rest of the season. There was no substance to the rumours that they'd have to run a Dome chassis, it seems like they have all the spares they need to complete the season. What happens in 2013 though, I'm not totally sure.

But that's good to hear. I like Lola and I like Rebellion, and the car they run right now I think is really good looking.

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About Riley, there is actually a modified Riley running in Super GT (GT 300) under the name of Mooncraft Shiden.

http://en.wikipedia....ooncraft_Shiden

Its supposed to be a modern remake of a 1977 car. It was a GT 300 championship winner back in 2007 and is still racing this season in Barney colours.

Interesting. Riley are also behind the SRT Viper GTS-R that will likely debut in ALMS at Mid-Ohio in August, and make most of the Daytona Prototype chassis in Grand-Am, so it would seem that if someone was willing to order a Riley LMP2, they could actually build one.

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Lime Rock practice is live.

About 14 minutes into the session with Pickett Racing on top as expected. ALMS redid the Balance of Power for this round, but Dyson still trail by over one second (which, on a course this small, is a lot). Of course no one has turned too many laps yet, and with traffic, anything can happen. Dyson's second car is P3.

Behind the three LMP1s is Christophe Bouchut with Level 5's HPD ARX-03b. He's nearly faster than the Dyson 20.

Kyle Marcelli is a guy you need to look out for in the future, I suspect. He has his LMPC in fifth overall, ahead of two LMP2s (driven by David Heinemeier Hansson and Scott Tucker, neither of whom are full "pro" drivers, but still). He's been impressively quick the last few years in LMPC, and is really young. I'd like to see him get a shot with the SRT Viper team potentially, or in a real LMP2.

Ken Dobson has the #52 LMPC going pretty well, and since he's the "gentleman driver" on that team, I imagine Butch Leitizinger will get a lot out of it in his one hundredth ALMS start.

Corvette out front so far in GT, while GTC is paced by Damien Faulkner and Green Hornet. Green Hornet is fielding two cars this weekend.

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Dyson's closed the gap a little. Klaus Graf was faster than Guy Smith, but Guy Smith was faster than Lucas Luhr. However, Chris Dyson hasn't been out yet. Pickett just have a fantastic combination this year with their HPD and two very talented drivers.

Eric Lux, in the other Dyson car, seems to be pretty competent. I just wish they would pair him with Steven Kane rather than Michael Marsal. Kane's very good, and won in that exact same car at Baltimore last year. I know Dyson wanted to use the car to develop young, local talents, but Marsal's just not ready for P1 based on his pace compared to Eric Lux, an LMPC graduate. Kane and Lux would get a lot out of the B11/66, I would think...but the most they could get is probably still only enough for third, which is the most Lux/Marsal will get anyway.

As I typed that, Bouchut put his Level 5 LMP2 in third overall ahead of Marsal in the Dyson #20. It wouldn't take much to have LMP2 as the top class but allow LMP1s at Sebring and Petit, as I proposed. But it would take a lot politically so it'll never happen. :P

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Dempsey's struggling out there. Slower than all the LMPCs, even after 15 laps. Full-time LMP2 is a huge jump from part-time Grand-Am GT (which is the same spec as ALMS GTC). I think this could influence their decision to go to WEC, honestly. With all the events being endurance races, they could perform better. Why? Attrition, for one, (the team, with Dempsey, got a podium at Daytona in 2011 I believe, they were very reliable that day) but for the other reason, that they could more easily use a third driver every weekend, which helps negate Dempsey's performance. At Laguna Seca, they had Jonny Cocker, who is very talented in my opinion, having won the 2010 Road American ALMS round overall in an LMP1, co-driving with Paul Drayson (no offense to him, but obviously, Cocker had a hole to dig out of). With a diesel engine and a three-driver lineup in endurance races, Dempsey Racing could stand a better chance. Of course, if ALMS has a weaker LMP2 field than WEC, as I think it does, there's that to consider as well, plus any sponsor pressures, plus being more affordable, plus the possibility that LMP2 could be the top class so you're going for overall wins.

It will be interesting to see where they end up, and how Patrick progresses this year. I'm a big fan of him as a driver and his team, but right now, it's just not good to see the Dempsey Racing LMPC doing faster times than the Dempsey Racing LMP2.

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Four hundredths separating Bruno Junqueira and Kyle Marcelli in LMPC right now. I can't wait to see the natural gas engines next year. Junqueira's hard to root against, mostly for his time over in Championship Car racing. An idiotic move by A.J. Foyt, IV. at the Indianapolis 500 gave him a severe, season-ending back injury that really derailed his career in open-wheel racing. He was able to qualify for the 500 in 2009, only to be removed from the car in favor of Alex Tagliani, who had a sponsor and failed to qualify his own car. Tagliani, class act that he is, fielded a car out of his own pocket for Junqueira in 2010. In 2011, Junqueira qualified for the Indy 500 again, driving for A.J. Foyt in a bit of an ironic move given the 2005 accident, only to be replaced by Ryan Hunter-Reay who, you guessed it, had a sponsor and failed to qualify his own car. I have a lot of respect for anyone with the bravery to get back in a racecar after a huge injury, and even moreso for a guy who loves racing that much he still does it after all the heartbreak he's had in his return.

His co-driver Tomy Drissi is the "amateur" driver on the team, but is a past Trans-Am champion. They could have a nice day tomorrow.

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And while I wasn't looking the Dyson #16 clocked in at 45.412, exactly .040 seconds off the Pickett #6. It's getting pretty close. Chris Dyson is in the car now, but I believe the fast time was set by Guy Smith.

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Alright, something's either wrong with live timing or with the Dyson 16 because it has turned three really, really, really, really slow laps. Like 47 seconds off the pace laps, and considering one lap is 45 seconds around this place... :P

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Oddly enough, David Heinemeier Hansson, the wealthy CEO, is faster than his teammate Martin Plowman, the ex-IndyCar and F3 driver. Their Morgan LMP2 Nissan looks pretty good so far. Maybe a podium's within reach, though the other Level 5 car should be faster once someone who isn't Scott Tucker takes the wheel (Díaz, I think).

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Seems like there was a Dyson issue. They pitted for an extended time period, sent Chris Dyson back out for a slow lap, and came right back in...

I hope they'll be reliable on race day because they're closer to Pickett's pace than ever before (of course, on a track this short, .04 seconds is more than on a longer track).

Why I love ALMS live timing:

JXoQE.png

:lol:

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Dyson heads back out for 1:51.875, a full minute-six slower than Guy Smith in the same car...and then does a 51.409. He's magically found a full minute of pace! :P

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46.781 from Chris Dyson. So Guy Smith and Klaus Graf are even on single-lap pace, and Chris Dyson is slightly faster than Lucas Luhr over one lap. We could have a real battle tomorrow afternoon between the two big guns in LMP1!

Joe Foster is out in the Dempsey car. About one second per lap quicker than Patrick, but still the slowest of the four P2 entries.

While I was watching P1, Bill Auberlen put his BMW ahead of the #3 Corvette in GT. Watching a GT battle as they get lapped by the LMPs is going to be insane. I love the idea of a thirty-two-car, five-class race on a 1.5-mile track...I wish I could go...only two hours from home...

It's BMW, Corvette, BMW, Corvette, Porsche, Porsche, Ferrari, Porsche, Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus in GT...

...and practice is over.

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LMP1: Pickett (P1) over Dyson (P2) by .040s.

LMP2: Level 5 (P3) over Conquest (P5) by .804s.

LMPC: Rocketsports (P7) over Merchant Services (P8) by .038s.

GT: BMW Team RLL (P14) over Corvette (P15) by .245s.

GTC: Green Hornet (P25) over Alex Job (P26) by .009s.

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Qualifying has been underway for over an hour. Totally slipped my mind!

Guy Smith just jumped to P1 in the Dyson. 44.113 over the 44.330 set by Lucas Luhr in the Pickett HPD. We're in for a good one, guys!

AND 44.125 FROM LUHR....gosh it's close now, but not good enough for the HPD boys...just 12 hundredths between the top two runners...

Luhr goes to 44.119, it's .006 seconds between Smith and Luhr for the pole! This is really cool.

44.017 from Smith, huge response, there, that opens up .102 on Luhr and Smith takes the Dyson to the pits. Dyson are back in the fight!

That's it! Qualifying's over! Dyson and Smith win the pole from Pickett and Luhr by .102 seconds. Christophe Bouchut is the P2 leader, third overall for Level 5. Kyle Marcelli leads the PC field with Merchant Services. Bill Auberlen's BMW is first in GT. Leh Keen is the polesitter for the GTC class.

Only thirty cars...not sure what happened to the other two entered. P1 was very close. Tomorrow at 3:00 PM GMT -5 on alms.com for anyone outside the U.S. That's LIVE streaming video with John Hindhaugh and Jeremy Shaw. Those in the U.S., you'll have to wait until 4:00 PM ET for the race on ESPN2, unless you subscribe to ESPN3.com or Xbox 360, as it will be shown there live.

Should be a good one.

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Because we mentioned Riley's LMP2 and the Super GT300 car (hey Shadow, have you seen that CR-Z hybrid...that's cool stuff...) in this thread, let's go into a bizarre world of connections and useless information...

Tonight Bobby Santos, the driver in my signature, starts tenth in a NASCAR Nationwide race. His first Nationwide start? Driving a car co-owned by Riley and Eddie D'Hondt, sponsored by Riley Technologies. The Riley-D'Hondt team became MSRP Motorsports, which became PRiSM Motorsports, which became HP Racing, which is now Phil Parsons Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Their driver is Michael McDowell. Michael McDowell drove in the Rolex 24 this year for Michael Shank racing in, you guessed it, a Ford-powered Riley Mk. XX chassis.

The more you know... ;)

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