IMSA Race Round 7: Mobil 1 Sports Car GP of Mosport

[jasonjessica09]

The in race discussion threads for the summer races are a lot smaller than it was for Daytona and Sebring. I wonder if the popularity of IMSA wanes in the summer.

[J Jay]

The popularity of racing wanes full stop. With summer comes summer sports which take time and people away from what is an already pretty small (albeit dedicated) fan base. I wouldn't worry about the low number of posts that much.

[joeb]

I noticed that too. And this was one of the few races stateside that was shown in its entirety live. I thought it was a good race overall and it was nice to see some bit of strategy come into play. Although I was expecting a similar scenario to what we had at many races last season where the Corvette DP's seemed to have the ability to make fuel at the end of a race while the p2 cars have had to stop. It was actually nice to see all the teams have to make a splash at the end. I'm sure the 31 team is regretting not getting the fuel rig off of the car sooner, otherwise they would have ran away with this one.

[canamman]

This race got the "best race of the weekend award"
from me. Great drama at the end. My favorite part was
the #16 PC team of Falb/Rayhall getting 2nd place.
Hope we see more of them this year.

[ATLFalconsFAN]

Originally Posted by jasonjessica09

The in race discussion threads for the summer races are a lot smaller than it was for Daytona and Sebring. I wonder if the popularity of IMSA wanes in the summer.

I think it's just because TUSC sucks.

[nasportscar]

data analysis: http://nasportscar.com/bens-analysis-ctmp/

[David A Scott]

Back from a good weekend. My thoughts:

On Saturday I was working 2A. Pretty uneventful for most of the day. Until the Prototype Lite race at the end of the day. It was quiet and then it looks like someone must have dropped some oil as we had 4 cars spin in quick succession into 2.

The Conti race was pretty good. Although from 2A is was a procession. One love tap spin early on and that was it. Nice field though.

Sunday I was in 9. First "race" of the day was the MX5 Cup. Standing Start. I think they may have got 5 full laps in all race. I was starting to get a cramp from holding the double yellow for so long... Porsche Cup race was very good.

The main event was pretty good. One one FCY at the beginning. Very thin field. The diesel Mazda seemed to me to be the quickest through 9-10. He made a lot of passes (on GTLM and LMPC's..) going into 10 using massive acceleration out of 9. Much more than the "Corvettes". For a while it was a nice battle between Porsche and BMW for tops in GTLM. The (proper) Corvette's were a non factor all weekend.

- General concensus from the marshals I worked with was that the "Corvettes" were obnoxiously loud. One said that they looked like an artist's rendition of what a prototype would look like. Phoney. Many prefered the looks of the LMPC over the turtles.

- The Ferrari sounded glorious.

- The Ligier is very pretty.

- The second MX5 Cup race was the best race all weekend.

- The Delta Wing coupe looks better in person than in pictures.

- The Mazda ran like a clock all weekend and looked great doing so.

- We were taking bets on when the Ganassi Ford would blow. It sounded like it dropped a cylinder early on. Surprised it finished.

- Met Beaux Barfield during the Saturday marshal meeting. Nice guy.

Conclusion. I found the PWC weekend in May much more entertaining.

[fieldodreams79]

For such a fabulous circuit, that one was a snoozer. Equaling of the cars kept in close to keep me 1/2 interested, but passing was tough and normal action and jaw dropping moments this awesome course normally produces just wasn't there for me.

Looks like I should make sure I view the replay of the Conti Race, when it comes on in August?

Originally Posted by joeb

Man, can't a guy take a vacation? Anyways, check that first post again and I think you will see what you are looking for!

Vacation? Bah. I'm lost without you, joeb.

[CyberMotor]

Originally Posted by jasonjessica09

The in race discussion threads for the summer races are a lot smaller than it was for Daytona and Sebring. I wonder if the popularity of IMSA wanes in the summer.

I once heard that if you are speaking and the audience is yawning it means that the audience is attempting to stay awake to hear you. If they are not interested, they just fall asleep.

I don't think the fans are yawning anymore.

The P class is missing the 'relevancy' to the real world with innovation that is the highlight of the WEC. Styling cues as a replacement to relevancy as a future plan is not going to wake anyone up either.

[WMUCarGuy]

Originally Posted by jasonjessica09

The in race discussion threads for the summer races are a lot smaller than it was for Daytona and Sebring. I wonder if the popularity of IMSA wanes in the summer.

I suspect Sebring and Daytona see much more traffic for two reasons.

1. People have gone several months with no racing and they're really hankering to get their fix.

2. The middle of summer means nice weather, vacations, less time spent on computers posting about race cars. Also more time spent actually being at race tracks.

[TF110]

I donno if I smiled or cheered at all during this race. It was an ok race, but mostly uneventful. The DP's arent attractive imo and the Ligier is/was hardly a factor with the power steering issue. The Mazda is just an afterthought in terms of competition. Even GTE was straight forward. A shame for such a cool track. I give it a 6/10. Hopefully Mazda's new engine pushes them up the grid.

[jasonjessica09]

Originally Posted by TF110

I donno if I smiled or cheered at all during this race. It was an ok race, but mostly uneventful. The DP's arent attractive imo and the Ligier is/was hardly a factor with the power steering issue. The Mazda is just an afterthought in terms of competition. Even GTE was straight forward. A shame for such a cool track. I give it a 6/10. Hopefully Mazda's new engine pushes them up the grid.

Agreed the season needs some sort of shakeup. Its been pretty much the status quo since Long Beach with the same grids and same contenders. A beefed up Mazda might make things more interesting. Plus we got the all GT VIR race coming up soon which is an awesome format that I look forward to very much.

[jasonjessica09]

Originally Posted by jasonjessica09

Agreed the season needs some sort of shakeup. Its been pretty much the status quo since Long Beach with the same grids and same contenders. A beefed up Mazda might make things more interesting. Plus we got the all GT VIR race coming up soon which is an awesome format that I look forward to very much.

To add to that even GT seems to be missing its usual spark in 2015. The Dodge Vipers leaving really really hurt :-( We have seen more 1 car dominations this year than the previous 3-4 years combined. At CTMP, the #91 Porsche controlled it throughout. But that was good though since the factory Porsche guys had not won yet. Now for the rest of 2015 I will pull for the Risi Ferrari to get a win.

[Ephaeton]

Originally Posted by jasonjessica09

Plus we got the all GT VIR race coming up soon which is an awesome format that I look forward to very much.

To me doing non-P at VIR is an insult to the track. If you must do GT-only races, do them on the street courses, leaving more P-only places for the road courses.

[The Happy Track Fan]

I really enjoyed my day at the track on Sunday.

I had to miss Saturday due to health complications with my mom, but got up there on Sunday.

Shame we had to miss the 2nd MX-5 race. Couldn't stay right till the end.

1st MX-5 race was a crashfest, but the racing was good while it was green. Both the Porsche Cup and Prototype Lites races were very good. Congrats to Clark Toppe on a great drive in the Lites.

I thought the main race was excellent. Only one small full course yellow. Five different leaders overall in the race. Interesting strategy. Cameron and Curran must be gutted for losing that race through silly pit strategy that clearly cost them.

Great battle in GT for the first 45 mins or so from 3rd through 8th place. Was shaping up to be great days for both Performance Tech and JDC/Miller in the PC class until mistakes cost them.

Overall, a great day of racing and a solid crowd. Agreed that the Pirelli World Challenge / Canadian Tire NASCAR race weekend in May was better, but I still really enjoyed it.

[Mike Hedlund]

Originally Posted by The Happy Track Fan

Was shaping up to be great days for both Performance Tech and JDC/Miller in the PC class until mistakes cost them.

Just for the record, the Performance Tech problems were caused by a mechanical, not mistakes (unlike Watkins Glen!). Got to represent for my Laguna Seca podium buddies! :-)

-mike

[cmk]

As someone who loves the venue and enjoyed every ALMS weekend at the track from 2001 through 2008, and caught and enjoyed most of the broadcasts since, this one never really ignited for me. On-track action was a bit limited and the sometimes-wonky directing and increasingly oversight-prone commentary didn't help maximize what there was. The cameras certainly didn't make much of the GT action. If the issues with tires and power steering helped throw a couple of curve balls, they also had the effect of defusing some good battles, with the Shank car never really able to live up to its promise in the latter stages. The less said about PC, the better. Not a terrible race, but a bit of a damp squib.

Originally Posted by The Happy Track Fan

I thought the main race was excellent. Only one small full course yellow. Five different leaders overall in the race. Interesting strategy. Cameron and Curran must be gutted for losing that race through silly pit strategy that clearly cost them.

It wasn't really a "silly pit strategy" that cost them anything. They ended up having to pit early due to a left rear tire issue, which put them on an off cycle strategy that looked like it could come really good with the timing of the SC. Then another left rear tire issue put paid to that by forcing them into a final stop earlier than desired, requiring a splash and dash at the end. The tire issues giveth and the tire issues taketh away. Or, in the #5's case, just taketh away.

[jasonjessica09]

Originally Posted by cmk

As someone who loves the venue and enjoyed every ALMS weekend at the track from 2001 through 2008, and caught and enjoyed most of the broadcasts since, this one never really ignited for me. On-track action was a bit limited and the sometimes-wonky directing and increasingly oversight-prone commentary didn't help maximize what there was. The cameras certainly didn't make much of the GT action. If the issues with tires and power steering helped throw a couple of curve balls, they also had the effect of defusing some good battles, with the Shank car never really able to live up to its promise in the latter stages. The less said about PC, the better. Not a terrible race, but a bit of a damp squib.



It wasn't really a "silly pit strategy" that cost them anything. They ended up having to pit early due to a left rear tire issue, which put them on an off cycle strategy that looked like it could come really good with the timing of the SC. Then another left rear tire issue put paid to that by forcing them into a final stop earlier than desired, requiring a splash and dash at the end. The tire issues giveth and the tire issues taketh away. Or, in the #5's case, just taketh away.

In terms of pure speed I think the fastest drivers of the race were Dane Cameron in the #31 Corvette and Nick Tandy in the #91 Porsche.

[nasportscar]

Total Team Performance updated post Mosport http://nasportscar.com/imsa-total-te...formance-ctmp/

[Matt]

Originally Posted by WMUCarGuy

I suspect Sebring and Daytona see much more traffic for two reasons.

1. People have gone several months with no racing and they're really hankering to get their fix.

2. The middle of summer means nice weather, vacations, less time spent on computers posting about race cars. Also more time spent actually being at race tracks.

Not with most of these guys.

They'd much rather complain about what's on TV than go out to any sort of race.

[BullMan]

A meh race. The bright spot was what, one FCY?

[Rcz]

I really do hope they consider split class racing.

Saturday gets Protos
Sunday gets Gt
Or vice versa.
Except Enduros of course.

It's just hard to watch a race like that.

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by Rcz

I really do hope they consider split class racing.

Saturday gets Protos
Sunday gets Gt
Or vice versa.
Except Enduros of course.

It's just hard to watch a race like that.

And have around 16 cars in each race? No thank you! The upcoming race at Lime Rock only has 18 cars...how depressing.

If the entry list isn't going to get bigger for the next couple years, might as well have all the classes run all the races.

[Rcz]

I thought quality over quantity was a good thing. Lol.

16 cars is enough for a good race.

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by Rcz

I thought quality over quantity was a good thing. Lol.

The quality over quantity argument only works when the series has quality.

GTLM and GTD are good but like someone else said earlier, they are missing something this season.