Grand-Am 2011 Discussion

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by joeb

Does anybody know why Level 5 didn't set any q'ing times?

I am pretty sure it was after q'ing had finished when looked at T&S that both Level 5 cars managed no times whatsoever.

Edit: And sure enough, they never turned a lap during q'ing according to the above posted lineup.

[cmk]

The Aten Ferrari business sounds both sordid and stupid. What rubbish!

Level 5 was a planned absence from Qually. Fine starting at the tail of the DPs, trying to stay out of the pack at the start. Race gearboxes going in instead, H-pattern rather than paddles for reliability. Could be one to watch if the new gearboxes struggle!

[kurski]

Rolex Daytona 24h race in the top 10 grid line:

1. Long/Bergmeister/Neiman/van Overbeek Riley-Porsche 1m40.099s
2. Taylor/Angelelli/Taylor/Briscoe Dallara-Chevy 1m40.133s
3. Pruett/Rojas/Rahal/Hand Riley-BMW 1m40.245s
4. Forest/Dalziel/Lowe/Braun/Enge Riley-Ford 1m40.250s
5. Dixon/Montoya/Franchitti/McMurray Riley-BMW 1m40.302s
6. Garcia/Edwards/Maassen Coyote-Chevy 1m40.396s
7. Frisselle/Richard/Bell/Kaiser Dallara-Ford 1m40.468s
8. Allmendinger/Wilson/McDowell Dallara-Ford 1m40.469s
9. Brown/Patterson/Blundell/Brundle Riley-Ford 1m40.784s
10. Fogarty/Gurney/Johnson Riley-Chevy 1m40.828

Other handles grid

[Porsche917K]

Really happy to see the Lizard's and Porsche on pole, but I am always wary of Seth Neiman holding them back on track.

[Mal]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

I am pretty sure it was after q'ing had finished when looked at T&S that both Level 5 cars managed no times whatsoever.

Edit: And sure enough, they never turned a lap during q'ing according to the above posted lineup.

According to DSC Level 5 chose to sit out Qualifying, opting to start from the back to stay out of any trouble at the start

[robhollyman]

i thought the mazdas were sandbagging in testing they look well off the porsche pace in gt. guess we'll see tomorrow.

great that the lizards are on pole, shame seth neiman will ruin it when he gets in for a stint. hopefully the team will not put him in for too long and go for the win

[WolfsburgRS]

True Seth isn't exactly a quick driver, but he usually stays out of trouble and Daytona is a pretty easy course compared to say, Sebring or Road Atlanta. I have high hopes for them to at least stay in the hunt. With a little bit of luck they could podium, and with a lot of luck they could perhaps even score a victory.

[trahsub]

Misleading title much? This article says "Ferrari entrys racing into Grand-Am", yet not one team is specifically mentioned, only the approval of the 458.

Joke.

http://www.grand-am.com/news/index.c...es=r&cid=41101

[broadrun96]

Sounds to me like they have a team that was looking at Ferraris but wanted a customer car and Ferrari made something they could roll out and drive since the 458GT2 car is not gonna work there.

More important to me was the dig, that HAD to be directed at the ALMS, at the bottom of the article in much smaller font:
"Secondly, this sends a clear, positive message to the international racing community and other manufacturers about GRAND-AM's current vitality - and long-term viability."
Sound to anybody else like they are hoping to get the other GT builders to commit to something just for GA? I know Porsche, Vette/Camaro and BMW all have a presence in the series but other than the 911s arent the rest Prep 2 tube chassis with the bodywork of the season hung on it? I could be wrong but I thought a couple of the teams said the Camaro and M6s were old Pontiac GTO.Rs that were rebuilt in their shop?

[picchiofan]

Originally Posted by trahsub

Misleading title much? This article says "Ferrari entrys racing into Grand-Am", yet not one team is specifically mentioned, only the approval of the 458.

Joke.

http://www.grand-am.com/news/index.c...es=r&cid=41101

Dude, wipe the spit off your monitor. Your nerd-rage is apparent from even over here.

The article mentions that the car has been homologated and that a customer team is looking to run it later this season.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by trahsub

Misleading title much? This article says "Ferrari entrys racing into Grand-Am", yet not one team is specifically mentioned, only the approval of the 458.

Joke.

http://www.grand-am.com/news/index.c...es=r&cid=41101

Sounds a bit like Scott Atherton eh?

Good news for Grand Am however, but I guess its not that suprising considering they sanction Ferrari challenge North America. Considering that 3 teams entered a 430 this year, I'm sure when they built it some teams will race the 458.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by broadrun96

Sound to anybody else like they are hoping to get the other GT builders to commit to something just for GA? I know Porsche, Vette/Camaro and BMW all have a presence in the series but other than the 911s arent the rest Prep 2 tube chassis with the bodywork of the season hung on it? I could be wrong but I thought a couple of the teams said the Camaro and M6s were old Pontiac GTO.Rs that were rebuilt in their shop?

Talks with Audi and Mercedes are suppossedly at an advanced stage - so I could see Grand Am phasing out the tube frame cars over the next few years in favor of slightly modified GT3s. With a new GT3 Camaro coming out soon in Europe and the Z4 GT3 already available, everybody except Mazda could switch rather easily to GT3...

With the RX-8 out of production soon, I supposse Speedsource/Mazda has to be looking for something else, anyway - perhaps a DP-engine, as the 2012 DP-rules will probably allow turbo-charging.

[trahsub]

Originally Posted by picchiofan

Dude, wipe the spit off your monitor. Your nerd-rage is apparent from even over here.

The article mentions that the car has been homologated and that a customer team is looking to run it later this season.

"New Ferrari Entries Racing Into GRAND-AM"

Direct me to the New Ferrari Entry that is racing into Grand-Am, which would be commonly interpreted as a TEAM that is ready to go, and I'll eat crow right now. The title of the article is a joke dude, plain and simple.

[dxk1]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

...would love to see a chassis other than Riley win, and the Garcia/Maassen/Edwards or Allmendinger/McDowell/Wilson driving combinations could certainly pull it off. Not to mention Wayne Taylor Racing, which is always one of the top contenders.

I agree with you 100%. Any chasis but a Riley. However, I just don't see anyone beating the Ganassi boys! The Pruett, Rojas, Rahal, Hand and Montoya, Dixon, Franchitti, McMurray line-ups are just formidable and the Ganassi crew is probably the best in Grand Am. Pruett may be the best DP driver ever. He just knows how to win.

DK

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by dxk1

I agree with you 100%. Any chasis but a Riley. However, I just don't see anyone beating the Ganassi boys! The Pruett, Rojas, Rahal, Hand and Montoya, Dixon, Franchitti, McMurray line-ups are just formidable and the Ganassi crew is probably the best in Grand Am. Pruett may be the best DP driver ever. He just knows how to win.

DK

I'd say the 02 has a better chance at overall victory. Imagine if they replaced McMurray or Dixon with Pruett!? Problem with the 01 is Mr. Telmex will probably run into somebody plus they have Rahal who has limited experience in a Daytona Prototype. As we saw last year, even the most unsuspecting team could win this race. My pick is Gainsco, I believe that team will finally figure out this race as well as they have the rest of the schedule.

[Acid09]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

My pick is Gainsco, I believe that team will finally figure out this race as well as they have the rest of the schedule.

Would be my pick as well, and it would make a great story with Superman becoming the third driver to win both the 500 and the Rolex.

[Lola T70]

Originally Posted by Acid09

Would be my pick as well, and it would make a great story with Superman becoming the third driver to win both the 500 and the Rolex.

Agree they are one of the big challengers but somehow I can't see far past Ganassi for another one.

[TWK]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Talks with Audi and Mercedes are suppossedly at an advanced stage - so I could see Grand Am phasing out the tube frame cars over the next few years in favor of slightly modified GT3s. With a new GT3 Camaro coming out soon in Europe and the Z4 GT3 already available, everybody except Mazda could switch rather easily to GT3...

With the RX-8 out of production soon, I supposse Speedsource/Mazda has to be looking for something else, anyway - perhaps a DP-engine, as the 2012 DP-rules will probably allow turbo-charging.

The Ferrari is the first of the GT3 variant GT's that Grand Am is embracing, described in Dave Spitzer's memo published by LTC back in August.

Dismiss this if you want - and today's announcement IS PR - but it represents a significant change in direction for Grand Am. In reference to Audi's R8 (also in the process that produced today's Ferrari announcement), the memo (which is NOT PR at all, but a tech/competition document sent to GT teams) says this:

In order to efficiently introduce this model and bring the excitement of new cars, new drivers, and OEM support, we expect to approve a body with modifications not previously allowed in GT.

And in regard to the Ferrari, Spitzer wrote this:

Ferrari 458
Discussions are underway to introduce a version of this car for Rolex GT competition.

And others...

Other GT3 cars – Mercedes, BMW, etc.
We are in early discussions with these brands to include versions of their GT3 cars in Rolex GT also. If you are interested in details, please let us know. Similar principles will be followed as with the Audi R8.

With the new DP coming next year, and correcting the current oversized greenhouse, Dave Spitzer and Gary Cummings are remaking Grand Am into a real competitor for the sports car endurance racing market in North America.

[trahsub]

Tom,

If GA really wants to extend its participants to European teams and cars, and beyond, why are they sticking with their recipe? These GT car announcements like the one for the 458, how different are these cars from their GT3 counterparts. Why would GA just embrace the GT3 format in its entirety?

[Speed-King]

The car, based on Ferrari’s new GT3-spec 458 Italia, has been built to accommodate GRAND-AM’s requirements for the GT class such as fuel capacity and safety equipment. It will thus allow European teams with the base car to easily compete in Rolex Series events, such as the Rolex 24.

“If they purchase a GRAND-AM version, it actually could probably go both ways and they would be able to come here,” said GRAND-AM Managing Director of Competition, Mark Raffauf. “There’s been quite a bit of interest from what I understand already from European entities now having a product, now produced by Ferrari, that they could buy and come over here and race.”
[...]

Raffauf said there's already been interest from 6-7 teams in both the U.S. and Europe, with the first car set to hit U.S. shores in late March.

From John Days's Friday Notebook on speedtv.com.

So the chances are so marginal that you can convert a car back and forth between the two specs...

[robhollyman]

Originally Posted by trahsub

Tom,

If GA really wants to extend its participants to European teams and cars, and beyond, why are they sticking with their recipe? These GT car announcements like the one for the 458, how different are these cars from their GT3 counterparts. Why would GA just embrace the GT3 format in its entirety?

i suspect the current gt3's would be too close in pace to the DP's. as most gt3's are as fast if not faster than gt2's now.

[trahsub]

Originally Posted by robhollyman

i suspect the current gt3's would be too close in pace to the DP's. as most gt3's are as fast if not faster than gt2's now.

Makes sense. Geez, that's an awful lot of effort to slow down cars, are the next gen DPs (do they even exist?) going to be faster?

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by trahsub

Makes sense. Geez, that's an awful lot of effort to slow down cars, are the next gen DPs (do they even exist?) going to be faster?

The next gen DPs will be faster if GA wants them to... in fact the current DPs could be a good deal faster if GA wanted them to be, as all of them are riding aorund with a lot of ballast to meet the minimum weight, which has been significantly increased since 2003.

[thebear]

Ferrari will be `in' this year:

http://www.news-journalonline.com/ra...r-in-2011.html

[JAG]

If giving DP's narrower cockpits and turbo engines is meant to address fan issues they are barking up the wrong tree. Prototypes are interesting because of the technical innovation and design freedom.

For me the GT changes are neither here nor there, they're giving teams more options but unlike the rest of the world have to make them specific to their series.