FINALLY!!! AJR Lineup Announced!!!!

[Mags]

http://www.rfmsports.com/

And they are BACK!!

Just for Sebring, though.

[Bob C.]

It seems odd that Luhr and Maassen won't be driving together for the 12 Hours. After all, they are three-time defending GT champs (with Luhr going for five GT wins in a row).

[Mags]

Originally posted by Bob C.
It seems odd that Luhr and Maassen won't be driving together for the 12 Hours. After all, they are three-time defending GT champs (with Luhr going for five GT wins in a row).

They are not longer in the ALMS.. they are just there to help the Factory Porsche-AH drivers win!!

[Fogelhund]

A shame for Luhr and Massen to be leaving... mostly because that means Lieb and Dumas won't be available for other teams.

Right now, there seems to only be one Ferrari for ALMS. There is no word if it is even the upgrade GTC yet for Risi. I sincerly hope that AJR isn't given too many special bits, to keep them dominant again. I understand the goal of Porsche NA to ensure a Porsche victory. Having said that, creating a dominant team, against a number of other Porsche teams is a disservice to the fans really. Let the Porsche teams battle it out more. In the future, I wish Porsche would consider splitting their drivers and parts between two teams.

[The Badger]

I think its great to get them back in Europe for a change !!! I heard that Long will do the job switching between teams much the same as Leib did last year . Things should really be frying this year in the FIA GT with Luhr-Maassen at Freisinger .

Why does Freisinger not enter Sebring ? That would be a great scrap to see between the AJR and Petersen Porsches .

Considering the performance of Petersen last year I find it odd that Porsche didnt put one of their works drivers in the car for at least the long distance races !?

[The Boot]

Where does this leave Mike Rockenfeller? I figured BAM would get Lieb and "Rock" would have been assigned to AJR.

Yes Fogel, Risi will have a new GTC this year.

[Megatron]

I never quite understood the whole point of having what amounts to a works team when you pretty much dominate the whole class. It's like Porsche is saying "You can buy a car and race it against any other Porsche but those Porsches".

[PascaLM]

The six pilots are the best 911 GT3 drivers (without counting Ortelli and a very few others of course).
Alex Job Racing seem to have great ambitions !

[Bob C.]

Originally posted by Megatron
I never quite understood the whole point of having what amounts to a works team when you pretty much dominate the whole class. It's like Porsche is saying "You can buy a car and race it against any other Porsche but those Porsches".

Just a couple thoughts on this:

1) Removing the factory-supported AJR cars from the GT field last year would have resulted in a Ferrari taking the championship.

2) 2003 was a bit frustrating, because AJR clearly had access to equipment that was not made available to other Porsche teams (development bits for the RSR - sequential gearbox, traction control). I don't think that equipment disparity will be nearly as prevalent this year.

3) In 2001, Porsche would've been in a far more desperate situation against the BMWs if AJR didn't have Luhr and Maassen.

4) In 2000, AJR (not the "factory team") actually beat Dick Barbour (the "factory team"), straight-up, at several races. AJR was doing some of their own aero work on the cars, and they were able to make significant gains. Porsche's history has many similar stories (even if 2003 wasn't necessarily indicative of that).

I really think 2004 will be interesting in GT, with at least four Porsche teams having legitimate shots at GT wins (AJR, TRG, P/WL, FL) and the Risi Ferrari keeping Porsche honest. FWIW, IMHO, etc.

[Fogelhund]

All wonderful points Bob. Having said that, I believe they were comments directed at me.

My suggestions were more to having parts shared a little faster, or even providing support to more then one team.

[Bob C.]

Originally posted by Fogelhund
My suggestions were more to having parts shared a little faster, or even providing support to more then one team.

I think 2004 will be different than 2003. AJR received RSR development bits during 2003 for "real world" testing. Those bits are now incorporated in the 2004 car. Thus, I suspect that 2004 will be more like 2002, when we saw TRG and P/WL battle on pretty even terms with AJR.

One other thing about new (untested) parts is worth mentioning. They're a bit of a double-edged sword. Sure, the true privateers are pretty darn happy when their newly developed sequential gearbox works exactly as intended. However, when it fails (i.e. AJR at Road America last year...if I remember correctly), they're screwed, and they're ticked.

Regarding support for more than one team... Patrick Long (2003 Porsche Junior team) will be with TRG for the full season in the #66 with Cort Wagner. I'm guessing that Mike Rockenfeller (also of the 2003 Junior team) will end up somewhere for the season.

Also, it's worth noting that Porsche's support for *all* its teams in the ALMS paddock is really quite incredible. The white Porsche trailer is there for every team with a GT3. Ferrari, OTOH, is nowhere to be found.

[Fogelhund]

Bob, I hope you are correct in believing that other teams will be closer this year.

I hope you are also correct in speculating that AJR was running "RSR" like parts last year, and that these parts are now available to all.

I suspect, that if this is the operational methodology for Porsche NA, that AJR will be "testing" the parts for the 2005 RSRS . If so, you'll likely see them dominate again.

While your point of new parts failure is valid, I wonder how the competing teams would think of it. Listen TRG, we could give you some parts that might make you as fast as the AJR cars, but we aren't sure if they will last yet. Or, you could run around the track, a second or so slower then them, and hope that once in awhile they might break. (which in reality, rarely does seem to happen with the "new parts that AJR gets) I have my feelings as to which parts they might choose.

Porsche's ongoing support is legendary, and well noted many times. I think you understand though what I am trying to say here. I want to see more races such as Mid-Ohio in 2002 for GT.

[Liz]

Mike Rockenfeller will be with BAM! (the new branch of Orbit) for Sebring anyway -- I think they want him to remain in Carrera Cup for another year, although I can't for the life of me see why. He may do the other enduro races in 2004, but at this point nothing else has been announced.