Grand-Am 2011 Discussion - Page 12

stuart thompson · 31 Jan 2011, 16:45 (Ref:2823313)

I'm loving 2011 already. 2 24 hr races 2 BMW wins! Can it continue for the biguns?

Acid09 · 31 Jan 2011, 17:58 (Ref:2823362)

Quote:

Originally Posted by stuart thompson

I'm loving 2011 already. 2 24 hr races 2 BMW wins! Can it continue for the biguns?

Let's hope so, great start of the season for BMW for sure. I hope it gives them confidence to keep a steady presence in sports cars in 2012 and beyond..

**joeb** · 31 Jan 2011, 18:01 (Ref:2823364)

Quote:

Originally Posted by stuart thompson

I'm loving 2011 already. 2 24 hr races 2 BMW wins! Can it continue for the biguns?

I heard early in the broadcast that the BMW DP engine had its max revs reduced, and the teams were worried about being down on power/speed. Well it sure seemed to work out ok for the Ganassi boys!

On another note, I was also impressed by Krohn's race, only finishing a lap down isn't too bad in that Lola.

FordCosworthPanoz · 31 Jan 2011, 22:19 (Ref:2823505)

Quote:

Originally Posted by stuart thompson

I'm loving 2011 already. 2 24 hr races 2 BMW wins! Can it continue for the biguns?

If Turner Motorsports hadn't had it problems you may have seen a BMW sweep. Only problem is if you use the bad luck argument Suntrust could have easily beat Ganassi. Not at all a BMW fan, but they are really stepping up their endurance program. Obviously they can't win Le Mans overall but it would be cool to see them win Dubai-Daytona-Nurburgring-Spa. If so you'll have to say they currently have the best overall endurance program at the moment.

cmk · 1 Feb 2011, 00:18 (Ref:2823569)

United Autosports really impressed me in this race. Blundell and in particular Brundle were both driving way beyond the expectations for people who've been retired for as long as they have. Furthermore, I thought Mark Patterson showed definitely improvement due to his Audi adventure in Europe; I was quite surprised when he made a pass for the lead on a restart about 6 hours in. He and Brown showed particular class in stepping back for the last 5 hours or so when it became clear they were going to be in contention for the podium. Top stuff all around!

fieldodreams79 · 1 Feb 2011, 02:38 (Ref:2823598)

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeb

I heard early in the broadcast that the BMW DP engine had its max revs reduced, and the teams were worried about being down on power/speed. Well it sure seemed to work out ok for the Ganassi boys!

At some point, the winning Ganassi changed gears b/c they were maxing out over the S/F line into one.

All-in-all, I enjoyed the show and the start to the season. Really liked seeing the two BBC commentators "having a go"; that was good stuff. I swear, Jim Downing and Hurley Haywood were admired by my father before I was born. Where's EFR these days?

Andy77 · 1 Feb 2011, 08:09 (Ref:2823654)

Quote:

Originally Posted by dxk1

I'm sorry, this is Grand Am! Unfortunately, they don't know what a local yellow is!

DK

They don't know local yellow coz it wouldn't help Ganassi to turn already lost races around

Fogelhund · 1 Feb 2011, 17:27 (Ref:2824008)

I thought it was an ok race, but certainly not great. I watched quite a bit of Saturday's action, and checked in on Sunday for a few minutes... then watched the last 10 minutes or so.

I am looking forward to seeing what their plans are for the 2012 cars, and where they will be aesthetically.

The downsides... far too much time under yellow flags, Montoya taking two cars out of contention should have been addressed and as no place in the type of sportscar racing I like, and there are no credible unibody threat to the Porsche's in GT. Now if Audi R8's, Ferrari 458's and Mercedes start showing up, that will be a different story altogether.

It sounds like the series is headed in the right direction though.

old man · 1 Feb 2011, 17:33 (Ref:2824018)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adam43

For UK viewers it is now live on Eurosport 2.

When they were on Eurosport did a good job of mixing GT and DP action which is more than can be said for the people on this forum, getting like Autosport!

Hepatic · 1 Feb 2011, 17:35 (Ref:2824020)

Brundle isn't as out of the seat as some might expect. He raced with his son last year at Spa and has made various appearances at other races too. It seems the Spa race caught his racing instinct again, much the same way as Mansell has caught the bug too. Even so, its hardly a full preparation of the likes of Jimmy Johnson or Dario Franchitti and it was the performance of the race in my eyes.

TWK · 1 Feb 2011, 19:54 (Ref:2824130)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hepatic

Yep, absolutely brilliant. Kinda wish MB hadn't dived on the 1st corner but maybe a couple of corners later, but superb effort by that team and the 01 for coming back from what i thought was a killer penalty. I'll always remember Hands monster accident a few years ago but he surely stood up and got counted this weekend

I'm told the first corner was the only shot MB had, and he knew it.

fieldodreams79 · 2 Feb 2011, 16:58 (Ref:2824632)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

I am looking forward to seeing what their plans are for the 2012 cars, and where they will be aesthetically.

Perhaps we should start at GA 2012 thread

, but mutating a DP into a Super GT car somehow with at least two separate classes would be a winning formula, IMO.

During the broadcast this weekend, they had Bobby Rahal in talking about the year he won the 24. Looking at the year, it was IMSA GTU, GTO, and GTX classes (Racing Sports Cars - 1981 Daytona 24 page); fabulous looking cars. It got me wondering if something like this would be possible for the GA to accomplish. Can this potentially cost effective or would it eliminate the "quantity" of entrants in GA?

**joeb** · 2 Feb 2011, 18:54 (Ref:2824701)

Quote:

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

Perhaps we should start at GA 2012 thread

, but mutating a DP into a Super GT car somehow with at least two separate classes would be a winning formula, IMO.

During the broadcast this weekend, they had Bobby Rahal in talking about the year he won the 24. Looking at the year, it was IMSA GTU, GTO, and GTX classes (Racing Sports Cars - 1981 Daytona 24 page); fabulous looking cars. It got me wondering if something like this would be possible for the GA to accomplish. Can this potentially cost effective or would it eliminate the "quantity" of entrants in GA?

Things to seem to be changing for the better (in my opinion that is) with more unibody gt cars on the horizon to challenge the 911's. The Ferrari 458 sounds like a done deal with Elton Julien's team poised to enter one at the end of this season. I'm sure people will jump on the opportunity to run a R8 or SLS also when/if they become available. That just leaves teams wanting to run a 'merican car with tube framers though. Maybe somebody will use one of those new gt3 Cameros in the future, and what about the Mustangs, are those tubers or unibody?

Speed-King · 2 Feb 2011, 18:57 (Ref:2824703)

The TPN/Blackforest Mustang is tubeframe, but of course, Multimatic has a GT3-spec unibody available.

AFC-911 · 2 Feb 2011, 19:18 (Ref:2824719)

Are they still allowing Prep 2 cars to run with the future GT3-esque* cars?

Or are they completely outlawing the tubers?

Speed-King · 2 Feb 2011, 20:46 (Ref:2824764)

If I was a GA-higher-up, I'd at least give the teams that run tubeframe cars right now a few years as to make sure that they can recoup their investments...

rich07 · 3 Feb 2011, 01:06 (Ref:2824848)

Boris Said giving Joey a hand near the end of Daytona.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=zSO9jznOENY

JAG · 3 Feb 2011, 02:00 (Ref:2824863)

In Autosport Audi say they are interested in GA but won't develop an R8 specifically for it.

**joeb** · 3 Feb 2011, 02:21 (Ref:2824868)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAG

In Autosport Audi say they are interested in GA but won't develop an R8 specifically for it.

Then what exactly are they interested in I wonder? Supplying dp engine? Or having someone else prep r8's for competition? I do see their point about having to spend money to make the r8 slower to compete in ga.

trahsub · 3 Feb 2011, 03:37 (Ref:2824874)

Quote:

Originally Posted by joeb

Then what exactly are they interested in I wonder? Supplying dp engine? Or having someone else prep r8's for competition? I do see their point about having to spend money to make the r8 slower to compete in ga.

They're interested in GA pulling its head out of its ass and letting GT3 machines race the way they are, or in other words, stopping the nonsense of catering to the low tech DPs.

TWK · 4 Feb 2011, 17:22 (Ref:2825799)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAG

In Autosport Audi say they are interested in GA but won't develop an R8 specifically for it.

I see Audi's blowing smoke again.

TWK · 4 Feb 2011, 17:32 (Ref:2825809)

Quote:

Originally Posted by trahsub

They're interested in GA pulling its head out of its ass and letting GT3 machines race the way they are, or in other words, stopping the nonsense of catering to the low tech DPs.

Low tech DP's may be, but there's no way a GT3 in any configuration can come anywhere near 1:40 at Daytona.

Besides, who lets any "GT machine" "race the way they are?" There's something called a restrictor used elsewhere, isn't there?

old man · 7 Feb 2011, 14:21 (Ref:2827249)

Well I for one would be interested to see what an unrestricted GT3 would do but it may want more rubber on the road.

Speed-King · 7 Feb 2011, 23:34 (Ref:2827511)

Michael Shank has entered the #23 for Homestead, drivers so far unknown.

Dyson Mazda · 9 Feb 2011, 03:20 (Ref:2828154)

Is there a lot of full time entries missing off the list or is Grand Am only looking at around 20 regulars this year

http://www.grand-am.com/schedule/ent...ies=r&eid=2353

The ALMS has really played their pawns well in taking all of the new entries into NA Sport Car Racing

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