"Daytona Prototypes is the greatest road racing in the United States"

[supercarS7]

Well I'm not a real fan of Grand Am racing, but I find this quote from Bob Stalling ridiculous! In the DSC article he also says that next year he (the Gainsco team) hopes to win "America’s toughest endurance race"; no he's not talking about Sebring. He's talking about Daytona 24 Hours.

[PorscheFanNo1]

Just as with ALMS, I kinda like the races themself but I dont approve with the stuff going on off the track, the rules and regulations and everything.
The last race at Miller this weekend was just insane and an unreal ending to this season, the last hour turned everything upside down, if you havent watched it, I suggest you should.
This race also saw the new Porsche V8 from the Cayenne that Porsche are having high hopes for, there are also some big changes for next season with chassies, so will be interesting to follow that and see what they can come up with, hopefully a few cars that looks better then the current ones, but I'm not holding my breath.
But going as far as saying its the greatest road racing in the US? Well if you count the numbers of crashes, avoidable contact and suspended drivers, then yeah...
Theres a lot about DPs and how the serie is run that isnt good, dont think I have to bring it all up, but some changes really needs to be made, especially if its going to have any effect what so ever on world wide sportscar racing.

[JHamilton]

What do you expect him to say? "We have aspirations to win the second toughest road race in America."

[ThePenguin]

Well he is certainly not going to say that he is going to compete in the second best seies in the U.S. Just like the IRL and Champ Car, each one of those series will say that their series is the best, regardless of how they are doing.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by ThePenguin

Well he is certainly not going to say that he is going to compete in the second best seies in the U.S. Just like the IRL and Champ Car, each one of those series will say that their series is the best, regardless of how they are doing.

Indeed

Please lets not start a GrandAm vs ALMS thread

[Adam43]

I hardly get to see any of this, but I read that the "racing" part is always close and hard fought.

[jhansen]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Please lets not start a GrandAm vs ALMS thread

Agreed. Will be watching.

[Nick49]

Hello

Originally Posted by FIRE
Please lets not start a GrandAm vs ALMS thread

I agree. We should start a " I love any sort of sport car racing and I wish more was shown on TV" thread. I'm old enough to know that there was hardly any about in the Group 5, 6 or C days. Be grateful for what you've got. Variety is the spice of life and the drivers seems to like anything they can get a drive in.

Nick

[dxk1]

While Grand Am racing may not always be the fastest, it is always closely contested in both classes. Most races see 5 to 6 DPs finishing on the same lap and usually 3 to 4 GTs on the lead GT lap. The races are almost never decided before the last pit stop and not usually until the last 30 minutes or so. It's usually interesting till the end.

DK

[Zytek_Fan]

Grand-Am is a good series, but I like the cars in ALMS better. Although the new Dallara and Multimatic DPs are supposed to look better Lola is rumoured to be joining the fray as well.

If anybody is curious why GT class in Grand-Am is GT3 spec, it's because in 2003 (first year of DPs) a GT2 Porsche won the 24 Hours of Daytona overall

[The359]

Originally Posted by Zytek_Fan

Grand-Am is a good series, but I like the cars in ALMS better. Although the new Dallara and Multimatic DPs are supposed to look better Lola is rumoured to be joining the fray as well.

Lola already bought the Multimatic entry. Dallara bought Doran's.

[gttouring]

I thought Lola was an approved construction other than the 7 that are existing already...so Lola would enter the fray not take the place of...

Picchio (no active cars)
Doran-
Riley-
Fabcar-
Crawford
Multimatic...
Chase (which is a wierd Mosler styled DP...raced once?)

And dallara? didn't hear this one, cool
but why buy out a constructors spot-just add one

[The359]

Sabre is the one attempting to enter on their own without buying an existing manufacturer's entry.

I believe the criteria for keeping a chassis manufacturer in the series required at least one car from that manufacturer to run in a 2007 event. This should automatically eliminate Picchio, which no one runs.

Matt Connolly Motorsports entered a Chase-Pontiac at the Sunchaser 1000km which qualified but did not run. I assume this will still qualify them to stay in 2008.

Fabcar, Doran, Riley, and Crawford also all ran normally in 2007.

This means Fabcar, Riley, Crawford, and Chase will remain in 2008. Multimatic will become ProtoAuto (Lola) and Doran will become Dallara. Sabre will likely replace Picchio.

I assume the reason these manufacturers buy spots is because Grand Am wants to keep the number of manufacturers at around 7.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Zytek_Fan

If anybody is curious why GT class in Grand-Am is GT3 spec, it's because in 2003 (first year of DPs) a GT2 Porsche won the 24 Hours of Daytona overall

With the ACO and the FIA going down to GT3 as well, GARRA was just ahead of their time...
But you're probably right, the first DPs were very weak cars, though I think nowadays they would be able to deal with the GT2s.

Oh and the Chase did run in the last GA race (as well as in the DP-only race at Watkins Glen), but it didn't complete a full lap in Utah.
If you wanna see why: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01q8DBpYXvI

[chocmonster7]

Thanks for the link Speedy, due to being out when the race was on I'd heard about the crash but not seen it.

Fingers crossed that the Mexicans stay in the series so that Telmex continue to sponsor the web broadcasts of Speed.

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by gttouring

I thought Lola was an approved construction other than the 7 that are existing already...so Lola would enter the fray not take the place of...

from www.lola-group.com

22nd March 00.09am

Lola Cars International Ltd and Krohn Racing are pleased to announce a new partnership that will produce Lola Daytona Prototypes to race in the 2008 Grand-Am series.

The new collaboration of Lola and Krohn has resulted in a new company being formed called Proto-Auto LLC which has purchased a Grand-Am constructors license from Ontario based, Multimatic, whose chassis will form the basis of the 2008 Lola car. Several teams have expressed interest in using another competitive chassis to those presently competing in the Grand-Am series.

And dallara? didn't hear this one, cool
but why buy out a constructors spot-just add one

Grand-Am doesn't add new constructors, they limit them to "keep the businesses viable".

[Andy Flinn]

Grand-Am uses GT rules closer to GT-3 than GT-2 because that strategy promotes more affordable racing and larger grids.

The current Porsche 997 RSR GT-2 car costs about $340,000. The Porsche 997 GT-3 Cup costs significantly less.

Twenty Porsche 997 GT's at Daytona versus seven GT-2 997's at Sebring. There were only four GT-2 997's at Le Mans this year.

Just do the math.

As was pointed out by someone previously, the ACO is simply following Grand-Am's lead. That's a smart move.

[Andy Flinn]

Mr. Stallings is commenting on the competitive nature of the Grand-Am DP series. His team won the championship, despite winning "only" seven of the 14 races.

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by Andy Flinn

As was pointed out by someone previously, the ACO is simply following Grand-Am's lead. That's a smart move.

I think you've got the FIA and ACO mixed up Andy.

[Andy Flinn]

Fogelhund, didn't the ACO announce at Le Mans their intention to reduce the costs of GT-2 (electrics, etc.) and require the cars to be more like the street versions?

[Purist]

It's an apples to oranges thing with those numbers of 997s at the three races. Grand-Am only has two classes where the ACO has four (and there are few if any GT1 Porsches out there currently). Also, Daytona will see 70-80+ cars. Pit facilities limit Le Mans to 55 cars for races, and technically, Sebring is limited to 60 for the same reason.

And yes, Sebring hasn't seen the full, full grids for the last couple years. Still, there is something to be said for the level of the teams. No offense, but in sportscar racing, I'll take Joest over Ganassi, and Penske over Brumos, anyday.

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by Andy Flinn

Fogelhund, didn't the ACO announce at Le Mans their intention to reduce the costs of GT-2 (electrics, etc.) and require the cars to be more like the street versions?

They simply said costs were too high. They haven't really said much beyond that, or provided direction yet. To be frank, they need to make some sort of statement soon regarding their direction for GT's, and whether they follow FIA, or not.

[Bob Riebe]

Could this be the beginning of a FIA-GARRA vs ACO-IMSA showdown?

Daytona is still THE big one in the US.

[Speed-King]

Grand-Am has aligned themselves before with FIA when they adopted the SRP rules of the Sportsracing world cup, but this time I don't see
A) FIA accepting GARRA's Prep2 cars
B) GARRA splitting their neatley unified GT-class along the lines of future GT1 and GT2.

But: GARRA could still adopt the FIAs future GT2 rules for its Prep1 cars. So at least some cars (mainly Porsches and Ferraris, I think) would be interchangeable and could come over for the Daytona 24hrs.
Unfortunately the cars in question would be the cars of the European championship, not those of the proposed World championship, which is a pity, because the Daytona 24 would be a nice fit for such a world championship.

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Grand-Am has aligned themselves before with FIA when they adopted the SRP rules of the Sportsracing world cup, but this time I don't see
A) FIA accepting GARRA's Prep2 cars
B) GARRA splitting their neatley unified GT-class along the lines of future GT1 and GT2.

That would be great. Then the Corvettes could come back and beat the DPs AGAIN.