'09 ALMS Round 4 • Utah Grand Prix

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by Audi Racer

A3.Disaster for Rahal. No top speed at all either. Waith for Road America and mosport
4.That Zytek sounded identical to the Acura.

I would guess BMW will threaten to leave unless they get some concessions.

The Zytek is much more stacatto on the overrun. It is a rude beast, I love it!


robert

[NightStalk3r]

Originally Posted by skycafe

I would guess BMW will threaten to leave unless they get some concessions.

With Thiessen at the helm it wouldn't supprise me, that guy can moan for germany.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by zac510

They said on RLM that they are running it but the battery strap is not homologation.. Where did you get that information?
Is it fitted but not being used?

Or have we different interpretations of the quote?

Think we are saying the same thing. Just finished watching the SPEED broadcast and they said all the hybrid parts are in the car, but they aren't using them in conjunction with the petrol engine. So yes they were running with the hybrid, but not using it.

On another note. I thought the SPEED broadcast was pretty good. Nice camera work and decent commentary. I liked how they caught the Vici car nearly hitting the wall, excellent save by Stuck.

I was also gutted to see the Viper fall out with 3 laps left while they were running in the points.

[davehenrie]

During the run-up to the Zytek's debut, I read several stories that all mentioned the 4.5L. Shame if they didn't get to use the Big Boy.
I liked Johnny's early pass on the P2 Lola Turbo Mazda. I half hoped he used the Hybrid system for that pass as the high altitudes should have really given the Mazda Turbo a big advantage. But I guess not.
The Zytek may rev like the Acura, but when they back down off-throttle, the Zytek becomes this primal super-dooper-movie-theatre-Popcorn-machine. It was quite amusing to see the TV focusing on other cars yet almost always we could hear the Zytek Pop-Popping in the background. Marvelous sound.

[Porsche917K]

Makes me sad to watch how much better the Acura was than the Intersport car... then a straight comes and bye bye. That car has one big weakness... it was like watching the Peugeot eat them alive at Sebring.

[TWK]

Originally Posted by joeb

I was also gutted to see the Viper fall out with 3 laps left while they were running in the points.

Huh? If by that you mean the podium, not even close, ever...and two laps out of 6th when it was parked. If you literally mean "points-paying positions," ALMS awards points to the top ten in each class. With ten GT2 starters, the Viper not only ran "in the points all day," but finished in the points. (You don't have be running to score points if you complete 70% of the class leader's laps.)

[joeb]

Originally Posted by TWK

Huh? If by that you mean the podium, not even close, ever...and two laps out of 6th when it was parked. If you literally mean "points-paying positions," ALMS awards points to the top ten in each class. With ten GT2 starters, the Viper not only ran "in the points all day," but finished in the points. (You don't have be running to score points if you complete 70% of the class leader's laps.)

My apologies, I had it in my mind that only the top 8 got points, and the Viper being in 7th at the time before the breakdown would have sufficed. Guess I was thinking of a different series......
Without the mech problem the Viper would have beaten the BMW's which I think would have been fine accomplishment for them.

[fjn356]

At the track, I never confused the sound of the Zytek with the Acura at any point. On the over run, I ducked a few times. And, as for the relative speed of the Intersport versus the Acuras, you only had to look at the rear wing angle and the wild slides in the turns to see where the Intersport speed was coming from. It was very clear from the track layout (one 3500 ft straight, one 1000 ft straight and the rest of the distance mostly high and medium speed turns) that a good qualifying setup (high downforce) would be all wrong for the race because the speed through the majority of the course would be determined by the slowest car that did not give up the line. The offset to the low downforce strategy would be tire wear from all the long, high and medium speed turns and slip sliding around. But there was no way a responsible team manager would set up as loose as Fields did just to run a few laps near the front.

One of the things I don't think was caught by most was that the 21 Panoz ran out of fuel or otherwise had a problem on the back part of the course and lost about 12 seconds on his in lap to the last fuel stop. Without that, the 21 had a pretty good shot at the podium. All top speed, of course, and he held up the 18 in the twisty bits for many laps. Still, a well set up and driven effort by the 21.
The GT3 cars were not the disaster I expected but there were a lot of very close calls and the protos were very obviously hesitating and waving a giant "I'm here" flag when approaching from the rear. I still don't see what they (GT3s) add. If you are a fan, you don't care and if you are a casual attendee, you are already so confused by 4 classes that look like 2 classes and a field so jumbled by varying fuel/tire strategies that even the RLM announcers get confused that you give up and have another beer then go home before the race is over. That's what they did Sunday, anyway. Well, not the beer. It was SLC, after all.

[TWK]

Originally Posted by joeb

My apologies, I had it in my mind that only the top 8 got points, and the Viper being in 7th at the time before the breakdown would have sufficed. Guess I was thinking of a different series......
Without the mech problem the Viper would have beaten the BMW's which I think would have been fine accomplishment for them.

I'm sorry for questioning your excitement; I assume you are a huge Viper fan. But I have a hard time with the idea that beating two cars delayed by mechanical failures and accident damage is "a fine achievement."

Why wouldn't Primetime just get a Ferrari F430 and be done with it? I mean, if the idea is to race.....?

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by TWK

I'm sorry for questioning your excitement; I assume you are a huge Viper fan. But I have a hard time with the idea that beating two cars delayed by mechanical failures and accident damage is "a fine achievement."

Why wouldn't Primetime just get a Ferrari F430 and be done with it? I mean, if the idea is to race.....?

Yes, but the Viper avoided an accident and was reliable enough. Thats the whole point!

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by TWK

Why wouldn't Primetime just get a Ferrari F430 and be done with it? I mean, if the idea is to race.....?

You'd a thunk! But...?



L.P.

[AndrewF31]

Is the Viper cheaper to run? Or they like driving a Viper, for instance, because it's American and they're American?

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by AndrewF31

Is the Viper cheaper to run? Or they like driving a Viper, for instance, because it's American and they're American?

I would imagine its the passion - they have designed it, built it and raced it. That must be special.

I reckon that there should be a support race for teams like this at Le Mans in the same race as the FLM, to add a bit of spice to it and to let the teams have a go at the Le Mans track.

[Dead-Eye]

How many teams like this could afford a trip to Le Mans just to be in a support race?

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Dead-Eye

How many teams like this could afford a trip to Le Mans just to be in a support race?

I'm not the ACO, I wasn't actually planning this!

Just a point, how did the Gillet Vertigo get to San Luis in the FIA GT?

[Bob Riebe]

Originally Posted by Gingers4Justice

I would imagine its the passion - they have designed it, built it and raced it. That must be special.

I reckon that there should be a support race for teams like this at Le Mans in the same race as the FLM, to add a bit of spice to it and to let the teams have a go at the Le Mans track.

The 24 hrs used to be full of teams like this; what is this, divide and separate?

The little people get the little race, while the over-lords get the real race?

[skycafe]

Gee Bob, the times are a changin I guess. I don't really follow the stick and ball sports but I imagine they will follow this methodology too--if they can't compete and win they should just pack up and not try. Heck, in golf you could almost think you could reduce the field to Tiger Woods and maybe one other, it would increase the efficiency for the fans following and also the sports reporters and such.

robert, firmly in crumudgeon-ville

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Bob Riebe

The 24 hrs used to be full of teams like this; what is this, divide and separate?

The little people get the little race, while the over-lords get the real race?

No what I meant was that teams like this NEVER have a budget to do a 24 hour race.

[Hugewally]

Originally Posted by prototype

Why isn't the Zytek running the 4.5L engine? Last year at Petit we saw the 4.5L version out class the 4.0L.

Simply put, the team stayed with what they knew and was a proven item to them. By doing that, that left them with one less thing to worry about while working out the electrical system(s). btw - the car hasn't yet run using both power systems at the same time, only one or the other.