Sportscar/GT (and Le Mans) Rumours and Repetition - Page 62

Victor_RO · 23 Jan 2012, 21:05 (Ref:3015870)

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndrewF31

Could this be Pescarolo, Toyota, Strakka?

Haven't heard anything about Strakka drivers but is that just me asleep?

Strakka confirmed a very long time ago that they'll be using the ARX-03a to move up to LMP1 in the WEC with the same driver trio.

Deleted · 23 Jan 2012, 21:18 (Ref:3015878)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Victor_RO

Strakka confirmed a very long time ago that they'll be using the ARX-03a to move up to LMP1 in the WEC with the same driver trio.

Which is a bad mistake, mr Leventis is a good driver in P2 standards but in the top class he is gonna cost them a lot of positions. But it's not like you could say NO to team owner

AndrewF31 · 23 Jan 2012, 21:21 (Ref:3015882)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simmi

Kane/Watts/Leventis confirmed for Strakka.

Oh ya! Thanks. I was asleep.

Remember the discussions about Leventis in P1. You'd think they'd learn from ASM and Miguel Amaral. Quick Gentlemen drivers are already an issue in P2. In P1 they're still quick but everyone else is oh so much quicker.

Simmi · 23 Jan 2012, 21:41 (Ref:3015900)

It's for sure a frustrating one. Especially from a British perspective I find myself drawn to this team to support them. But they go into the race knowing they are at a massive disadvantage. Watts and Kane are quick but will be leaned on more heavily and feel under pressure to make up lost time/build a buffer.

Of course you HAVE to give credit to Leventis because without him there is no entry. He knows the situation and if he's fine with it then that's that. A much better scenario than them not being there at all.

BUT if Honda were looking for a team to partner up with more heavily next year which would you pick? You'd pick the all-pro line-up of JRM.

AGD · 23 Jan 2012, 21:51 (Ref:3015909)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simmi

BUT if Honda were looking for a team to partner up with more heavily next year which would you pick? You'd pick the all-pro line-up of JRM.

I'm sure Nick can be convinced to field a 2nd car or step out of the seat if some Hondabucks arrive on his lap. I'm sure JRM will be fine, but Strakka was giving Highcroft a bit of a butt kicking when they were using the same cars at the 2010 Le Mans 24 even before Highcroft's car started to have problems. There seems to be some talent behind that organization.

Simmi · 23 Jan 2012, 23:16 (Ref:3015943)

Sorry if this has already been announced on the forum anywhere but I've just seen that Andrea Bertolini will be running in the second WEC Pro car for AF Corse.

This SPEED article also confirms Bruni/Fisi will be back alongside the one line-up I'd seen confirmed which was Waltrip/Kauffman/Aguas.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...m-wec-entries/

cmk · 23 Jan 2012, 23:25 (Ref:3015951)

Quote:

Originally Posted by AGD

I'm sure Nick can be convinced to field a 2nd car or step out of the seat if some Hondabucks arrive on his lap. I'm sure JRM will be fine, but Strakka was giving Highcroft a bit of a butt kicking when they were using the same cars at the 2010 Le Mans 24 even before Highcroft's car started to have problems. There seems to be some talent behind that organization.

Depends on why he's running the operation, and how he sees it going forward for business rather than just pleasure (or at least enough business to justify a little of the latter). He could definitely take the Dayton model if Honda shows up with a similar offer, but you can hardly blame him for wanting his fun.

I remain to be convinced that we will see the 2 all-fairly-pro lineups proposed for Oak. Do we really see Nicolet stepping down to a P2, especially if it is run for contract customers? Heck, I think 2 P1s period is still an uncertainty with Oak, though should Kraihaimer come with an appropriate budget I could see the chances improving!

Deleted · 23 Jan 2012, 23:26 (Ref:3015953)

Really nice to see Andrea back in serious business, I was anticipating something like this after I saw the Risi line-up for Daytona.

It's weird though, got so used of seeing him paired with mr Bartels and now they're doing different things.

alexkiller8 · 24 Jan 2012, 10:55 (Ref:3016104)

he will replace jaime melo who has been released by ferrari a month ago, after all is an official driver of ferrari and currently a ferrari f1 simulator developer.
Maybe he will run also this year the 24h of spa if bartels call him again, ne needs of trusted people after the epic fail of #2 last year.

Articus · 25 Jan 2012, 01:36 (Ref:3016572)

I find it pretty strange that certain drivers seem to have come undone in the past season. Jaime Melo and Pedro Lamy being the obvious ones. Was Jaime that bad? From what I remember he was brilliant in the F430. Im starting to think its more the F458/setup than him. Pretty odd to see him have so many mistakes last season. Petit Lemans being the most embarassing. What will Jaime Melo do next season? seeing as he is not with AF Corse or Risi. He's still one of the top GT drivers of the past decade and suddenly without a ride.

cmk · 25 Jan 2012, 01:48 (Ref:3016574)

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexkiller8

he will replace jaime melo who has been released by ferrari a month ago, after all is an official driver of ferrari and currently a ferrari f1 simulator developer.
Maybe he will run also this year the 24h of spa if bartels call him again, ne needs of trusted people after the epic fail of #2 last year.

I would imagine he will only appear in a Vitaphone car at Spa if Bartels enters Ferraris rather than the BMWs there. As you say, he is a Fiat factory man, which is why he appeared in Bartels' Maseratis and Ferraris.

AGD · 25 Jan 2012, 01:53 (Ref:3016576)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Articus

Was Jaime that bad?

Melo has always been fast, but he has always been rough on equipment and he is also supposedly hard to work with. I don't know if it is true or not, but he has supposedly run off some very good teammates. How much better would Risi would have been if Bruni was still around? But, yeah, Melo has always driven with a bit of "red mist" and I'm a bit surprised that it has taken this long for him to get the boot even with his speed. Unfortunately for Risi, I'm not sure if Vilander is any more reliable and he isn't as fast as Melo.

As for Lamy and others, it is a bit strange to see drivers just fall like lead balloons. McNish and TK were once the golden boys, now they seem like the second (or third) string Audi pairing. Lamy obviously. You could look at Panis too. Wurz went from being the star driver at Peugeot to being a punching bag almost overnight. I don't know why that is. Age? Maybe. In the case of Peugeot, maybe something like Davidson's testing skills meant that the new car ended up being more tailored to his likes rather than what the old guard liked (Wurz, Nic, Lamy, etc.) and that ended up influencing the timing sheets. Of course, guys like Gene and Wurz have a lot of testing experience and I'm sure they had a lot of input into the new car, but maybe that did not matter. I don't know. It almost seems like we have to push the reset button on driver expectations at the start of every season.

AGD · 25 Jan 2012, 03:00 (Ref:3016583)

Quote:

Originally Posted by AGD

This isn't a rumor, but I'll "pitch" it out there. Sports car racing fan and team owner CJ Wilson just signed a 5 year contract to pitch for the LA Angels of Anaheim that is worth ~$77.5 million. Will some of that money make it's way to Grand-Am or the ALMS sooner or later?

Well, here's an update on this question:

Quote:

Wilson won't be doing any racing of his own; his new five year, $77.5-million contract won't allow it. But Wilson does take plenty of satisfaction in the team he's built. In addition to the two teams he'll be running in the Continental Tires Series, Wilson's team will also have five cars running in the Mazda MX-5 Cup Series.

He's hoping that series will serve as a feeder for the Continental Tire Series. Eventually the team would like to move up to the Daytona Prototype Series and Wilson said the ultimate goal would be running in 24 Hours of Le Mans.

http://www.foxsportssouthwest.com/01...96&feedID=3742

I'm not sure what the timetable is for any of those goals, but I guess it's something to look for in the future.

DeathOrGlory · 25 Jan 2012, 03:01 (Ref:3016584)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Japanese Samurai

Autosport says that they buy closed monocoque (LOLA?), and build original LMP.

I hope its the updated S102.

Simmi · 25 Jan 2012, 09:02 (Ref:3016644)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Articus

What will Jaime Melo do next season? seeing as he is not with AF Corse or Risi. He's still one of the top GT drivers of the past decade and suddenly without a ride.

Some talk he could drive with Luxury in their PRO 458.

Simmi · 25 Jan 2012, 11:28 (Ref:3016718)

E-I just tweeted that that GreenGT H2 will be running at the Le Mans test day.

Could they be hoping the DeltaWing won't show?

gustavobamba · 25 Jan 2012, 12:28 (Ref:3016739)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simmi

E-I just tweeted that that GreenGT H2 will be running at the Le Mans test day.

Could they be hoping the DeltaWing won't show?

Please all the people o don´t like "DELTAWANG" ( I´m one of them) read this:

http://www.endurance-info.com/versio...ance-9353.html

Coach Ep · 25 Jan 2012, 12:36 (Ref:3016744)

Sounds like an overambitious program for ´12/´13 to me...

Simmi · 25 Jan 2012, 12:58 (Ref:3016753)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Sounds like an overambitious program for ´12/´13 to me...

Yeah I'll believe it when I see them actually running at Silverstone this year but fair play to them. After the 56th entry snub it would have been all too easy for them to throw the towel in but this COULD end up clocking up more competitive race miles than the DW this year.

Looking forward to seeing it on track in June but sadly it will be crawling during the parade laps.

rich07 · 25 Jan 2012, 13:09 (Ref:3016758)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simmi

Sorry if this has already been announced on the forum anywhere but I've just seen that Andrea Bertolini will be running in the second WEC Pro car for AF Corse.

This SPEED article also confirms Bruni/Fisi will be back alongside the one line-up I'd seen confirmed which was Waltrip/Kauffman/Aguas.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...m-wec-entries/

Fantastic to see Bertolini with AF Corse, he's a very dedicated and serious driver so he should be a solid asset for that team.

Rodger Davies · 25 Jan 2012, 23:19 (Ref:3017116)

good luck with the GreenGT project. There are a lot of things I'd prefer to see than the DW but if they pull this off it will be truly innovative

AGD · 26 Jan 2012, 00:05 (Ref:3017137)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simmi

Could they be hoping the DeltaWing won't show?

Well, we can hope for that at least!

As far as Test Day goes, I think the ACO let some hybrid street cars (Honda and Nissan stuff) run with the GreenGT test car last year at Test Day. Not during the time where the actual race cars were on track obviously, but on that weekend. At least I think that was the case. It would not be surprising if the GreenGT ran sometime with the race cars or during other down time if it is ready to run.

**joeb** · 26 Jan 2012, 01:57 (Ref:3017162)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Sounds like an overambitious program for ´12/´13 to me...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simmi

Yeah I'll believe it when I see them actually running at Silverstone this year but fair play to them. After the 56th entry snub it would have been all too easy for them to throw the towel in but this COULD end up clocking up more competitive race miles than the DW this year.

Looking forward to seeing it on track in June but sadly it will be crawling during the parade laps.

At this point, if all they release is an artists rendering of what the car may look like, I don't know if I believe they will be on track with their suggested timetable. It would be interesting to see though, I am a technology fan so anything new and racy I like.

Simmi · 26 Jan 2012, 21:56 (Ref:3017492)

Kind of a surprise to me, but Autosport today says that Lucas Ordonez will be driving for Greaves this season and will race LM alongside the Brundles.

Obviously the Nissan connection remains but I thought for all the world we'd see him alongside Jordan Tresson in the Signatech car. I suppose this also means he will be doing ELMS and not WEC? He could be doing both I suppose and remain for Signatech.

Victor_RO · 26 Jan 2012, 22:05 (Ref:3017495)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simmi

Kind of a surprise to me, but Autosport today says that Lucas Ordonez will be driving for Greaves this season and will race LM alongside the Brundles.

Obviously the Nissan connection remains but I thought for all the world we'd see him alongside Jordan Tresson in the Signatech car. I suppose this also means he will be doing ELMS and not WEC? He could be doing both I suppose and remain for Signatech.

Maybe running for Signatech for every round of the WEC except Le Mans and getting delegated to Greaves only for the 24 Hours?

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