murphythebear.com

Corvette “Gets it” So, perhaps, does GM 

Murphy has to start with the most-discussed unopposed team in the history of sport. Corvette Racing. Starting with a night out at the Mucky Duck for the Bad Boyz Vette party, the Bear was struck by the upbeat attitude of everyone associated with Corvette Racing. Murphy will bottom line it. They’ll be back next year, number of races to be determined, but it could be more than three. Seems the Puzzle Palace (aka Renaissance Center) has gotten the message from the fans. They want – expect – Corvette to race, against someone or alone. They voted all year by showing up for the corrals, and buying hats, shirts, and toys. So, the GT1 program will be back. Drivers will be loaned to European teams when available, and no, Corvette Racing will not go there to compete against their customers. The prototype is very much on the table for the future, as long as the rules continue to leave significant room for “styling cues.” “Even GT2 is still on the table…” said someone who knows that stuff, but Murphy doesn’t know exactly what was meant or when with that (since there is a privateer already announced for 2008). There, that’s it. Be happy.

Porsche Plan “B” or Otherwise

The paddock was abuzz about the state of the Porsche GT program. Some were saying that the marque needs to finally ditch the 911 platform, to put the RSR’s good stuff under the Cayman (the engine’s in the “right” place). Remember Murphy’s report from the Sebring winter test about a “Plan B” if the 997 RSR was off the pace of the F430? It was…and there wasn’t. It’s not a particularly good time for RSR program head Roland Küsmaul to leave, but the Bear hears that won’t affect Porsche’s commitment to the 911 as its exclusive GT racing platform.

Some (not all) in Weissach think the time has come to swap to the mid-engine Cayman, while others in Stuttgart are adamant that Porsche needs to adhere to its 911 heritage. In that discussion the Stuttgart guys are going to win every time (the who’s got the money thing, you see).

Though one Porsche team is likely to opt for a pair of Italian stallions next season (they already have the bicycle), another is not buying the “911 is done” mantra. The 2007 P-brigade’s best believes they’re the top over-the-wall gang going, have the drivers, strategy and management to back it up, and that yes, Virginia, there is a Plan B. It’s no rumor, the Lizards are staying with Porsche and expecting to win.

Rahal Letterman will return with Porsche – count on a pair – as will Team Trans Sport, also with two. The latter may be on different rubber.

Fords, Spykers and Snakes

Elsewhere in GT, Robertson Racing announced it will campaign a Ford GT next season. No word on what “campaign” means to the husband and wife team. So the Kuttner-financed, Doran-built car has a customer. That’s good, since Oliver’s copy (only two to be built, for now anyway) apparently is committed only to Sebring. Not much of a campaign there either, but not surprising if you followed the exploits (or non-exploits) of the Pegasus twenty years ago, as the Bear did.

Murphy is not one of those that believes that Spyker will field an ALMS team, regardless of the stories. However, Dodge will help get the weight off its Vipers. That’s good news for teams that will flee Speed GT in 2008. How many land in the ALMS, we’re not sure, but the Bear will go with two of the snakes for now. With LG and Corvette also having moved on, and Caddy gone, Speed GT looks a bit thin.

Can we Hope for Another Ferrari Golden Age?

Ferrari? The Bear counts eight, two of which may be part time. Murphy is hoping that GT success here and in Europe might break through the “F1 only” mentality in Maranello. They might even find out that (like the original “Red Head,” Luigi Chinetti, and NART) it’s their real heritage, and much more likely to drive sales (especially in North America) than those silly-looking tifose (who won’t ever be customers) in red hats waving their red flags and tooting their air horns. Naw…not yet, anyway. But here’s a serious note: The Bear’s cave is here on the Peninsula, and he checked out some of the lesser-known Monterey Car Week events, including Khaki’s Ferrari Gathering. That convinced him that there are Ferrari owners who would love to get their cars out for just such a convivial event as an ALMS corral.

PTG, Panoz, BMW, and Nissan

Will PTG return for another season with a Panoz? Perhaps. Murphy’s still hearing that the BMW M3 program is another year away, so it may be another place-holder season for the Winchester, Virginia team. The Nissan GT-R (formerly known as the Skyline coupe) is likely on the way, even though the engine is still up in the air. Some insiders want a 4.5 liter V8 while others want the 3.8 liter turbocharged V6 that’s in the street version. Like BMW, the Nissan will likely not be seen on an aLMS grid until 2009.

Champ Car - Geez, what the heck is going on…

Someone said that Walker Racing is headed for the American Le Mans Series, that Australian Vineyards was lost, at least as far as continuing the Champ Car adventure is concerned. Murphy doesn’t know for sure, of course, but Derrick Walker sure had some tough things to say in Oz about the apparent disarray in 2008 plans for the open wheel series, didn’t he?

Murphy is mostly an American Le Mans Bear, but in the series that continue to survive in the shadow of NASCAR, if one sneezes, the rest better reach for a hankie.

RuSports will shut down. Lots of spin there about fourth Amigo Dan Pettit’s commitment to Champ Car, but that sure has shrunken a bit, hasn’t it? He’s selling the transporters, tools, and golf carts after Mexico. Says he’s going to ‘partner’ another team. PCM and Conquest have been named. Does that mean a second car for Conquest? Probably not. The Bear also heard that what he really wants is cash from the other three Amigos. In the meantime, the ALMS got mentioned as a possible destination for those RuSport golf carts – in the hands of Jeremy Dale.

The rumor mill had CDW and Justin Wilson in the ALMS for sure, but that apparently isn’t Justin’s idea. He says that even though “other championships” have been sniffing around he wants to stay in Champ Car. He singled out ALMS as a place he does not want to go. CDW has already said their plans are to follow Wilson. Of course the Bear has often found that the principals are often the worst sources for what they might do next (you see, they have a vested interest in prevarication) but there you have it.

A well-traveled motor sport snapper-scribbler told Murphy that PLN hosted a meeting in Connecticut with guests TG and KK. You’ve figured out by now that it came to nothing, right? Still, some swear it happened. The bottom line – or so Murphy’s been told – after a day’s thought and a flight home, TG turned down the merger proposal as “unnecessary.”

Still no Champ Car schedule and there’s a rumor that the European dates – or some of them – have gone aglimmering. Are they crosswise with Bernie and Max again? KK was off to Dubai to salvage something.

Laguna Seca has a Good one

Laguna Seca ticket presale was up over 20%, and an even bigger walk-up increase delivered a weekend crowd well beyond 40K.

More Spyders, Acuras

ALMS prototypes are likely to get at least one more Porsche Spyder next season, and the paddock thinks there will be a fourth Acura team. All three of this year’s teams are back, and at least one team will run two cars, Murphy thinks. No more Lola chassis, all Acura, built on the purchased tub from the-constructor-formerly-known-as-Courage. Ok, ORECA.

NASCAR Sports Cars - an Oxymoron whose time has come…

No more Grand Am. It’s going to be the NASCAR Sports Car Series. They’re going to announce a Fox Network television schedule, some live. Teams will be “encouraged” to use Cup drivers when available. That might sound good, but Murphy’s not so sure. It looks like a compromise between full speed ahead and a more complete withdrawal to support NASCAR events only. NASCAR Sports Cars will still have an independent schedule including some non-NASCAR tracks, but the pitch is being focused on the already-captive market. How that makes sense, the Bear hasn’t got a glimmer. He’ll sleep on it. Wake him in the spring and ask again. Roger’s going motorcyling? Perhaps. Brian taking over the sports car thing in one last shot to get someone to pay attention? Perhaps. Just stuff floating around. Come back in January, ok?

The DP champs have assured some partners of the-series-formerly-known-as-Grand Am that it will be back to defend the title. That was less than certain a month ago. Then along came Ratel to throw a hand grenade in the GT rules, and Lola’s coup d’ grace of a $1.35 million roller price, and, well, here we are. The-series-formerly-known-as-Grand Am will keep most of its DP teams, figure a grid of about seventeen, sometimes the grid of nineteen we saw this year. Of course Daytona will be more than that. If it’s not…look out. Krohn will be back with the Lola deal, of course, and so will SAMAX. The Bear hears that Peter will be in three racing series in 2008.

It’s just the start of the annual off-season follies, of course.

For you Bear readers out there who might have thought there were only class champions in the American Le Mans Series, Murphy offers this Saturday morning event in Roger’s paddock.

See y’all next time.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 23rd, 2007 at 8:42 pm and is filed under Paddock Poop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.