The Woods of North America – Whew! Back from Petit Le Mans! That was the Bear’s first experience, and he’s pretty overwhelmed. The place was packed, and guess what else? Cruisin’! Can you believe that? Girls (and guys, but the Bear’s interests go just one way, if you know what I mean) hanging out the back of trucks – and just plain hangin’ out. I guess the Bear can handle two North American Race Parties a year, but hopes they don’t ever schedule one of these on the front end of back-to-back weekends. Even the Bear needs a little recovery time.
Archive for September, 2005
7. Petit is a Party / The Goobers Don’t Get it / Prototypes on the Way
Friday, September 30th, 20056. The Bear Visits Petit Le Mans
Thursday, September 22nd, 2005
Braselton, Georgia, USA – The Bear has gotten to his first Petit Le Mans, and boy, is he impressed. After a big weekend of football – his little Golden Rodent friends won a cliffhanger – he put on the Gopher cap in their honor. He’s promised to keep a certain Dyson Racing driver updated on Saturday’s game in which the Bear’s team plays the driver’s hometown “Nittany Lions” (we still don’t know what a “Nittany” is).
5. The Bear Muses on the Field, the 2006 Schedule, and Other Miscellaneous Rumors
Tuesday, September 20th, 2005
The Woods of North America – Well, I warned you I might be back before Petit Le Mans! So here it is, another installment of my unsubstantiated rumors, unattributed stories and pronouncements, and irresponsible musings.
Let’s start with the Petit Le Mans field. Thirty-one. A disappointment? Perhaps, but the Bear likes who’s coming to this one. Among LMP1s, I figure they got the “big one,” in the Shimoda / Chilton Zytek, the car that gets my “most likely to pull it off” vote. Most of the additional entries came in LMP2 where entries are most needed. I know there are Saleen fans out there, but really, with Aston Martin there for the “rubber match” with Corvette in GT1, and ACEMCO on hand, they’ve got the race the Bear wants. GT2? OK, sports and touring car racing fans are a bit unique, they like variety in their racing, but who is there outside of the pair of Porsches from GruppeM and the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari that might compete for a win here? Three of the four FIA GT GruppeM drivers are in the race already. Car counts? Fifteen at Mondello Park. Nineteen at Istanbul. Seventeen at Phoenix. So the Bear will be happy to be in Georgia next week.
4. The Bear Goes To Canada
Tuesday, September 6th, 2005
The Woods of North America – Murphy here, with another installment. Mosport is always a good race, and a good place. They open with bagpipes and a parachuted flag rather than fighter jets – a bit less martial than their neighbors, perhaps? Or more frugal?
There’s been a lot happening since our last missive, so if we don’t get it all in here, I’ll be back before Petit Le Mans. Where to start? With a certain prominent driver at Mosport, who said, “ALMS has a special place in sports car racing. It’s the pinnacle of the sport the way no other series is, or can be.” With that in mind, the Bear considered some of the comings and goings of the current American Le Mans Series season. Even the paddock is confused about the departure of Pacific Coast Motorsport, since most know Corvette Racing and Pratt & Miller were more than willing to help the new Corvette team, and did. The chassis may not have been the most recent, but it was a start. Did the team not understand what they were getting in to? In fact, do some others in that class not understand what it’s all about?