13. The Bear Visits Sebring, Mickey and Daytona
Burnsville, Minnesota, USA – Back from “winter training” in Florida, and this Bear is “pumped”! What a rush to see two entirely new LMP1 cars, along with a pair of nearly new LMP2s! The new Audi may be quiet, and the brake glow may be gone, but trust Murphy, this car will send chills up your spine. The Bear’s telling you, when the new Lola, in the hands of James Weaver and his mates, goes head-to-head against the R10, while Clint and company take their Lola out against the Porsche on a more suitable track for them than Laguna Seca, you’re going to be in real danger of soiling your laundry. Is it any wonder the Bear doesn’t usually wear pants?
(this article originally appeared on www.dailysportscar.com)
For those of you who are there in March – or watching on television – the ‘green Fords’ will be there. One of the Bear’s favorite sources dropped him a note a couple weeks ago, “AMR can’t confirm it yet…but it will happen, drivers all sorted. The C6s have some rivals!” That can’t have meant just the widely anticipated Sebring-only entry, can it? So, now we’re just waiting for some details to be worked out before a further announcement. The announcement that Prodrive will take on the Corvettes at Sebring doesn’t mention drivers or any races after Sebring. Will there be more than the enduros? Will there be anything after Sebring at all? Murphy is really hoping there is something more. He was watching the Super Bowl XL last night, and saw a couple of forgettable Ford adverts. Thirty seconds each. That’s five million dollars. Meanwhile they cancel the GT, and AMR can’t seem to run a couple of lousy races. The Bear’s getting to be a real Corvette fan. Elsewhere in the GT1 class, about which the Series’ Prez said at the WDWT that he was very optimistic for fields after Sebring and for the rest of the season, it seems that the Saleen deal – cheese and bratwurst – came together this past week. So add two green and white Saleens to the grid. Six cars of that caliber throughout the season would be just ducky. If we get a Maserati – no one will say that’s dead, just “on life support” – that’ll be gravy.
Murphy had a great time at Sebring. He joined his friends at the Outback Steakhouse, and nearby Clint, Jon and Liz, who already know Murphy, pointed him out to Highcroft Racing drivers Gregor, Duncan and Rick (left). That last guy, Rick is a hoot…Gregor, you remember Gregor from Sebring last year and from a winning drive with Clint at Portland, don’t you?…says he’s “straight from Woodstock, Haight-Ashbury or something…” Murphy doesn’t know about that, but Gegor seems to like the idea of racing with his old mate Duncan - and on British tires (tyres?) too. Murphy also likes the new guy, Rick, who comes straight out of a Busby Porsche 962 into a Dayton Lola B01/60. I mean, this guy is truly entertaining. On the difference between the Porsche here in 1985 and the Lola in 2006? “Stopping…I mean this thing stops! I got on the brakes and hit my faceplate! The 962 had power,” he said, “like a rocket strapped to your back. But this car stops. If you brake where you did with the Porsche, you’ll have to get back on it to drive to the corner!” Think Woody Allen’s “Sleeper.” Murphy thinks Rick might be right up there with Woody’s early years. “My Brain? That’s my second favorite organ!” Naw…that makes me think of Martin, the Coastie Photog.
Murphy made it to Chicanes at the Inn on the Lake, of course, perhaps second only to the bar at Siebkins as the site of historical indiscretions…. Tim from Braselton was there with friends, and graciously helped Murphy sign the wall, where he joins so many real racing luminaries.
This Ursa minor is truly humbled to be in such company. Later a nice guy named Ralf from Atlanta introduced himself and declared he was a big fan. Wow, Murphy’s been a big fan of Ralf from Atlanta for a long time.
Later Ralf from Atlanta said if it were him, he wouldn’t worry that Champion won’t have a place with Audi, though there are still a whole bunch of scenarios. Speaking of those scenarios, the one where R10s run at Sebring and R8s for at least part of the season after that might be a serious possibility. One who seems to think that might happen is JJ Lehto, who told a Finnish rag that it would be important to catch on with Audi at Sebring to preserve a chance for the driver’s crown for the American Le Mans season. One declarative statement by the Finn (relying here on a summary translation of the Finnish): “Audi won’t race the R10 and the R8 in the same race.” We think he’s dead right about that.
I hear that Van der Steur Racing won’t make Sebring, but will be around after that. Is it because of a chassis upgrade? Count on a new Lola chassis for B-K motorsports and their Mazda Wankel after Sebring. A concerted effort to fund a pair of Dallaras also ended recently.
The attempt to field a pair of Mercedes, though said to be fairly advanced, has come, for now, to naught – or not, and is not enough funding. And the Risi story is out, with two cars at “selected races” so far. Murphy told you about the second car, purchased by Ferrari of Toronto…that’s the one. So far, the funding doesn’t seem to include the Wagner-New Century Mortgage connection, but recent developments on the money front may add more races to the list. Elsewhere in GT2, the BMW story keeps trickling out. We knew to look for at least one Z4 coupe this season, though that might be sooner after Sebring than we thought. And now we hear that the Z4 is, like the current GTR-based six-cylinder M3s, no more than a placeholder. For the 2007 season, PTG will be fielding brand new V8-powered E90 M3s.
After three days in Sebring, I went along on the trip to Mickey World – he’s my favorite entertainer after – and in honor of my fave role by my mouse friend I donned this set of ears.
Then it was on to Daytona Beach. Brunch on the way was at Race Rock, where I read the USA Today Daytona coverage. Danica, Schmanica.
Liz wins races, jumps horses, and looks great; she’s actually won races, too. The guy in the photo is simply “team-mate Allan McNish.” Andy Wallace is a guy with eighteen starts, nothing else about him of note, of course. Elsewhere they tell us the race draws “champions such as Kurt Busch, Bobby Labonte…” well, you get the drift.
The Bear wants to upchuck.
We went to a couple of places in Ponce Inlet – my favorite is the one where my friends – egrets, squirrels, pelicans – inhabit the deck with the people. Near there we stopped by “Down the Hatch,” and then “The North Turn” where the Murphy saw the Atlantic. The Bear loves oceans.
I’d never been to a 24 Hours at Daytona before, though my friends have been to fifteen. (OK, sometimes we call it the Rolex, but wasn’t it the SunBank 24 before that, and who knows what else? This “naming rights” thing is a relatively recent phenomenon, you know. Rolex is a sponsor at that French race, too, of course, and that isn’t called “The Rolex,” is it?) The Bear has become fond of the symphony of many different engine types. That’s sure gone, pretty much drowned out at the start by V8s; it sounded like one of those roundy races. Unfortunately, the GT field, where a decent section of Porsche boxer sixes helps fill out the choir, gets the green a half lap back of the DPs. Strange. Rick and Duncan went up to Daytona to join Michael Gue’s Essex team. Rick was “kind of surprised about how heavy it is,” was his observation of the DP. Coming straight from a Lola B01/60 that’s no surprise, is it?
Murphy ran into Rick again at the Orlando airport, and he was in good humor, though disappointed at being punted out of what might have been a fourth place finish with less than four hours to go.
It was all a little mind-numbing, so the Bear and friends adjourned to watch the finish at a little spot across the street. Another of Murphy’s favorite places.
That’s more than enough excitement for a little bear. I’ll see y’all at Sebring for the start of the sports car racing season.