The Bear, barely back from a ball, is catching up with the apparently non-stop scurrilous rumor and irresponsible speculation of sports car racing. Having read that the celebrated 1996 burgundies were not aging as well as expected, Murphy sat down at his keyboard with a newly-opened Clos de Vougeot Grand Cru and went to work.
Those with the best handle on the Audi situation are insistent that the German manufacturer will be back in 2007 in the silver colors of Audi Sport North America. However a “big presence” in Europe for the diesel-powered R10 will cause augmentation and re-shuffling of the factory driver line-up. Murphy reported last week that all of the Audi driver contracts lapse at the end of this season. They will mostly be renewed, he now hears, to support as many as six entries in Europe. Don’t be surprised if there are three new drivers here, and if those drivers include current Porsche pilots Lucas Luhr and Mike Rockenfeller. The Bear has always liked the Senior Team – Junior Team approach. Remember Mercedes’ Jochen Mass with Jean-Louis Schlesser and Karl Wendlinger with Michael Schumacher? Or BMW, John Watson with David Hobbs and Davy Jones with John Andretti? How does Allan McNish with JJ Lehto and Lucas Luhr with Mike Rockenfeller sound? Not saying that will happen, of course…
The Bear has turned off his “Rahal filter” – a gismo that blocked typing r-a-h-a-l – because a his trusted friend Larry Lemur tells him that there may finally be a sponsor for a Rahal-Letterman Racing ALMS entry, likely in GT2.
Intersport is apparently shopping its Lola B05/40. Two teams report they’ve been approached, anyway. The boss in Columbus didn’t call Murphy’s assistant back on Friday. And Clint, that book is $205 from the author. He’ll be at Laguna. Bring the check.
Will Mazda ditch its rotary engine in 2007? That’s one report circulating – that the Wankel will run at Sebring, then be replaced by a four cylinder turbo motor. “Just speculation…” was a response from close to the team, however. Sill, the Bear thinks the three rotor could be gone before Sebring, except for having heard that “Sebring might be too early (for the turbo).” What other changes might be announced at the California track aren’t known, but it’s widely expected that B-K Motorsports will continue as Mazda’s American Le Mans Series racing partner.
Opinion department. What engine powers the Mazda is far less important than finding a way to make this prototype competitive in 2007. At Petit Le Mans, nearly two years into the program, the Courage C65/Mazda lapped slower than the GT1 field, was over seven and one-half seconds adrift of Porsche’s Spyders, and six and a half seconds off Intersport’s pace. There really needs to be a significantly increased commitment by Mazda to this program, particularly since Acura will be represented on the Series’ 2007 grids. Murphy hopes very much that will be the case.
After Tafel broke cover at Petit Le Mans, there remain some as-yet unannounced new Porsche RSR entries. The Bear’s heard that one of the Kelly Moss guys in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge will purchase a 996 RSR with the intent to run a full American Le Mans season in 2007. There are also those who expect that Farnbacher-Loles will have an entry in 2007 – actually, that was widely anticipated last year, but only Sebring was on the dance card. Will there be rides for hot rookies Ricardo Imery and Lawson Aschenbach to step up to the big show from Speed GT? There is talk.
Murphy is a fan of other sports, and usually includes his football and baseball observations and prognostications. With friends in Georgia, though, he’s in a quandary, since it would be downright mean to write anything about the Dawgs this week. So he won’t. Southern Cal had one of its routine brushes with disaster against ASU, and the Nuts kept rolling toward their annual showdown with the Wolvorines, who handled the Nittanies. Was there a Port-a-Potty on the sidelines for that one? Walter made common cause with Bobby – for one day, at least; the Tigers beat the Gators. Speaking of Auburn, Murphy likes the “War Eagle” and its legend much better than the rather mundane Tiger mascot. Like Uga, we’re leaving poor Goldie alone this week, and it’s faint praise to say that Ralphie finally got a win. Baseball? The story is the Tigers, isn’t it? They backed into the playoffs after a nearly historic second half collapse, and then what? Swept the Yankees and the A’s to advance to the Fall Classic. Meanwhile, Murphy’s Bears keep rolling, don’t they? Monday they’ll feast on their former cross-town rivals. You knew that didn’t you?
Kevin Buckler has been linked to “talks” regarding a Porsche RS Spyder. You’ll recall that Murphy had said that Stuttgart will be ready with a big prototype as soon as the rules become reasonably favorable for gasoline power. A Porsche source clarifies, “not before 2008” or later.
The Bear predicts that Corvette Racing’s Ron Fellows will win the American Le Mans Series’ “Favorite Driver” award again. Members of the Corvette Club have been campaigning for it, and the autograph table lines at the races are a clear indicator that Fellows has a huge fan following. You won’t find a nicer guy in this sport. Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta have remained very much in the shadow of the Canadian and his Flowery Branch partner in spite of dominating them since Le Mans 2005. (Beating them twelve times in sixteen races – fourteen in eighteen if you include the last two of their three Le Mans wins with Jan Magnussen.) The English Ollie is philosophical, though, saying “it doesn’t bother us,” and “it’s natural, we (Gavin and Beretta) being European, that they’ll (Fellows and O’Connell) have a higher profile since they are Canadian and American.” That attitude classy, and not what Murphy has come to expect in professional sports. Come to think of it, the drivers we’ve had in the American Le Mans Series are almost universally class acts. The Bear would be hard pressed to say that about any other sport, or even about most other motor sports.
The third Panoz mentioned in Murphy’s last Poop is for Sebring and Petit only – for now. Dick Barbour to prepare and race them for the owners.
An Italian-Scottish team that just won a major European event with an Italian-Scottish substitute driver may be working on an American Le Mans Racing program for 2007. Two more Ferraris, perhaps?
How much night racing will there be at Laguna Seca? Sunset will be at 6:23 Pacific Daylight Time, so with the checkered scheduled for 6:30, not much. Television is the reason, not track neighbors. Track management would have been happy to go a bit later.
New record department. Nine different co-drivers in a 14-event schedule in 2006? I guess if they’re being asked to do some very heavy lifting, they tire quickly. AWOL was an iron man.
The Bear enjoyed his charity event – the Dolphin Ball – in Malibu. Murphy isn’t one to drop names…wait, yes he is. Mel didn’t make it this year, perhaps he couldn’t get a ride? Linda, who once was “Sarah Conner,” was off on location. “Bobby Spencer” was there as Mistress of Ceremonies, her long time gig at this affair. Being discrete, the Bear will stop there. There was an auction. How much would you pay to join “The Donald” for the finale of “The Apprentice”? For VIP treatment at the Billboard Music Awards in December? To ski Vail with Michael Bolton? That was just some of the stuff that went for more ching than Murphy would have had in his pockets – if he had pockets, which he doesn’t. But it was great fun, and for a really great cause.
Oh, the burgundy was good. Very good.
See y’all after Laguna.
