murphythebear.com

Murphy was back from Wheels Down Winter Test on Thursday night. That gave him just enough time to get a night’s sleep, write Paddock Poop 33, get the wings into the marinade, and lay in the beer for the 24 hours at Daytona.

There was time to catch up with Heidi, particularly important since Murphy returned from Florida with a permanent house guest, another sports car aficionado – Charles D. Bear. It’s a long story, but poor Charles was rescued in Detroit auto show by a kind soul (another foundling was adopted by a little girl in Pennsylvania), and brought to Sebring in the hope that the Bear would take in one of his kin. Of course he would – under any circumstances – but it was particularly exciting to find out that Charles is a bit of a sports car lover himself. Murphy is a bon vivant, Charles is a savant – he seems to know lots of technical stuff – the Bear will rely on his new little friend to explain how all this stuff works. Charles will be on top of that IMSA prototype rules bulletin as soon as it comes out. Speaking of which, Murphy has heard that Competitor Bulletin 07-04 will go to the teams on time forty-five days before Sebring. That’s today, and language was being finalized as the Bear was writing. It may not be made public immediately, however. (more…)

The small prototypes will suffer from a 5% restrictor reduction at Le Mans, but it’s not certain that it will be the same in the American Le Mans Series. Drivers who wheeled the Penske cars around last season love the improvements to the Spyder, but they notice the missing straight line speed and top end due to the smaller restrictor used this week at the winter tests. Competitor Bulletin 07-04 will deal with such rules for prototypes, just as 07-03 did for GT cars, and it must be issued at least forty-five days before Sebring, which is less than a week hence.

Murphy’s not real sure what purpose all this serves, since it isn’t likely enough to overtake the Audi oil burners, and poor Autocon seems poised to be buried by the LMP2 field regardless. What restoration could do though, is throw all of the gasoline-powered prototypes into a single rip-roaring – if virtual – class. If one or both of the Reynard descendents that graced the last rounds of 2006 entered the fray, and were joined by an ex-Dyson Lola B06-10, as is possible – any gloom and doom would fade in an instant, wouldn’t it? (more…)

Horses of a Different Color
Right out of the box Ferrari’s F430, or 430 GT or 430 GTS or F430 GT Berlinetta, or whatever, was a different car than the 360. Though there was more power, it also handled like a dream. Giuseppe Risi had gotten the Michelins he insisted on. Risi Competizione won the team title, but had enough incidents and bad luck along the way to leave the manufacturer’s championship to the Porsche ponies, while a revolving door pilot policy helped keep the driver’s chase a Porsche province. Two Risi entries seem likely for the new season, as does a more stable driver line-up.

Remo Ferri, Ferrari of Ontario, hopes to field a 430 of his own in the coming year, and though he is close, the funding is not yet in place. While the Canadian dealer worked on that, Petersen Motorsports – White Lightning Racing embarked on a three-year assault on the Dakar rally, put in place a full-season Ferrari campaign, hired drivers Tim Bergmeister and Tomas Enge, and moved their shops from Las Vegas to Pahrump, Nevada.  But that’s not all. P-WL applied for not one, but two Le Mans entries. The second entry is associated with Houston oil money. Just as he had to remove his “Rahal filter,” the Bear now has to do the same for Tracy Krohn. In addition to Le Mans (that entry is not certain by any means), the second Ferrari will contest Sebring, Petit Le Mans, and Laguna Seca. (more…)

The United Nations Team
After doubt at the end of the 2005 season, in January an important role emerged for Champion in Audi’s 2006 ALMS. Ralf from Atlanta confirmed that Champion would still have a place with Audi in the 2006 season, though there were a number of possible scenarios.

Dave Maraj was the official Sebring entrant, as director of racing for Audi Sport North America, the moniker under which the R10s would race. The team make-up was predominantly Joest Racing at Sebring and Le Mans. It was clear from the start that Audi would not race the new car and its predecessor together, so we got a chance for an R8 and Champion Racing encore of three races – promptly swept. After that the team was the United Nations option, a polyglot of nations and languages in pit and paddock. That cross-pollination would have allowed Audi to field teams on both sides of the Atlantic in 2007, and for Champion Racing personnel to be once again fully engaged in the American Le Mans Series in the coming season. (more…)