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There are plenty of stories out there, but not many of them are new. So, the Bear’s been thinking about, well, all kinds of stuff.

Prototype Builders

Radical, Embassy, Zytek, Porsche, Acura, Courage (Oreca), Lola, Titan, Picchio, Riley, Pescarolo, Chase, Crawford, Dallara, Norma, Panhard, Shaw, WR, Pilbeam, Dome, West, Epsilon, Zulltech, Lucchini, KWM (Creation, Protran) Promec, Tampoli, Audi, Lister, Lavaggi, Reynard, Panoz, Ascari, March, Spice, Tiga, Kudzu.

Current, former (as in “that’s a former parrot” (credit Monty Python’s Flying Circus), or aspiring prototype chassis builders, just off the top of the Bear’s stuffed head. What are world-wide total sales in the LMP1, 2 and DP class of cars? About 60. (more…)

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. (more…)

The Bear’s just about recovered from another Petit Le Mans, and with Laguna Seca coming up he better get this Poop out of his system. He saw lots of friends in Georgia, at Paddy’s, Jeffery’s, and in the woods at Turn 10. Petit is as much social event as it is a sports event, plus there is nothing quite like night racing – which is something that was entirely lost on the folks in Florida who put lights all over the site of a former classic.

Well, the American Le Mans Series has made it through another season without a title sponsor. Murphy will tell you for sure they never expected this to happen. Now they’re dealing with sales personnel turnover, and after flirting with the idea of outsourcing the function, they’ll advertise for a new vice president of sales.

The Bear couldn’t be happier with the American Le Mans Series schedule. Stability, baby, stability. And they’ve been saying all the right things about future plans. No additional shared weekends, no additional street courses, no more than fourteen events. Stability, baby, stability. (more…)