murphythebear.com

Petit Possibilities

Behind the speculative entries floating about are people who want to come. Some will convince team partners and sponsors and some won’t, but the bear thinks you first have to give a rat’s patootie about being there. We’ll see soon enough how it’s turned out for them. Included are: Paul Daniels, John Nielsen, Ben Aucott, Nigel Mansell, Jonathan France, Fredy Lienhardt, Juan Barazi, Ian Dawson, Antonin Charouz.

Xtreme Sports: Championship Name Dropping

Remember when Katherine Legge hit the wall at Road America? The evidence – along with Katherine’s name – is still there at the kink.

There was one of those “I-know-something-you-don’t” kind of stories, repeated around the 2006 Petit Le Mans media center. It was said (authoritatively and repeatedly) that, “Katherine (Legge) emailed her close friend Liz (Halliday) saying ‘don’t watch (the) Youtube (video)…I’m ok.’”  The only problem with that story is Katherine’s response to its retelling last week at Road America: “Liz who?”

Aren’t you proud of Murphy? He didn’t write anything about a pretty English princess kissing a Frog.

The Chrome Horn

Canada’s favorite under-employed-open-wheel-driver (Who else would subtitle his web site “The Official Home of the Chrome Horn?”) had talks with AGR about a turn in the ARX-1b at Mosport and Detroit, but couldn’t – wouldn’t – compete with drivers who Will Work for Food – or less.

Quote of the Week

“Er, any championship that wants to be taken, er, seriously in North America, er, has to race at Watkins Glen.” Following which was a paean to NASCAR – which, of course, leaves out a significant part of the famous race course – comparing the Nationwide taxicabs in rapturous terms, thus: “four cars running, er, nose to tail…reminding me of, er, Formula 1 in the, er, seventies…” Murphy just didn’t know what to make of that.

Enduring BS

Every time anyone with a prototype entry says, ”It’s the (LMP1, LMP2, fill in the blank) class championship we’re most concerned with.” (Usually immediately after being beaten to the checkered overall.)

It ain’t racin’, but…

China’s administration of its girls (yes, girls…them ain’t women) gymnastics program makes the WWF (some would put our Daytona Beach friends there, but of course Murphy wouldn’t) look like a bunch of rank amateurs. Sixteen? My furry butt!

It could happen

It hasn’t yet, but the Wolfpack could come to Braselton, where there are already Dawgs, Vols, Eagles, Hoyas, Scarlet Knights, and Mountain Hawks, among others. Is there a weekly line on ACC women’s tennis? Consider this Murphy’s early “welcome.”

French Desire

Does a French team’s desire to move up to LMP1 with a production-based engine mean something in regard to a big US manufacturer? Some people think so.

Andretti Movin’ On?

Rumors of the demise of AGR’s foray into sports car racing leave the bear in a reflective mood. Andretti Green Racing gave the series a certain caché that only a storied name like Andretti and (not inconsequently) a racing team widely believed to be among the best in North America.

The start was stunningly successful, a class win, and more importantly a second-place overall at Sebring. The team never matched that lofty start, though regular Brian Herta and semi-regular Marino Franchitti were generally competitive and occasionally brilliant. Not so this year, when another famous name, a Fittipaldi – but not the Fittipaldi – replaced Franchitti. The driving was ordinary in a extraordinary field, and the team seemed disinterested. Earlier this season, Murphy heard there was some stress between AGR and HPD, and soon thereafter, on the Le Mans break, Herta and Fittipaldi were fired and replaced by Franck (Fast and Loose) Montagny and the ubiquitous TBA – who turned out to be Marco Andretti or someone who would drive for free.

So now Murphy reads that AGR (perhaps without Kim Green, who may be bought out) will be on to A1GP. The bear thinks they’re getting some support from that series, which would like to raise its North America profile and get its USA round back.

Stuff the Bear cain’t figger out

Ok, sports fans. Murphy just appointed you the czar of GT racing. You’re wondering what to do with the classes in the face of declining (declined) GT1 fields. This occurs while GT2 fields are growing (the ALMS alone has eight brands involved). Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin, and Ferrari (who rarely agree on anything) come to you and say, “We think you should just leave GT2 ‘as is’ as the top GT class.”

The Bear asks, “Where do I sign?” What did the Rat say? “Sorry, I’ve got my own ideas.” What do you say?

And then there’s

The leap to a “World Championship,” with a bunch of “fly-away” races after multiple failures to get even one to “fly.” Has the FIA really signed onto this?

Prototypes 2009

Some in the paddock think the shake-up of the prototype classes is near. IMSA said its rules to make the twos competitive with the ones are “transitional.” Penske could be out of sports car racing next season – or might be Porsche’s P1 team. Weissach had a P1 on the test track when the ACO’s diesel rules trashed the program. Murphy said then that Porsche would finally field a P1. He hasn’t changed his mind.

What if instead of an Acura program split between two classes, they all go to P1? Then Acura only supports one car, just as HPD has intended from the start.

Then the factory programs (except Mazda) will have cleared out of LMP2, which IMSA and the ACO both want. The paddock poop is that an Ohio privateer that will lead a realignment of teams in the new season.

This just in

From the US partner of a GT team, “I already have a commitment that he (Dirk Werner) will have an experienced US factory driver with him full-time next year.” Interesting, but before you leap, there’s some information missing from that quote, isn’t there?

Cytotalk

After a spring and summer of empty announcements, Murphy’s hesitant to predict an appearance. With that reservation, the Bear’s now been told that in fact you can expect “the juice to be loose” at PLM.

More PLM – three, four, or five coupes?

The baseline is Peugeot (2) and B-K Motorsports (one Lola-Mazda). Murphy shares the hope for a Lola-Aston Martin, but a coupe from Morning Racing is more likely. (That’s the Bear’s riddle for this issue.)

Tags: Acura, Andretti Green, Intersport, Katherine Legge, Porsche, Ratel

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 5:03 pm and is filed under Paddock Poop. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.