If Murphy hadn’t been writing these columns since July 2005, you might think he was a full time Bad Nooz Bear. But regular readers know he hasn’t usually been that – except about Champ Car, that is. I mean, hell, if Crane, Poole, and Schmidt is bankrupt, then well…can race series get TARP money? Read on…
Deja vu
In November 2007, Murphy was reporting bad news from the Champ Car paddock. A year later – this time more the economy than the bumbling three Amigos – the IndyCar paddock is no happy place, either. Bobby lost his corn farmer sponsors, and told Ryan’s looking for other opportunities. Justin Wilson and Oriol Servia are likewise on the market.
Surfer’s is gone, and Team Australia will go with it. That costs Will Power his KV Racing seat, and may put KV out the door, too.
Marco hasn’t signed with dad. Moving on could be a good career move. Roger is quietly looking for Helio’s replacement. Marco’s grandpa drove for Roger. Can singer-dancer-yeahbaby Julianne drive?
Where are Walker, Forsythe, and Conquest? When “…if funding can be found…” is in the story, it doesn’t mean much. For Eric Bachelart and Conquest it’s been a struggle since the short-lived ‘partnership’ with Opus Prime, Ltd, which collapsed of it’s own megalomania – and dumb real estate deals. Bachelart provided support for LNT’s Ginetta Zytek at Petit, and said nice things about the series. Of course he did. But, he still needs to wrap up a sponsorship deal for IRL, then maybe one for ALMS? Hello! Forsythe? The former Amigo threw away a big fortune in Champ Car, and only has the stomach for losing a small one now, so he opted to race Eddie Cheever’s left-over DP stuff at Daytona. After that, everything is still in “sponsor search mode,” Walker has been the leading purveyor big plans, but all with that funding sentence that makes them meaningless.
Racing Toppers
Across the board in motorsports it looks like tough times. Title sponsor opportunities for IRL are deader than a mackerel. The on-life-support truck racing series got Camping World more for face-saving than real cash. Murphy may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer, but how much can a motor home dealer fork over in this market? Maybe it makes sense. If we can’t afford a motor home, perhaps a camper top for the pick-em-up truck?
Toyota and GM
Want to know why Toyota didn’t announce a Le Mans program on the weekend? Because for now, at least, all racing programs – F1 included – are under review at the automaker.
It’s actually better for the GT2 program at GM. The Bear’s been told that it’s full speed ahead with design, build, and test at Pratt & Miller. The quote (in contrast to Toyota), “the Corvette Racing program will not be reviewed.”
The Fantom Program
Recurring rumors of a new entrant have taken on many versions since the boss’ comment and a Hindy mention earlier this year. Was it one or two? GT or prototype? A new manufacturer or new team? A new GT2 entrant, probably a new brand or model, if not a new manufacturer, was the story that the Bear heard most often around the paddock. Just about every possibility was trotted out by someone. At one time or another, Mustang, Nissan, Audi’s R8, Lexus, Hyundai, Kia, Lamborghini and Jaguar have all made the list. Later, each in turn has dropped out of favor in the glare of reality.
The Mustang program, which included Multimatic development and testing in Europe has settled into a GT3-only effort. Likewise, Audi will announce that its R8 will land in the GT3 ranks. Lexus may have considered a revival of its aborted GT2S, but no longer, the Bear’s been told. Nissan is dumping its trade shows, and its on-again, off-again interest in racing the GT-R is off-again. There’s been some noise from and about Lamborghini from Europe, but it’s FIA, not ACO. As Murphy has observed before, Hyundai and Kia have been an equal mix of hope and outright fantasy. Jaguar? PG has been haunting paddocks. At Laguna Seca he had on a bright, crisp new-looking Jaguar shirt, but that could just as easily have come from the back of his closet. There’s been some hope – and some consternation – for this one in Braselton. All-in-all, the cat remains the odds-on favorite to be the new entrant…if there is one.
Tar Heel Trouble
Meanwhile, in North Carolina Ganassi and DEI merged, then laid off 100. Cat went to Childress (which lost AT&T) from Bill Davis, who laid off 45. As of this week less than 43 Sprint Cup teams – the number recently needed for a full grid – have full season funding for 2009. That explains why NASCAR cut the max grid size to 36, of course. Tricky, aren’t they?
Lime Green
A popular color for Porsches in the Seventies, not so much since. A rumor of green Spyders? Not in the paddock, it wasn’t. Spyders testing lately? Nope.
Back to School
The shift of center-of-gravity to a community college in the colonies continues for an Oxford team with a Yankee owner. Some have doubts, but even if it isn’t on a North American grid the prototype builder will be in a course catalogue.
A turbo coupe – for sure
The tenacity with which some fans hold on to what they wish for is amazing. A few rumors and the forum frenzy takes over. Pretty soon the new car is a turbo coupe for sure, and even with photos of the car on the track won’t change minds.
More Might be Less, even in Paradise
There is what you can see, and what you cannot. The visible commitment of some companies’ racing programs can increase or appear stable, while funding not readily visible to fans is cut. Braselton’s going to take a pretty big hit from a couple of big names and a bunch of little ones.
A Christmas Tradition
Unfortunately layoffs have been one of them, and this Holiday Season is no exception. They started in earnest among NASCAR teams as soon as the last checkered flag flew, and they’re spreading through the larger racing community like a silent tsunami. No team, series, constructor, or supplier is immune. Races will be dropped. For Grand Am, Mexico City is already history. How can the trucks race 25 times? Or even once?
The Grid
A prominent team manager says, “I expect the 2009 grid to be 18-19 entries.” Murphy’s not entirely sure of that. Connor the Beaver observed, “pretty optimistic…” The way things are, sports fans, declarations of intent won’t clear the bank, and to get on our grid, you can’t be “looking for a sponsor,” or in the “if funding is available” category. So, let’s try to figure it out:
In P1, you’ve got two Audis and two Acuras. Autocon looks good – Ol’ Mike says so, and that’s good enough for this Bear. Rumor has it that Intersport “ordered a Lola tub,” but with Richard taking one car (and spares), the other wrecked (and owned by someone else anyway), and it’s hard to put the Dublin, Ohio team down as a firm entry. PrimeTime is looking for funding…enough said. (Correction: PrimeTime is hoping to put the Zytek in P2, so Murphy can use the Latin for ”six.” If you read this before, you know that the Bear is very much math-challenged.) We’ll count on Steve Pruitt to put Corsa on the grid. That’s sex. Latin, right? Finis.
P2, Dyson will be there with two Mazda coupes, but they (and others) won’t be overjoyed if IMSA follows the ACO down the road of new aero rules that will require design, new parts, wind tunnel work and testing, all costs at the worst possible time. Is the ACO really that stupid? Any rule changes that require any increased expense are so bone-headed in this environment as to leave a little bear speechless. Oh, sorry…back to the topic. Add Fernandez with an Acura ARX-01c. Three.
Is GT1 worth even writing about? No.
GT2 is expected to save the day, but will it? If that’s the case, Murphy hopes there will be no GT1 “car show” entries noodling around, stealing some of the spotlight.
We’ll have two Flying Lizard Porsches and two Farnbacher Loles porkers. The Bear’s not convinced that VICI will be around. Nickie and Frankie haven’t said so, and VICI runs on OPM…other people’s money – like every good pro race team. The Robertson’s are going to bring back a Ford, and the Bear’s hoping that Andrea’s hubby Dave finds the pace she’s got. Rahal will field two BMWs. Guiseppi will field one Ferrari, not one and a half. Count Krohn for a part time entry. Tafel will grid one Ferrari. Lord Drayson is gone. Black Swan? There’s that funding thing. Panoz and PTG? Perhaps. At Laguna Seca, “proposals were out.” If Primetime can’t get the prototype funded, Murphy suspects they won’t fall back to the Viper. What about the Riley-built Corvette? Funding is much harder to find now than it was in during the 2008 season, so…
Before Mid-Ohio, when Corvette joins the fray, that’s nine entries.
Is it surprising that we’ve accounted for eighteen, just as predicted by our team manager?
Michael Delaney was an idiot
“When you’re racing, it’s life. Anything that happens before or after is just waiting.” That’s the much over-used line from the iconic film Le Mans. It really is a stupid thought, though. Just about everything is more important than racing. This is a hard time for Murphy. His friend Jeannie passed away a year ago, on November 29. He said farewell, here, and over the past year this remembrance, with two galleries, has remained on the front page of Last Turn Clubhouse.
This Thanksgiving, hug the ones close to you, They are truly all that matters, and may not always be there.
Tags: Audi, Corvette, GM, Jaguar, Le Mans, Marco, Mazda, Rahal, Toyota, Will Power
Is the potential Primetime Zytek going to be a P1 or P2? I think Chris Hall had mentioned it being a P2, but Murphy has it under the list of P1 maybes here.
I’d like to answer one question for you Murphy, although it was probably rhetoric in nature, but, Yes, the ACO is that stupid.
On the other hand, I managed a wave at Petit, maybe I’ll get that picture I’d like in March. So true is your last quote. I’ll raise a glass of wine tomorrow for you, that Tom guy, and Jeannie. I’m sure the paddock she’s prowling is in much better shape than ours.