Archive for December, 2008

105. The Best of Times – Murphy Reflects on 2008

Tuesday, December 30th, 2008

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way.” –Charles Dickens–

Murphy’s 2008 was a landmark year, perhaps – he hopes not – a year in which he saw a high water mark in his favorite sport. (more…)

104. The Grinch Returns

Monday, December 22nd, 2008

Murphy tried. Tried hard to give y’all a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Racing Year, too. The Bear’s sorry to tell you his optimism is once again overtaken by reality. Here’s a Grinch-like story for all you little Whos in Whoville. (more…)

103. le meilleur des mondes possibles – Gottfried Leibniz, 1710

Thursday, December 18th, 2008

Murphy’s projections of the 2009 American Le Mans Series grid have been among the most pessimistic in this silly season. Braselton, and a few scribes close to the Broadway Avenue palace, have insisted all along that there will be “mid twenties” on the grid at every stop, and sometimes more. One IMSA insider said the series expected an “average grid of 30 entries.” At the other end of the range, the Bear quoted one participant who put the likely full-season entries at 18.

Murphy doesn’t want to always play the Grinch, so he dug around a bit to try to find those entries. (more…)

102. Spyder Comeback? (denied) No IMSA Help for P1 Privateers. Automotive Collateral Damage?

Saturday, December 13th, 2008

Good Nooz Department. The widely anticipated Dyson Racing Mazola announcement More good news in P2 below. (more…)

101. Acura Up or Down? More Porsches. Aero Balance. The Bear Loses it (over engines).

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

The Porsche GT2 field – for Sebring and beyond – seems to be growing.

The Bear hasn’t been very positive about VICI Racing in the 2009 season; after all, they didn’t do a full season in 2008, and rarely fielded the hoped-for two cars. But they are reported to have entered two cars at Sebring, and are expected in some quarters to contest the remainder of the season.

The report of a Falken-sponsored Porsche 911 GT3 has been ‘confirmed’ by a second source, so we’ll now put that one in the ‘probable’ column. (more…)