Duncan and Acura (or something else)
It appears that all the P2 Acuras except one of Duncan’s will campaign in Europe in 2010. If Duncan doesn’t run his, the Bear hasn’t heard that anyone else will, either. There are multiple rumors around Mr. Dayton’s plans, and they certainly weren’t all settled by a recent DSC interview. The Danbury, Connecticutt, team’s been rumored to be running an Acura LMP1, an LMP2, and a Peugeot. All that might depend on what the time frame is for Duncan’s Le Mans dream – in which he wins. If he plans to use that auto entry, it has to be in the same class; that lets out P2, right? If the ARX-01b doesn’t have particularly good high end aero (it doesn’t), the ARX-02a is nothing short of hopeless – say nothing of trying to win overall with a naturally aspirated 4 liter engine. Absent a really good Wirth Le Mans aero package (one was rumored) and a whole boatload of testing, if Duncan goes to Le Mans with Acura, it won’t be to win. On the other hand, if he does a deal with Peugeot…
If you take winning Le Mans out of the picture, the Peugeot rumor fades into oblivion, and you take Dayton at face value that another Acura season is in the cards – completely independent of Acura. We get that HPD is going to lease engines – but what about chassis and body spares?
The Bear would put an Acura engine in a Lola and be done with it.
The Reign in Spain?
Murphy hears Penske is testing something from Aichi in Spain.
Brumos
Regardless of previous rumors (and the arrest of a driver/principal source of cash), it seems Brumos is intent on continuing its Grand Am DP adventures. The team recently held a “gong show” at VIR for three different car combinations. The first, a Coyote with a V-8 Porsche motor, had a part failure and crash. A Riley with a V-8 Porsche was also crashed by driver David Donohue, and another Riley blew up it’s flat six motor. ‘Inconclusive” was the conclusion (The Bear prefers “disastrous.”) “I guess it gives the Brumos guys something to do over the winter. Unfortunately all the contestants got the gong.” chuckled the Bear’s source.
Ferrari
Scott Tucker was out testing Dinan-built Ferrari motors options, the largest of which is a 4.3 liter V8. All will be on the short end of the torque curve against the bigger American V8s in the series. Regardless, a Ferrari-powered DP will be on the Daytona grid. It will be joined at Daytona by an F430, with an expectation of more GT entries later in the season – five cars will be built.
Murphy was reminded that “it’s private property” when he saw a lavender Lambo being wheeled around an iconic Florida track by someone whose body type is more suited to NFL linebacker than race car driver. (Then again, football isn’t the family business, is it?) In an on-site boutique of Ferrari stuff, our linebacker wiped out about half the inventory. No wonder Porsche’s cooled a bit on the World Center’s-very-own-sports-car-racing-series. It also makes the point that there’s no “iconic” like “Ferrari iconic,” and that you might waste a lot of cachet by taking the motor out of the piece of sculpture it came in. Which would be the argument not to do what Scott Tucker is working on.
F1 Follies (a semi-regular Poop feature)
Look for Renault to make it nearly unanimous by leaving F1; then we’ll be back to the “traditional two” – Ferrari and Mercedes. Remember when (September 30) the Bear told you the Germans would dump McLaren in favor of Brawn? Now it’s happened, with the three-pointed star “doing a Bimmer” and buying out the independent team inherited from Honda’s pull-out a year ago. A little “bear math” says Ross Brawn made £29,999,000 on the deal – how’s that for a one year return on £1?
New FIA boss Jean Todt is looking for a place for an old friend, but first he wants to get some administrative experience for him. All of which is related to the Bear’s upcoming field trip.
Too quiet? What about 2010?
Spec LMP’s are in the ACO’s plans for the LMS. Murphy’s heard concerns about shrinking fields – that the ACO’s convinced there will be no – minimal – manufacturer participation next season.
The bear isn’t yet ready to speculate on the 2010 ALMS field. Thus far, the rumor mill has been way too quiet, as if nothing is going on. For instance, following rumors of three or four likely sales, only Intersport confirmed an LMPC purchase and named one of two drivers.
Creation advertised (via another of those “interviews” in which nothing new is revealed) for a funded driver (déjà vu). Peugeot said they’ll be at Sebring. It’s Mazola times two – again – for Dyson. No indication whether the Muscle Milk king will expand his schedule – just the assumption he’ll be back in some capacity. Aston Martin? There was a Charouz interview in which the big news was “I can’t say anything about Sebring or Petit Le Mans.” (You just did, Antonin, but good try taking a page from Janko.)
We know about a pair of Patrón-Sharp GT2 Ferraris, and a likely Risi reprise (with no North American place to race it, they’ve canned any idea of an MC12). One more Flying Lizard season seems likely; if Pat Long has the inside story, there might be two teams running four BMW’s – Schnitzer being the punter’s favorite for the second. The Ford-help-for-Robertson story had no legs. Nothing new from Audi – technicians say they’ve been working on a Sebring entry, while management is mum.
There are Toyota and Nissan rumors – as always. Murphy’s not sayin’ they’re without substance, but, jus’ sayin’… The best informed pundits believe that Toyota will take at least a single season without making any new racing move. Nissan might be interested in something in North America based on its FIA GT1 car, but the 2010 budget has no line item. Maybe 2011?
Coming up
Murphy’s off on a road trip later in the week; all about that in his next Poop.
Look for the Bear’s Christmas quiz. Details (including a very special Grand Prize) in this space soon.
Tags: Acura, Aston Martin, BMW, Brawn, Brumos, Creation, Duncan Dayton, Ferrari, Grand Am, Highcroft Racing, Intersport, Jean Todt, McLaren, Mercedes, Nissan, Pat Long, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Robertson Racing, Roger Penske, Schnitzer, Scott Sharp, Toyota, Wirth Engineering
Thanks for the Poop! Say it ain’t so! A Ferrari-engined DP? I can BEARLY keep my breakfast down. Duncan shouldn’t have to worry about spare body parts now that Scott has moved on. There will be a run on F430 parts, however. (smile) What’s Porsche’s plan for their excellent DP drivers? My guess is Europe unless another Porsche team suddenly appears in the ALMS. I don’t think Seth is ready to give up his seat in favor of a pro … and he shouldn’t. I really thought Patron would end up ALMS title sponsor but where they are presently is just fine.
haha glad you dug up the information murph on the level 5 dp, I told you I was not crazy. It helps when you hang out with the right mechanics at the runoffs.
According to Google, Aichi makes aerial bucket trucks and other heavy lifting equipment.
If Penske is testing their equipment, does that mean their DP rolled over and they have to pick it up again, or was their some announcement about the new US Bucket Truck racing series that I missed?
Or, maybe Roger needs one for some secret plot to get his good buddy, the crooked former Mayer of Detroit lifted out of jail
While the bear may not be as smart as the “movers and shakers”, I’m not nearly so tuned in as the Bear! A bit off topic, but what ever happened to the Dome S102? Looked like a heck of a car a few years ago. Is it still legal and for how long? Would love to see it dusted off if it can run, though not likely. Thanks for all the great info and great call on the 30th sept!
Murphy
The ALMS fans forum says it all
UKRACER
321start: Aichi is also a Province in Japan.