Infineon and other places and races
There’s a rumor out there that the ALMS is “close” to an agreement to return to Infineon Raceway (Sears Point for you purists and old folks) in 2011.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma City’s council has authorized “negotiations” to obtain a 2011 ALMS street race – following in the tradition, Murphy supposes, of Miami, Trois Rivieres, Houston, Detroit, and St. Pete. More about such things from the Bear’s friends here at The Last Turn Clubhouse.
When the Bear wrote in Paddock Poop 136, back on August 19 that, “St. Petersburg will be missing from the 2010 schedule, but (surprising even to the Bear) it’s rumored that Infineon will be back.” St. Pete officially disappeared soon after, but the Infineon deal didn’t come together in time for the California track to make the 2010 schedule. It still hasn’t, but it’s rumored that it will, soon. Perhaps.
But perhaps not. Grand Am is also intent on returning to Sonoma. In fact, the Daytona Beach series, in another rumor, also it will be back at Sear Point soon.
But take heart, Braselburgers. Grand Am may be about to catch the street race disease. In Daytona’s case the idea seems to have taken root in the disappointment over its anemic race attendance. In the all-too-common “it-can’t-be-our-product” delusion that management in all endeavors suffers from, the theory is circulating in Florida that fans don’t want to travel to traditional road course tracks. It’s “just too far.” The solution? City-center street courses for Grand Am. Some at the World Center of Racing even think the Prototurtles might eventually return to Long Beach. The Bear’s convinced that there’s nothing like a string of “Festivals of Speed” to screw up a race series.
In the heart of Cheese Country
The Bear mentioned the ALMS’s “official cheese,” Yancey’s Fancy, in Paddock Poop 157. Since, then, Murphy (and his readers) has been eager to know how this important new would be received by the press and the racing community. The immediate reaction was ambiguous, to say the least. At the announcement press conference at Sebring, heard in the cheap seats occupied by the assembled sports car racing journalists (hand picked for their loyalty) was an incredulous whispered, “Did he say official cheese?” That was before the unveiling of the cheese sculpture of our dearly-departed Panoz LMGT.
The real cheese aficionados, to be found, ironically , around Road America, long a host (although not very enthusiastically) of the series, were miffed, to say the least. They accuse the “official cheese” of not being real cheese at all, but rather cheese curds, a creamery by-product, even though they grudgingly admit it’s a tasty morsel. A native of Dairyland USA affectionately refers to them as cheese turds.
It all sets up for a big dust-up come August, since the Bear’s been reliably informed by a source who grew up playing with toy sports cars virtually on the shore of Elkhart Lake it’s illegal to be in possession of non-Wisconsin cheese north of Waukegan, Illinois or east of Minneapolis. Don’t be surprised to see Wisconsin cows (they’re the ornery ones; the happy cows are in California) picketing the Road America gates.
So has the wine and cheese series become the tequila and milk by-product series?
Not that George and his band of merry boys (and girls) at Road America are much affected by any of this. Big George’s marketing campaign last year consisted of a video that spent ten minutes on the attractions of golf cart scavenger hunts (seriously) and club racing events before it ever got around to mentioning there were actually spectator events at North America’s most revered road racing track. The season ticket mailer featured photos of little SCCA racers that looked like Malibu Grand Prix cars, doing nothing to convey this was a place where one might actually find professional racing. The Bear got his 2010 mailer a couple of weeks ago. The feature this time? NASCAR. Seriously. On the other side it’s got a 1969 Can Am picture of a dead guy and Augie Pabst, Jr.
Murphy got his second mailer, with ticket prices, today. The American Le Mans Series is still buried in the “also running” column. But it always has been. The dead guy Mustang reunion at the urinal weekend seems to be the feature event. The only thing about the ALMS weekend that’s big is the price. The most on the Series’ schedule, more than Sebring, way more than Laguna Seca. The same as Road America’s NASCAR Nationwide, and more than the big faucet weekend featuring the dead guy’s reunion. And they wonder why they don’t draw flies?
With the Wisconsin track drawing a paltry 40,000 in three days last season – only Utah was worse – can it last long on the ALMS calendar? The geniuses at Grand Am will tell you it’s hopeless – too far from Chicago. Murphy will be there in August, anyway. Look for him at the track, at Siebken’s or, if you want to steep yourself real cheesehead culture, at the Commercial Break in Neenah.
Audi Angst
The Bear’s Thesaurus lists “tormet” as an “angst” near-synonym, which is the least fans at Sebring are going to feel with new Audi R15′s, ready for the 2010 season, on track in Monday-Tuesday test sessions at Sebring. It turns out that Murphy’s source that they would actually enter was closer than we thought. In fact, given the build-test schedule there’s been every reason to think they could and should. Fans of a sport are usually benefitted by bitter rivalries, but not when they can just not show up. Most sports have enough leverage through their organizing bodies – leagues, conferences, etc. – to enforce participation. That’s even true in motorsport at the highest levels.
The Bear’s friend Marshall Pruett says over on speedtv.com that he’s be “saddened” to see them on track at Sebring but not racing in the 12 Hours. Murphy would use a different word to describe this circus.
Jaguar building
Rocket Sports’ shop was pushing hard – working long hours – to complete a second Jaguar before Sebring, but the best guess is that it won’t make it.
Lola Ferrari
Murphy hears Lola’s building an LMP 1 to be powered by a Ferrari engine from the defunct A1GP series. Bunches of the powerplants are available at South African businessman Tony Teixeira’s liquidation sale. The Bear’s trying to figure out how the motors will work, since they’re 4.5 liters. Will they be destroked to 3.4? Did they originate in a non-racing Ferrari, so they can be homologated under the GT loophole? Or will the Lola actually be powered by the 3.4 liter Zytek used in A1GP’s inaugural season? Don’t look for the new Lola to make it to the USA, though; this is an LMS-oriented project.
In other Ferrari news, a new Grand Am GT looks more likely to debut in Virginia than in Alabama. To further confuse the anoraks, it’s a Prep 2 with a Ferrari-built unit-body chassis (making it a real Ferrari to collectors). So much for simple definitions of the Grand Am rules.
Driving Corvettes
With changes in Team Corvette’s chauffeur ranks widely expected in 2011, the Bear is looking beyond “the usual suspects.” A new whole-schedule Team Corvette driver may be known at the highest levels, but remains “under the radar.” He (or she) may not be among those identified as a 2010 enduro “third.”
Who is Scott Tucker and What is Westfund?
Murphy has no idea.
The Color of Money
A color no one is seeing much of in road racing these days. The Bear’s pretty sure that ALMS – after a real good season as recently as 2008 – is flirting with red ink. Loosing series sanctions doesn’t help, and the manufacturers that once played Sugar Daddy are gone, replaced by cheese, tequila, pearls, and personal lubricants (ok, G-Oil is for motors, but Murphy just can’t help himself). Meanwhile, he’s hearing that the boys in Daytona were $2 million upside down for 2009. IRL is believed by many (including some who should know) to be a financial disaster hanging by a thread. Is everything going to be silhouette roundy-round racing?
Dithering
The gang that can’t shoot straight finally got around to issuing a butanol bulletin today, and they approved it provisionally, with a 30 kilo penalty for the firs two races…that might be continued…or might not.
If they really wanted an alternate fuel they’d have made a definitive decision soon after the close of the 2009 season, allowing teams and manufacturers to make plans, obtain sponsorships, and test. Who the hell needs teams to have sponsorships, anyway? Who the hell wants to promote alternate fuels? Not the “Leader Green Racing.”
Anyone give Dyson Racing’s Mazda a chance at Sebring? Or perhaps they won’t be running butanol after all, since the boneheaded treatment of the fuel in the last two races of 2009 has already driven off BP.
(Murphy adds a note: As has become usual, this bulletin was reissued the next day, adding language after “approved for use” in LMP-LMP1-LMP2 only.)
Dead Horse Department
The Bear sadly watched (and provided some insight into) USF1’s failure. He’d rather now let it go, but Mr. Anderson’s interview requires some comment. The captain of this ship is blaming the FIA, FOTA, Bernie, Max, an unknown lost sponsor and just about everybody except himself. Nonsense. He says the car was “on track” until mid-January. Hogwash. He thinks USF1 has a chance to be on the 2011 grid. Horsefeathers.
Look for the Bear’s Annual Sebring Punter’s Guide soon.
Follow Murphy on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Murphythebear
Tags: Audi R15, butanol, Dyson Racing, Ferrari, FIA, FOTA, G-Oil, Grand Am, Infineon, IRL, Ken Anderson, Laguna Seca, Lola, Mazda, NASCAR, Nationwide, Oklahoma City, Road America, Scott Tucker, Siebken's, The Color of Money, The Commercial Break, USF1, Westfund
Forgive me if I’m misunderstanding, but… Brian Redman’s not dead-is he???
The event is the Ford Mustang Marque Mark Donohue Reunion; it is part of the Kohler International Challenge with Brian Redman.
Mark Donohue is dead. I think.
So, Mr. Bear,
What do you really think is going on, thumbing noses at sanctioning bodies and competitors, or? This whole Audi thing is turning into a kind of real “in your face” thing, me thinks.
I don’t think Audi is “thumbing its nose” at ALMS because I don’t think it accords ALMS even that much notice. I think that with their Teutonic efficiency they have calculated what matters and how much, and they have decided that ALMS is unworthy of their notice.
No malice, just math: what can ALMS do for them, what can it cost to get involved, what is their goal, and what do they need to do to achieve that goal? ALMS in no way helps them achieve their goal and offers nothing to compensate for the cost. Therefore it is not considered.
We are the bush-league upstarts who can’t keep one road-racing series alive and has two. We are the folks who think going in circles is the best racing in the world.
I think Audi plans for Audi, and ALMS doesn’t help Audi’s plan.
Is Trottet Racing is involved in this Lola Ferrari project?
“We are the bush-league upstarts who can’t keep one road-racing series alive and has two.”
Bush league upstarts? Road racing outside of one race , “The Rat” as the Bear calls him, and a joke of a series called the International Sportsracer Series/Sportsracer World Cup/FIA Sports Car Championship over on the other continent. The American Le Mans Series if nothing else set the standard that the Le Mans Endurance Series is now run at.
What’s happening with Sebring, Audi, and Peugeot, is typical of when you have participants that look abroad and only look at a race as a means to the end instead of the end itself: winning. Le Mans is the greatest sportscar race in the world bar none, and that makes the benefits of winning at Sebring cannot compare to the potential cost of losing at Le Mans, but when that’s how sportscars operate, you’re going to be marginalized, and that’s what has happened there. It’s the single most fundamental reason why sportscar will never become a top auto racing endeavor is because of cherry picking that the supposedly “best” operate in. That’s the strong thing about having cars that are focused on North America alone and don’t even bother with Le Mans: Sebring is their great race or one of them and they wouldn’t dare miss it as opposed to treating it as a grandiose test. Yeah, Le Mans is a great race, but it’s over in France. I don’t live in France, I’m not going to go there, I’m here, this is where I live, and this is the races I can attend are here, predominantly Sebring.