Sebring and Petit Le Mans will  be different, not just in degree, but in kind, from the other races on the American Le Mans Series schedule in that they will run ACO classes to ACO class rules. That means that LMP-1 and 2, and GT-1 and 2 entrants will be required to adhere to the French club’s weight, restrictor, and aerodynamic rools for Le Mans, the Le Mans Series, and the Intercontinental Cup. The principle impact is to keep the prototype classes – such as they are – separated.

The new IMSA spec classes – LMP-C, and GT-C – will be allowed to compete alongside the “official” ACO-recognized racers (a version of LMP-C will also be allowed by the LMS this season).

Murphy has been given the best thinking, speculation, and inside knowledge of all his elves. That still leaves more than one ‘gap,’ but for now, here is the consensus of the Bear’s forest creature friends (aka elves).

LMP-P (Peugeot Class) – Barring a change of heart because of a lack of competition, Peugeot is in. Given they are the cause of no competition, having vetoed an ACO-accepted “interim” Audi, the Bear expects the Frogs to show. This is worse than Audi’s diesel domination, occurring years after the diesel advantage should have been resolved, and in a race in which competition (Audi) was possible, but rejected due to Peugeot’s narrow self-interest and the lack of balls in Georgia. The Frogs will score a meaningless – perhaps Pyrrhic – victory. One of the Bear’s elves took exception to that, writing “There are no meaningless wins at Sebring.” Murphy sees his point, and agrees given Sebring’s historic place in racing, so he’ll put it this way: If the political leverage of an entrant could render Sebring less than it should be, this is it. If the current care-takers of this race – ALMS/IMSA – had a sense of its importance (much greater than their own) they’d at least strongly protest. Audi could seize the moral high ground here, of course, by “facilitating” a Kolles entry (or two) of the R10 – a driver or two, a bit of engineering, etc., etc. – things they did with Champion.

LMP-1 – With the French diesels in their own race, LMP-1 is mostly left to privateers, three of which are confirmed or certain (Intersport, Drayson, and Autocon) one “maybe” (Corsa), and two “when hell freezes over”: Creation and an unidentified, but rumored, Lola Aston Martin (the latter having gone to a collector, according to the Bear’s best sources). Murphy leans toward expecting only the three currently “confirmed” privateer entries to make the Sebring grid. The Bear’s heard that Oreca may return to North America with a Sebring entry of its AIM-powered 01. What? Not the Peugeot 908 they have agreed to race in the LMS and alongside the factory entries at Le Mans? Not according to Murphy’s source, leaving the Bear scratching his furry head. He’ll rate this one just “possible.” That still leaves his likely LMP-1 (exclusive of diesels) entry at three.

LMP-2 – These will be the best of then non-diesel entries (again proving that absent artificially slowing these guys down, the prototype world is upside down). Highcroft, Dyson, and Cytosport will enter an Acura, Lola-Mazda, and Porsche Spyder each. Any or all of the three could enter a second car; Murphy’s odds on that are Highcroft 4-1 against, Dyson 2-1 (an elf rates this probable), and Cytosport 3-2, the latter’s better odds based on rumor of a direct interest by Porsche in adding a Spyder to a race they could well win overall (if the Peugeots find trouble along the way). A rumored OAK Racing Pescarolo falls into the Bear’s infamous “when hell freezes over,” category. On balance then, Murphy thinks we might end up with (figuring, in his usual optimistic way, that one of the “big three” will be able to field a second car) four total LMP-2 entries.

Total “legitimate” prototypes on the grid will be nine.

GT-1 – Won’t be any.

GT-2 – (Except for Sebring and Petit, just “GT”) Corvette will be there, as will BMW, Porsche and Ferrari, each represented by a sort-of-quasi-more-or-less-factory team, Pratt & Miller for Corvette, Rahal Letterman Racing for BMW, Flying Lizards for Porsche, and Risi Competizione for Ferrari. Of those the “less” in terms of factory participation/support Ferrari, and the “more” is Corvette. Those “premier” teams account for 7 entries, and are “confirmed.” Also certain-to-be on hand are three more Ferraris (2 Sharp’s Extreme team, and 1 AF Corse), a Falken Porsche, and a Robertson Ford. Some of the elves count Rocket Sport’s Cat as a sure thing, but the Bear isn’t entirely convinced. There have been rumors of significant (and expensive) homologation problems. He’ll call it “probable.” The Black Swan Porsche is a “maybe” – Murphy thinks there’s an even chance they’ll land in GT Challenge instead. There’s rumor of an unidentified Porsche floating around, too ephemeral to get above “doubtful” in the Bear’s pantheon. Twelve, then, one probable, two less likely. Taken together, perhaps 13 starters?

So, before we get to the spec/club racer specials, the Sebring field totals just 22.

The field filler doesn’t add much – aesthetically or numerically. In LMP Challenge, four are “possible,” but only one (Intersport) is “confirmed” thus far, and even in that case the Bear’s waiting for the Ohio team to name a second driver-with-a-budget. (Murphy’s heard Richard Berry has finally sold his Lola and assorted parts to the Fields, however.) None of the others (Comprent, Genoa, and Gunnar) can be considered to be firm entries; two of three would seem likely. Three on the grid, then.

GT Challenge? That’s an interesting question. Remember this class is made up of racers that originally set out to do a few short sprints in a one-driver, one-make series. Sebring’s 12 hours is a huge jump. Murphy’s been told to expect something closer to the low side of an entry rumored to be between 5 and 9. Other imput – from an “insider” – says the self imposed limit of 10 will be fully subscribed. Professional prevaricator he is, the Bear will go with 7.

So there you have it. Twenty-two cars based on last year’s classes – the structure we’ve had for about a decade. Add the “new stuff,” (field filler of little interest, at least to Bears) and you’ve got 32; just one more than the Bear predicted about this time in 2009. Only 26 actually started that 2009 race – Murphy told you he’s the eternal optimist. Whether the “filler” keeps the 58th Annual 12 Hours of Sebring from being a disaster is an individual judgment. The Bear knows what he thinks.

Around the Paddock

With a lousy ALMS entry anticipated, the potential for a strong LMS entry is striking. What gives? Is the economy worse here than in Europe? (Not really.) Is the ALMS’ “green” initiative hurting rather than helping (Their European cousins are still promoting great racing, so probably.) Does the North American sports car endurance “split” continue to hurt? (Undoubtedly, according to European Car’s motorsport editor in its January issue, “Something’s gotta give, as the saying goes. As CART and the IRL have shown, nothing lasts forever. Both GA and the ALMS have seen their grid numbers fall considerably… Insiders expect both series to chug along but eventually the bottom line will force the issue.”)

The Bear hears rumblings of infighting amongst the Braselburgers, undoubtedly symptomatic of declining fields and finances, particularly in critical television-related revenues (including “wrap-around” contracts with manufacturers).

The new guy in charge of IMSA rools side of things is riling teams and others over what’s to be done with/to prototypes in 2010. Not just disagreement with content, but failure to consider teams’ input, and now delay in getting the rools settled.

There’s growing disaffection amongst Sebring fans with the stewardship of Sebring in recent years. The ACO marginalized its importance in regard to Le Mans by selecting its field before the Florida classic’s green flag. With its preoccupation with being green, logos, and cute lights in the sides of cars, the ALMS has presided over a steady decline in Sebring fields. That will be just one of the things that bites its butt in this and coming seasons.

Follow Murphy on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/Murphythebear

With Le Mans behind us – an perhaps too much time on everyone’s hands – the rumors of a Grand Am-ALMS merger/acquisition came roaring back. A.C. surreptitiously met with Murphy at a Daytona watering hole, dutifully reported by the Bear in  130. Shocking news at a Clandestine Meeting.

Soon after, Grand Am sources added even more information, even as Miller abandoned the story. Finally, ALMS reacted, a source telling the Bear the whole thing was a disinformation campaign floated from Daytona, something the Braselburgers claimed was a regular tactic of their Florida antagonists. 

All that blew over by mid-month (except for SA’s “We’re Not For Sale” button at Lime Rock), so Murphy turned to the soap opera in F1 with a story about Bernie’s ouster. That was, it seems, premature.

At Lime Rock a rumor surfaced of an “equivalency” formula for DP’s, reported in Murphy’s after-Lime Rock Paddock Poop 132. Ultimately that went nowhere, but the real story behind it was likely the addition to the ALMS field of the spec LMPC’s. Just about the same thing for many endurance sports car fans. They look better than DP’s but are just as much – no, more – outside the historical spirit of the sport.

There was also a great deal of “background noise” about ALMS finally dropping GT1 (which had already been “a dead man walking” for years) and re-combining LMP (they’d achieved that finally in a 2008 season that will likely go down as the high water mark of the series before (stupidly) abandoning it in 2009. The two-class thing turned out to be correct, of course, but Panoz, chasing revenue rather than racing, screwed it up by adding two spec classes back in.

The race wasn’t bad, but the highlight of Murphy’s Lime Rock trip was Red Molly at Bodle’s Opera House in Chester, New York.

At the end of the month in 133. PLM prospects. What next for BMW? the Bear considered the likelihood that Audi would finally join Peugeot at Petit Le Mans – he thought they would, but ominously also wrote that, “More important, Audi is by no means committed to the ALMS in 2010, but an improving economy and settling the “Mouse and Elephant thing” with Porsche clears the decks for a return. Unfortunately, some are saying that full ALMS seasons will come to an end if a seven race (with Le Mans) “world championship” of sorts happens. Manufacturers will get as much – or more - value from two appearances each in Europe, North America, and Asia, plus Le Mans. That’s the reasoning the Bear is hearing, anyway.”

Sadly, the Intercontinental Cup has since become reality, as has exactly what Murphy predicted based on what he was hearing. Audi has announced a PLM-only 2010 ALMS schedule, likely a permanent change for them and for any Porsche LMP that might come along, too. ALMS fans will need to resign themselves to a few “big” races, with the rest of them being decidedly “national” in character, their fields populated by mostly spec-racers.

Paddock Poop 133 brought the first news of a trash can for BMW’s F1 program, continuing delays for Rocketsport’s Jag, Farnbacher Loles hiring better mechanical talent (with other people’s money, of course), and a 1,000,000 visit milestone for Murphy and LTC.

August

On the 6th, in Paddock Poop 134. Murphy spilled the beans on Atherton’s upcoming confab at Road America:

“What he Knows (that you didn’t – until now)

“The American Le Mans Series will add a prototype class based on the ACO’s nascent Courage-Ford V-8 series. The prototypes, selling for $345,000 complete, will be built by EMT in Braselton. To control costs, engines will be sealed (and available only from EMT), only two sets of gears can be used (long and short circuit), and only a “small range” of springs can be used to modify set-up.”
Thus, in a stroke, and for PMG’s short term gain, the ALMS created the class that will kill it.

A few days later, the Bear told you Audi would be at Petit Le Mans (you had to think a little bit on that one…but just a little). Drayson’s purchase of a Judd-powered Lola coupe was in the same Poop, and Murphy told you the idea that de Ferran would field an ALMS team (along with an IRL team) was fanciful, to say the least.

Over two different columns the Bear (who’s not particularly technically inclined) garbled the Porsche weight “penalty.” In part, that was because he had a hard time believing that Porsche had the ACO so completely by the short hairs that it would do something so completely meaningless for a blatant and serious rule violation.

A.C. brought us up to date on the Evil Empire in “AntiTRUST Me,” reminding us that Henri Zogaib beat Greg Loles to the Ponzi Punch. Though the NASCAR crowd did pretty well keeping that one relatively quiet (so, too, is ALMS, Porsche and the ACO on Loles) it was likely a bigger cash take for the Daytona crook. Our erstwhile NASCAR correspondent backed off his earlier prediction that Grand Am would devour the ALMS in 2010 (but not much) when he wrote:

“I guess I ruffled a few feathers about NASCAR taking over Sebring and Road Atlanta next year (they don’t want Mosport because its too hard to learn to speak Canadian).  As mentioned above, NASCAR believes in fair competition, so instead of taking over Sebring and Road Atlanta, NASCAR will just wait for Darwin to finish the job, if you know what I mean.” Not sure about the rest of it, but the reason not to include Mosport in the deal rings true to Murphy.

A.C. told us a bit about the topics he’d deal with on his radio show (2-4 am on WZQU Ormond Beach, 1850 AM): “I am happy to talk about how Scott Pruett freed those journalists held in North Korea, or why the Riley DP is the most technically advanced prototype in the world, or how the Rolex Series has record crowds everywhere it races, or whether Enzyte really works.”

August brought word that the ALMS would be exclusively on Speed in the coming year; that changed later with the announcement of two CBS dates. Inexplicably, one is the 6-hour Monterey endure, delayed a week, an event uniquely suited to Speed. Are you going to hope they’ll do some quality editing? Murphy rates that chance slim and none.

The Bear told you Greg Loles would have Pratt & Miller build a pair of BMW’s for Grand Am, but he got the model wrong. He told you Farnbacher would split to concentrate on Ferraris in Europe. Horst knew something the rest of us didn’t. He told you St. Pete would be missing from the 2010 schedule, but also reported that Infineon was rumored to be back: 50%, then. He told you that Audi would not go on to Laguna Seca after Petit Le Mans.

Midweek Motorsport called Lord Drayson’s Lola Judd “a major new LMP effort.” For the Bear, who reported it a week earlier, it was still just a one-eyed old guy, but in faster hardware. It couldn’t be worse than blowing an engine a day in an Aston Martin GT2,, but it wouldn’t be much better, either.

Murphy thought the remaining Japan round of the Asian Le Mans Series would be cancelled. That was wishful thinking. It survived, morphing into a stop on the upcoming (and ill-advised) Intercontinental Cup.

Following leaks, interviews, and rumors to the contrary, the Bear was finally able to tell you, that “the on-again, off-again Panoz LMP is finally dead…including a recent Frankenstein-like reincarnation of the original 01.  Undeniably and reliably dead. Not only merely dead. Really, most sincerely dead! (Murphy’s thanks to his friends the Munchkins.)”

He plugged his friends over at sportscarpros.com in Paddock Poop 137, currently on another of its not-infrequent hiatuses. He’s told, however, that “Rumours of demise may be greatly exaggerated.” We all hope so.

September

On the 3rd of the month, Murphy took his first shot at the Petit Le Mans field, figuring the grid would fall between 29 and 33, with 31 likely starters.

He reported rumors that Grand Am’s DP fields would be depleted in 2010, including the departure of Brumos (though he included the contrarian rumor that Brumos would continue with a single Riley powered by the Cayenne V8). Also in Grand Am, he wrote that the Krohn-Lola dispute had hit a wall, and “…the big-time racing car builder and its oil magnate partner may be headed to court.”
The Bear got Camaros and Corvettes mixed up in a Grand Am GT story about a switch from Pontiac in 2010. Well, hell, it’s the same tuber chassis, anyway.

A.C. was off to Vegas, hoping to “recoup from the Zogaib debacle.” It didn’t help. He also wrote, “One day, fans will return to the Rolex 24. We don’t care about technology, or green racing, or Le Mans … Braselton will never defeat Daytona. That is a sure bet.” Though both are weak, could we see some trends in that direction in 2010? For the first time in a decade, Murphy thinks so.

The Don made one more “run,” trying to raise money for his “supercar,” the one we thought was “truly dead.” Mercifully, it went nowhere – again.

The Bear “took a shot” at the 2010 ALMS schedule; it was off the mark, with Monterey staying at the end, and Sonoma in May. Turns out of course that Sonoma was a no, and Monterey went to May. Perhaps the Don needs the party income at the Chateau?

NASCAR Vice President of Corporate Communications Jim Hunter was the designated attack dog on the American Le Mans Series for its proposed “Challenge Class” rules. In a lengthy blog, he called the ALMS’ new rules, “misguided,” and “counter-productive,” while accusing the Braselton-based race series of circulating “calculated misinformation and propaganda” to “undermine Grand Am’s success.” Pretty frantic stuff.

With the ACO floating new aero rules for 2010 that would make the R15 obsolete, and incur costs for others, Murphy opined that IMSA shouldn’t “commit hiri kuri with the French.” It did, of course. ACO/IMSA rules then exempted everyone else from the aero changes, making the net effect just the whacking of Audi from ALMS/LMS grids. A fine thank-you for decade of support – including millions of Ingolstadt cash into ALMS coffers.

At the end of the month, it was off to the North Georgia Mud Bowl (red mud at that). It not only rained Cats and Dogs, they were also seen celebrating in Paddy’s.
Murphy was the first to tell you that Mercedes would dump McLaren in favor of Brawn, and reviewed the rumors that would “rationalize” the VW-Audi-Porsche product line and racing programs. Time will tell.

The Bear said “the other Japanese F1 team” (that would be Toyota) would soon exit F1, but for a sports car program to follow, “don’t hold  your breath.”

October

The test of the new LMPC after Petit was a success, and clearly disturbing to the Empire on International Speedway Boulevard. The Lola-Krohn fight heated up. Murphy observed that the ALMS’ crack PR machine couldn’t even get Scott Sharp’s Sebring crash on Sports Center. NASCAR got a routine barrel roll on at the top of the show, though. Braselton was trying to dump most of the operating cost of Sebring on its biggest tenant, Central Florida SCCA, while keeping the lion’s share of the revenue. Another sign that things are dire in Georgia, the Bear thinks.

Murphy said Audi’s return to the ALMS was unlikely, and Acura was certainly gone. (Since then, privateer Duncan Dayton might have saved the series by deciding to field an old Acura P2 with leased engines.)

A.C. wrote about a little incident on the Florida coast in Daytona Vice.

Mid-month the Bear reported on his return to his favorite place (and former home) the Monterey Peninsula. He dropped in to see David (Mike was on vacation) at the Sardine Factory and Gannady over at Clint’s place. He partied below the hairpin with friends of Enzo (and of the Bear, of course).

After the race it was off to the Mucky Duck, band in the back and friends from Poughkeepsie, England, and a few other places in the front. The Bear agreed if Mazda were to “step up” in the coming season, the Lola AER just might turn into a nice little package. It seems clear that they have not, likely making that entry one more disappointment of 2010. If – as is rumored – two drivers do not return, it will be a disappointment to Murphy whatever else happens.

Murphy told you about a Ferrari being prepared to Grand Am Prep 1 rules for competition in the coming season. The cat was having some homologation troubles. Momentarily there was a rumor of two more BMW’s, but it turned out they are for Europe. The Bear noted a press release was issued by “Farnbacher Loles” about a pair of KONI M3’s (it seems KONI is no longer the sponsor of that Grand Am series, by the way), but pointed out, “Murphy has more than once reported rumors they would split.” Of course they had. We’re reminded once again that press releases are as often as fictional as paddock rumors.

The Bear went over 25,000 readers for the month.

November

November included rumors of Penske testing “something from Aichi in Spain.” No legs. Likewise, stories of a Duncan Dayton Peugeot; about those Murphy wrote, “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.” That’s pretty much how it’s turned out. The Acura “support” amounts to little more than keeping the engines running.

A Dinan-built Ferrari motor was slated to power a DP at Daytona and after, run by Scott Tucker. Murphy thought the F430 Prep 1 GT would make the Daytona grid, too, but it will not.

The Bear threw out a few ALMS and Sebring possibilities and dismissed a few, too. In the latter category was Creation, about which Murphy wrote (again), “Creation advertised (via another of those “interviews” in which nothing new is revealed) for a funded driver (déjà vu).” He reported three Ferraris were probable, one Risi and two Sharps.

Murphy planned a trip to see Michael in Las Vegas, but a deadline for his second recipe book and work on his inaugural Christmas quiz derailed that plan.

Comprent, tagged for an LMPC entry, was still looking for funded drivers. Mercedes dumped McLaren in favor of Brawn, just as the Bear said it would.

December

Murphy started the month “Sweeping out the Bear Cave,” a few odds and ends heard around the paddock. The Bear bade farewell to PTG and any Panoz race car. (They really hadn’t been any good since the Tony Dowe-engineered Reynard-based GT1/LMP01, had they?)
Risi Competizione was “in again, out again,” as a full season entry. Murphy stayed skeptical. In Grand Am DP, the Bear heard – and passed on – that Ganassi would switch from Lexus to BMW power.

One of those “odds and ends” was this little item entitled “No Farnbacher, No Loles, “The Bear’s repeatedly reported rumors that pointed to the termination of the Farnbacher and Loles partnership – that’s happened now, of course. Lately he’s questioned whether Greg Loles would continue in ALMS, or even be able to bring his ambitious Grand Am plans to fruition. This week the mill has been churning. That includes a medical event earlier in the week, chattels in the Georgia shop packed for shipping to Connecticut, missed payments, and an RSR of disputed ownership.” Little did the Bear know that just a few days later, one day after announcing his 1st Annual Christmas Quiz, the crap would hit the fan for Greg Loles…or Loles would be the crap…

Loles invented another way to finance his racing; steal from a church (and its members). Is that one better than Grand Am’s Henri Zogaib, who stole from his fellow racers? Two crooks. One in each sports car series. Talk about competing with each other!

The same day, Murphy reported that Dyson Racing would likely field just a single car and Audi would contest just one ALMS race – Petit Le Mans. As if that wasn’t enough, Lou was selling his ALMS Corvette and heading for Grand Am. It wasn’t a good day for anyone in sports car endurance racing.

Cytosport was rumored to be planning a bigger ALMS program and to have a “secret project” after Muscle Milk dumped its SCCA Trans Am sponsorship. Would they run a second Spyder for Porsche and for Bernhard and Dumas?

Murphy published, scored, and announced the winners of his Christmas Quiz.

Paddock Poop 148 fittingly closed out a lousy year, with stories of massive pay cuts in two of North America’s leading racing teams. Greg Loles was in the slammer with scant chance of getting out any time soon. Papers filed with a Michigan court concerning Loles’ Grand Am GT project revealed that GT costs in Grand Am aren’t substantially different than they are in ALMS. Of course we knew that already, didn’t we?

The Bear went over 30,000 readers for the month.

Happy New Year, every one of you.

Murphy, A.C., and Katrina Flood brought you right into the action at the Daytona 24, as AC calls it, “the World’s Greatest Race.” This time it almost was, with the Bear (a “Daytona Denier”) on the edge of his seat (with the rest of you – admit it), over the final hour and last laps.

A.C. gave ya’ll ten rools in “How to Enjoy the Rolex 24”

As he did for the previous year, Murphy listed the five entries most likely to win and contend for the win. In 2008, first, second, and third were from his top five. This year he had 1 and 2, and all five of his picks were in the first seven.

There was an interesting exchange with wrestlerrob in Paddock Poop 109 after the race. Wrestler wondered if the Bear would stick to his “Riley only” rool for his 2010 picks. Murphy answered he didn’t see any change, writing that, “Seriously, there’s no challenge in sight to Riley’s dominance. Certainly not Lola, in a partnership of which they are not enamored…or so the Bear hears.” There was your first clue that Lola and Krohn weren’t getting along, nearly a year ago. That “relationship” has now landed in court; if Krohn runs those cars (he’s entered them) it won’t be with any help from Lola.

Murphy mentioned another prototype – of much greater interest – on January 15, “There are multiple hints that there is a Porsche LMP1 in the wings that could debut as early as 2010 – if Herr Dr. Wiedeking will allow it.” Now that Wiedeking is gone his successor is talking openly of the prospect, though a 2011 debut seems most likely.

A.C. proudly declared, “I am A.C. Guillermo, and I’m a Grand-Am Writer.” In his race review, “The Grassy Knoll 24” A.C. ridiculed the conspiracy buffs, with his usual insightful expert analysis, observing, “I was watching the TV coverage of the race today and I saw no evidence of any cheating, aside from all those male enhancement product commercials (that stuff doesn’t work, trust me).”

On January 21, in Paddock Poop 108. “Murphy on Sebring’s Likely Starters,” the Bear wrote, “When the flag flies at Sebring on March 21, 30 entries will thunder into the old airbase’s Turn 1. It’s a different mix, but nearly the same number (31) Murphy gave you on December 10. If Sebring starts the Bear’s 30, it will have done well, indeed, in tough times for racing, losing only 10% from last year’s 33.”

The next day the Bear revised that, summarizing in Paddock Poop 109, “For now, those changes will cut his likely P1 starters to seven. Murphy’s going to keep his expected GT starters at 17, making Sebring’s total grid 29.” Contrary to his reputation in some quarters, in the event, the Bear would prove to be far too optimistic.

February

On February 3rd , the Bear reported that negotiations to bring back “Radio Le Mans,” seemed stalled; that the coverage could end in the new season. “Your favorite internet audio coverage will be gone in the 2009 season unless funding from Braselton is replaced from some other source. Perhaps Murphy’s will have to send what he’d budgeted for a forum hat to England to help out. Time to register your displeasure?  It’s said that the at-track-PA coverage by Mr. H. will be back – if the offer is accepted.”

The content of that was never questioned, though there eventually was an agreement, and much ado about the stuffed animal having written “Radio Le Mans,” rather than “ALMS Radio Web.” He said he was very, very sorry. Roll this story a year forward, and that’s exactly what has happened: It’s been announced ALMS Radio Web will not be funded by the American Le Mans Series. The good news is that Hindy and company at Radio Show Limited seem optimistic the needed sponsorship will be forthcoming.

The other item in Paddock Poop 110 was this:

“The Bear’s  been told that as of yesterday an enterprise in a small Northeastern Georgia town will have across-the-board pay cuts.”
That one leaked so fast that phone calls from Braselton to Murphy’s acquaintances quickly followed, trying to ferret (cute little things, aren’t they?) out the Bear’s source. The Great Georgia Mole Hunt was on! Later in the year, when this or that Braselburger head would roll, it would be rumored that the mole had been excised. But Murphy continues to report what goes on in the Broadway Avenue puzzle palace, doesn’t he?

Murphy’s optimism about the Sebring entry (if 30 can be characterized that way) faded quickly. On Valentine’s Day he wrote, “In mid February, there are 25 Sebring entries (P1 = 7, P2 = 3, GT1 = 2, GT2 = 13). Though more – as many as 35 – are possible, Murphy thinks the grid will grow by only two net (P1 = 7, P2 = 3, GT1 = 2, GT2 = 15) to 27.” The entry dated February 19 totaled exactly that, in a bit different class mix. There finally were 26 on the grid in March (P1 = 8, P2 = 3, GT1 = 2, GT2 = 13).

Not on that grid was VICI Racing. On the 24th of February, the Bear wrote, “In GT2, VICI has added two Porsches to the entry, oddly with drivers TBA. Murphy says “oddly” because it seemed clear that the VICI program was very much dependent on drivers with budgets, so if the entries are firm, the drivers should already be “on board.” Other opinion from the paddock (shared with the Bear yesterday) remained doubtful about at least the second of the two entries, and dismissed any possibility of a third.”

VICI stories continue to this day, with the Pollyannas convinced that the telephone sponsorship on the car last year would actually be funded in 2010. As if corporate budgeting worked that way. Might happen, likely won’t.

March

An Audi R8 was rumored early in the month. That came to nothing, of course. Now it’s rumored for GT Challenge – a “future maybe.” It would be a pretty expensive way to go, about twice the cost of the 911’s that likely would beat it like a redheaded stepchild.
The Riley-Lou-Pratt & Miller-Corvette Racing-GM soap opera continued with a Riley, left standing at the alter, filing lawsuit charging GM with “breach of promise.”

Murphy’s Prototype Punter’s Guide made the two Audi R15s the co-favorites, with the two Peugeots right behind. Big deal,  you say? OK, it wasn’t hard, given the rest of the field was pretty much helpless against the diesels. Those four were all in the top five, with Fernandez’ Acura P2 sneaking into fourth ahead of a broken-down Peugeot. It was a field worth traveling to Florida for. 2010? No Audi, no Acura P1, just two Peugeots to crush a sorry lot of non-contenders. Murphy knows (it’s that mole again) Braselton takes Sebring for granted, believing the rubes will show up no matter what junk is on the grid. Are they right?

In his GT Punter’s Guide, Flying Lizard’s Bergmeister and Long (lang und kurz – having nothing to do with their names) were the Bear’s 3-2 favorites, followed by Risi Competizione’s Melo and Kaffer (3-1). The Ferrari won it, the Lizards falling to 4th . He still had VICI as a “player,” since they were claiming factory pilots, a load of bull droppings, as usual.

At Sebring, the Bear tipped a few with friends away from the track.
And at.
Cruised the paddock for stories – and found a few.
Under the heading of “Fantasyland,” he wrote, “Saleens, ECO Racing, Creations, Zyteks, Jaguars…well that last one might be possible, but the silence is ominous.” The Cat finally came straggling in – remindful of a tabby that’s fallen into the cattle watering trough – at Laguna Seca. That bull crap (the bull is a friend of the Bear’s) at Petit Le Mans was an embarrassment.

Murphy closed out the month with a rare single-topic Poop: “Acura Rumor Review – Smoke or Fire?”

The Bear opined that “…there is usually some fire under such a large volume of smoke.” In retrospect we were hearing the first rumblings of the complete shutdown of the Honda/Acura racing program.

April

Off we went to St. Pete. Well, everyone but Murphy, who gets to burned out partying at Sebring to go up the road 90 minutes for a pale imitation of road racing. We’re all spared that monumental waste of time this year, aren’t we? The Bear feels sorry for his pal Huge, but hey, how many “home events” do you need? Seventeen cars started on Tampa Bay, twelve in three classes were running at the finish. Even a stuffed animal knows how to spell J-O-K-E. Who wants to pay real money for that?

A.C. returned from a well-earned vacation at Dollywood to a full mailbag, which he dutifully dug into, treating the rest of us to the best snippets.

VICI was floating bull crap again, this time about a Long Beach entry. A couple of guys were promising a second Aston Martin GT entry. Never happened, just more hot air.

The grid was marginally better at Long Beach – 21, of which 18 were running at the end. Murphy was there. Shockingly, the ALMS drew very well compared to the IRL. That’s more an  indictment of the latter than anything particularly good about the former.

May

Tim Mayer left IMSA/ALMS. Murphy published a “quick” Poop the day before the announcement. The Bear always thought Mayer was the best of the bunch. That may sound like “faint praise” in some quarters, but Tim stood out as a good guy and a competent manager.

The Honda rumors continued, the Bear reporting that “Honda’s is taking financial steps to facilitate a Yankee team’s move to IRL next season. It’s widely believed that Acura will only return if there is major manufacturer competition, and that it currently assumes that will not be the case.” The first part of that wasn’t the case (rather than helping anyone, Honda’s thrown them all under the bus), but the second part was sadly quite true. Been nice knowin’ ya.

Endurance-info got into the “Creation promotion business” with DSC, printing what some of the cool aid drinkers called a “confirmation” that Creation will be on the ALMS grid soon. “We plan to return to the ALMS Series, when we are ready,” said Andy Woolgar. Murphy wrote, “‘when we are ready’ will not likely be sooner than 2010.” At least dailysportscar gets its bad information from the chief rather than a North Carolina-based minion. The Bear’s pretty sure pigs will fly before a Creation chassis graces an ALMS grid. What has Creation accomplished lately other than the periodic trashing of Bicks and the Bear? (In a theater near y0u soon?)

A.C. was back with a column about Grand Am at Thunderbolt in New Jersey. He reported that Scott Pruett invented the internet without Al Gore’s help. Now he working on some investigative journalism stuff about global warming.

There was a race somewhere in Utah. No one went. Corsa was there not running its hybrid gear. Good place for such shenanigans.

Murphy’s elf inside F1 was keeping him (and you) abreast of those sordid happenings. Murphy reported that de Ferran was negotiating to acquire the cars, engines, tools, transporters, and pit equipment of a part time IRL team.

When Robin Miller was roasted for reporting that TG would be out at the brickyard, tossed by his mother and sisters, Murphy was one of just a few that knew he was right, and said so. So much for blood…  The Bear wrote at the time, “What the Tony kerfuffle is really about is creating separation between the finances of IMS (which Tony’s sisters and mother care about) and the IRL (which they do not)…” Having created that separation, the IRL is truly in dire straights according to Murphy’s best inside sources. There are more than just a few that wonder whether it can survive the 2010 season.

In Braselton, the layoffs and a fire sale were underway. Haas was looking the place over, and though a sale wasn’t closed then, some agreement leading to a joint venture in the coming year was put in place.

June

The Bear led the month off with his Le Mans Prototype Punter’s Guide, published jointly with Last Turn Clubhouse. If there are any punters out there that pay any attention to a stuffed animal, they deserve to be broke – and probably are. Murphy gave the nod to Audi again. Ah, well…

Later he thought D.R. should “give it a rest,” a rather common sentiment in the sport, and told “A Medieval Bear’s Fable.” 

The “Grand Am buying ALMS” rumor was floated by that same IRL scribe (Murphy doesn’t have to tell you who, does he?). Murphy reviewed the evidence and wrote, “Some might sum all that and come up with an imminent sale. Murphy doesn’t.” It was roundly denied, and nothing came of it, other than SA walking around with a button at Lime Rock that read “We are not for sale.” Funny.

The Boss was dealing with important things like planting trees in public parks (can someone send those guys to Miller Motorsports Park?) and organic T shirts. Then he (SA) told us we should, “Look for an announcement of a major new licensing deal in the third quarter that will greatly enhance our product position and global exposure.” Murphy thinks he missed that announcement. Was it the LMP Challenge? Naw, that doesn’t do any of that stuff.

A.C. closed out the first half of the 2009 season with his usual insightful ruminations about NASCAR and Grand Am.

Next: Murphy’s Year in Review, Part 2

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.

That pilot hogged so many laps the Jedi were fuming. Even more ominous, a Sith apprentice well known within the Empire had stationed himself outside Turn one to dutifully record upon tablets who piloteth the new land speeders, and how fast. Like his driver compatriot, he would report to the Dark Lord on the Peninsula.

The Dark Lord is angry. With one purchase order already in hand, the challenge to the Empire is clear and present.

Rolling

The oil magnate wrote off one of his two guppies testing at Daytona last week. The TWR design acquired by a builder of ubiquitous prototypes and “sold” (or something – all that’s a matter of legal dispute) to the Houston gentleman driver is pretty much a lame duck, or a ruptured duck, or a dead duck.

The Bear’s gotten the story behind the Lola-Krohn fracas. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Martin expected his “partnership” with the oil gazillionaire to be about selling cars (since that’s the business he’s in). So it came as a big shock when Roger mentioned (rather off-handedly) that the oil magnate’s chief henchman had (rather rudely, Murphy hears) turned the Captain down when he wanted to buy two of the Lolas (better engineered, was the observation) instead of the Rileys he ended up with. Is it any surprise that news was doomsday for the partnership? That’s what the Bear heard anyway.

A reported Italian tire failure sent the Dee Pee barrel rolling down the front “straight” (beginning past the tri-oval, Murphy’s told, past the turn-in to the infield course and nearly to NASCAR 1)  The car is toast. With the legal dustup between the oil gazillionaire and the car’s Brit builder it certainly won’t be replaced. So where does the 1970’s psychedelic green go? To a Challenge LMP?

Rolling II

After the weekend the sports stations were gushing over the same mundane kind of “roll-down-the-track” routinely seen in NASCAR. That media machine was doing its usual good work keeping the Empire at the top of “Sports Center.” The much more spectacular Scott Sharp ALMS incident was unnoticed. Is that becaue the “good guys” in Braselton think it should be about “the racing,” or perhaps because it didn’t fit their “green message?” Or has the our favorite road race series dropped so far below the radar that even a spectacular crash goes unnoticed?

Talks

There are not-entirely-cordial talks in progress about the Braselton racing conglomerate  and its biggest tenant at its most iconic property. Neither is happy it seems. The Georgia gang seems to want to offload operating costs while retaining the cash flow. The tenant wants some of the latter in return for picking up more of the former. The Bear overheard the phrase  “sanctioning authority for international events.” Wonder what that means?

Thanks

The Bear sent his friend his “visit” tracking results, now over 25,000 a month, only to have one of them claim to be responsible for most of them. Murphy’s west coast friend says he’s “obsessed with rumor, innuendo, and conspiracy…especially when they’re based in fact…” Some in high places would like to silence the Bear. The furry one will persevere.

Auto Union and Acura

IF Audi has any interest in an ’10 car, it has to be well underway by now, even if it’s a revision of the R15. Reports (ok, “rumors,” but there are rumors and there are rumors, right?) are that indeed “a new car” is “in build.” Whether that’s to ’10 rules, or to ’11 rules (though those rules aren’t published yet, Audi and others have met with the ACO and have likely gotten enough information to proceed with initial design), or both, isn’t known.

New car or not, Audi’s unlikely to return to an ALMS in which there is no competition, and it’s all but certain now that Acura will not return under any circumstances. (Though the Bear still thinks that some smart competitor will grab an HPD engine lease.) Even if Toyoter (cute, huh?) is thinking about a return to sports car racing it won’t be soon enough to make 2010 look anything but bleak for our favorite road racing series.

The Circus 

They were catching up with Murphy at Suzuka. The “big rumor” was the split between the team descended from the Land of the Long Cloud and the Deutsche daughter. The motor that will power the team’s new supercar was also mentioned as evidence they’re able to jilt the daughter.

The board was meeting in Aichi prefecture, and the Bear hears the plug will be pulled soon. Whether that’s good for sports cars is a matter of dispute around the sport.

Murphy’s Mailbag

Dear Bear: “Any word on how the Don’s Friday dinner went? Didn’t he find $25,000,000 for his LMP?” Jim Bob, Daytona Beach, Florida
Dear Jim Bob: No go. Not enough crazy people in the room. (Besides, only the gubment has that kind of dough, and you know who’s got the peninsula gubment wrapped up, don’t ya? (wink) But the Bear hears the Don is off to Monza for Superleague with Haas’ right hand man. The Haas – Panoz deal is still in works, perhaps imminent.

Dear Bear: BMW and Dunlop have made their partnership official. Does this mean the M3 program will be around for a while? – Bobby, Hilliard, Ohio
Dear Bobby: Yes. But it doesn’t mean they’ll pick up more of the tab.

Dear Bear: Do you think we can get the Captain back in the American Le Mans Series? Scott, Braselton, Georgia
Dear Scott: You saw the headline, ”GM to Wind Down Saturn Brand After Penske Halts Talks,” and you used to work for him, so Murphy shouldn’t have to remind you that whatever the Captain does is fully paid for, and that doesn’t mean out of Rogers pocket, either. The Empire is paying him for another season. Can you find someone to foot the bill for Green Racing? The Bear thought so.

The Bear’s Society Page

Before he landed in the annual get-together in Road Atlanta’s Turn 10 woods, Murphy visited Don, Barbara and the Sebring Turn 13 gang at Turn 10. (That’s a lot of Turns, a lot of friends, and a lot of beer. All of which is the beauty of road racing. The Bear can’t even imagine keeping his furry little butt in the same bleacher seat for a whole race!)

The Bear’s off to Laguna Seca, his most favorite place. He’ll be partying down (and across) the track from the corkscrew on Friday night (photo above from last year’s event), and otherwise can be found at the Sardine Factory, Knuckles, Mission Ranch, the Mucky Duck, and other favorite hangouts.

2010 Schedule and other Relevant Stuff

Murphy wrote about schedule rumors in his last Poop. Did you connect the dots? Yes, the events purportedly on the bubble are linked by promoter Andretti Green and Honda/Acura. It should be clear what’s fueling this talk: AGR promoted Toronto’s return to urban open wheel racing; calling that a disaster is kind. St. Pete’s observed attendance hasn’t yet reached break-even numbers. Andretti and Green split last week, in part over difficulties in the promotion side of the business, which Kim Green and Kevin Savory will retain while Michael goes his own way with the racing. Meanwhile, you don’t need the Bear to tell you that absent the return of real competition in the ALMS, Acura’s return to the top class is generally seen as problematic. (Even if one or two teams do return as privateers, the issue here is Acura/Honda and the funding it brings to events like St. Pete.) Does that mean St. Pete is gone from the ALMS schedule,  and perhaps Mid-Ohio, too? Not necessarily, but it is enough to keep the tongues wagging in the paddock.

Private to Murphy’s friendly correspondent: The Bear’s anticipation of the next season’s schedule is hardly new – or news. In September 2005, Paddock Poop 5 headlined “The Bear Muses on…the 2006 Schedule…” and launched the “discussion” with this: “After the Miller Motorsports Park announcement, the Bear thought he’d better tell what he’s heard about the 2006 schedule, before Scott A. gets the jump on him.” Then he wrote to expect Edmonton (wrong), Houston (right), Long Beach (a season too soon, but there had been talks), and the departure of the Atlanta spring event (right), and Sonoma (right). Not bad, all things considered, but since the Bear doesn’t purport to know what will happen – he just reports what they’re saying around the paddock – he can’t take much credit.

They’re Baaak! (in prototypes the Porkers ain’t)

Audi finally announced it would contest Petit Le Mans. Not doing so after nine consecutive overall wins would have been something other than sporting, wouldn’t it? So, why not Laguna Seca? Murphy’s has no idea. It doesn’t have to make sense, does it? From multiple sources, it seems Audi is working on a new, 2011-rules prototype. Any assumption that Audi just parked the R15 after Le Mans and forgot about it would be off the mark. Still, even if Ingolstadt’s been working, it’s still the French team’s Petit to lose. So the beat goes on for Audi, and the recurring stories of a Porsche return to the top category are fading.

In fact, there’s more and more talk that Porsche will openly pursue a GT-only sports car racing course in the future. After dismal North American sales for the race-car-building operation this year (and last), Weissach is looking for substantial increases in sales of 911 GT3 Cup cars of various kinds to cover declining sales of its high-end (RSR) wares. The need to stoke those sales explains Porsche’s strong support for the ALMS Challenge class’ expansion, and according to some sources, those same “commercial considerations” are also behind the limitation (for now) of the new class to 911’s of any color you might want (delivery in white, but you can paint it to suit your taste). 

Sincerely Dead

A trusted source reports that the on-again, off-again Panoz LMP is finally dead…including a recent Frankenstein-like reincarnation of the original 01.  Undeniably and reliably dead. Not only merely dead. Really, most sincerely dead! (Murphy’s thanks to his friends the Munchkins.)

Hooray for Petit!

The way much of this season has unfolded, Murphy wasn’t very hopeful that Petit Le Mans would be much of an event. Finally, now it looks as if it will be as good as 2008’s classic. So he’s planning his trip. 2005 was the Bear’s first, though his administrative assistant has been heading to Georgia since 1999. Along the way, Murphy’s developed certain habits, including Thursday night in the woods above Turn 10, and Paddy’s at Chateau Élan after the race until the wee hours (and often before). This year he’s prepared to miss a close friend (to whom he owes a Black Label), but hoping that won’t be the case. The Bear often brings you bad nooz, but he loves the racing and the events.

MC12?

The Bear was surprised the other day at a mention of a future MC12 entry. Was that just a “flight of fancy?” Murphy has no idea how that car might fit into the 2010 rules. (Unless the contemplated IMSA “single GT class” is something more than a re-name of GT2.)

Sportscarpros – it’s like Christmas morning

The Brooks-Morse online adventure sportscarpros.com is (putting it very kindly) infrequently updated. But when it is, there’s no better reading (and photography) anywhere in the sports car world. Today was one of those long awaited updates, with articles by Andrew and Michael Cotton, John Elwin, David Soares, Bill Oursler and others. The Bear killed a good part of his morning reading intelligent stuff, including David Soares‘ drive of the new Panamera and consternation at Porsche’s apparent dissing of its sports car heritage at an event in which it was honored (not for it’s sedan).

In particular, this sentence in an Andrew Cotton piece struck the Bear as an illustration of the depth and experience of the site’s writers and photographers (emphasis Murphy’s): “The 1960s and early 1970s are always regarded as the golden age of sports car racing. Michael, my father, remembers it differently, having to write an obituary almost every week, but the cars, the drivers and the events were all in place.”

The Prototype Challenge

The principal is – according to the Bear’s sources – not simply to import a few prototypes from Europe, but rather to build the cars in North America, to the benefit of Élan Motorsport Technologies and its racing industry friends. Though multiple sources say the motor will not be the Chebby LS3, but rather a Ford built by Élan Motorsport Technologies, it’s not unanimous. Some say a deal is in the works to retain the Chebby.

Those who generally know about such things tell the Bear that Xtrac will supply the gearbox, which is interesting, given that Hewland importer Haas will carry the car’s spares inventory. Wishbones and drive shafts will be subbed to Pankel in Austria. The tubs will be done in Canada under license or bought from Oreca, whichever is cheaper. (Multimatic has built Lola tubs in the past.) Body panels will be made by Comprent (Athens, GA). Molds will be done by PTI, a small Athens machining company.

Multimatic will supply shocks from its Dynamic division, then do final assembly of the cars and ship to final customers.

Acura at Petit

What should we expect from Acura at Road Atlanta? Isn’t this the test of whether (in the words of one americanlemansfans.com poster) they were “doing mushrooms at HPD” (with this design)? Perhaps that descriptor better applies to Nick Wirth’s company. Or both. Whatever, when the ARX-02a was designed, it certainly wasn’t anticipated that Audi’s diesel would be gone. It certainly can’t be believed that Road Atlanta wouldn’t have been a track on which the design was intended to be competitive. Acura has to have benefited long Peugeot – and even longer Audi – lay-offs, and whether we believe HPD put the car’s development “on hold,” there was reportedly enough activity (and interest) to develop “Le Mans” (aka low downforce) bodywork. Yet, it seems widely accepted that Acura will hardly be in the same zip code with the diesels at Petit Le Mans. That may be, but should it?

Gathering Storm

Following the Bear’s reporting of the Grand Am-purchase-of-ALMS rumors, at Lime Rock Scott Atherton pinned on a lapel button that read “We are Not for Sale.” Cute stuff. Series officials were adamant that no talks had taken place, and (not for attribution) some were pretty sure such rumors originated from somewhere south-of-Georgia, and often about the same time of the year (or whenever the American Le Mans Series might have good news). Interestingly, Murphy subsequently heard from another, third party, source that indeed, a member of “the family” was heard to say that “there had been talks.”

Disinformation? It seems likely, but whatever the details, the North American Sports Car Wars would appear to be heating up. Consider that the expansion of the GT Challenge class will now be aimed directly at Porsche Grand Am participants, and the Prototype Challenge seems designed to cut into the Daytona Prototype ranks. Add to that the rumblings about Porsche’s declining interest in the Grand Am model (reported by the Bear in Paddock Poop 136), and you can almost hear the black helicopters circling.  Veteran observer Bill Oursler wonders “Will there be War?” in a detailed (and more professional) look at France versus the Don in a piece titled “The Gathering Storm” just this morning over on sportscarpros.com.

Formula 1 In F1 – and the FIA, the two having become “joined at the hip” – teams are more preoccupied with the election of Max’s successor than you might think. The Bear’s excellent sources are adamant that Ari will prevail with another challenger’s campaign soon collapsing.

It was nice to see Rubens win. He’s driving for the sheer love of it this season, so expect a paying contract for him next year, then retirement in 2011. Retirement to what? Sports cars? Rubens is not Micheal, so a place on the Ferrari sports car roster is a possibility.

In North American open wheel, what Murphy hears from within the IRL is dire indeed; much worse than is generally reported. Are drastic changes in the offing for 2010? Will there be a 2010? Stay tuned.

Have fun at Mosport!

Follow the Bear at http://twitter.com/Murphythebear

Serous stuff from Murphy’s friends at http://www.lastturnclub.com/

Without finding anyone that had heard the rumor other than our erstwhile scribe, say nothing of actually confirming its content, Murphy checked for other indicators, and bingo, he found a few.

His first question? Anything about another buyer? Certainly the Don wouldn’t go to Jim (who the Bear hears would love to get his hands on Sebring) first. In fact there have been, an offer turned down over a year ago, then more recently the rumor of an approach – rebuffed – to that same source. In a separate story, Patrón was a suitor. That’s cooled, though agave-squeezers are said to remain hot for the Porsche-only series.

Murphy also heard the driving school (McDreamy’s alma mater?) closed, and someone from Braselton cleaned out the T-shirt inventory at Sebring. Some might sum all that and come up with an imminent sale. Murphy doesn’t.

Underwear

Speaking of underwear, ALMS is going to sell “organic T-shirts” to support something called “Adopt an Acre” run by the Nature Conservancy. It’s a tree planting thing. Not original, but nice – bear habitat. Pearls, G-oil, organic T-shirts – can edible undergarments be far behind? There’s a hint from the boss, who told us to “Look for an announcement of a major new licensing deal in the third quarter that will greatly enhance our product position and global exposure. “ Exposure. Underwear. That’s intriguing.

Green Park(s)

Then there’s Lowe’s sponsoring “Green Parks.” Do those come with mosh pits and unconscious freshmen? Seriously it’s a good thing; they’ll be dedicating one in Torrington, Connecticut, with playground stuff for the kiddies and a sand box for an oil gazillionaire driver.

Brazil

The IRL’s going to Brazil. They’re a bit pissed in Cleveland (but consoling themselves with landing the Diesel, of course). That’s got to be ok with Tim. It makes Murphy go “hmmmm” at his assertion he’s not tying up with the IRL. Maybe he’ll “consult” then. Murphy can’t see him missing work/play/family in Brazil.

(re)Formatting

SA wrote to teams, etc. on June 22. Amongst the trivia (stuff like organic T-shirts), Ed is working on some new partnerships. Events are being “formatted” for fans and television (forgive the Bear for being a cynic, but that sounds scary), and to showcase IMSA’s “other series.”

Reorganizing

They’re combining IMSA and ALMS into a single staff. A very important person, a friend of the Bear’s was called to Braselton for a chat the other day. Can that be good?

Rules and Classifications 

There are hints of continued (restored) ACO accommodation of some ALMS deviation in “technical rules (and) future classifications.”

Protos in 2010

The evidence is mounting that all three teams currently operating Acuras will be racing Honda-powered Dallaras in 2010. Will they race in two series? Not likely, given current economic realities. What ALMS prototypes will remain – or return?

Big questions for the Le Mans break: Will Corsa or Primetime raise the funds needed to return? If Primetime returns, will it be with the Viper, or something else? If Corsa returns, will they ever run a real hybrid?

Murphy hears Audi will return to the ALMS much sooner than anyone has anticipated. If so, will it be in time to stop Acura’s rush to the door?

Audi’s return as an entrant would be less important than its return as a series sponsor. Those have become all but extinct, according to the Bear’s sources. Layoffs have been steady in Northwest Georgia; more are imminent.

Murphy enjoyed the americanlemansfans forum when one of the sport’s iconic personalities chimed in and – because he’s not a self-promoting bloke – stayed incognito and was ignored. Truth be known, he’s just a crotchety old Chapparal mechanic who doesn’t know how to spell “brats.”

The belief that Acura is taking steps to leave the series is widespread in the paddock, but certainly not unanimous. Others think that Acura will “stay the course” for at last one more season.

Further questions about Acura’s commitment to continued development of the ARX-02a were raised when Wirth Research was named in a French court as likely to field an F1 team in 2010. (Murphy told you that a couple of Poops back.)

It seems that F1 has the same attraction to racers in Europe that NASCAR does in North America. Give just about anyone a glimmer of a possibility and they’ll throw their current program overboard for the chance to “move up.” Having thrown their hats in the ring are RLM, Lola, Prodrive, and of course Wirth, just to name a few.

The Porsche shared by Patron’s CEO was excluded from the results in the Challenge class in the desert for a ride height infraction, as was another entrant. Two other Porsches failed to complete the required laps. So only one entrant – the winner – was officially classified and able to accrue points. Sanctity of the rules, the Bear surmises. Or sanctimonious.

De Ferran Motorsports is reported to be negotiating to acquire the cars, engines, tools, transporters, and pit equipment of a part time IRL team; the sticking point has been the inclusion in the deal of an Indianapolis area shop that de Ferran doesn’t need.

Murphy got a call a few minutes ago from a friend with a contact in Monaco. F1 teams left the meeting on Flavio’s yacht with “no comment,” and Bernie saying  “More meetings”  in answer to “what next?” 

What we are hearing is there is no agreement and not likely to be one (an agreement the first of three possible scenarios).

Scenario 2 is a “breakaway F1,” and it’s easier than some might think, since A1GP, with a ready-made schedule, tracks, and infrastructure can be easily co-opted by Ferrari, Toyota, and Renault (BMW and Mercedes remain “on the fence” in the current dispute). Doing so would be no more expensive than just staying in F1 “as is.”

Scenario 3 is a Ferrari move to sports car prototypes – the so-called “nuclear option.” Those who know such things in fact do believe this is a viable course, and if it becomes one, it will be known by Le Mans…the A1GP option having been fully considered by then. They also say that Ferrari would have no problem producing a competitive – winning, even – sports car by then. Of course any such move would depend on the promise of a diesel-gasoline rule change. (If Audi thought that Ferrari and Toyota were about to join the fray, they’d not put up much fuss over further “adjustments” to diesel-gasoline equivalency.)

Toyota and Renault would follow, and at least Ferrari and Toyota would certainly contest the ALMS (as it does for Audi, it would take priority over LMS). If that were to happen, the boys in Braselton would have gone from the outhouse to the penthouse in one stroke just for sitting there with a silly grin.

As it was put to the Bear, “Can you imagine Sebring debuting Ferrari and Toyota against returning Acura, Peugeot and Audi?”

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.

Murphy’s been told the Sebring likely entry is 31. Really, amongst all the gloom and doom, Sebring looks pretty good, especially if Peugeot confirms its entry of 2 908s. With our only likely glimpse of Audi’s new R15 and four Acuras (yes four, at least two of which are LMP1s) the “top class” is likely to be stunningly good potentially as good as Petit Le Mans last season. That sounded pretty good, the Bear was very happy; then in rolled a report that Acura might cut back its support – big time. It’s hard to know what to believe.

Salt Lake City, Like a Virgin, memories of Majorca, and the Green Racing Initiative will all be connected in the coming season, and it’s all good.

Porsches at Sebring? At least five, perhaps eight, one of those eight being a new sale to an unknown team.

Meanwhile, the news is mixed from Porsche’s Maranello nemesis. There’s a possibility for one more entry than Murphy recently thought likely. On the downside, a top driver’s broken a leg. Typically, Gus the Gator thought likely chasing “something fine” on the beach at Ipanema, The contrarian (more boring) opinion is karting. 

Braselton is expecting an “average of 30 entries” for 2009 races. Murphy can’t figure out how. If the Sebring entry doesn’t grow beyond that 31, the announced subtraction of Audi and Peugeot immediately drops the count to 27, meaning the rest are in it for the season. That would be a first. Since the Bear has been very “bearish,” so he’s happy to get a view from the bulls.

Murphy wonders how racing schools – most of the tracks we depend on for sports car racing have them, and they are important revenue sources – are doing. Talk about discretionary spending!

Sebring will have two Zyteks and no Viper, according to a source. So, Murphy thought maybe the Florida team had found the funds to move up. Don’t know, said his source. Not so, said another. Yet a third emailed the Bear this morning with the news that “PrimeTime is still in.” Unclear with what. Murphy jus’ reports ‘em.

Other sources, DSC among them, are reporting that Aston Martin will announce its 2009 Le Mans program soon, perhaps in a class other than GT1. That released Murphy from his vow of silence. He’s heard that Gaydon has decided to stay the course for a 50th anniversary Le Mans assault – for the whole enchilada in Gulf colors. Murphy hopes they are serious enough (or smart enough) to contest Sebring in preparation. That’s more a hope than a prognostication, however.

Corvette can’t be happy if that puts in doubt the rematch that it hoped for – a spectacular battle in the swan song appearance for its GT1 program. In Murphy’s mail this morning was a confirmation that Corvette Racing continues on its announced 2009 program.

The Bear hears a very definite, “No cats for Sebring.”

Murphy is bemused (he’s decided that’s a very useful word these days). First “official statements” (or statements from officials) to settle down some jumpy amigos as a series went under. Now a bulletin about testing in Florida, and silliest of all, a few days ago the idea that a stuffed animal might be responsible for the financial difficulties of a constructor. Kind of like blaming Road & Track for difficulties at GM.

Murphy and others have jumped up and down about costly aero rule changes on which the ACO is seemingly hell-bent. The Bear thinks this is a really lousy time for such stuff, and he’s been waiting for a bulletin on the subject from Braselton. Now he’s got some good news. True to form, the Georgia gnomes aren’t just going off on their own, and that’s a good thing. Considering the twin (and too-often-conflicting) imperatives to serve the interests of teams that have been “regulars” without severing a mutually beneficial relationship with the French racing country club, they are working hard to find a “balanced” approach. (Double entendre most definitely intended.)

Might Audi’s departure from the pinnacle of prototype racing be for multiple years. There’s the  idea that “they’ve proven all they need to.” Meanwhile, heard at a banquet in Germany, “The rules (for LMP1) do seem to be tailor-made for us (Porsche), but we’ll wait for them to be finalized.” Is a Porsche P1 in the cards for 2011, with an Audi return circa 2014? There are some who think so.

When the 2011 rules were first floated, Murphy said a smaller prototype displacement limit would not necessarily lead to a mandate for V8 engines. Others in the paddock agreed with him. No one would be so arrogant – and stupid – that it would write a rule that eliminates a core element of its unique attraction – the varied songs of many very different engine designs. He was wrong. What was it Shakespeare said, “A plague o’ both your houses,” (Romeo and Juliet)? No, better yet, “A pox o’ your throat, you bawling, blasphemous, incharitable dog!” (The Tempest). Murphy likes that one.

Prius-R

Corsa finally confirms its prototype, and it’s a blockbuster, a prototype Prius! Well, not exactly – it’s a Zytek.

Though there’s been some internet chatter about “two new manufacturers,” Murphy consulted his notes, and more recently Braselton’s referred to one, not two. Was BMW one of the original two? If it were, then Corsa’s Zytek might be the second. If not, we’re still looking for another one. (Edit: The Bear’s a bit confused by many referrences to new entries, both this year and next. Murphy certainly would not put BMW in the ‘attracted by the Green Racing initiative’ catagory, and if Braselton was being precise about ‘next year,’ Zytek won’t fit either. Don’t forget that ‘manufacturer’ in IMSA’s parlance includes chassis builders like Zytek.)

In April, the Bear passed on some things that pointed to a real Prius. Is that “off the table?” Perhaps not.

The General

There was this item in Murphy’s Mosport Special Edition:
It’s settled. The General shows a bit of good sense. Corvette will be back in 2009.

AutoWeek says a split season next year – half GT1, half GT2. Murphy’s not sure of that. He thinks the prototype idea could still be on the table, though the GT2 thing is probably the odds on favorite in the paddock. This will be a Pratt & Miller program. Riley took a flyer to put a GT2 Corvette on the track with Lou Gigliotti, and it was clear to Murphy (and to the paddock, and importantly, to GM) that the Gigliotti part of that program was the best part.

Murphy was told a Pratt & Miller prototype made it all the way to the wind tunnel. What happens to that? Some speculate that there still may be opportunities for Corvette power, and even for that chassis, somewhere on sports car prototype grids.

Acura

The announcement of its LMP1 program was the third bit of good news for the series. Three teams will contest two prototype classes, and Honda would clearly like to have a second P2 team, too.

Doubts

That brings Murphy to some unhappy rumblings in the paddock. The list of teams that may not return next season has grown to three, four, or five, depending on who’s talking – plus doubts about the “official programs” of two manufacturers. The economy isn’t particularly strong, and sponsors aren’t exactly awash with cash, so none of that should come as a surprise. Given the history of such things, the Bear doesn’t start celebrating when it’s said “there’s a 70% chance” of returning.

Someone out there reported that Murphy said Porsche was testing an LMP1. He didn’t. If they are, he doesn’t know about it. What he actually wrote was that Porsche was testing a P1 when word of the impending ACO diesel rules put an end to that program – over a half-decade ago. He does think they should build and race a P1. But they don’t pay a lot of attention to stuffed animals in Weissach. Perhaps they should.

2004

At least part of the prototype grid next season may look like it did only in 2004.

Driver Quietly Looking

A very, very good American Le Mans Series driver of some year’s experience is said to be quietly inquiring about ride possibilities for 2009. That’s not just interesting in the “driver silly season rumor mill,” but in the whole question of teams that will or will not – return. The driver’s quiet job search is the best clue yet that a key prototype team does not – for now – intend to return in 2009, and neither does a manufacturer.

It’s the economy, stupid

American Le Mans Series racing programs have been curtailed – and some didn’t happen – because of the economic climate. The series will do well to hold the line on the grid next season. You might have noticed that Grand Am’s DP field didn’t grow from year-to-year, and the Bear expects it to contract in 2009. Southard Motorsports announced this morning it will skip Grand Am’s season-ending event in Utah and pointed directly to the economy.

Good News, Bad News

In ALMS GT, a Porsche team will add both a car and a factory driver next season. This is an area in which Grand Am – if it keeps its promise for GT to become “all tube frame” – is going to take a big hit. Porsche sources say they’ll not build, nor will they support, tube frame 911s, even though they were willing to do so twenty years ago. The premier Porsche prototype program will also wrap up.

That increase in Porsche participation in ALMS GT could well be greeted by a decrease in the Ferrari presence. Murphy hopes that’s not the case, but he’s hearing…

Bored

The English fish-and-chip-oil burner now won’t be ready for Silverstone, just as it wasn’t ready for Sebring (sitting about the paddock doesn’t count), and for anything else so far this year. Ho hum.

NASCAR Diversifies

We’re told that NASCAR is making a bid to get into the casino business. As part of that, they’re promising to toss in a second Cup race at a nearby track, where they’ve promised to build a roval track and race guppies. The prototurtles might be around much longer than Murphy had been hearing, and the now-official acquisition by NASCAR just may be more than a way to cover some losses before the shut-down. One thing seems certain. The gnomes at International Speedway Boulevard are ignoring the advice they got from Detroit and will stay the course on which they’ve been for the past decade – to separate themselves entirely from reliance on the auto industry. With the Car of Tomorrow the last step is pretty easy – just rip off the Toyota, Cheby, and Ford decals.

Toot-toot Department

Murphy’s been accused of tooting his own horn. Why the hell shouldn’t he? This item appeared in Paddock Poop 60, October, 2007.

NASCAR Sports Cars – an Oxymoron whose time has come…

No more Grand Am. It’s going to be the NASCAR Sports Car Series…That might sound good, but Murphy’s not so sure. It looks like a compromise between full speed ahead and a more complete withdrawal to support NASCAR events only. NASCAR Sports Cars will still have an independent schedule including some non-NASCAR tracks, but the pitch is being focused on the already-captive market. How that makes sense, the Bear hasn’t got a glimmer.-10/23/2007

Millville and Monterrey

Speaking of Grand Am, it was at dusty, narrow, and unready Millville on the weekend. While the crowd was reported to be ‘huge by Grand Am standards,’ the teams were quite unhappy about racing at a track so clearly unprepared to host professional motorsports, and some of them said so. The American Le Mans Series is losing some interest in the venue, while becoming more enamored with the Lady of the North.

Petit Le Mans

Plan on getting there. Some say this is another sports car racing “Golden Age.” It’s mixing metaphors, but the 11th Petit Le Mans could also be the “high water mark” for some time.

Murphy will be at Petit. Look for him. La Parilla, the woods near Turn 10, Paddy’s and Jeffrey’s are all favorite haunts. And the paddock, of course.