Posts Tagged ‘Andy Lally’

197. The 2012 ALMS Field. Braselburg Schedule Still Unsettled. Bahrain, Baltimore Buh-by?

Monday, December 19th, 2011

Audi Advances

Audi  was running at Sebring this week. According to the best minds that analyze such things (Mulsanne Mike, for instance), the 2012 R18 really quite a different car than last year’s R18. Hopefully, the changes will improve the outward vision. A pal of a friend of the Bear drove the R18 a couple of months ago, and reported an “absolute blind spot out of the right hand side.” “It explains the McNish crash at Le Mans,” he said.

In other news from the Bear’s Chief European Correspondent, Romain Dumas is headed back to Porsche soon, there’s a big tug of war over Timo Bernhard, and Oliver Pla was quick at a secret Peugeot test.

Insiders in Europe believe ALMS will have Audi, Mercedes, and perhaps others not fully homologated by the ACO in some form of local GT class – but it’s unclear when that gets done. (more…)

196. Schedule Mess (again). Corvette, Ferrari, Jaguar. Sebring Confusion.

Thursday, October 13th, 2011

Schedule Follies

Just minutes before it was announced, Murphy was told the two TBA’s were Detroit and Texas. Subsequently, other candidates have made the routine rounds of the rumor mill. Boss Scott confirmed the Detroit TBA in a rather odd and self-serving  press release after Grand Am confirmed it would have that June 2 Detroit Race. Now it seems likely nothing will fill that ALMS April/May TBA. (more…)

194. Unlimited Racing Championship. Rands go to Jail. National Press Club Bust. Leading Proto Teams go Public with Demands.

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

Big Apple Grand Prix

Murphy knows many of his readers aren’t buying it, but that New Jersey F1 proposal is very, very real. Those who have seen the details say this is a “street course that works,” meaning, as the Bear understands it, that it’s not a typical “point-and-shoot, see-the-tops-of –the-cars” race track, but rather a good driver’s and spectator’s track. Baltimore has turned out much better than anticipated – so far, anyway – and that will certain add some impetus to the New Jersey street course idea. (more…)

193. Panoz Assets in Play? Corvette Shuffle. New Jersey F1. Charm City.

Thursday, August 25th, 2011

Andy Lally Challenge

Since New Hampshire, after which his season’s winnings totaled $1,608,881, Andy has since raced four times (the Brickyard, Pocono, the Glen, and Michigan) and won $391,000 for himself and Kevin Buckler.

The American Le Mans field through Lime Rock totaled $1,046,000. Since Lime Rock, the thirty-odd ALMS entries have raced three times (Mosport, Mid-Ohio, and Road America) winning between them $319,000, and bringing their total earnings in the 2011 season to $1,365,000. With Andy’s total now $1,999,881, the American Le Mans Series field now trails Sprint Cup’s Street Luger by over $600 thousand dollars. Time is not on the ALMS’ side, since Andy has 13 races remaining; North America’s premier sports car road racing series has just three. (more…)

192. Porsche and Audi. Abruzzi (again). ALMS “change,” but what is it?

Monday, July 18th, 2011

Porsche and Audi Racing

Porsche announced a prototype to race at Le Mans in 2014. That took even the Bear by surprise. Oh, there had been rumblings, but Murphy – and just about everyone else – filed them away for future reference; what debt-burdened Porsche does with a few hundred million Euros is not (regardless of protestations) independent of Volkswagen Group in general and – if in racing – of Audi in particular. Nor is it this time. (more…)