It’s not like it’s a big recall. You are dealing with two copies built on left-over Canadian-built race-car chassis. A torch, order some glass, and viola! (The body panels never did fit, anyway.) The bookkeeping makes the Bear a bit crazy, and leaves him wondering how this project can ever produce a competitive race car. Winchester need a part from Hoschton? The Don writes a check in Braselburg, mails it to Winchester, then Winchester writes a check and mails it to Hoschton. Meanwhile, Gordon’s got a consulting job with the Abruzzi at Sebring. Murphy expects he’ll be in charge of the tent flap.

It’s all pretty odd. The Bear remembers a big dust-up 2001 when not enough Bavarian touring cars were built. That led to our first ALMS one-make racing class.

The Baby Sitter Chronicles

[Redacted] If this rumor is true, it will be in the public domain soon enough.

Le Grand Petit

There’s another dust-up of late – this one in the media and in sports car fan forums – whether the entrants at the joint Intercontinental Le Mans Cup round- ALMS Petit Le Mans will be limited by the Road Atlantic track capacity.

Those who dig into such things looked at the Sebring entry plus the ILMC cars that received waivers from the ACO to skip, the possibility of one or two post-Sebring ALMS additions and concluded the Petit entry will go into the low sixties. It’s possible there will be some attrition in ILMC entries, but what we’ve seen so far appears to be only the exercise of waivers offered by the ACO for a few that can’t have a car ready for Sebring, and ALMS entries seem more likely to grow than shrink, with Autocon doing selected events, and Intersport, Highcroft, and Signature “in the wings.”  SpeedTV columnist John Dagys picked up on the problem, concluding after asking Scott Elkins that PLM would be able to accommodate as many as 60 cars.

Meanwhile, Murphy was doing a little digging of his own.

If you apply the FIA formula for track density for an event in the FIA calendar, then you can only start 46 cars at Petit. That’s what a professional track designer with first hand intimate knowledge of Road Atlanta came up with. And it’s what Murphy’s friend, Canuckistani engineer Paul Collins, came up with.

Here are Paul’s calculations:

N = (0.36 x  L x W x T x G) where the letters are all factors based on tables found on pages 12 and 13 of this document. (Appendix O to the International Sporting Code, Procedures for the Recognition of Motor Racing Circuits.)

L is related to length
W is related to minimum width of the track
T is related to time
G is related to the car classes

In this case L = 13 (track is 4.1km long)
W is 10 (width is 40 feet, or 12.3 meters, rounded to the nearest whole number)
T is 1.4 for a race up to 12 h (the value of T only goes up to 1.5, so you won’t gain a significantly larger number of cars by going longer than 12 hours)
G is 0.7 because the cars are sports cars with big engines (this value would go up to 1 if ALMS was GT only – if you got rid of the prototypes, defined as “sports cars” in Appendix O)

That means N = roundup (0.36 x 13 x 10 x 1.4 x 0.7) = 46 cars. If the minimum width of the track were 13m, N would be 53 cars. If the minimum width remains unchanged but we had IMSA GT instead of a mixed field that included prototypes, the number would be 66.
All that is actually irrelevant, however, because the same Appendix O  specifies that the minimum track length for any race that exceeds 6 hours in duration shall be no less that 4.7 kilometers. Road Atlanta is 4.088 kilometers.

There’s even more reason to stop worrying and get on with life. The FIA might never have inspected or rated Road Atlanta anyway. FIA technical chief Charlie Whiting has only made one visit to the track that the Bear could uncover, in the company of CART’s Kirk Russell, at the time Vice President of Competition and Technical Director, in late 1998 after the Don’s upgrades for the first Petit. Reportedly, all Charlie had to say at the time was “I did not expect to see a track like this in America,” taken at the time as a compliment. But that wasn’t an official FIA inspection, Charlie was just along as Kirk’s guest. This was the final inspection for CART, but by then the Don was put off by the constantly increasing CART sanction fees (at that time beyond $3 million) and no deal was made.

ACCUS, the FIA ASN for the USA (go look it up), can inspect a track to the FIA, and might have done so, but, again, the Bear couldn’t find anyone to say so. And Murphy’s learned that you really don’t have to be an FIA licensed track unless you’re holding an FIA championship event, and neither the ALMS nor even the ILMC is that. Not that it would make any difference, there’s really no way around Appendix O, is there?

Wonder where Scott Elkins gets “60?” So did Murphy, but then it occurred to him that since Road Atlanta is a non-conforming track anyway, its capacity can be anything the ACO and IMSA want it to be, and that will likely be somewhere around 60 in October.

There’s money at stake; certainly no one wants to send a team home – contracts were signed with sponsors and drivers based on nine events, and losing Petit Le Mans wouldn’t be a small thing for anyone. The FIA wants PLM to happen, the ACO does, Don Panoz does.

So what now? Then Murphy checked the FIA calendar and saw that Petit Le Mans is a “restricted event.” What was that? Back to FIA documents (this time, to the International Sporting Code, paragraph 19. Restricted Events, and eureka! There it was! (With thanks and apologies to Archimedes.)

In certain exceptional circumstances, the FIA may grant authorisation for restricted international events, which on account of their specificity may be organised as a dispensation to Appendix O of the present Code, to be entered by an ASN on the International Sporting Calendar.

A “dispensation” is an “exemption or release from a rule or obligation,” and Appendix O is “Procedures for the Recognition of Motor Racing Circuits.”

The bottom line is clear. Come October, if 63 cars show up, and all of them survive practice, 63 will race. The rules allow 20% more than the grid limit to practice, anyway, so there’s a big fudge factor up front.

Odds and Ends

As the Bear asked in a Tweet, the other day, if Tony Kanaan, Gil de Ferran, and Jay Penske together can’t raise enough sponsorship money to field one IndyCar, who the hell can? Is it any wonder that Highcroft, Intersport, and others in sports car racing are finding it difficult to raise enough money to race?

For those who don’t follow the Bear’s Tweets, here’s some other stuff that’s happened in motorsports:

* Lord Drayson off to play with electric cars.
* Intersport off the Sebring entry.
* Luca Moro returns to Sebring, rumored to have been there in 2007 as “Luciano DaSilva.” Another indication that the sport can “overlook” something when it suits them.
* Rahel Frey replaces Katherine Legge at Audi for DTM. Murphy wants another hug from Katherine; maybe now he’ll get it.
* Trevor Bayne won “The Great American Race.” Who?
* Bahrain F1 was postponed. Dodged that one.
* Roger Penske turned 70. Happy B’day, Roger.
* Lou Gigliotti sues GM, Michelin, Corvette Racing, Doug Fehan. Win, lose, or settle, this can’t be good for Gov’t Motors.
* Racer names American Le Mans at Road America the 2010 “Race of the Year.” Who knew?

Flying Lizards to Daytona

Before Seth Neiman and Flying Lizard Motorsports leased a Daytona Prototype from Brumos, he talked to Penske about one of the Captain’s cars. Near term, it was decided a lease was more attractive than an outright purchase. Seth will be one of at least two ALMS stalwarts we’ll see at the Rolex 24; what happens after that is still unknown.

Chip to Ford

It’s possible that Chip Ganassi will go with Ford in NASCAR. If he does, it’s likely his DP’s will also be powered by Ford. (Edit: Murphy tweeted an update on November 2: At a team celebration this week, it was announced Ganassi will stay with GM motors. Presumably, that will mean the BMW power in Grand Am continues also.)

Peugeot Power

The test of Peugeot’s new prototype exclusively reported by Autosport was sans engine – the new one, that is. Bruno Famin, Peugeot Sport’s Technical Director, claims it hasn’t even made that decision yet. A hybrid power unit has been rumored, and one of the Bear’s correspondents was convinced of it by the new roof air intake. “A new-rules 2 liter turbo, with KERS,” he wrote. One of Murphy’s technical wizards acknowledged the air intake but pointed out the 90X also has the fender intakes used with the turbo diesel. “They’ll stick with the diesel,” he said. “It still makes better technical and marketing sense.” The Bear has decided it will be one or the other. (Edit: One of the Bear’s favorite tech gurus points out that a diesel/KERS combination remains in the mix, and might even be likely. Whoops! Murphy now believes it will be one of those three. Any other ideas?)

Television and Alternative Media

The American Le Mans Series still doesn’t have a “broadcast” (obsolete word, isn’t it?) package it can announce. What gives? The Bear heard at Petit that the “traditional broadcast” (and its on-air talent) would be history, that 2011 would be docudramas on Versus with live coverage via web streaming. Murphy knows some will cheer that, but he’s not one of them.

So do we get Hindy and crew? Probably, but the Bear hears sponsorship and contract issues remain. (If that is “unhelpful,” Radio Show Limited can issue a statement – again. Murphy’s not in the “helpful” business; plenty in the media have accepted that charter.) A SpeedTV deal is crippled – in terms of value, at least – by the ACO’s grab of the rights to Sebring and Petit. A professional sport needs the revenue that’s possible only with “big league” television coverage. It’s not certain that’s going to happen. Among teams and drivers in the paddock who race for a living, this is a topic of great concern.

Japan to Join GT Ranks?

That’s what the world’s leading sports car racing blog wrote, admitting it was a “rumour.”  (What’s with all the poaching on the Bear’s territory lately?) Two manufacturers mentioned – Toyota and Honda – have had on-again-off-again programs over the past couple of years; nothing new there.

Honda told the ALMS two years ago it would like to field an NSX-based GT1/2, but only after the then-planned new model was introduced – soon after, they cancelled the new car. That would seem to have ended the idea, except that Honda got special permission to race the not-to-be-produced design as the HSV-010 GT and promptly won the Super GT championship in the GT500 class. Since the ACO is similarly perfectly willing to wink at its rules when it suits (see, for reference, the magic homologation of the Abuzzi), don’t be surprised to see an “NSX-something” somewhere in ACO racing.

Toyota might be working on something with the LFA – then again they might not. Old story again.

There is nothing ACO-oriented going on at Nissan that either NISMO or NA knows anything about.

The 2011 ALMS Prototype GridMurphy summarizes what he is hearing around the paddock about the likely 2011 entry for races not part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.

LMP1
Highcroft – Expect Duncan to continue with HPD for another season, but don’t take his dalliance with IRL too lightly.
Dyson – Not happy being let down by Mazda just weeks before the 2010 Sebring Winter Test, Dyson will start 2011 with “a foot in each camp.” Though they repeatedly say they want to be in the American Le Mans Series, where the team goes from here is largely funding-dependent.
Cytosport – If no good hardware option is found (Porsche is out of the picture), Cytosport could stay on the sidelines. For now, at least, they aren’t happy with the options.
Intersport – We don’t know why, but someone will come up with just enough cash for Intersport to run about half the season’s miles. In a tough 2010, they had to finish Petit to get near that magic “halfway.”
Drayson –  If the announced ILMC full schedule becomes certain in 2011, this team is much more likely to contest that than a full ALMS schedule.
Autocon – Zytek is likely not an option. If the only thing on the table is a return to the Lola AER, will Autocon race, take some time off, or drop to P2?
ARES (nee Corsa) – No activity on facebook, nor in a race shop, since April.

LMP2
CORE – More likely to be an LMPC entry.
HVM – Broke and looking for funded drivers.
Level 5 – ILMC is likely, ALMS less so.
Libra (nee Taurus, nee ECO) – Libra, Ian Dawson’s act 3, is on track to be as successful as acts 1 and 2.
Signature – The team’s own hope is only for the second half of 2011. This reality show won’t make prime time.

LMPC
Dick Barbour – Katherine Legge? Not likely.  Terri O’Connell (nee J.T. Hayes)? The Bear likes real girls. Too much hype, too little substance (or cash). Reminds Murphy of DBM in 2001: Elford, Panoz, Mugen, Holt, Duno, Graham, de Radigues. Sounded good, didn’t it?
Green Earth Team Gunnar – The real 2010 LMPC champs say they’ll be back.
Intersport – The Ohio team’s cash cow.
Performance Tech, Genoa, and Mathiasen – All possible
CORE – They’ll be here if anywhere.

Once again, the series will struggle to field a dozen prototypes in three classes outside of the two ILMC events.

Behind the speculative entries floating about are people who want to come. Some will convince team partners and sponsors and some won’t, but the bear thinks you first have to give a rat’s patootie about being there. We’ll see soon enough how it’s turned out for them. Included are: Paul Daniels, John Nielsen, Ben Aucott, Nigel Mansell, Jonathan France, Fredy Lienhardt, Juan Barazi, Ian Dawson, Antonin Charouz.

Xtreme Sports: Championship Name Dropping

Remember when Katherine Legge hit the wall at Road America? The evidence – along with Katherine’s name – is still there at the kink.

There was one of those “I-know-something-you-don’t” kind of stories, repeated around the 2006 Petit Le Mans media center. It was said (authoritatively and repeatedly) that, “Katherine (Legge) emailed her close friend Liz (Halliday) saying ‘don’t watch (the) Youtube (video)…I’m ok.’”  The only problem with that story is Katherine’s response to its retelling last week at Road America: “Liz who?”

Aren’t you proud of Murphy? He didn’t write anything about a pretty English princess kissing a Frog.

The Chrome Horn

Canada’s favorite under-employed-open-wheel-driver (Who else would subtitle his web site “The Official Home of the Chrome Horn?”) had talks with AGR about a turn in the ARX-1b at Mosport and Detroit, but couldn’t – wouldn’t – compete with drivers who Will Work for Food – or less.

Quote of the Week

“Er, any championship that wants to be taken, er, seriously in North America, er, has to race at Watkins Glen.” Following which was a paean to NASCAR – which, of course, leaves out a significant part of the famous race course – comparing the Nationwide taxicabs in rapturous terms, thus: “four cars running, er, nose to tail…reminding me of, er, Formula 1 in the, er, seventies…” Murphy just didn’t know what to make of that.

Enduring BS

Every time anyone with a prototype entry says, ”It’s the (LMP1, LMP2, fill in the blank) class championship we’re most concerned with.” (Usually immediately after being beaten to the checkered overall.)

It ain’t racin’, but…

China’s administration of its girls (yes, girls…them ain’t women) gymnastics program makes the WWF (some would put our Daytona Beach friends there, but of course Murphy wouldn’t) look like a bunch of rank amateurs. Sixteen? My furry butt!

It could happen

It hasn’t yet, but the Wolfpack could come to Braselton, where there are already Dawgs, Vols, Eagles, Hoyas, Scarlet Knights, and Mountain Hawks, among others. Is there a weekly line on ACC women’s tennis? Consider this Murphy’s early “welcome.”

French Desire

Does a French team’s desire to move up to LMP1 with a production-based engine mean something in regard to a big US manufacturer? Some people think so.

Andretti Movin’ On?

Rumors of the demise of AGR’s foray into sports car racing leave the bear in a reflective mood. Andretti Green Racing gave the series a certain caché that only a storied name like Andretti and (not inconsequently) a racing team widely believed to be among the best in North America.

The start was stunningly successful, a class win, and more importantly a second-place overall at Sebring. The team never matched that lofty start, though regular Brian Herta and semi-regular Marino Franchitti were generally competitive and occasionally brilliant. Not so this year, when another famous name, a Fittipaldi – but not the Fittipaldi – replaced Franchitti. The driving was ordinary in a extraordinary field, and the team seemed disinterested. Earlier this season, Murphy heard there was some stress between AGR and HPD, and soon thereafter, on the Le Mans break, Herta and Fittipaldi were fired and replaced by Franck (Fast and Loose) Montagny and the ubiquitous TBA – who turned out to be Marco Andretti or someone who would drive for free.

So now Murphy reads that AGR (perhaps without Kim Green, who may be bought out) will be on to A1GP. The bear thinks they’re getting some support from that series, which would like to raise its North America profile and get its USA round back.

Stuff the Bear cain’t figger out

Ok, sports fans. Murphy just appointed you the czar of GT racing. You’re wondering what to do with the classes in the face of declining (declined) GT1 fields. This occurs while GT2 fields are growing (the ALMS alone has eight brands involved). Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin, and Ferrari (who rarely agree on anything) come to you and say, “We think you should just leave GT2 ‘as is’ as the top GT class.”

The Bear asks, “Where do I sign?” What did the Rat say? “Sorry, I’ve got my own ideas.” What do you say?

And then there’s

The leap to a “World Championship,” with a bunch of “fly-away” races after multiple failures to get even one to “fly.” Has the FIA really signed onto this?

Prototypes 2009

Some in the paddock think the shake-up of the prototype classes is near. IMSA said its rules to make the twos competitive with the ones are “transitional.” Penske could be out of sports car racing next season – or might be Porsche’s P1 team. Weissach had a P1 on the test track when the ACO’s diesel rules trashed the program. Murphy said then that Porsche would finally field a P1. He hasn’t changed his mind.

What if instead of an Acura program split between two classes, they all go to P1? Then Acura only supports one car, just as HPD has intended from the start.

Then the factory programs (except Mazda) will have cleared out of LMP2, which IMSA and the ACO both want. The paddock poop is that an Ohio privateer that will lead a realignment of teams in the new season.

This just in

From the US partner of a GT team, “I already have a commitment that he (Dirk Werner) will have an experienced US factory driver with him full-time next year.” Interesting, but before you leap, there’s some information missing from that quote, isn’t there?

Cytotalk

After a spring and summer of empty announcements, Murphy’s hesitant to predict an appearance. With that reservation, the Bear’s now been told that in fact you can expect “the juice to be loose” at PLM.

More PLM – three, four, or five coupes?

The baseline is Peugeot (2) and B-K Motorsports (one Lola-Mazda). Murphy shares the hope for a Lola-Aston Martin, but a coupe from Morning Racing is more likely. (That’s the Bear’s riddle for this issue.)

Below is a Spitfire – Wisconsin style.

The Break makes Seibken’s Stop-Inn Tavern, where Murphy Stopped-Inn Friday and Saturday, seem real upscale, though. It was a “say-hey” to rickybaker on Friday. Pictured are two close friends of Murphy’s on Siebken’s patio.

Saturday, he chatted with Wolf and Jörg after the race, and made some new friends, too.

As always, he stopped by to see friends and visit Brian Redman’s cat in the Carousel, too.

2009 Schedule

Braselton thinks that 14 would be a nice schedule, long-term, and doesn’t want to add more than one new race in a season. But there’s a “whoops” to that second part that goes like this: “Unless a good opportunity comes along,” in which case they might “have to” add two. So, waddayaknow, there seems to be a “good opportunity” in the upcoming season.

Murphy’s heard seven venues mentioned in the paddock and around the water cooler. The Rose City is entirely out of the running for the IRL, so that puts the Northwest in play again for the ALMS. Will the third time be the charm? Or has the track finally settled into the minor leagues for good, now listing drifting, bicycle races, and the Cascade Sports Car Club on its “major event” schedule?

NASCAR declared victory (“mission accomplished, we’ve raised motorsports profile here, our work is done,” or some such nonsensical statement that you’d have to be into the Kool Aid to believe) and will take its Nationwide series out of Mexico City. Murphy doesn’t think Grand Am will stay there on its own. Like Portland, Mexico City gets no mention with the open wheel guys, so does the American Le Mans Series step into a void there? That’s the rub, of course, so many think of the Mexican capitol as a big, scary void. Some not particularly eager to race in Ciudad de México are key to making the sports car schedule. On the other hand, there is another former big-league racing venue south of the Texas boarder. Murphy’s heard it could be one of two new venues to make the grade in 2008.

The Bear told you about the NAS and Lukoil, but there’s another option nearby – east, not north, of Philly – that seems more likely now. The track that shares a name with the famous “Jug” that flew in the middle of the last century may be that second 2008 “opportunity.”

Cleveland and Houston have gotten mentions, especially since the promoter has met with the IMSA guys, but inclusion in some future IRL season seems more likely than landing on the ALMS schedule.

Another Cannuckistani race? The Bear hears (as his lion friend once famously said), “not nohow.”

New Porker Lumps for Dyson

Dyson Racing will get its first DI motor at Mosport and the second at Detroit. (That’s the Weissachian promise, anyway.) Seeking to change his luck, this guy rubbed the Bear before starting his Spyder at Road America. It worked.

What will we see at Petit Le Mans? Lots of cars, it seems. Pugs for sure; Connor says they’ll announce this week. (Independent of web broadcasts, Murphy got a “not our announcement to make…”). You can read that anyway you like, but the Bear thinks just two questions remain: One or two? (that’s cars and races) The Lola with the gasoline V12 might be on its way. In fact there may be a plethora of Astons, beyond the two in the ALMS now.

Forget Cytosport, it seems their announcements of their post-Le Mans ALMS program were as bogus as the ones about the pre-Le Mans program – both LMS and ALMS. On the other hand, we’re going to be much happier with the Corsa Zytek, anyway. And maybe Embassy. Don’t forget the AIM Creations.

Y’all know Mazda’s stepped up to the plate and will field a new Lola coupe in place of the B0something/something spyder (sometimes it seems an extra dive plane will get a new model designation). Murphy’s not sure it will put B-K on race pace, but he’s pretty sure it will get more useful notice than another walk-over bridge with “MAZDA” painted on it.

Will Eco make it to Petit? Silverstone will tell us; good if it shows up, bad if it still won’t run or is damaged. So in the meantime the Bear will ignore everything that’s announced, said, printed, or rumored. You should, too.

Murphy thinks the Mansells are telling the truth about wanting to share a Lola, but also are truthful that someone else will have to pay the bill. So, if “Our Nige” is such a hot commodity under St. George’s Cross, will someone step up? The Bear’s waiting for a note from his correspondent in the Empire.

For 2009, the Bear hears that optimism over funding for a Florida team is at an all-time high.

Murphy spent race day morning with some friends down at the “pit-out” end of the paddock, talking with U.B. about the good old days of shade tree (or garage) mechanics, about Kugelfischer FI, and about engine braking on diesels (now the Bear knows why there isn’t any to speak of). The Herr Doktor was there and in good form with a broad smile, as was Murphy’s new favorite Audi driver, (apologies to the wee Scot) who gave him a big hug. Is there another Audi in the DTM driver’s future? Murphy couldn’t get any denials.

There was a printed copy of Peter de Lorenzo’s “Fumes” from last week on various paddock tables. It’s interesting that what Detroit described it wanted from Daytona Beach was a pretty good description of what GM is already getting from Corvette Racing, albeit on a smaller scale. Does that mean the General understands what Corvette in the ALMS does for it? We can hope, can’t we? Doug said “I’ve given it my best shot.”

The Bear’s heard that planning is underway for a very special event for forum fans at Mosport. Look for information soon. (Actually, while finishing this Poop, Murphy’s just now seen the news posted in the ALMS forum’s Mosport thread.) The Bear is planning a “Paddock Poop Special Edition” to be available only at the gathering.