ALMS: Mid-Ohio

[dougiemeats]

Round: 3
Race Duration: 2 hrs 45 min
Track Type: permanent; 2.25 miles; 13 turns
Date/Location: May 21 – Lexington, Ohio
TV Broadcast: CBS Sports 1 PM Eastern

P1
1x Audi R8
1x Autocon Lola AER
2x Dyson Lola AER

P2
2x Penske Porsche
1x B-K Courage Mazda
1x van der Steur Lola AER
1x Intersport Lola AER

GT1
2x Corvette C6.R
2x Aston Martin

GT2
2x BMW
1x AJR Porsche
1x Petersen/WL Porsche
2x Flying Lizard Porsche
2x Multimatic Panoz
1x Risi Competizione

few things:
-this is the last ALMS round before the 24 Hours of Le Mans
-can the R8 be stopped?
-will the Penske Porsches last?
-Dyson finished 1-2 last season
-whole track resurfaced
-“America's most competitive road course”
-despite carrying extra weight, Corvette dominated in Houston
-Ron Fellows & Johnny O'Connell's perfect record at Mid-Ohio
-how long will Konrad continue to struggle?
-will they even be there?
-does Aston Martin have an answer to Corvette Racing?
-2 podiums for Risi; now they want a win
-will Panoz rebound?

Next post: current points standings, my predictions, latest news

Edit: Removed Konrad from GT1 entry list

 

[RACECAR]

you forgot Highcroft as this is a race they will be in.

 

[dougiemeats]

you forgot Highcroft as this is a race they will be in.

Unfortunately, Highcroft's website indicates that the team is not planning to compete this round.

 

[Mulsanne]

Will Konrad even be at Mid-Ohio? They're on the entry list, but after the Houston race, Tom Weickardt (the guy who ran the Carsport America Viper the past few years) split with the team. So will Konrad have the cash to continue racing in America? What will Weickardt do?

Yeah, Highcroft will not be at this round. However, I believe they will be at the rest of the races, starting at Lime Rock. And with Andy Wallace behind the wheel. (where's the "excited" smilie?)

Personally, as much as I'm looking forward to Le Mans, I can't wait until the races after LM. We'll have the Zytek, two Audi R10s (starting at Salt Lake City) and Highcroft. Shame Mid-Ohio isn't after the LM break, since it's one of my favorite ALMS circuits and yet it has such a small entry list.

I believe the Dyson and Penske cars will go the distance this time. Sebring and Houston (where both cars failed) were terribly bumpy circuits and Mid-Ohio, having just been repaved, will be much easier on the cars. I look for both cars to be very competitive.

 

[RACECAR]

I believe the Dyson and Penske cars will go the distance this time. Sebring and Houston (where both cars failed) were terribly bumpy circuits and Mid-Ohio, having just been repaved, will be much easier on the cars. I look for both cars to be very competitive.

it will be interesting. like you pointed out, the first two circuits were very bumpy. however, at sebring, intersport were running competitive laps whereas houston, they were running reduced pace because of a broken header so that is interesting. seeing as the Corvettes had that huge weight penalty and won with it, I wouldn't give up hope on the R8. Thats the only prototype I've seen win races with penalties put on it(strangely, its always champion Racing) so like houston, don't count it out.

 

[Layla's Keeper]

As far as Mid-Ohio being "America's Most Competitive Road Course", the answer is a resounding YES!

Between the highly twisty backhalf of the track (Madness, the Esses, the Carousel) and the extremely fast fronthalf (front straight, Keyhole, back straight) Mid-Ohio has remained a track fraught with compromised setups and extensive overtaking.

The repave, though, is a bit of sacrilege because the pockmarked surface with its concrete patches and lack of a rain line absolutely MADE Mid-Ohio a driver's track and a chassis man's nightmare. It was a day of high speeds, tight cornering, braking duels, and no grip anywhere. In other words: Perfect For RACING.

There are only a select few tracks left in the World that allow for the sort of action inherent to Mid-Ohio. Road America at Elkhart Lake is one of them, Watkins Glen (with the Boot) is another. These are natural terrain tracks with big size, long straights and sweepers, and NO EFFIN ARTIFICIAL CHICANES.

Ahhh, sweet lack-of-"progress". Tilke be damned, a great race track is one with a little hair on its chest.

 

[Mulsanne]

Totally agree with you, LK. They just don't make 'em like they used to. To your list, I would add VIR. Now THERE'S a circuit I would love to see the ALMS at. I'd probably drive up from Florida just to see that.

Speaking of Tilke, the guy races in the Nurburgring 24 Hours on the Nordschliefe, so you'd think he would know what a real circuit looks like.

RACECAR, trust me, I never count out Audi and Champion. No matter what the officials try to do to slow them down, they manage to pull through. Look at Le Mans last year. The ACO did about everything they could to give the win to Pescarolo and Audi STILL won. I find myself in the strange position of actually cheering for an Audi win.

Oh, and Konrad Saleen will not be at Mid-Ohio, so we're down to four cars in GT1. Hopefully, the Astons will be able to put up a challenge against the 'Vettes. (We don't want Dave Richards to get in a huff and take his cars home.)

 

[Layla's Keeper]

While I dearly enjoy it when any road course is revived, I have a few issues with VIR that kept it off my list. I mean, VIR has plenty of esses and radius changes that make it entertaining from a weekend warrior's point of view. However, when you put two dozen well matched sports cars and/or saloons on the track, it turns into an elephant procession very quickly. GARRA at VIR this year - honestly - was an anomaly from what I've seen in the past, and the excitement in that race took some "creative" overtaking to get it done.

It's not a particularly fast track which, to me, defeats the very nature of racing. Race tracks should offer every oppurtunity available to excercise racing cars' full potential. Artificial chicanes, esses, and decreasing radius/double apex corners only serve to eliminate overtaking oppurtunities and slow cars down. When you use them, you end up with atrocious "races" like Catalunya this past weekend. Ghastly.

Now, if you'd said Lime Rock, I'd have agreed whole-heartedly.

 

[Mulsanne]

Honestly, I'm not that big a fan of Lime Rock. If they extended it by about a mile or so, I'd like it, but to me, it just seems a bit too short.

Personally, I think VIR has all the ingredients of a classic circuit. Two long straights, just about every type of corner (I even enjoy watching the DP cars through the esses there...) and plenty of elevation changes. Oh, and it doesn't have a mile of gravel trap at every corner. It looks like something that just couldn't have been created on someone's computer.

Totally agree about Catalunya. Couldn't think of a worse circuit for F1. Of course, the quality of the racing doesn't matter to them. It seems their only requirement of a circuit is that it has enough runoff area so the poor dears don't hurt themselves if they screw up or drive like idiots. And the amount of money they'll get paid for putting on their little "show." Grand Prix my arse.

 

[RACECAR]

Oh, and Konrad Saleen will not be at Mid-Ohio, so we're down to four cars in GT1. Hopefully, the Astons will be able to put up a challenge against the 'Vettes. (We don't want Dave Richards to get in a huff and take his cars home.)

here's something weird: the Astons beat the corvettes at sebring without the weight last year and this year, with the weight penalties, corvette wins sebring. in some strange way, the weight might be accidentally adding more strengh to the vettes then taking it away. either way, Dave Richards just needs to shut up and deal with the grim fact that there is a good chance he's not taking down the vettes.

 

[dougiemeats]

Team Points Standings going into this race:

P1
1. Audi Sport North America 46
2. Dyson Racing 38

P2
1. Intersport Racing 46
2. Penske Motorsports 35
3. B-K Motorsports 30

GT1
1. Corvette Racing 46
2. Aston Martin Racing 35
3. Konrad Motorsports 14

GT2
1. Flying Lizard Motorsports 38
2. Multimatic Motorsports (Team Panoz) 32
Risi Competizione 32
Alex Job Racing 32
5. Petersen/White Lightning 20

No Konrad? The ALMS is my favorite racing series because it is the most exciting to watch in my opinion. Look at the quality teams in the series. We have factory/works teams such as: Audi, Corvette, Aston Martin, Penske/Porsche, Panoz. These teams chose ALMS over LMS for a reason. We also have competitive private teams such as Dyson, Intersport, ACEMCO, AJR, Flying Lizard, etc. The quality of racing more than makes up for the low grid numbers.

However, we are promised every year about more teams joining, larger grids, etc. It seems to me that the grids are getting smaller. Many teams that join eventually withdraw their entries. It has happened in every class but let's look at GT1 as a specific example. I was really excited about these entries only to be disappointed about their withdrawal from the series.

Krohn-Barbour Lamborghini R-GT (I put more blame on Lamborghini)
Pacific Coast Motorsports Corvette C5-R
ACEMCO Saleen S7R (Where are you!?)
Maserati MC12 (I know, this one was quite controversial and I was not surprised about its absence)
Konrad Saleen S7R

Now, don't flame me for this for this is only an opinion: Could it be that the "quality" of the series is to blame? Take any of these teams and ship them to Europe and it is likely that many of them will contend for wins. Are smaller teams intimidated to go racing with the big names of motorsport? I'd like to hear why you agree or disagree with this. This is the "Hot Topic" at the-paddock.net and Konrad's absence got me thinking about this.

 

[Mulsanne]

Re: Aston Martin vs. Corvette - The Corvettes ran into a lot of problems at Sebring last year. First, the #4 was hit by an Audi early in the race. Later, there was that famous brake explosion at Sunset Bend that pitched #3 into the barrier. Plus, #4 was involved in a late-race accident with a Porsche, IIRC. Up to that point, the Corvettes had dominated the race. So, IMHO, if the Corvettes didn't have the extra weight, they'd be miles ahead.

And that leads into something that's been concerning me. With IMSA's new NASCAR-esque policy of rules adjustments in the name of "parity," is Prodrive really working and trying to make their car faster? I have no doubt they're trying as hard as they can in the race to win, but are they doing the other things necessary to stay competitive? Testing, R&D, etc. Or, are they simply not doing any improvements (saving money for other AM or Prodrive ventures) and counting on IMSA to adjust the rules in their favor? They know IMSA needs the Astons in order to keep GT1 somewhat interesting. It's like racing's version of welfare: Adjust the rules for them once and they'll expect it done again and again if they're not competitive instead of doing the R&D and testing in order to make the car faster and more competitive.

Either way, according to dailysportscar.com the Astons are expecting to be more competitive this weekend at Mid-Ohio. Here's hoping they are. (Of course, I still hope Corvette kicks their BRG tails at Le Mans!)

 

[Mulsanne]

dougie, there's a heated thread (or two or three) on the ALMS boards right now about the topic of car counts, so you're not alone in wondering about this topic.

Yes, over the years, we've gained plenty of great cars. Unfortunately, we seem to have lost just as many or more. I believe it has pretty much evened out, as we seem to see car counts in the mid-20s to low-30s just about every season.

I think you're right. Some of that has to do with the quality of the Series. Look at the podium at Le Mans last year. 1st and 3rd overall and in LMP1, 1st and 2nd in GT1 and a podium sweep in GT2. Also, in LMP2, Miracle led before they were excluded for the pit infraction. I believe most of our teams could go into the Le Mans Series and win.

Part of it is the fact that sports car racing has always been, is and perhaps will always be a niche in American motorsports. NASCAR remains the 800 lb. gorilla that takes most of the sponsorship dollars. We don't have a race like the Indy 500 to put us on the national radar (even if for only a weekend).

Part of it is the Series' philosophy of hosting the "best and brightest" sports car teams. And sometimes this means factory teams. I know you guys are well-informed about the sport, so I don't have to tell you the effects (positive and negative) that manufacturer-supported teams have had on the sport its entire existence. Privateer teams simply cannot compete with the cubic dollars of a factory team, so it's understandable why they get frustrated and leave.

And that brings me to what I believe is the biggest factor: Grand-Am. Before, teams that weren't doing that well either toughed it out or gave up entirely. Now, there's a second division they can "take their ball and go home" if they're not good enough in the ALMS. The cars are cheaper and built with parity in mind. They have NASCAR's dollars behind them forever and the rules are constantly changed in order to achieve parity. (Never mind that the basically factory teams of Ganassi, SunTrust and Alex Job win just about everything.)

Look at where the ALMS castoffs have gone. TRG? Grand-Am. Krohn? Grand-Am. PCM? Grand-Am. I believe if Grand-Am were not around, car counts in the ALMS would approach LMS-type levels. There are plenty of good teams in GARRA, but it's just a shame they choose to remain there instead of proving themselves against the best in the ALMS.

What are the possible remedies for the low car counts? Honestly, I don't really know. Perhaps a title sponsor for the Series would bring in more money, so that private teams would earn more. Or perhaps forcing manufacturers to produce and sell cars to private teams that are equal to the factory cars. And later on, once grid levels increase, perhaps they could have a separate podium in each class for the top privateer teams. Just some ideas.

I hate seeing only a handful of cars in each class and only 25 or so cars in four classes as much as anyone. But I will remain hopeful/confident that next season will see more and better entries. 4 Acura LMP2s, run by established Champ Car/IRL teams, 3 rumored Porsche LMP2 (2 by Flying Lizard), maybe a new chassis for Miracle and B-K, perhaps a new Lola LMP1 for Highcroft, and perhaps a few new Radicals. Not to mention the possibility of Subaru joining.

EDIT: And of course, don't forget (like I almost did) about the cars joining the Series after Le Mans. We'll have the Zytek, two Audi R10s, and Highcroft (with Andy Wallace). So that boosts the numbers a little and certainly adds excitement to the races. After LM, I doubt we'll see another Houston.

 

[Layla's Keeper]

PCM was a Formula Atlantic team before they were an ALMS team. Want to accuse them of abandoning Champ Car too? They've never had massive finances, and entered into the C5R deal expecting much more factory support than they received.

Pratt & Miller circled the wagons against the C5R because of the C6R's untried nature. It would've been a horrible PR case if the year old out-going model in a new team's hands had beaten the factory's latest and greatest.

The TRG/Krohn situation is a little more complicated, but at its core there's the fact that Alex Job Racing IS the factory GT Porsche team. TRG was spending themselves into oblivion trying to win GT races without factory support, and Krohn's ill-fated Lamborghini endeavor is much to well-known for me to detail it here.

In GARRA, these fish get their small pond. Not to slight either team, as they've got quality personnel and drivers, but they're not factory, and don't have bottomless pockets, so ALMS is - quite honestly - out of their league.

And, to my knowledge, PCM and TRG/Krohn are the ONLY defectors from ALMS. Most other teams were either already GARRA aligned OR came from SCCA regional or SCCA Pro ranks. The best example of this I can cite is Derhaag, who're famous as Trans Am stalwarts, but who've joined GARRA as Trans Am folded (instead of going into SWC as predicted).

GARRA hasn't cost ALMS a quality field, they've either taken away the traffic or circumvented the potentials who probably couldn't have afforded to compete for wins in the first place.

And, quite frankly, I think an artificial rules package like the ACO's new "LMP1/LMP2" categories replacing the LMP900/LMP675 fields is the biggest limiter.

LMP900/LMP675 racing only existed in this country for SIX YEARS. In the beginning, the fields consisted of factory Audis, factory BMW's, and the remnants of old IMSA/USRRC World Sports Car fields (mostly Ferrari 333SP's and Riley&Scott MkIII's).

There weren't bespoke ALMS LMP teams until 2000, when Panoz and Cadillac commited, as well as Intersport and Champion entering Lolas. It wasn't until 2002 when Panoz LMP07's, Lista-Doran's Dallara Judd, Dyson's Crawford SS2CK and the new MkIIIC version Riley&Scott appeared that there were native LMP900 privateer entries.

And it took still one more year for Dyson to acquire the MG EX-257 for there to be a routinely COMPETITIVE native privateer LMP.

So, it took 4 years to get to a point where there was regular multi-faceted competition, except that many of the cars developed along the way were shelved before competitive status was achieved AND, most damning of all, the competition only lasted ONE YEAR before the ACO decided to change the rules and demand new chassis be raced by everyone!

Only by some stroke of common sense was IMSA able to grandfather their existing grid for 2005 in order to give the teams with the budget a chance to afford a new racing car for the new rules package.

Now, if I'm a competitor without bottomless pockets, and I look at the ALMS and see that I might only get five years use out of a chassis even if it's a dominant factory piece, and then know that at the end of that five years I'll have to change around my whole organization and pray I'm still competitive, I'm pretty danged discouraged from spending my money.

And that's exactly the problem. I mean, it's already happening in LMP2. The Lucchini chassis has only been in existance for what? 2 years? It's already considered obsolete! The Courage C65 that Mazda uses is in the same boat! These teams are staring down the Penske Porsche juggernaught and turning out their pockets because they already spent their wad.

You can't expect to keep teams around for a five year rules cycle if a chassis's competitive life is only two years.

 

[dougiemeats]

LK and Mulsanne, you guys have stated some very good points 👍 Mulsanne, from your posts on the other threads and on this one, the ALMS races after Le Mans should be something to look forward to.

However, I am a bit concerned about the GT1 class. They simply cannot afford to lose Aston Martin at this point. The future looks bright for the other classes. Customer Porsches, Audi R10, Acura, Courage, Lexus, BMW, rumors of Subaru.... but how about GT1? We know that Corvette Racing will be there, but will Aston Martin stay for another season if no privateer steps up with their own DBR9? Will ACEMCO and Konrad be back with their Saleens? Are any other manufacturers going to step up?

An unlikely, yet possible scenario is a GT1 class consisting of only 2 factory Corvettes. I highly doubt this will happen, but I can speculate as to how this situation would turn out: Corvette Racing races to prove that the Corvette is a world class car. Without competition in the ALMS, there is little incentive for them to race and they may start providing more support to the teams overseas. The two yellow beasts only race at Sebring, Le Mans, and Petit Le Mans where they know that other GT1 entries will be present. Again, this scenario is highly unlikely, but the situation in GT1 does not look good. Let's wait after Le Mans and see what progresses.

As for the Mid-Ohio race, my predictions are:

P1 - At the midpoint of its farewell tour, the R8 picks up another win. Issues with the Dyson cars are not solved in time. The 2 cars suffer mechanical problems during the race and does not repeat on last year's success at the track. The team looks forward to testing and resolving the issues while its competitors are in France.

P2 - Penske gets its long-awaited first win of the season. Intersport has issues with their car but manages to cover enough distance to maintain their lead in points. They took care of their car and put it on the podium. Now they prepare for Le Mans.

GT1 - More weight, less power, and Corvette engineers are working as hard as ever to maintain speed. Aston Martin puts up a bigger fight than it did in Houston but they can only manage 2nd as the #3 Corvette is victorious. After seeing nothing but green in their rear-view mirrors all season, they look forward to France where they will reunite with a certain silver-clad foe.

GT2 - Panoz makes up for its Houston troubles and finishes ahead of the Ferrari in a race that sees many lead changes. The AJR and Flying Lizard Porsches put up a fight but this race is a Ferrari-Panoz duel.

 

[Mulsanne]

I'm not accusing PCM of abandoning anything. They simply couldn't win in ALMS, so they "took their ball and went home" to a place they could win. Certainly, they should have expected that P&M/GM would not give them the greatest help while getting the C6.R up to speed. Once they did get the C6.R sorted, the help would have come.

BTW, I think we can classify TRG and Krohn separately, since they did race separate programs in the ALMS and race separate programs in GARRA today. So three teams (five former ALMS cars) have defected.

I'm not saying that Grand-Am is stealing competitors away from the ALMS or that every GARRA team is an ex-ALMS team or even a potential ALMS team. I'm simply saying that teams who can't hack it in the top division now have another option they didn't have before. If there was no Grand-Am, some of the teams currently in Grand-Am would certainly have moved up to ALMS (especially in the GT or LMP2 ranks), raising the car counts to just under LMS-type levels.

As for chassis becoming obsolete, I agree with you regarding the ACO's meddling in the rules. The most glaring example is the fact that LMP1 hybrids have only the rest of 2006 before they become obsolete across the pond. This certainly raises questions about what most of the Le Mans/LMS field (Lister, Creation, Pescarolo, etc.) will do next year.

However, the example you cited (Lucchini, Courage C65) is simply a part of racing, at least for any series that is about the racing and not about entertainment. You build a car, and if someone comes along and builds a better one, you improve your current effort or build a new one. Better chassis come along and make older ones obsolete. And five years seems like the right amount of time for a sports car chassis. Even in the Group C days, private 962s were only competitive for about that length of time.

So, other than turning ALMS into another Grand-Am, what can be done about the low car counts? As I have said, we're a niche in the motorsports world, we don't have that one big race that puts us on the mainstream's radar, even if only for a weekend, and the ALMS's acceptance of factory teams leads to those teams dominating.

Is a low car count simply the price we have to pay for wanting the "best and brightest" sports car teams to compete in the ALMS?

 

[Layla's Keeper]

Is a low car count simply the price we have to pay for wanting the "best and brightest" sports car teams to compete in the ALMS?

In a word, Yes.

Unfortunately, with manufacturers taking a very long and hard look at that "Return on Investment" figure, they're out to squeeze eleven pennies out of every dime. Sports car racing, especially prototypes, is expensive. No two ways about it. Really, to do it properly, it takes a major manufacturer's budget. Volkswagen AG has committed the budget to dominate LMP1. Porsche has committed the budget to dominate LMP2 and GT2(and maybe beat LMP1's on the side). General Motors has committed to dominating GT1.

In order for a manufacturer to come to the conclusion that it's worth ponying up the bucks to come play, they have to see what Volkswagen AG, Porsche, and General Motors are spending (in their respective fields) and decide if committing MORE than that amount of money to a racing program will have the desired effect on their sales, marketing, and development stance.

For privateers, it's a bitter pill to swallow as well because they rarely have as much money, let alone more, than the manufacturers and so have to rely on the cottage industry of chassis and engine makes (Lola, Dallara, Courage, etc. and AER, Mugen, Cosworth, etc) to construct cars capable of winning (or at least competing) for far less money. Privateer cars must also have a much longer shelf life because the initial investment is so high AND because privateers can rarely afford midseason chassis development or conversion.

This is actually why the 962C IMSA cars were such a success. The privateers got that full five years out of the cars (no small thanks to American and European chassis specialists like Holbert, Fabcar, and Kremer) and so stuck around a good long time.

Long enough, even, that many of them were able to invest in "2nd Gen" cars like the Spice SE98's and Chevy Intrepid. I feel the ACO's constant monkeying prevents a good five year privateer chassis from coming into being (the last two were the Riley & Scott MkIIIC and the Ferrari 333SP) and that's what's needed.

A little bit of rules stability would go a long way. That's really GARRA's ace in the hole. They've guaranteed that the chassis package rules won't change for a good long while, so that the very latest DP chassis - while infinitely more refined than the earlier cars - are still fraternally linked in design to the oldest DP's.

 

[Fairlady240zg]

Ill be there watching.

Take that!!

 

[dougiemeats]

Have fun at the race, Fairlady240zg.

Porsche RS Spyders were fastest in the first practice. I wonder if they will last the race distance on Sunday. The customer teams waiting for their RS Spyder next season are probably wondering the same thing.

 

[RACECAR]

Have fun at the race, Fairlady240zg.

Porsche RS Spyders were fastest in the first practice. I wonder if they will last the race distance on Sunday. The customer teams waiting for their RS Spyder next season are probably wondering the same thing.

one of them (the No.7 of Timo Berhard and Romain Dumas) actually is the fastest in practice overall with the #2 Audi R8 second.

 

[Mulsanne]

Penske Porsches 1-2 in qualifying, Audi and Dyson 3-4, Intersport 5th, less than 2 sec. off of pole. (If they had Michelins, they'd be much closer, IMHO.) LATE NEWS: No. 7 Porsche sent to the back of the grid. Underweight in post-qualifying tech.

In GT1, Aston, 'Vette, Aston, 'Vette, 9th-12th, separated by less than 2/10ths.

GT2, Petersen/Risi/Lizards/2x Panoz/Lizards/AJR (surprising)/2x BMW. Top 6 separated by just over a second.

I think this will be the race of the season, at least until after LM (when we get 2x R10s, Zytek, Highcroft w/Andy Wallace). 2 Porsches, Audi, at least one Dyson car to fight it out over 2h45m on one of America's best circuits. Also, the battles in GT1 and GT2 should be absolutely awesome.

 

[dougiemeats]

Looks like Penske was trying to shave every millisecond off the qualifying time. With only one week between races, I wonder if Penske and Dyson have resolved the issues that they encountered in Houston.

In GT1, they look to be about even. I see the Corvette team spending less time in the pits in this one.

The GT2 class has yet to disappoint me this season. BMW is not as strong as I predicted before the season started, but I can't wait until Lexus joins in. Panoz vs. Ferrari vs. Porsche and BMW vs. Lexus, this is the most exciting class this season.

This should be a fun one to watch.

 

[torque998]

I went down to Mid-Ohio for this race with my dad (we're both motorsport freaks). I gotta say, it was awesome. We got a paddock pass, so we were able to go into the garage area before the race. We were right next to the Penske Porches when they fired 'em up. Amazing. I still don't get how two P2's could have finished 1-2 overall. Man, they were FAST.

 

[Layla's Keeper]

The last time Penske and Porsche teamed up, the result was a little blue & yellow car called the 917/30. That about sums up why a pair of LMP2's won overall.

The current LMP2 regs offer a lot of oppurtunities to make the new chassis much faster than they have been, and that's led to cars like the Penske Porsche Spyder and the Radical LMP2 that regularly outpace the LMP1 and LMP900 Hybrids that make up most of the grids.

 

[Mulsanne]

Just compare the P1 and P2 qualifying times for the recent LMS Spa race. The RML MG was less than two seconds (IIRC) off the Pescarolo's time. And this on a circuit twice as long as Mid-Ohio.

Penske and Porsche have the two best LMP2 cars anywhere in the world right now. I believe they could win overall in the LMS as well.

Plus, look at their competition on this side of the pond. We have one Audi R8, six years old and heavily restricted. Plus, two Dyson Lola LMP1s, which are nowhere near being fully sorted. And in LMP2, their only competition is a family-run team who is stuck on Goodyears. Hardly a field on the same level as those found in Europe (at least at the moment).

And Mid-Ohio (along with Lime Rock) is the circuit the Porsches had the best chance of winning on. Short and twisty, it gives a lighter, more nimble car a tremendous advantage.

 

[dougiemeats]

Well those Porsches did it. Near the end of the race when they were still running 1 and 2, I kept having doubts in my mind that they would last after their troublesome start to the season. But I agree that with this track and the current prototype field, the Porsches were somewhat favored. That's not to take anything away from them, I wouldn't expect anything less from Porsche. So it wasn't a stunning win yesterday, but imagine if they would have pulled it off against two R10s, two competitive Lolas, and a Zytek.

Now the excitement begins, not only for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but for the ALMS rounds after it. While many of teams are preparing to ship their cars to Le Mans, Dyson will take this time to sort out and hopefully resolve some issues with the car. The R8 isn't done just yet. There's one more race for the legendary sportscar. Add a few guests from Europe and we should have some exciting races ahead.

Hopefully, the cars will represent the ALMS well at Le Mans, just as they have in the past.

 

[RACECAR]

Now the excitement begins, not only for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but for the ALMS rounds after it. While many of teams are preparing to ship their cars to Le Mans, Dyson will take this time to sort out and hopefully resolve some issues with the car. The R8 isn't done just yet. There's one more race for the legendary sportscar. Add a few guests from Europe and we should have some exciting races ahead.

one interesting thing I wonder about is at the same time Dyson is sorting their Lolas, what about the Preperation of the R8 come its last race at lime rock? Audi-1 Porsche-1. come lime Rock Park, we shall see whos got the better car.

 

[dougiemeats]

one interesting thing I wonder about is at the same time Dyson is sorting their Lolas, what about the Preperation of the R8 come its last race at lime rock? Audi-1 Porsche-1. come lime Rock Park, we shall see whos got the better car.

For any other race I would just assume that Audi would be content with a class victory and secure their points lead, but you make a point that this is the R8's last race. I'm sure Audi will not be conservative at Lime Rock. They will give Porsche everything they've got.

On a different viewpoint, I'm sure they don't want an incident ending the R8's race---and career. So I suppose we will witness "controlled-chaos" at Lime Rock Park after Le Mans.

Team Points Standings after Mid-Ohio

P1
Audi Sport North America 66
Dyson Racing 54
Autocon Motorsports 13

P2
Intersport Racing 46
Penske Motorsports 35
B-K Motorsports 30

GT1
Corvette Racing 66
Aston Martin Racing 48
Konrad Motorsports 14

GT2
Flying Lizard Motorsports 58
Multimatic Motorsports(Team Panoz) 48
Risi Competizione 38
Alex Job Racing 32
Petersen/White Lightning 24
BMW Team PTG 10

Edit: I found a good picture of the DBR9 at practice.

 

[Mulsanne]

Also, factor in the Zytek at Lime Rock. Remember how fast that car was last year. Personally (and I never thought I'd be saying this), I'm hoping the old girl (R8) goes out with a win. With the career that car has had, it's the only fitting result.

BTW, the guy who took that photo is named Jon Williamson. He's got a few more shots at: http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h54/jmw15160/ I'd swear it was photoshopped if I hadn't seen the replay on TV. WOW! The ALMS should really be sending that video to every network news network, putting it on SportsCenter, etc.

I just hope that with the Le Mans break, Dyson Racing does a lot of testing and gets that Lola-AER package fully sorted. They'll need all the speed and reliability once they face two R10s, a Zytek and their old Lola with their part-time driver at the wheel. Plus the two yellow Panzers. Should be exciting.

 

[dougiemeats]

When you said Photoshop, I couldn't resist...



Fake news story: Aston Martin can't find any luck this season. With its recent competition adjustments, IMSA has decreased the DBR9's weight significantly for Mid-Ohio. The car was so light that it was allegedly seen "flying" during its practice laps. However, Corvette yet again finds a way to win despite being heavier than its competitors. The decision was made after the Houston race that they would go with their low-downforce setup for the Mid-Ohio race. The risky decision pays off as the 007 and 009 battle amongst each other for the remaining podium spot.



BTW, nice find. There were some good pictures in there:tup: