Random anecdotes from Road America
8/12/08, 05:39 PM
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Random anecdotes from Road America
Had a nice trip up to Road America this weekend for the ALMS/SWC/Atlantics weekend. Laura Olsen, who runs in MX-5 Cup, and was on Speed Channel's Setup last season was nice enough to score us a pair of crew passes for the weekend. As a bonus, her husband crews on the Autocon LMP1 car, so wee got to hang out with them, too.
Since this is a Mustang site, I'll skip straight to the SWCGT part. The ACS Mustangs had a pretty crappy weekend, but they're still pretty **** cool cars. I already mentioned in the other thread that they run a Huffaker prepped 6.0 liter all-motor Ford GT engine, but what I didn't know was that they also use the Ford GT transaxle, mounted in the rear like a Corvette. It's a pretty trick setup. Mike ran into problems early, but managed to limp around with some front body damage. Brandon ran strongly in the top 5 through most of the race, but got together with another car in the last few laps and broke the right front suspension.
I was expecting the Rahal Aston to be fast here after it's strong debut at Mid-O. It's rumored to handle very well on the straights, and RA has plenty of those. But they struggled in qualifying and ran mid-pack in the race. It's still a sexy car, though, and with a little more development, it should be a front runner.
Speaking of Rahal, BMW had the new ALMS GT-2 M-3 on display. Beautiful car, although I'll miss the sound of the straight 6.
The ALMS race was pretty cool. 4 hours is a long time if you're just sitting in a grandstand, but it gave us time to walk around and see the various corners. We started out in turn 5 , which is a heavy braking zone with lots of passing. It must be a good spot to watch, because David Hobbs came out and sat down about 20 feet away from us. From there, we walked down the straight through the woods, and headed over towards the carousel and the kink. Towards the end, we drove over to turn 1, which is a pretty high speed corner. By then, it was almost dark, so you could see the brake rotors glowing and the engines shooting flames. I'm usually not a fan of full course yellows, but it did bunch the field up for the finish, which made things a lot more exciting.
For the Atlantics race, we started out at the frontstraight grandstands for the standing start, and then headed back to turn 1. With the death of Champ Car and Atlantic's crappy TV package, I haven't really followed them much this season, so I didn't know who many of the drivers were, but I got most of it figured out by the end. The new cars are a lot prettier looking and sounding than the Indy Light. I wish they'd just combine the series and throw away the old IPS cars.
Turns out that Nigel Mansell's sons are both running the series this year. Maybe it was an off weekend, but they don't seem to be a chip off the ol' block. They both started near the back and stayed there. Simona de Silvestro also started near the back, but she moved up through the field impressively, until she went off trying to make a pass for 7th. Once she gets a little more experience and patience, I think she could be the real deal. Danica better watch her mirrors in a couple years.
Malcolm in the Middle seems to be turning into a fairly solid racer. I used to laugh at him, but he ran a pretty clean race in the midpack, and ended up in the top 10.
And Tony Kasemets really oughta have a full-time ride. I've got a lot of respect for a driver that does his own wrenching and engineering. If not in an Indycar, somebody should be paying him to drive in ALMS or Grand Am.
Since this is a Mustang site, I'll skip straight to the SWCGT part. The ACS Mustangs had a pretty crappy weekend, but they're still pretty **** cool cars. I already mentioned in the other thread that they run a Huffaker prepped 6.0 liter all-motor Ford GT engine, but what I didn't know was that they also use the Ford GT transaxle, mounted in the rear like a Corvette. It's a pretty trick setup. Mike ran into problems early, but managed to limp around with some front body damage. Brandon ran strongly in the top 5 through most of the race, but got together with another car in the last few laps and broke the right front suspension.
I was expecting the Rahal Aston to be fast here after it's strong debut at Mid-O. It's rumored to handle very well on the straights, and RA has plenty of those. But they struggled in qualifying and ran mid-pack in the race. It's still a sexy car, though, and with a little more development, it should be a front runner.
Speaking of Rahal, BMW had the new ALMS GT-2 M-3 on display. Beautiful car, although I'll miss the sound of the straight 6.
The ALMS race was pretty cool. 4 hours is a long time if you're just sitting in a grandstand, but it gave us time to walk around and see the various corners. We started out in turn 5 , which is a heavy braking zone with lots of passing. It must be a good spot to watch, because David Hobbs came out and sat down about 20 feet away from us. From there, we walked down the straight through the woods, and headed over towards the carousel and the kink. Towards the end, we drove over to turn 1, which is a pretty high speed corner. By then, it was almost dark, so you could see the brake rotors glowing and the engines shooting flames. I'm usually not a fan of full course yellows, but it did bunch the field up for the finish, which made things a lot more exciting.
For the Atlantics race, we started out at the frontstraight grandstands for the standing start, and then headed back to turn 1. With the death of Champ Car and Atlantic's crappy TV package, I haven't really followed them much this season, so I didn't know who many of the drivers were, but I got most of it figured out by the end. The new cars are a lot prettier looking and sounding than the Indy Light. I wish they'd just combine the series and throw away the old IPS cars.
Turns out that Nigel Mansell's sons are both running the series this year. Maybe it was an off weekend, but they don't seem to be a chip off the ol' block. They both started near the back and stayed there. Simona de Silvestro also started near the back, but she moved up through the field impressively, until she went off trying to make a pass for 7th. Once she gets a little more experience and patience, I think she could be the real deal. Danica better watch her mirrors in a couple years.
Malcolm in the Middle seems to be turning into a fairly solid racer. I used to laugh at him, but he ran a pretty clean race in the midpack, and ended up in the top 10.
And Tony Kasemets really oughta have a full-time ride. I've got a lot of respect for a driver that does his own wrenching and engineering. If not in an Indycar, somebody should be paying him to drive in ALMS or Grand Am.
8/13/08, 04:39 AM
#2
Thanks Dan!! Glad you could head to RA for the weekend! I watched a little of the ALMS. Good racing. I had hoped the LMP2 Lola/Mazda would make it to RA, but it looks like Petit will be it's coming out party.
I think the SWCGT will be on SPEED on Wed. 8-20-08, but not sure of the time. The new M3 looks fantastic!
Glad you keep getting chunky tid-bits about the SWCGT Mustangs. The more information I hear about them the more I like them!! Thanks for the photos as well!!
I made it to the KMS for the IRL race. Glad Ms. Fisher has a three race sponsor deal with Dollar General. Too bad she had some mechanical difficulty on the last lap. I wanted her to place higher than Danica (no real reason, just because.
) Sarah's car "popped" pretty well on the track as well. And Helio needs a mean streak from time-to-time.
I think the SWCGT will be on SPEED on Wed. 8-20-08, but not sure of the time. The new M3 looks fantastic!
Glad you keep getting chunky tid-bits about the SWCGT Mustangs. The more information I hear about them the more I like them!! Thanks for the photos as well!!
I made it to the KMS for the IRL race. Glad Ms. Fisher has a three race sponsor deal with Dollar General. Too bad she had some mechanical difficulty on the last lap. I wanted her to place higher than Danica (no real reason, just because.
) Sarah's car "popped" pretty well on the track as well. And Helio needs a mean streak from time-to-time.
8/13/08, 04:38 PM
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KMS was my original plan for the weekend, but who am I to turn down free passes to RA? Hopefully the Lola Coupe will be a step in the right direction for the Mazda LMP, but I think the tires may be holding them back more than the car. Switching from Kumhos to Dunlops narrowed the gap to the Acuras and Porsches quite a bit, but to really be competetive, I think they'd need to be on Michelins. Unfortunately, Michelin is already supplying as many cars as they can handle.
SWC GT will be on Speed next Wednesday at noon, with the Touring cars at 1:00.
Good to hear that Sarah managed to get running again. She took a big hit financially at Indy. I'd love to see her beat "The Princess", but I know that her car's not as good, and I hate to admit it, but I think Danica's probably the better driver.
SWC GT will be on Speed next Wednesday at noon, with the Touring cars at 1:00.
Good to hear that Sarah managed to get running again. She took a big hit financially at Indy. I'd love to see her beat "The Princess", but I know that her car's not as good, and I hate to admit it, but I think Danica's probably the better driver.
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