It’s hard to imagine that the green flag on the American Le Mans Series season is right around the corner. One week from today, we’ll know the the winners of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.
This year’s once-around-the-clock endurance racing classic features one of the strongest entries seen in years, much in part thanks to the Series’ class overhaul for 2010. With a comprehensive car-by-car preview to be published on SPEEDtv.com early this week, I’ll spare you with the detailed analysis and instead highlight a few key points heading into Saturday’s race.
With plenty more story lines to examine and more yet to unfold, be sure to follow SPEEDtv.com’s extensive team coverage from Sebring all week long. We’ll be providing daily notebooks, features, driver blogs, photo galleries and videos starting on Tuesday. Also be sure to tune into SPEEDtv.com Friday for live streaming video coverage of qualifying and the 58th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, live on SPEED, at 10 a.m. ET. Don’t miss it!
First off, it’s been a while since I’ve last blogged. In fact, it’s been close to a year. I hope to reverse this trend and provide insight into the 2010 sportscar racing season with more frequent blog entries. While I can’t promise anything due to my work commitments, I’ll give it my best shot.
With that in mind, I felt it’s best to first take a look back at the annual sportscar season-opener, the Rolex 24 at Daytona. This year’s twice-around-the-clock classic again lived up to the hype, with an exciting race both in the Daytona Prototype and Grand Touring categories. I had the pleasure of covering the event SPEEDtv.com for the first time, although it was my fifth consecutive year at the Rolex 24. Time sure does fly by when you’re in this business.
As usual, the event went by in a flash, especially thanks to the weekend’s condensed format. With three rounds of practice and the first qualifying session all crammed in on Thursday, plus two more practice sessions and final qualifying on Friday, and not to mention the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Fresh From Florida 200, getting through the first two grueling days is almost as tough as the race itself.
After two days of what seemed like non-stop writing, interviewing, shooting and editing, race morning rolled around, and we were all fearing the worst. Rain had been in the forecast for nearly a week and was well documented in Marshall Pruett’s Daytona Prototype preview. While I initially shrugged off the threat, thinking the storms would never come, or at least blow over quickly, I could have not been more wrong.
The rain began to fall around noon-time, just over three hours before the start of the race. While we all took refuge in the media center, I had courageously volunteered to take the start photo of the race, not realizing how heavy the rain really was. Having survived the torrential conditions at the Petit Le Mans last year, I had invested in proper rain gear for my cameras and myself so I felt like I was well-prepared this time around. Wrong. As it turned out, most of my rain gear was mistakenly left at home, and I found myself in a race against the clock to prepare for the race start.
With some help from the Daytona media staff, who provided a spare garbage bag to cover one of my cameras, I was off and rolling with veteran motorsports photographer Bob Chapman. While we both had intentions of shooting the race start from the main grandstands on the outside of the track, Bob had heard the traditional shot had been obstructed due to the installation of taller catch fence. With that in mind, we stayed in the infield and headed towards the second hairpin. Let me just say this, it turned out to be the best decision made all weekend.
After a few hours out in the soggy, but drying conditions, hitching rides on golf carts from Bob and Rich Chenet, it was my turn to take over the live race blogging duties on SPEEDtv.com and kick start our expanded race coverage of the race. Together with Marshall and with the help of Robb Holland, we churned out an impressive amount of content during the overnight hours. In addition to the live race blog, we got numerous “Ask The Driver” submitted questions answered, participated in live online chats with Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, Chris Neville, Justin Bell, Jack Baldwin and many others stopping by, plus a few hours of rest before sunrise.
By morning, I was thanking myself for bringing my winter jacket. With daytime temperatures in the mid-50s coupled with gusty winds, it had reminded me of the near-freezing conditions we braved at the Thunderhill 25 Hours last December. The action on the track, though, helped heat us up, as a fierce battle for the overall lead developed. As it would have it, luck went in the way of Action Express Racing, which benefited from a late-race blunder by the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-BMW of Justin Wilson.
The win for Joao Barbosa, Terry Borcheller, Mike Rockenfeller and Ryan Dalziel took many of us by surprise considering the ’star power’ in the race. As it turned out, this year’s Rolex 24 was another race of attrition, with many unexpected engine and mechanical failures for the top teams. While Action Express may have not won the race on pure speed, their Porsche Cayenne V8-powered Riley had the reliability and driver smarts to make it the distance.
The GT race was equally rewarding considering SpeedSource’s comeback from an overnight crash. A dejected John Doonan, Motorsports Manager for Mazda North America, came into the media center around midnight, informing us that the No. 70 Mazda RX-8 was hit by a DP and lost over seven laps undergoing repairs. Hopes for the class win appeared to be over, but the SpeedSource boys never gave up.
Slowly, but surely, the midnight black RX-8 driven by Sylvain Tremblay, Nick Ham, David Haskell and Jonathan Bomarito climbed the leaderboard as an increasing amount of GT contenders fell by the wayside. With a handful of hours remaining, the No. 70 car was in the lead and en route to its second class win in three years. It’s a tale of never giving up, even in the toughest of times.
While this year’s Rolex 24 may have not been one for the ages, it certainly ranks as one of the more memorable endurance races in recent memory. And after surviving another Rolex 24, I can’t wait for the next one!
On Monday, Audi unveiled its newest weapon, the R15 TDI. The public launch of the second-generation diesel-powered prototype actually came a week earlier than expected, as the German automaker had originally planned to take the wraps off the car just prior to its race debut at Sebring. But instead, the R15 TDI debuted on a deserted test track in Ingolstadt, with Lucas Luhr handling the driving duties aboard the fully liveried No. 1 machine.
While spy photos of the R15 TDI surfaced on the internet and motorsports magazines weeks before, the official shots released by Audi Motorsport confirms what many had speculated in the last few weeks. Audi has ditched its twelve-cylinder diesel engine for a smaller and more compact V10 unit. Press material states the new engine produces “more than 600hp, with a maximum torque output in excess of 1,050 newton meters.”
(photos copyright Audi Motorsport)
Audi says fuel consumption and CO2 emissions have also been reduced due to the smaller powerplant, and even small improvements such as the use of a lithium-ion battery were mentioned in the release. LED technology has been built into the R15 TDI’s headlights, another energy-saver.
Like Acura’s ARX-02a which was unveiled at the Sebring Winter Test in January, Audi has gone the route of utilizing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to refine the car’s aerodynamics. Marshall Pruett, automotive editor at SPEEDtv.com, has nicknamed the R15 TDI a “platypus” for its large front nose. To me, it’s reminiscent of a WR, or even a Picchio Daytona Prototype, and it may take some getting used to for some.
Hidden underneath the Audi’s front-end is a reworked suspension, hence the raised nose. The R15 TDI even has a larger wheelbase than its predecessor, which should provide more agility on the track.
Overall, I’m quite impressed by Audi’s new baby, although the most disappointing thing right now is the fact that its only slated to compete in two races this year: Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. There were reports indicating that an Audi executive confirmed the R15 TDI’s participation at the Petit Le Mans and American Le Mans season-finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, but it appears those quotes were taken out of context.
Either way, the Twelve Hours of Sebring is shaping up to be the race of the decade. Audi vs. Peugeot vs. Acura; who will win? Honestly, it’s any body’s guess, especially with two of those three cars being brand new. If you can’t get to the track to see it in person, be sure to stay glued to your television and computer, because it’s going to be a classic!
That’s the question many are asking this week following a heated exchange of words between Aston Martin Racing and racecar constructor Lola, over what Prodrive’s new Aston Martin-powered Lola should be called.
It all started last Friday when Aston Martin chairman David Richards invited members of the media for a tour of the Prodrive facilities where two of the cars are being built up. Richards stated that the Lola has undergone a “radical redesign” by Aston Martin Racing.
“The basic tub and crash structure are Lola, everything else is ours,” Richards was quoted in an Autoweek.com article. “Last year’s car was a bit of an ugly duckling; we’ve tried to turn it into a swan.”
Richards’ words angered Lola, which issued a formal statement this week on the matter:
“Following a number of inaccurate and misleading quotes given by the Aston Martin Chairman David Richards, regarding the supply of the Lola LMP1 chassis to Aston Martin Racing for this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours and Le Mans Series programme, Lola has decided to set the record straight.
“The Lola Aston Martin is a Lola designed and built car. It is not a ‘radical re-design’ as stated by Aston Martin Racing. Aston Martin has undertaken some body styling cues that required some CFD work to try to reinstate the Lola Aero performance and minor bespoke mechanical changes to accommodate the styling changes. Lola has spent over two and a half years in the research and development of this state of the art car costing several millions of pounds.
“Aston Martin contracted with Lola in December 2008 to buy our cars because they knew that as a result of the 2008 performance that we had the leading LMP1 customer car and Aston Martin didn’t have the time to develop their own car. When Aston first mooted rehomologation of the Lola car and was given the cost of their contribution to IPR and R&D the negotiations broke down. It is completely inappropriate that Aston Martin should now attempt to achieve “ownership” through misrepresentation in the media.
“Lola’s binding contract with Aston Martin is for two cars the nomenclature of which under the contract is that the cars must remain Lola Aston Martin.”
This topic was discussed in detail on Wednesday’s Midweek Motorsport radio show, with a number of auto racing journalists giving their input into this issue. Here are my thoughts:
It appears Aston Martin Racing has indeed put a considerable amount of work into the Lola to create a unique image for the brand. However, most of that stems from bodywork changes, and not the critical components such as the suspension and chassis itself.
The car is still homologated as a Lola. Aston Martin Racing elected not to go through the process for it to become a pure “Aston Martin” due to alleged financial reasons. Therefore, it was entered in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Le Mans Series as a “Lola Aston Martin.”
It’s obvious that both companies want to take credit for this new and exciting project. But from these public statements, it’s clear there’s some friction between the two British firms. Will that go away when the cars hit the track? Probably not. Could it impact the future of this project? Possibly.
It’s not a good sign to have executives in a war of words before the car even hits the race track. Let’s hope that things get ironed out and the results will speak for themselves.
On Monday, Didier Theys announced his retirement from the sport, leaving some sports car loyalists reflecting back on the Belgian’s storied career. While writing the news story for Motorsport.com on his retirement, I couldn’t help but realize how much of an impact Theys had on endurance racing over the past fifteen years.
It hit a soft spot for me in particular, as some of my earliest memories of sports car racing involved Theys. I still remember watching ESPN’s telecast of the 1998 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, where he and co-drivers Gianpiero Mortelli, Mauro Baldi and Arie Luyendyk sailed to victory in their Doran Racing/Momo Ferrari 333 SP. And of course there was 2002 – the final year for SRPs at Daytona – when Theys went to Daytona victory lane for the second time piloting Doran Racing’s Lista Dallara Judd. Daytona was a magical place back then.
Theys’ SRP championship in 2002 was also memorable. He even took a stab at Daytona Prototype racing the following year, although only for a handful of races. He and Lienhard were itching to go back to “proper” prototype racing and after entering a few ALMS events with Lienhard’s Dallara, the duo took up a new challenge in the European-based Le Mans Series. Theys enjoyed success there too, picking up two LMP2 class wins with Horag Racing – the last coming at the Monza 1000km in 2007 – with Lienhard and Eric van de Poele.
Theys’ retirement actually comes one year earlier than expected, as he had hoped to once again compete with Horag Racing in the Le Mans Series with Lienhard’s Porsche RS Spyder. However, with Lienhard retiring last year, and the current economic climate, funding wasn’t apparently found for the program to continue, which is a real shame.
Over the years, Theys never had to prove himself on the race track. He always had the speed, consistency and veteran mentality to bring the car home in one piece, and usually on the top. You don’t see a lot of that today, as young ex-open-wheel hot shoes are brought in and told to go flat out, sometimes risking it all. The star power in sports car racing has changed, and while it has made for intense racing and increased exposure, it’s not the same as it was ten years ago.
Luckily, Theys will not vanish from the sport, as he’s already become active in driver coaching and instructing. He’ll likely be showing his face at the racetrack from time to time, reminiscing on his storied past.
Below, you will find a selection of my photos from the 2007 season when Theys made select American Le Mans Series appearances. That year, he, Fredy Lienhard and Eric van de Poele steered Horag Racing’s Lola Judd at the Twelve Hours of Sebring, and Theys, Lienhard and Andrea Bertolini were a part of Doran Racing’s two-race effort with a Maserati MC12.
