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!
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!
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.
It’s hard to imagine that the American Le Mans Series season is about to come to an end. The 11-race championship which started at Sebring in March has been one of the most memorable in recent history. With the door-to-door battles between the LMP1 Audis and P2 class Porsches and Acuras, 2008 could be considered one of the most competitive yet.
Photo by: John Dagys
This season also marked the first time that I got to cover the series for the full season. Traveling to places like St. Petersburg, Florida, Monterey, California, Salt Lake City, and Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada have all been new experiences for me. In past seasons, I’d only been able to make it to a half dozen or so events. This year could be considered a real treat, especially I was also able to travel across the Atlantic to cover the famed 24 Hours of Le Mans in France.
While I’m hoping all of this can continue into 2009, nothing is always for sure. With the way the economy is going, publications are limiting their budgets. I was even faced with an obstacle just to get to the season-finale at Laguna Seca next weekend. Money is tight for everyone, and the days of paying my own way to races are over.
Three years ago when I started my own Web site, www.The-Paddock.net, we had no real source of revenue. So all of us ended up having to fork out the money ourselves. A typical trip for me cost in the range of $600-800 by the time you add up hotel, gas and food, etc. I drove to many if not most of those races. But today, with rising fuel prices, it’s a killer to drive or fly. I honestly can’t see myself financially being able to do this ever again on a regular basis. I’m grateful and hopeful for what the future holds for me.
I couldn’t help but stare in amazement Saturday evening as Raphael Matos took the checkered flag to claim his maiden Daytona Prototype race win in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series season-ending race at Miller Motorsports Park. The young Brazilian, along with season-long co-drivers Ian James and John Pew, scored Michael Shank Racing’s second consecutive win, and first for the Ford-powered No. 6 machine.
photo by: Grand-Am
Matos took control of the 1000km race in the closing stages when his crew got him out ahead of the competition after pit stops during a late caution. Once the field got the green, Matos took off and pulled away from everyone. Nobody was able to catch him in the end.
The fact that just two weeks earlier, Matos was standing in victory lane at Chicagoland Speedway, holding the Indy Lights title in his hands. It was his third professional championship, adding to his Star Mazda and Atlantic titles earned in 2005 and 2007, respectively. He also won the Skip Barber National Championship in 2003.
Matos has been a poster child for Mazda, as most of his success has come with the Japanese brand. He claimed his first sports car victory earlier this year in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, piloting a SpeedSource Mazda RX-8.
With a win in the opening and closing Rolex Series events of 2008, and in two different classes, Matos becomes one of the only, if not the first, multi-class winner in the Rolex Series (since the DP’s introduction in 2003).
Now, Matos is onto his next challenge, teaming with Ben Devlin and Gerardo Bonilla in B-K Motorsports’ brand-new Lola B08/86 Mazda in next weekend’s Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. The LMP2 Coupe will be a new challenge for all three, as they go up against the mights of Porsche and Acura. But given Matos’ track record this year, don’t count anything out.
