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Zoom Zoom: 2009 LeMans Defeats All Contenders

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 | Author:
Peugeot and Audi were hungry from the start

Peugeot and Audi were hungry from the start

At one point on Saturday morning, two hours into the start of the 24 Hours of LeMans, I turned to my brother and said: “There’s been more entertainment bang for our buck in two hours of this than in all other auto racing so far this season combined”. He had no quarrel with that assertion.

From the moment the green flag waved (well, in fact, it was a French flag – gotta love the French!), Peugeot and Audi went at it – hard. Peugeot had won the pole position with one of its three entries in P1 (Prototype 1 class). Audi were right there with them at the front of the grid.

Flying past the Start/Finish line, Scotsman Allan McNish weaved his Audi this way and that trying to get past the No. 9 Peugeot driven by Stéphane Sarrazin, who would have none of it. On a few occasions on that first lap, the two left their audience and team members holding their breath – crashing a car on the first lap of a 24 hour race is not recommended. Peugeot stayed ahead, however, and never relinquished the lead (albeit not with the same car).

During the first pit stop, Peugeot’s No. 7 car driven by Pedro Lamy pulled in and everything was looking good. The lollypop operator (that’s the guy who tells the driver when it’s safe to pull back into the race) gave the all-clear and Lamy gassed it and turned left. Unfortunately, the car whose pit lane was directly in front of him, the 17 Pescarolo Sport, was trying to get into his pit and instead slammed into the left rear of the Peugeot. It looked like a hard nudge (video below), but it was enough to pierce a hole in the Peugeot’s tire. Lamy continued on his way with fingers surely crossed, but once he got onto the track it became clear that disaster had struck. Smoke was emanating from the tire well and within a few seconds the tire had torn itself apart, whipping the side of the car and destroying the chassis. This went on for all 14 kilometers left between he and a return to the pits. So much debris was being spewed onto the track from the Peugeot that a full course yellow had to be instituted.

When I first saw the tire explode right outside the exit of pit lane I told my brother there was no way he could make it back. Defying the odds, the Peugeot chugged along on three wheels all the way back to pit lane, got pulled into the garage and spent 35 minutes getting  the left and rear of its chassis rebuilt – a truly remarkable job by the pit crew. The No. 7′s chances of winning were now infinitesimal, but it carried on nonetheless.

One of Audi’s P1 entries also had an adventure early on. Alexandre Prémat, driving the No. 3 Audi, somehow lost control in a chicane and spun the car into the gravel trap. At LeMans the rule is that if you can keep your motor running, the stewards will come out and push you back onto the track, which is what happened here. Losing ten minutes while stationary in a gravel trap is no way to go about winning a race, mind you.

That left two Audis and two Peugeots battling out for the rest of the race. As the sun was setting in France, German Lucas Luhr lost control of the No. 2 Audi and smashed into a tire barrier, completely destroying the back end of the car and forcing it to retire (video follows). You could sense the Audi team deflate at that moment (kinda like what happens to the Blue Jays when Roy Halladay goes down with an injury). With only one competitive car left on the track (and on this day, the ability of the Audi to compete with the Peugeots was debatable), the sense of doom in the Audi pits had taken hold.

The Peugeot team, with the pride of France resting on their shoulders, had not won at LeMans in 16 years. They were favoured for the last few years but Audi, with technically inferior cars, had found a way to race the perfect race. 2009 was to be Peugeot’s year, but not without some drama near the end.

French national pride was palpable on Sunday morning

French national pride was palpable on Sunday morning

With only a few minutes left, the No. 8 of Sébastien Bourdais (yes, that Sébastien Bourdais), who was then running in 2nd place, slowed to a crawl. The announcers started going crazy, wondering what kind of mechanical issues could be arising, and whether or not the 1st place No.9 car could be experiencing the same problems.

Turns out the Peugeot team were so far ahead of the third place car that they could afford to let the No. 7 Peugeot catch up to them (albeit still many laps down) so they could all cross the finish line at the same time – the perfect Peugeot photo-op, a rare luxury for teams to indulge.

Peugeot weren’t the only ones to take advantage of a huge lead at the end to partake in some photogenic posturing. Corvette, in their final race in GT1, brought their car into the garage, polished it up and made it all pretty for the finish. It was quite a risk to take, as rules state that cars in the pits have to be turned off and then restart on their own before heading back out onto the track. After 23 1/2 hours racing, you’re tempting fate by playing such esthetic games, but fortunately for them the good ol’ C6.R powered up without a problem. A high point for General Motors this year, wouldn’t you agree?

ALMS got a shot in the arm from its Ferrari entry dominating the GT2 class

ALMS got a shot in the arm from its Ferrari entry dominating the GT2 class

In GT2, what was billed as an epic battle between Porsche and Ferrari turned into a Maranello whitewash, as the F430 took the first four spots in class. Of note, the two Ferrari teams that came over from the American LeMans series ended up on the podium. The Risi Competizione team out of Houston beat all European contenders to take the top step on the podium. Well done, and it has me pondering a trip to Lime Rock, Connecticut on July 16th so I can see these cars for myself. Only a 6 hour drive and free camping with your race ticket. My girlfriend and I had planned a trip to Mosport the weekend of August 21st to do so, but with a good friend getting married, well…Lime Rock you lookin’ good right now, baby!

All in all I was completely satisfied with this year’s LeMans. Thrills, and spills, great battles and drama, the teams I was cheering for won and I was left looking forward with great anticipation to next year’s edition. If anything was lacking it was the company of both my brothers to watch it with me – I’ll have to twist some arms between now and next year’s race to make it happen.

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Zoom Zoom: LeMans On Deck

Tuesday, June 09th, 2009 | Author:
Looking for something new to watch? Check out the 24 Hours of LeMans this weekend,  

Looking for something new to watch? Check out the 24 Hours of LeMans this weekend,

Last week, my lovely companion asked me if I had any plans on Saturday, June 13th. Unable to think that far ahead, I turned to the trusty planner in my iPod Touch. “Saturday, June 13th. Let’s see here… Sorry Sweetie, LeMans is on that day.” Thankfully I have the best girlfriend in the world and that was the end of the conversation.

Committing to an event like LeMans is unlike any other sporting event – because it lasts 24 straight hours. I’m not hardcore enough to sit through 24 hours of racing, but I will probably watch at least 10 hours; the pre-race and start on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. until noon, the finish Sunday when I get up at around 8:00 a.m., and a few hours of coverage here and there Saturday. Not that I could watch all 24 hours even if I wanted to because Speed TV is throwing in coverage of other automotive events throughout the day Saturday.

I have fond memories of watching my first LeMans a few years ago. I was back at my parent’s place on account of the passing of my grandfather, and my brothers and I decided to watch coverage of LeMans when we could during that weekend. It was a welcome diversion from the other serious issues we had to deal with, and it was a rare moment of bonding for all three of us together (there’s a major age difference between all three of us. It was also the first year in which Jacques Villeneuve participated as a driver for Peugeot, which gave us extra incentive to tune in.

Part of the magic of LeMans is the track on which it takes place: Circuit de la Sarthe is almost 14 kilometers long with long straightaways and dangerous curves. A lap in a GT2 car takes 13 minutes, so if something breaks down just after you passed the pits, your chances of making it back there and fix the problem are minimal, and even if you do you lose an incredible amount of time.

Compelling pit action helps define LeMans

Compelling pit action helps define LeMans

As in the American LeMans Series, four classes of cars participate; two prototypes classes (who go as fast as F1 cars) and two Grand Touring classes (GT classes are modified street cars, like Ferrari F430′s and Porsche 911′s). The slower GT cars create moving obstacles for the prototype cars, which means the drivers must be alert at all times – no small feat when you’re racing two and three hours at a time (known as a stint, every car has three drivers who alternate between racing and resting).

Another alluring part of LeMans is that the pit stops act more like your neighbourhood service garage than what you see in an F1 or NASCAR pit. Cars often have to stay in the pits for minutes at a time, repairing bodywork, replacing worn brakes, clearing debris from ventilation ducts, etc. Coverage of the pits is often as compelling as what’s happening on track, especially during the nighttime hours where it’s difficult to work out who’s doing what on track due to limited lighting.

The men in the pits often go 40 straight hours without sleep, and as much as drivers try to sleep between stints, I can’t imagine trying to catch some shuteye after having just spent 3 hours driving as fast as 300 km/h. My buddy Jr. Forester could, but he’s no mere mortal (come to think of it, neither are these drivers). Heck even the commentators take shifts – there’s really no other event like it.

At the end of the day, winners are determined by the car in each class that has completed the most laps. It’s a war of attrition, with retired cars littering the side of the track, and exhausted drivers and crew members biting their nails for the last few hours, hoping the car makes it to the finish. 

If you’ve got Speed TV, check in a couple times on Saturday or Sunday morning if you have a chance. I’m a big fan of expanding one’s sporting horizons, and this great article brought to my attention by StephD elaborates on this point (don’t ask me to explain cricket to you, though, I have yet to decipher what it is they’re trying to accomplish out there!).

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Zoom Zoom: More Upheaval

Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 | Author:
My only shot at owning a Ferrari (Laura wont let me)

My only shot at owning a Ferrari (Laura won't let me)

Here’s an interesting question: Would F1 without the drama off the track be interesting all? I ask the question because the past three races have been complete snoozefests, only made interesting by the drama not involving cars racing on the track. During the Spanish GP last weekend, my brother and I counted two passes during the entire race. Two. It’s come to the point where the qualifying on Saturday is more exciting than the actual race on Sunday.

Off the track, however, the manoeuvres are coming fast and furious. The latest in the never-ending political hemming and hawing at the FIA involves some pretty serious threats: Ferrari, Renault, Toyota and Red Bull are all threatening to pull out of F1 if new regulations being imposed on the series for next season are not revoked. The regulations in question are huge in their implications. What the FIA has proposed (and in fact has put into effect for next season) is an “optional” budget cap on race teams. Those that adhere to the cap will be allowed greater technical freedom, and those that spend past the cap will have technical restrictions.

I’m of two minds on this. First, F1 is the peak of automobile racing. This is where car companies come to research and develop their leading-edge automotive technologies. When you limit the amount that a company can research and develop for their cars you are hindering their capabilities not only as a racing team, but as a car company. On the other hand, spending has become so obscene in F1 that only a few teams could realistically compete. Bringing a cap in would level the playing field and theoretically improve the on-track product, which has admittedly become quite stale.

As with most F1 political tussles these days, it comes down to a battle of wills between Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone. Mosley, the embattled FIA supremo is digging trenches and preparing for a pitched battle, according to this snippet from a Reuters article:

“Mosley said recently that he was locked in a power struggle that he intended to win.

‘The sport could survive without Ferrari,’ he said. ‘It would be very, very sad to lose Ferrari. It is the Italian national team.’”

In the same Reuters piece Bernie Ecclestone confirmed what we had all suspected for a long time, that he is totally in bed with Ferrari: “Formula One is Ferrari and Ferrari is Formula One, it’s just a marriage made in heaven”. Thanks for clearing that up, Bernie. Maybe he could set up a Middle-Eastern auto racing series featuring only Ferraris: that would be the natural conclusion of his every move in the past few years.

As an F1 fan, these types of battles are the only compelling storylines to watch. Getting up early on Sunday mornings sure isn’t doing it for me these days. Let’s keep a close eye on this one.

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Zoom Zoom: Remembering a Hero

Friday, May 01st, 2009 | Author:
      

Ayrton Senna: 1960-1994

 

 

 

 

 

Ayrton Senna: 1960-1994

It was 15 years ago today that Ayrton Senna died at the wheel of his Williams-Renault on lap six of the San Marino Grand Prix. Senna is considered one of the greatest race car drivers of all-time: the only other driver who belongs in this debate is Michael Schumacher.  As a boy Senna was one of my heroes, right alongside Mats Naslund, Tim Wallach and Dan Marino. No one ever got me into Formula One – it’s just something I must have caught on TV one day and it completely captivated me. 

Senna was a larger than life character. His talent was clearly superior to his contemporaries, and he had the swagger to go along with it. He was a reckless driver who always brought his car right to the edge of its capabilities, in the mold of Gilles Villeneuve. He had a rivaly with Alain Prost which dwarfs anything that currently exists in any sport, if only because theirs was a rivalry which could end in one of them dying.

They genuinely hated each other: Prost hated Senna for being cast aside as the top dog in F1, and Senna hated Prost for not accepting what was evident to all – that he was The Man. For years this went on. After spending a few years impressing the racing world by driving inferior cars to unexpected success, Senna finally got a good car in 1988 by joining McLaren as a teammate to Prost, and it was on like Donkey Kong. 

Senna won the World Championship that first season as Prost’s teammate, but Prost came back and won the title the next year before leaving for Ferrari. The poisonous atmosphere between the two had become too much to bear. In fact, when Senna signed on to join Williams in 1994, effectively becoming Prost’s teammate again, Prost would have none of it and retired a year before his contract expired. Over the course of Senna’s career, he and Prost bumped, crashed and collided into one another countless times (most of them when they were teammates!). I can’t see another rivalry ever ascending into the Senna-Prost stratosphere. 

But, as many had predicted, Senna lost his life at the wheel of his car. Unpredictably, however, the end came due to mechanical failure as he was rounding a high-speed corner and the car refused to turn. He smashed into the concrete wall at 217 km/h. The following video shows the crash, so if you don’t want to see it don’t click.

Ayrton was the last driver to die in F1. He was not the only one to die that weekend. In qualifying on Saturday, Roland Ratzenberger died. The drivers voted to go on with the race, but Senna was shaken by the incident and rounded up the drivers, vowing to re-establish the F1 Driver’s Safety Committee that Saturday night. After his death the committee was brought back and has made a big difference (Mark Webber is its current President). Incidents that would have killed drivers in the past, like the following Robert Kubica crash in Montreal in 2007, give the driver a much better chance to survive:

If you can believe it, because driver safety is now a priority due to tragedies to people like Senna, all Kubica suffered in that crash was a sprained ankle. I believe that’s one of the most important legacies Ayrton Senna left behind.

Ayrton Senna was laid to rest in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Among his pallbearers were teammate Damon Hill, fellow Brazilian driver Emerson Fittipaldi and, yes, Alain Prost. There is a fantastic Prost  interview available here which explains the difficulty Prost must have experienced with the sudden death of his rival. I will end with a few snippets I found fascinating:
   

Senna and Prost: Greatest rivalry of all time

Senna and Prost: Greatest rivalry of all time

“When he died, I said, that I felt a part of me had died also, because our careers had been so bound together. And I really meant it, but I know some people thought it was not sincere. Well, all I can do is try to be as honest as possible.” 

(snip)

“I look back on those days now and think to myself, ‘Jesus, what was that all about? Why did we put ourselves through all of that?’ Sometimes it seemed like a bad dream. Maybe because usually we were so much in front, it was inevitable that there would be problems between us, but why did it have to get so venomous – why did we have to live like that? I used to say to people, ‘You’re a fan of Ayrton Senna? Good, that’s fine – but please don’t hate me!’ It was the same with the press.”

“The pressure was so high, so high… If we had to do it all again, I think I’d say to Ayrton, ‘Listen, we’re the best, we can screw all the others!’ With a lot of intelligence, it could have been such good dream. Still, even as it turned out, it was a fantastic story, don’t you think? And I think, in a way, we’re missing a little of that today.”

 

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Zoom Zoom: Bah-rain Boh-ring

Monday, April 27th, 2009 | Author:

The Bahrain GP got off to one of the most exciting starts I can remember. There was passing, jostling, and more passing. Drivers jockeyed for position over the first couple of laps, highlighted by Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton trading 3rd place a few times. For a few moments, it looked like were going to witness a race for the ages – then it got as bland as the desert backdrop.

It’s still refreshing to see Ferrari struggle and a new team dominate, as Brawn is doing by winning three of the first four races. But please allow me to indulge on getting a little something off my chest. Fuck You Bahrain. Fuck you and your desert track with 50,000 spectators being preferred for its petro-dollars over Montreal’s lush scenery and feverish fans. Fuck you for painting cutesy little colours onto the SAND that lines the track. You’re not fooling anyone. Buffalo N.Y., Joan Rivers and the Bahrain Grand Prix: three things you cannot “pretty up”, no matter how much money you throw at it. Fuck you Bahrain.

I really have nothing against Bahrain and its desert. I’m just bitter about Montreal having its F1 race revoked after 44 of the past 46 years because of unpaid ransom demands by Bernie the Pirate, only to be replaced by locales that have no F1 tradition or even much interest. Sometimes I cannot contain it. As Zach de la Rocha once so eloquently put it: “I’ll give you a dose but it could never come close to the rage built up inside of me”.

Congrats to Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel and Jarno Trulli on their podium finishes. Word is that Ferrari will be upgrading their car significantly for the next race, two weeks from now in Barcelona. Can’t wait to see if they can pull it off. It will also be a great opportunity to wish Fernando Alonso as little luck as possible on his home track (Lola is going to go apeshit when she reads that last part).

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The Twit: Jays Are Hot Edition

Monday, April 20th, 2009 | Author:

Ah, so this is what fingers to keyboard feel like…I had forgotten! Taking a week and a half off has not been kind to my blogging schedule, but alas here I am with another edition of The Twit.

- I’ve obviously got to start with the red-hot Blue Jays. While my video game counterpart isn’t doing all that well in MLB ’09: The Show (current record: 3-9), the real life Jays are tearing up the junior circuit. They’re doing it with an incredible display of early season hitting, combined with young arms complementing the old doctor very well. It’s very rare for baseball teams to fire on all cylinders at once, though, as evidenced by Alex Rios and B.J. Ryan. But hell, I’m not going to dwell on that. Aaron Hill, Adam Lind, Marco Scutaro, Scott Rolen, Lyle Overbay et al. are fanning the flames of love in my heart. Haters will argue that it’s a long season and a hot April doesn’t mean much, but they’re just jealous: when it comes right down to it the team you follow will either start the season well or it won’t – no need to wonder what every person prefers.

- The Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway, and I’m casually interested. It’s a fun tournament and I am a hockey fan (although as I’ve stated before I won’t be writing about it much because the last thing we need is another Canadian writing a half-assed hockey blog). When your team isn’t in the tournament, though, it becomes quite the test of endurance to watch hockey every night for 2 months. I’ll watch the Jays instead, thank you very much. From what I have seen, however, the Bruins, Canucks and Blackhawks look real good. I’m still hoping the Capitals will squeeze their way past the Rangers because Alexander Ovechkin is the most exciting entity to watch on skates at the moment.

- When I woke up yesterday morning to watch my PVR’d Chinese Grand Prix and the first shots showed rain, I was excited. An F1 race in the rain is almost always an exciting time. I thought they coddled the drivers a little too much at first by having them start the race behind the safety car for the first 15 minutes. That was all forgotten once they got to racing. Sebastian Vettel was full value for the win, Red Bull Racing’s first (Mark Webber finished second, also making this the first Red Bull one-two finish). Felipe Massa once again finished out of the points after his car died while the race was under caution: very embarassing for Ferrari. Brawn Racing was strong once again, finishing third and fourth. As an aside for those of you who follow F1 through this blog, the front defuser utilized by Brawn Racing was found to be legal by the court of arbitatrion last week. They therefore retain all their points and the rest of the grid can scramble to come up with their own variations of the Brawn Diffuser.

That’s all I’ve got for now, but expect more posts soon!

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Zoom Zoom: Play With Water, You Get Wet?

Monday, April 06th, 2009 | Author:

NASCAR fans who read this column will be forgiven for feeling smug this morning as I write of an F1 race that had to be stopped because of rain; only a month ago I took a shot at NASCAR for ending their crown jewel race due to a rainshower. What goes around…

The Malaysian GP was stopped with 32 of 56 scheduled laps to go. What made this particular red flag situation unacceptable is that F1′s brain trust had decided to push the start time of the race an hour later to better accommodate European television viewership. This was done despite the objections of local officials, who argued that at this time of year, at that time of day, Kuala Lumpur almost always receives a torrential downpour. I guess we notch this up as another feather in Bernie Ecclestone’s cap.

What we were left with was another win for Jenson Button, followed by Nick Heidfeld of BMW and Timo Glock of Toyota. If you don’t follow F1 closely, those are not household names. Ferrari once again was left pointless, and Lewis Hamilton of McLaren finished 7th (I wonder what rule FIA will invoke to strip of his points this week?). Because the race was stopped with less than 3/4 of the race finished, only half the usual points were awarded.

The saddest part of the whole situation is we had a great race going. There was a number of exciting battles on the circuit, notably a fight between Lewis Hamilton and Mark Weber that saw them switch position four or five times within a few laps. The threat of rain was making some teams lose their minds, as when Ferrari sent Kimi Raikonnen out on the track on “extreme wet” tires, even though not a drop had yet fallen. Three laps later, when the rain finally started coming down, the tires were shredded and he had to pit again. Good times.

Two races down in the calendar, and trends are starting to develop:

- Brawn GP is for real. Button qualified on the pole again, and Barrichello was fourth. Two straight wins for the team means they are the ones to beat until other teams find a way to improve their front wing, which is generally being credited for their quick start.

- Ferrari are hurting. Yes, I know they generally get out to a slow start, but this is different. They look terrible out there. If things don’t shape up soon, I predict heads are gonna roll.

- Williams-Toyota are fast (in practice). It looks like the car is quick, and Niko Rosberg is putting down some really fast times in practice and qualifying, but they don’t see to have the car where it needs to be to compete for the Championship. Don’t be surprised if they pull off a couple of wins, though.

- Lewis Hamilton is one of the best drivers in the world. That much is becoming clear this season. Sure he won a Championship last season, but this year he doesn’t have a car. Kovalainen isn’t even in the same galaxy when you look at what each driver is getting out of that “bagnole”.

The next stop is the Chinese GP on the weekend of April 17-19. Judging by the first two races, you don’t wat to miss it.

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Zoom Zoom: Australian GP

Monday, March 30th, 2009 | Author:

As I settled in yesterday morning to watch the Australian GP, as that beautiful sound of F1 cars buzzing about reached my ears, as the sights being beamed from Melbourne reached my screen, it dawned on me: F1 is not coming to Montreal this year. It just felt so wrong as that reality began the process of settling in. No Montreal F1. No Canadian GP. Heck, no North American race.

An incredibly bittersweet feeling sat in the pit of my stomach as I watched and listened. Excited that F1 was back, devastated as I realized there would be no trip to see Montreal transformed into a big car festival this summer.

But then, as I surfed the net and emerged from my week-long slumber, I found a ray of hope. Turns out money can’t buy you time, and the track being built in the United Arab Emirates is woefully behind schedule, and rumours were flying in Melbourne that Bernie would have to crawl back to the organizing committee of the Canadian GP to see if they could replace it with a race in November. This hasn’t happened yet, but how fantastic would that be? Oh, and I fully support the stance organizers in Montreal are taking, basically saying “If you want back in, you come back for the long haul”. That’s right. You wanted to pound us with your stick when you had the long end, Bernie? Time for some payback.

As usual, politics off the track were threatening to overshadow the action that actually matters. Other than the Montreal talk, there were also a number of teams lodging protests against Brawn GP, the team that replaced Honda in the field, and their interpretation of the rules governing the front wing of the car. As I previously posted, many new rules were being brought into effect this season with the hope of cutting costs and leveling the playing field. Word is, however, that Brawn’s offence is more against the “spirit” of the rule than any type of legality, so either the other teams will adapt or the FIA will clarify its rule: no sanctions are forthcoming against Brawn GP.

Whatever they did to that front wing, it worked! Brawn GP, using a Mercedes engine, were 1-2 in qualifying and 1-2 in the race. It was only the third time that a new entry to F1 has won the race. Jenson Button ended up beating Rubens Barrichello at the finish, and Lewis Hamilton in his McLaren Mercedes took third spot despite being denied his spot on the podium as the stewards tried to figure out how Jarno Trulli passed him under caution three laps from the finish. Ferrari were out of the points (sad, I know), and whatever wishes the FIA had for leveling the playing field, they achieved. We’ll just have to see how things play out over the course of the season.

One complaint I had is despite all these rule changes promising more competition and more battles on track, the latter did not materialize. Only a few times during the race did we see true battles (and unfortunately the best one was aborted when Robert Kubica foolishly tried to run Sebastian Vettel off the track with three laps to go), and if I’m not mistaken the lead never changed hands. I don’t hide my disdain for NASCAR, but they’ve got us beat in terms of leader changes and wondering who will come out on top.

But this day belonged to Ross Brawn, the architect of this new F1 team. He was the genius who teamed up with Michael Schumacher at Benetton and Ferrari, and moved to Honda once Schumi retired. Forced to build a team within a few months after Honda pulled out, he has assembled a winner. Such last minute was this endeavour that they only announced their title sponsor shortly before qualifying on Saturday. Richard Branson is getting into the F1 game by making Virgin the eye candy on these un-sexy cars (pictured, right). Call me brainwashed, but there’s just something odd about seeing a race car that isn’t plastered with sponsor liveries . Something tells me that after this weekend, sponsorship money will come rolling in. Such is the life of winners.

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Zoom Zoom: 12 Hours To The 12 Hours

Friday, March 20th, 2009 | Author:

After a long, sleepy winter devoid of any racing that fills my needs (sorry NASCAR), automotive excellence returns to my radar tomorrow with the 12 Hours of Sebring. As I wrote earlier, this is the kickoff event to the 2009 American LeMans Series. ALMS is a relative newcomer to the North American sports scene, its inaugural season coming in 1999.

Most people are familiar with the 24 Hours of LeMans, if only because of passing mentions in the media and Steve McQueen’s classic movie “Le Mans“. The European and American LeMans series are loosely affiliated in that the car classes have similar specs and that the winners of each class at the Petit LeMans, a 10-hour race in Atlanta in October, qualify for the 24-hour race in LeMans, France the following July.

The American series had been on a steady rise since its inaugural season, but some teams have pulled out this season, and the recession is probably to blame. Of note, Penske Racing and Andretti-Green racing, two giants of the racing world, will not be taking part this year. That is somewhat offset by the addition of Rahal-Letterman racing’s two-car BMW entry in the GT2 class. There’s no denying, though, that losing those two legends stings.

Another recent addition to the circuit, Gil de Ferran’s Acura racing team (pic on the right) has claimed the overall pole position with his prototype entry (P1 is the top class in ALMS, followed by P2 and the two GT classes). It is shocking for him to beat the Audi and Peugeot’s to the pole, but doesn’t necessarily reflect who has the best car on the track. In a 12-hour race, having the fastest lap isn’t enough – you have to be fast AND reliable.

My attention is usually focused on the GT classes. GT1 is kind of a wash – it consists exclusively of C6 Corvettes. No drama there. In GT2, however, there are 15 teams driving 8 different types of street cars: five Porsche 911′s, three Ferrari 430′s, the two aforementioned BMW E92 M3′s, a Dodge Viper, a Panoz Esperante, a Ford GT MK7, an Aston Martin Vantage and a GT2-tuned Corvette C6. I don’t really have a favourite, but I really want the BMW’s to do well. In the prototype class, my French roots have my heartstrings being tugged by Peugeot.

We’ve made a mini-event of this in my home, with my in-laws coming over to watch it with me. A few firsts of note here; it will be the first time my in-laws spend a large chunk of time in our home, and it will be the first time my father-in-law watches this series (he prefers cars that go in circles and straight lines). So yeah, I’m a little nervous. Hopefully it’s a good race. I think he’ll really appreciate the strategy that goes into putting a car on track for 12 straight hours and everything that entails. Speed usually does a decent job of following the story lines and focusing on the racing. If the racing turns out to be a snoozer, I’ll distract him with food. Hey, it works on me every time!

But seriously, if you find yourself twiddling your thumbs sometime tomorrow afternoon all the way to 10pm, tune in for a couple of minutes to check it out. ALMS might make a fan out of you.

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Zoom Zoom: Another Day, Another Blunder

Tuesday, March 17th, 2009 | Author:

Fresh off yesterday’s post announcing my tepid enthusiasm regarding the upcoming Formula 1 season, Bernie Ecclestone dropped another bomb on racing fans.

It appears Bernie thought that a points system didn’t work. It appears he somehow thought that of all the things ailing F1, the way a champion is determined is what deserved his attention. Now, whichever driver wins the most races wins the Championship.

I wonder if it’s just a coincidence that a Ferrari driver would have won the Championship had this rule been in effect last year? Having failed in all his attempts to foil Lewis Hamilton and McLaren last season, he will try to re-write the record books going forward. Of note: 13 past champions would not have won the championship if these rules had been in effect.

How are we to measure their accomplishments now? Have we empowered revisionists to claim: “Oh, he wasn’t really a Champion, that’s from the old era’s rules”? Bernie has essentially opened the door to a “win at all costs” mentality that could lead to erratic teams and drivers winning the Championship in a best case scenario. Worst-case scenario? Drivers become dangerous to protect their place at the front of the pack.
Since there are 17 races this season, it is now a first past the poll system where 9 wins guarantees the Championship. And so if we get to round 13, the Italian GP, with a driver winning his 9th race – the season is over. No need to get up on Sunday morning anymore. And do you think teams will compete as hard as they can once a Champion is crowned in mid-season? Fat chance. Teams, including the Champion’s team, will protect their assets, save on costs and start preparing for the following season.
One thing sports fans demand is consistency. Consistency in rules is the bedrock on which we can evaluate our current heroes against the annals of history. Is Lewis Hamilton as good as Ayrton Senna? Michael Schumacher or Jackie Stewart? It just got tougher to tell. You can change the rules governing the size of your rear wing and substitute slicks for grooved tires, but once you start messing with the barometer with which we crown our Champions, that’s where we get ourselves in trouble.
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