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2011 24 Hours of Le Mans: Audi McNish wreck

Les Williams — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:04:33 +0000

Dear Alan,

What the hell were you thinking?!? 1 hour into the race and you take a hour 22 chance!

To the Audi Team Boss,

You are a jackass for trying to blame Ferrari for that wreck. There is no way McNish could have controlled that Audi even if he made the pass! He was going to slide off the track into the kitty litter .

On the wreck scale, I give it an 11 out of 10! DAMN!

Glad you are safe Alan, but that was a bonehead move especially from a driver with your experience.

Throw some comments below!

2011 Rolex 24 Hours: Budweiser Patio Deck

Les Williams — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:56:38 +0000

Race: 2011 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona

Video: View from the new Budweiser Party Patio/Deck on the Superstretch. You can see the cars enter and exit the bus stop. In this video you will see a couple cars fly through the grass.

This was the best thing Nascar/GrandAm has done for sportscar racing fans.

2011 Rolex 24 Hours: Dempsey RX-8 #40

Les Williams — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:45:38 +0000

Event: 2011 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona

Team: Patrick Dempsey Racing

Video/Sound: The #40 car going through warm up before rolling out to the grid.

Leave some feedback peeps!

Sebring 2010

Jim Casey — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:23:06 +0000

It was not a classic race, but it was great to see the finest sports and prototype cars in the world on this classic circuit. As expected, Peugeot dominated, with their cars finishing first and second, but the Lola-Aston stayed closer than most expected, and the Drayson Racing Lola-Judd ran well for several hours before faltering a bit at the end. The Highcroft Acura team dominated the P2 class for most of the race, but late mechanical issues left them second, and gave the class win to the Cytosport Porsche RS Spyder. The GT class battle was as close as expected, with the win going to the Risi Ferrari 430. This win coming despite Tracy Krohn, in the second Risi car, running the winning car off the road in the middle of the afternoon. I’ve seen Tracy Krohn do stuff like this too many times. He really needs to go to racing school. Team Corvette had uncharacteristic problems, both mechanical and mental. Emmanuel Collard somehow managed not to notice that the #3 car was in the pit already, and he just drove right into the side of the 3 car, severely damaging both cars. I feel certain he will be replaced at Le Mans. In the new LMP Challenge class, the Level 5 team of Bouchut, Tucker, and Wilkins dominated, winning the class by over 40 laps. These new cars held up fairly well at this, the toughest track and longest race on the schedule, and they should be more competitive with the other prototypes at the street circuits coming up. The coverage on Speed was terrific as well. Congrats to Peugeot, Cytosport, and Level 5. Now it’s on to Long Beach, where I saw my first professional race in 1977, when it was a Formula One event.

Sebring preview

Jim Casey — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 22:47:58 +0000

I watched qualifying this afternoon on my pc, courtesy of Speedtv.com. It was entertaining and interesting. GT qualifying was first, and the Rahal-Letterman BMW team was fastest, but their car failed post-qualifying tech, so the Flying Lizard Porsche has the pole, and Risi Ferrari and Corvette all within a second. The GTC cars are also running this weekend to fill out the field, and Alex Job Racing took the first three spots. Prototype qualifying was next, and to no one’s surprise, the Peugeots took the front row, with the Lola-Aston close behind, and the Drayson Racing Lola-Judd behind. LMP2 is led by Marino Franchitti in the Highcroft Acura leading the way, ahead of the Cytosport Porsche RS Spyder, and the Dyson Lola Mazda.
I love this race. I’ve only been there twice, but I had a great time both times, and I never miss the tv broadcast, regardless of how much of the race is not covered. This is the oldest sports car race in the US, and the toughest of all. Just ask the drivers. When I was younger I used to listen to the race on the radio, and will never forget listening to the Chaparral victory in 1965, despite a torrential rainstorm, and the fact that the car had never before competed in such an event. Tomorrow I will watch on TV, and think back to the days of birdcage Maseratis, Ferrari Testa Rossas, Grand Sport Corvettes, Cobras, GT-40′s, Chaparrals, Porsche 962′s, and I will have a wonderful time, regardless of the outcome, just because it’s Sebring.
Here are my predictions; Peugeot for the overall win, but the Lola-Aston will be closer at the finish than most expect. Highcroft Acura in P2. The new LMPC class is too new to call, but the cars are very close, and the qualifying battle between Gunnar Jeannette and Ryan Hunter-Reay was a lot of fun to watch. My concern is that the cars are underpowered, and the lap times are about what a GT1 car would turn there. In GT2 I’ll take Corvette #4 with Ollie Gavin and his friends at the wheel, and frankly I don’t care who wins GTC. All that matters is that it’s Sebring, the first real sports car race of the year, it’s spring, and it’s beautiful and sunny here in Savannah. When the green flag drops at 1030am tomorrow, I’ll be watching, and I’ll be happy.

IRL – Brazil Post Race

Jim Casey — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:33:54 +0000

The IRL’s first race this weekend was on the verge of being a complete disaster, but it turned into a fairly entertaining and competitive event; with great drives from Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay.

What I’d like to know first is, why did they go to all of the expense of building a street circuit when Interlagos is already there and is a great, challenging circuit. There was no Friday practice. Qualifying on Saturday had to be cancelled after it became apparent that the front straight was slick as snail snot, and the drivers could not control their cars. So overnight, the pavement in that area was ground, and the drivers had to qualify and race the same day.

The cars come around for the start, as they take the green flag, concrete dust is everywhere, Takuma Sato and Mario Moraes, combined to ruin a number of drivers’ races. As usual at road and street courses, Danica qualified poorly and was not a factor in the race. Simone de Silvestro and Ana Beatriz both had good drives. I expect that they both will consistently finish ahead of Danica. Let’s hope they get some decent attention and publicity.

There was a torrential rainstorm that caused a red flag. To my amazement, there were no reverse Zambonis there to suck the water off the track, so the track workers just used shop brooms. Unbelievable! After a delay worthy of NASCAR, the cars returned to the track and the latter stages had lots of close racing, passing, and Ryan Briscoe making another crucial mistake to throw away a sure win.

For the most part it looks like Penske and Ganassi will once again be the dominant teams. I expect Andretti’s team to win a couple, and maybe another outsider will sneak in for a win or two especially on the road and street circuits.

St. Petersburg should be a great race.

F1- Bahrain Post Race

Jim Casey — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 01:16:09 +0000

I am sorry for being a bit late with this review. Computer crashed and I just got it back.

I watched all of the F1 on Speed this weekend. The first race raised as many questions as it answered. Obviously Ferrari looks great with Red Bull, McLaren, and Mercedes all looking good. The new teams look horrible, which came as no surprise.

The questions that remain are:

“Why were these teams given the new entries over more experienced outfits like Lola and Prodrive?”
“Why did it take so long for the sham that was US F1 become apparent to the FIA?”

The race itself was reasonably entertaining, with a little passing, some spins, some very fast tire changes, and great performances from Alonso and Massa. It was especially nice to see Massa back in the car, and in form after his horrendous accident in Hungary.

Michael Schumacher did about as well as expected for his first race in 3 years. I am sure he was not happy to finish behind his younger teammate, and I will be expecting some real fire from him at the next race.

The midpack teams, Williams, Sauber, Force India, Toro Rosso, and Renault all look a little slow compared to the big 4. I would expect Williams and Sauber to improve the quickest. As to the tailenders, the rolling chicanes from Virgin, Lotus, and HRT; I will be very surprised if any of them score a point this year.

See you in Australia!

F1 Qualifying – Bahrain

Les Williams — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 15:06:37 +0000

Image from Autosport.com

Wow, talk about some coyote ugly cars out there!

Is Cosworth really THAT under powered? From looking at the qualifying lineup, Cosworth won’t compete for awhile ever. Of course those record Cosworth times were from the “weekend warriors”, and you have to wonder what Rubens was thinking. Can we blame the Cosworth speeds on the track? Um… no.

Mercedes needs to find a full second and some change if it plans to keep up with Ferrari and Renault. It’s hard to say that Ferrari is back, they fired a shot across the bow qualifying 2nd and 3rd. Welcome back Massa.

Pos  Driver         Team                   Q1        Q2        Q3       
 1.  Vettel         Red Bull-Renault       1:55.029  1:53.883  1:54.101
 2.  Massa          Ferrari                1:55.313  1:54.331  1:54.242
 3.  Alonso         Ferrari                1:54.612  1:54.172  1:54.608
 4.  Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes       1:55.341  1:54.707  1:55.217
 5.  Rosberg        Mercedes               1:55.463  1:54.682  1:55.241
 6.  Webber         Red Bull-Renault       1:55.298  1:54.318  1:55.284
 7.  Schumacher     Mercedes               1:55.593  1:55.105  1:55.524
 8.  Button         McLaren-Mercedes       1:55.715  1:55.168  1:55.672
 9.  Kubica         Renault                1:55.511  1:54.963  1:55.885
10.  Sutil          Force India-Mercedes   1:55.213  1:54.996  1:56.309
11.  Barrichello    Williams-Cosworth      1:55.969  1:55.330
12.  Liuzzi         Force India-Mercedes   1:55.628  1:55.653
13.  Hulkenberg     Williams-Cosworth      1:56.375  1:55.857
14.  de la Rosa     Sauber-Ferrari         1:56.428  1:56.237
15.  Buemi          Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:56.189  1:56.265
16.  Kobayashi      Sauber-Ferrari         1:56.541  1:56.270
17.  Petrov         Renault                1:56.167  1:56.619
18.  Alguersuari    Toro Rosso-Ferrari     1:57.071
19.  Glock          Virgin-Cosworth        1:59.728
20.  Trulli         Lotus-Cosworth         1:59.852
21.  Kovalainen     Lotus-Cosworth         2:00.313
22.  di Grassi      Virgin-Cosworth        2:00.587
23.  Senna          HRT-Cosworth           2:03.240
24.  Chandhok       HRT-Cosworth           2:04.904

Who’s going to be the first car out? My guess is not one of the 20-24 cars. Cars jockeying for position at the start will knock a favorite or 2 out of the race. Third verse same as the first – happens every race.

I now pray for an entertaining F1 season. If it gets any more boring, I am going to campaign for bump drafting!

What’s your impression after qualifying?! Leave a comment below!

F1 – 2010 Is Here

Jim Casey — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:57:24 +0000

The first Formula One race of the season is this weekend in Bahrain. The angst of which new teams would or would not make the grid seems to have been settled.

What kind of performance can we expect from HRT and Virgin?

Will Mercedes/Brawn have a new technical edge like they did last year?

Will Michael Schumacher regain his form?

How will Alonso do at Ferrari with a strong teammate as he did not handle it very well at McLaren?

The cars are ugly, but they are fast and noisy, and as long as the action is on the track and not in the courtroom, all should be fun and exciting. There is talk of a few teams protesting the new McLaren because of their front wing.

Then you have the question of which teammate will be quicker, Hamilton or Button. This is another thing I will get up very early Friday, Saturday, and Sunday to find out. Refueling is also out this year in F1, so that will be something else that will have to be factored in to all of the teams’ plans.

The fun is about to begin.

IRL 2010 Predictions

Jim Casey — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 13:49:36 +0000

The IRL season begins this weekend with a street race on a new course in Sao Paulo Brazil. Based on the very limited testing, it looks like another season of domination by Penske and Ganassi, with Andretti, Dale Coyne, and a few others filling out the grid.

Danica will dominate the publicity of course even if she never finishes in the top five.

My Predictions:

Scott Dixon as the season champion.
Helio to win at Indy.
Newcomer Simona di Silvestro will beat Danica on all of the road courses and street circuits.
Danica will do better than Simona on ovals.

I am just happy that some real racing starts this weekend so I can ignore NAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZCAR.