More Equals Less In Upcoming GTP Championship Season

Fruits of developments between Porsche and Penske Motorsports were shown at AutoMobility LA 2022 (LA Auto Show Press Day). This will be the fourth manufacturer to join in the IMSA Series LMDh Class for 2023. This union is the second introduction by Penske Motorsport to the highest level of prototype competition, the first being the championship winning Acura - ARX–05.  Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2022)

More Equals Less In Upcoming GTP Championship Season

Last year, NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Will Power showed the world how a less equals more strategy can deliver a season series championship win (his career second). The WeatherTech GTP Class championship, however, has settled on a more equals less strategy to deliver a hybrid technology answer (more) to the reduction of carbon emissions (less) in a major professional motorsports competition series championship.

In a first of the new year ZOOM Call put on by IMSA, with the participants from teams representing the four major automotive manufacturers who will be competing in the 2023 GTP class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Series - Cadillac, Acura, BMW, and Porsche - most all of the technical team leaders expressed a few common themes.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP class ZOOM Call participants - Left To Right In ZOOM Call Images:

Gary Nelson, Cadillac Action Express Racing

Travis Hogue, Acura Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport

Jonathan Diuguid, Porsche Penske Motorsport

Mike O'Gara, Cadillac Racing (CGR)

Justin Harnisfager, Acura Meyer Shank Racing

Brandon Fry, BMW M Team RLL

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP Class Teams ZOOM Call Part 1

IMSA 101 - DPi cars are being replaced by LMDh cars for 2023 >>> an LMDh (Le Mans Daytona h) is a type of sports prototype race car that will compete alongside Le Mans Hypercar entries in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship from 2023 - it also competes in the Hypercar class of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The LMDh ruleset was created jointly by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The cars will serve as the successor to the Daytona Prototype International class, utilizing regulations that were planned to become the next-generation Daytona Prototype International ruleset, converged with the Le Mans Hypercar ruleset, showing off the latest technology in mating traditional internal combustion engines (ICE) with electrification (Hybrid Technology) - tap for more.

[ht: WIKI/IMSA]

In addition to having to integrate hybrid electric power units to the ICE power units (internal combustion engine) one has to consider what additional impacts will this have on a team as it prepares at the team shop environment, travel, and set-up at a track for testing and competition. 

Action Express Racing's Whelen Engineering sponsored GTP Cadillac. Image Credit: Mike Levitt (2022)

Gary Nelson, Cadillac Action Express Racing, was keen to point out that in previous DPi rules configuration, the team could just load up the car, parts, toolboxes and other support gear in one transporter. Here in the LMDh rules configuration, this will require two full transporters and a trailing 5th wheel trailer. 

We’re on the threshold of a thrilling new era in endurance sports car racing and Cadillac is all in! Cadillac Racing will contest the top category of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the FIA World Endurance Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with its V-LMDh prototype race cars as the only U.S.-based manufacturer. The 2023 sports car racing season gets underway with the Daytona Roar (January 20-22, 2023) and Rolex 24 at Daytona (January 28-29, 2023). The first event on the WEC calendar is the 1,000 miles of Sebring, on March 17th. I encourage anyone inclined to enjoy any of the 2023 IMSA or WEC races in person to buy your tickets and make your travel arrangements now! #BeIconic @cadillac @CadillacRacing #IMSA @imsa_racing #ctmp @fiawec_official #fiawec @fiawec #richardprincephotography @richardprincephoto

Jonathan Diuguid (pronounced Do-gid), Porsche Penske Motorsport ended Part 1 with the one element to this racing equation that, in the beginning of any season is on the more side, tire compound choices that will deliver the fastest times with longer runs - less pit stops with less time involved with the completion of each lap.

Motorsports Journal/EVHNews was able to ask questions from Brandon Fry of RLL about how the new RLL HQ helps the BMW GTP  Class effort & Jonathan Diuguid about working with a manufacturer to introduce a racing effort to this level of championship racing series - first Acura, and now Porsche - these questions begin this next Part 2 video.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP Class Teams ZOOM Call Part 2

<<< Again - Left To Right In ZOOM Call Images >>>

Gary Nelson, Cadillac Action Express Racing

Travis Hogue, Acura Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport

Jonathan Diuguid, Porsche Penske Motorsport

Mike O'Gara, Cadillac Racing (CGR)

Justin Harnisfager, Acura Meyer Shank Racing

Brandon Fry, BMW M Team RLL

Join us on our ROAD TO DAYTONA for insights into the BMW M Hybrid V8 project.

Episode 2: Tested in all conditions.

Sound on!#bmwmhybridv8 @IMSA @RLLracing pic.twitter.com/EUMQd7ymrn

— BMW Motorsport (@BMWMotorsport) January 5, 2023

Major concerns that are common with all teams and manufacturers as it relates to the level of confidence in the unknowns. Unknowns all track back to reliability during race day activities. As always, when something is new, one has no real idea if all of the bits, pieces, and tasked function parts will hold up to endurance race stresses and conditions. This is why we all push the limits of technology and application, this is why we race ... isn't it?

... notes from The EDJE

FEATURED ARTICLE >>>

TAGS: WeatherTech, SportCar, IMSA, GTP, LMDh, BMW, Porsche, Acura, Cadillac, ICE. Hybrid EV, Le Mans, Daytona, 2023, The EDJE

Robert Wickens & Mark Wilkins Form All-Canadian IMSA TCR Challenge By Bryan Herta Autosport

BOTH ... Robert Wickens and Mark Wilkins are about as humble and as competitive as they come. God Bless Bryan Herta Autosport for their guts to take on this challenge. Image Credit: Hyundai via META/FB (2021)

Robert Wickens & Mark Wilkins Form All-Canadian IMSA TCR Challenge By Bryan Herta Autosport

This is the year to look for the No. 33 Elantra N TCR fielded by Hyundai through their very successful multi-year partnership with Bryan Herta Autosport (BHA) racing the full season in the IMSA sanctioned Michelin Pilot Challenge season, starting at Daytona International Speedway with a January 28, 2022. 

Reason? 

It has been nearly three and a half years that the very promising career of Canadian Robert Wickens came to what appeared to be an end through a crippling INDYCAR accident at Pocono Raceway on August 19, 2018. Robert (Robbie) Wickens and fellow Canadian Mark Wilkins will be teaming up to campaign in a specially prepared Hyundai Elantra N duel-outfitted with foot and hand controls for accelerating and braking. 

Hand controls for acceleration and braking as installed on the Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Veloster N TCR as set for Michael Johnson. Image Credit: Hyundai via META/FB (2021)

For Wickens, a custom hand-control system designed by BHA technical director David Brown and development technician Jonathan Gormley refined from a system originally designed for Michael Johnson, the only hand-controlled requirement licensed driver in the INDYCAR sanctioning body. For Mark Wilkins, foot pedals.

It’s been a long, winding, and difficult road to this point and the journey is not over, but thankful we’ll be able to move down the road with a bit more speed!

I’ll be joining @BHA for the 2022 @IMSA season and piloting one of their @hyundai Elantras.

Now, let’s go win. pic.twitter.com/hoPyoorJTO

— Robert Wickens (@robertwickens) January 14, 2022

Bryan Herta Autosport has been in a working relationship for approximately eighteen months with Robert, tracking his rehabilitation progress, gave him a test track day with the specially outfitted Veloster N TCR at Mid-Ohio road course, to come to this day which announced a full season challenge for 2022. Here is the ZOOM Call announcement hosted by IMSA with about 50 motor press participants online.

This excerpted and edited from NBC Sports - 

Robert Wickens will return to racing with Bryan Herta Autosport, starting at Daytona

NBC Sports - By Nate Ryan - Jan 14, 2022

Wickens has major aspirations in joining a six-car team that has won three consecutive championships in the MPC, vowing to win the season opener despite having yet to drive the car yet.

“Aim big, right,” he said with a smile during a Zoom news conference Friday. “Let’s go for the win. It’s not every day you can jump straight in with a team that’s won multiple championships with a teammate that’s won a championship. I feel I couldn’t be in a better place. The goal is simple: to try to win the thing.

“I felt I was forced to leave in 2018 at almost the peak of my career. I felt great. Never felt fitter, never felt stronger. I felt like I was driving the best I’ve ever driven. I want to hit the ground running and continue where I left off. At least challenge for a victory and podium, if anything.”

----

Wickens made a big leap last May in his journey back to a race car, turning 62 laps with Herta’s team at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Bryan Herta Autosport's inclusive six-team/twelve-driver 2022 Hyundai IMSA challenge. Image Credit: BHA via META/FB (2022) 

It was his first exposure to hand controls mounted on the steering wheel that controlled the acceleration and braking of the No. 54 Veloster N TCR. Michael Johnson, a paralyzed driver who delivered Hyundai’s first podium with co-driver Stephen Simpson in a 2021 Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Daytona, helped guide Wickens through the use of hand controls.

Wickens also had watched Alex Zanardi race with hand controls in the DTM and sports cars series (including the 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona). Zanardi was among the first to call after Wickens was paralyzed.

Wickens said Friday that he can stand with support but likely won’t walk again.

“I’m at the point where my recovery has more or less plateaued in terms of neural recovery,” he said. “I’m not regaining any more muscle function. Unfortunately, it’s looking like I’ll be in a chair for the remainder of my life as long as modern medicine and science stay what it is. But it’s a great life. I was able to regain a lot of function.”

For the past two seasons, Wickens has worked as a consultant and driver coach for Arrow McLaren SP, the team he drove for during his rookie season in the NTT IndyCar Series up until the Pocono crash.

Wickens said he will remain in the consultant role for Arrow McLaren SP during the 2022 season. Asked whether he wanted to race the Indy 500 again, Wickens said he is keeping his options open.

“The first thing for me is I want to race here in the Michelin Pilot Challenge with Hyundai in my Elantra N TCR car to just, for myself, prove I can do it again,” he said. “It’s almost like a proof of concept to understand the hand controls and compete again. I haven’t raced in three and a half years, really. Just for myself and everyone around me, I want to know I can do it again. Once we can tick that box, nothing is out of the question.

“I think it would be awesome to race the Indy 500. Also, I’m very interested in exploring new avenues. I’ve never really done any sports car driving. Racing at the highest levels of IMSA and the WeatherTech Series. Those LMDh cars just look insane. Formula E is something that’s very appealing to me as well. I’m interested in exploring other options of motorsport outside IndyCar.”

Wickens cast doubt on if he could race again in the NTT IndyCar Series because of regulations that could limit hand controls.

“Anything is possible with the right time, money and resources,” he said. “It’s a colossal ask, but I’m at a point in my life where if I never return to IndyCar, I’m very satisfied with that. I’m really looking forward to this opportunity I have here to get back behind the wheel and feel that hunger I’ve had for so many years watching from the sidelines.

“If things in the future arise, we’ll address them as they come. For the time being, I don’t see IndyCar as a feasible option in my return. The physicality to adapt my hand controls would require a lot of customization that I’m not sure the series would really sign off on. Braking, power steering. It would take like a one-off Indy car, which I don’t know if teams would agree to (allow).”

----

Robert Wickens & fellow Canadian Mark Wilkins drive the No. 33 Elantra N TCR full time in the 2022 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season, starting at Daytona International Speedway with a Jan. 28 race that will be streamed live on Peacock (along with the full season; replays also will be shown on the USA network).

(Reference Here)

Image Credit: Canadian Dad Blog (2017)

In all of the world, given the nature and accomplishment of Bryan Herta Autosport (BHA) through building its team with Hyundai over the last five years, and the physiological and psychological come back of Robert Wickens (paired with Mark Wilkins), there can not be a better match up for success in this motorsports competition re-entry.

BHA will just have to order in, and keep a stock of Dare Maple Cream cookies in the paddock!

The season kicks off Jan. 21 with the Roar Before the Rolex 24, a three-day test session at Daytona that concludes with qualifying races. The BMW M Endurance Challenge streams live starting at 1:35 p.m. ET Friday, Jan. 28 on Peacock.

... notes from The EDJE

FEATURED ARTICLE >>>

TAGS: Robert Wickens, Mark Wilkins, Bryan Herta Autosport, Hyundai Elantra N, IMSA TCR Class, Daytona,  BMW M Endurance Challenge, Michelin Pilot Challenge, The EDJE 

IMS Triple-Header & IMSA Daytona Has Team Penske's Attention July 4th Weekend

Tee shirt graphic from the first ever triple header race weekend held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The weekend features races by three racing series and two different sanctioning bodies - NTT INDYCAR & NASCAR. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks via IMS Store screengrab (2020)

IMS Triple-Header & IMSA Daytona Has Team Penske's Attention July 4th Weekend

After an extended interruption off-season, Motorsports and Motor Culture gets a boost over the 2020 July 4th Independence Day celebration weekend - sans fans, in the stands.

ZOOM presentation where the flow is regulated - Edmund Jenks asks a question of all drivers - Dane Cameron, Juan Pablo Montoya, Helio Castroneves, & Ricky Taylor - at 14:20 on the timeline.

ZOOM tile presentation - Will Power, Brad Keslowski, & Austin Cindric

WHAT:

Team Penske Zoom Media Conference Block – NASCAR, INDYCAR & IMSA Drivers

WHY:

The Fourth of July weekend promises to be a historic time in American motorsports with competition at two of the country’s most-iconic venues, Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) and Daytona International Speedway. Team Penske is the only team with entries in each of the four series competing during the weekend, including the much-anticipated NASCAR/INDYCAR tripleheader at IMS.

WHO:

Brad Keselowski – driver of the No. 2 Discount Tire Ford Mustang - Winner of the 2018 Brickyard 400 / 2012 IMS NASCAR Xfinity Series Winner

Will Power – driver of the No. 12 Verizon Dallara/Chevrolet - Three-time GMR Grand Prix winner / 2018 Indianapolis 500 Winner

Austin Cindric – driver of the No. 22 Menards / Richmond Ford Mustang - Two-time NASCAR Xfinity Series road course winner

Dane Cameron – driver of the No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi - Three-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Champion

Juan Pablo Montoya – driver of the No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi - Current IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Champion / Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner

Helio Castroneves – driver of the No. 7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi - Three-time Indianapolis 500 winner

Ricky Taylor – driver of the No. 7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi - 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Champion / 2017 Rolex 24 and 12 Hours of Sebring winner

... notes from The EDJE




TAGS: Pennzoil 150 At The Brickyard, GMR Grand Prix, Big Machine Hand Sanitizer 499, IMSA Weathertech 240, Daytona, IMS, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Penske Racing, Team Penske, The EDJE

A Pre-Season Conversation Novo Nordisk No. 83 IndyCar Driver Charlie Kimball

A Pre-Season Conversation Novo Nordisk No. 83 IndyCar Driver Charlie Kimball

BEGIN
Charlie Kimball is an American open-wheel race car driver who is one of eleven (11) American drivers listed of the twenty-six (26) drivers featured on the pre-season IndyCar.com website.

Charlie has been pursuing a professional racing career probably ever since he was in the womb some 32 years ago since his father, Gordon Kimball, had a career as a Stanford University trained engineer and Formula 1 race car designer.

In fact, Charlie, while being raised as a local Californian from Camarillo in Ventura County, was born in England during a time his father was designing cars for McLaren.

After High School, he had a clear chance to follow his father's college path through Stanford, but choose, instead, to focus his time on his one true passion - race car driving.

In the early 2000's, he drove in the American Formula Dodge series, SCCA's Formula Ford, then went on to England to join the UK Formula Ford winter series.

He was able to join Carlin Motorsports to compete in the British Formula 3 championship finishing P2 for the season behind Portuguese team-mate Alvaro Parente ... last year's Pirelli Wold Challenge GT Class champion, driving a K-PAX Racing McLaren.

After two seasons in Firestone Indy Lights, Charlie was offered a seat on the Chip Ganassi Racing team driving the No. 83 original IRL Dallara in 2011 ... then graduated on to driving the Dallara DW12 and its many aero configurations through Honda, then Chevy, and now back to Honda for the 2017 season.

This season, he joins team-mates Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, and Max Chilton coming off of a very successful pre-season test at Sebring where the Honda cars of Chip Ganassi Racing posted the four quickest times.

Welcome, driver of the Novo Nordisk No. 83 Honda Dallara, Charlie Kimball ...

1)
First, tell us a little about Novo Nordisk and some of the background behind your sponsorship since joining the Verizon IndyCar Series.

2)
A two-part question on how did you do in both the pre-season tests?  A) FIRST the oval at Phoenix and B) SECOND the road course at Sebring?

A)
Phoenix ...

B)
Sebring ...

3)
In reviewing your driving in IndyCar these last 6 years, it is a little hard to pick out tendencies except that you seem to be the most consistent at the series owners home track - both the road course - a consistent P5, and the Indiana Motor Speedway oval - where you do pretty well finishing into top 10 and top 5. Tell us why IMS seems to play to your strengths and what courses on the schedule do you like the most when they present themselves?

4)
With your association with Chip Ganassi Racing, other types of challenges have opened up for you. You were part of a championship winning Rolex 24 of Daytona in 2013 with co-drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett, and Memo Rojas in a Riley MkXXVI-BMW sports car. How was it being a part of a multiple member driving squad on a single car ... then outside of IndyCar, what other challenges would you like to tackle?

5)
After an off season that feels like a year in itself, The Verizon IndyCar Series gets its first two races underway on temporary street courses. First - broadcast live March 12 at St. Petersburg - SECOND - followed in four weeks by the Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach, broadcast live April 9 - These courses have not been the best of venues for you since finishing consistently in the top 10 has been difficult.

What are you anticipating with the new Honda engine and aero package, starting with next weekend's race in Florida?

What are you looking forward to in the new Honda at your presumed home track next to the harbor in Southern California?

Thank you Charlie Kimball and the best of success in 2017 ...
ENDS

Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
-The 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season opens in St. Petersburg, Fla., on March 12.
-The race will be broadcast live on ABC at 9 a.m. PT.

Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
-The 43rd Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach takes place April 7-9.
-Tickets can be purchased at gplb.com
-The race will be broadcast live April 9 on NBCSN at 1 p.m. PT.

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: Chip Ganassi Racing, Charlie Kimball, Novo Nordisk, No. 83, Honda, Dallara, Verizon IndyCar Series, St. Petersburg, Toyota Grand Prix Of Long Beach, Rolex 24, Daytona, McLaren, The EDJE

Catch A Little Roar Before The 24 From Lexus' Scott Pruett

Catch A Little Roar Before The 24 From Lexus' Scott Pruett


Five-time Rolex 24 At DAYTONA champion Scott Pruett shows us around the garage and answers questions!

For the Rolex 24 and the entire IMSA season, Pruett will be joined by former Indy Lights champion Sage Karam in the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 of 3GT Racing, which is being tested this week in the Roar By The Shore.

This will be the brand’s first team partnership in North America since 2009, when Pruett won two Rolex 24s and 22 total victories with Grand-Am Road Racing. The 24 hour race starts Saturday, January 28th. 3GT Racing will field two cars in the GTD class — the No. 14 car with drivers Sage Karam and Scott Pruett, and the No. 15 car with Robert Alon and Jack Hawksworth.

The 3GT Racing organization led by team managing director Paul Gentilozzi. Additional drivers for both cars, for the twice-around-the-clock Rolex 24 endurance classic, have yet to be announced.
(ht: Todd Lewis)

... notes from The EDJE



TAGS: Lexus, Scott Pruitt, Daytona, Roar Before The 24, Testing, Rolex 24, Todd Lewis, Paul Gentilozzi, Sage Karam, Scott Pruett, Robert Alon, Jack Hawksworth, The EDJE

Post #MAVTv500 & #CokeZero400 Superspeedway Event Observations

Ryan Briscoe has a moment of personal conversation with his helmet as he prepares to be a competitive factor in the MAVTv500 superspeedway five-hundred mile race held at Auto Club Speedway on Saturday June 27th. Image Credit: Ken Manfred (2015)

Post #MAVTv500 & #CokeZero400 Superspeedway Event Observations

This was NOT a good week for ‪#‎NASCAR‬. Last week they ask fans not to fly the ‪#‎ConfederateFlag‬ and we see more Rebel Flags at Daytona International Speedway than we have seen in years.

They pull the hard cards of the crew guys who should have been celebrated as heroes for rushing to help Austin Dillon after his crash and have to explain they just wanted to talk to them, they will not fine them at all.

Subway is the presenting sponsor of the Xfinity Series race and is at Daytona ... this week Jared, the face of Subway advertising, had his home raided as part of a child pornography investigation.

But all of this serves as a distraction to the real issue at hand - Pack Racing.

Pole sitter Dale Earnhardt Jr. held off the pack (a very good view of the definition of "pack racing") to win the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway.  Earnhardt led 96 laps en route to his second win of the season.  Jimmie Johnson finished second, while Denny Hamlin, Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch completed the top-five. Image Credit: NASCAR via RiverBender.com

This weekend's heavily promoted race on NBC at Daytona, the Coke Zero 400, was delayed from its normal broadcast window and pushed way past midnight on the West coast was won by Dale Earnhart Jr. in a journeyman display of restrictor plate, raceline control, superspeedway PACK RACING.

If it were not for a couple of incredibly hairy Pack Racing crashes where everyone survived and about three spectators (it could have been a lot worse) were injured due to debris from a car flying into the catch fence ... the race was a total bore as are most NASCAR oval racing restrictor plate events.

The week before, a race that was also on a NBC broadcasting property (NBCSN), but not heavily promoted, the Verizon IndyCar Series held a race at Auto Club speedway.

The MAVTv500 would have been a good news event for the series if the race was able to draw spectators because the racing was anything but just a pack of cars playing "Follow The Leader" behind a very experienced driver/tactician. The product on the track and the lack of spectators attending the event show a dichotomy of efforts between the teams and drivers versus the Verizon IndyCar Series (VICS) management.

The product is the best it may be in years from top teams to the bottom of the points paying order ... this may be the most professional and talented to ever be assembled - the VICS management, however, may be the second worse ever (2015 explained here) with the worst management team being the last years of the Tony George regime, many of whom occupy positions in this current management team.

No.5 Ryan Briscoe (L) and eventual MAVTv500 winner No.15 Graham Rahal approach the Auto Club Speedway Start/Finish line side-by-side as a sparse crowd witnesses one of the best, most competitive races held in the annuals of open-wheel racing - world record 83 changes for the lead. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

This reaction to the MAVTv500 was posted by a friend of a longtime NASCAR fan on Facebook - this reaction has to see the light of day:

Geoff Gray (posted to facebook timeline)

One of my best and oldest friends came to visit us for the fourth of July weekend. He is a good ole boy NASCAR fan from Arkansas. We got to having a drink or two with dinner and he asked me what all this "business" was regarding "those crying tea and crumpet" Indycar whiners ... I told him that I had recorded the race so just sit back and watch. His response was the NASCAR fan typical "Why would I want to watch follow the leader IndyCar racing?" crap but I was able to convinced him regardless...

To say the least , from the drop of the green flag he was transfixed ... after 20 laps he was cheering and had already decided on a driver he wanted to see win ... Merican of course ... by the end of the race he was on his feet cheering on the race like a true fanatic. And then .... yup ... the after race whining began ... the Wheldon name was slung about wrecklessly as though there were even some semblance to that tragic day at all. 

Then my friend pointed out, most astutely pointed out, that:

(1) This not even remotely "pack racing" like them-thar "restrictor races" as there were rarely any one following or side by side for any length of time at all! In fact most of the time they were jumping out of line to actually pass one another!

(2) Don't these guys get paid a lot of money to do just that?

(3) Why wasn't there anyone there in them grandstands?

(4) Was it because it was a 500 mile race scheduled to run in the middle of the desert in the middle of summer?!?!?

(5) Who the hell was officiating when that fuel buckeye got ripped off .... Ain't that a penalty? It ain't like Rahal couldn't have made the time up ... hell, that crazy Brisco guy got a "drive through" and damn near won ifn' he didn't get wrecked!!!

(6) By the way ... I kinda like that Brisco guy ... he was Mr Spectacular and didn't cry boo after the race ... now that's a driver ... he oughta' drive NASCAR!

At the end of evening my good friend said to me " That was probably one of the best races I ever saw ... Maybe the best ... Ya'll got a good thang goin' there if they keep on drivin' like that and the management would shut those clowns up"! "Yup ya got a good thang goin there ... just dont tell anybody" ...
ENDS

Long Time Coming: Rahal, Andretti Names Share Podium Again: Drivers with two of the most recognizable surnames in IndyCar racing shared the podium following the exciting MAVTv500 at Auto Club Speedway on June 27, when Graham Rahal won and Marco Andretti finished third (Tony Kanaan in P2). Surprisingly, it's the first time in their Indy car careers that the two - who each now drive for teams owned by their fathers - have celebrated together in Victory Circle. The last meeting on the podium for a Rahal and an Andretti was Sept. 1, 1996, in the Molson Indy Vancouver street-course event. Marco's father, Michael, won that day and Graham's dad, Bobby, finished second. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2015)

Inside the box score - MAVTv500: Numbers to note following the MAVTv500 at the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway oval - the 11th round of the Verizon Indy Car Series season:

6 - Positions gained by Stefano Coletti in the final 25 laps of the race (18th to 12th). ... Podium finishes in his last seven starts at Auto Club Speedway by Tony Kanaan, who was the race runner-up.

7.77 - Average running position of winner Graham Rahal for the 250 laps.

14 - Drivers who led at least one lap, the most to lead a race at Auto Club Speedway since November 2001, when a track-record 19 drivers led.

18 - Positions improved by Rahal (19th to first), most of any of the 23 starters.

21 - Indy car wins for cars owned by Bobby Rahal, who won 24 times as a driver.

74 - Top-three career finishes by Kanaan, tying Rick Mears for 13th on the all-time Indy car list.

76 - Laps in which rookie Sage Karam improved his position, most of any driver.

80 - Lead changes in the race, an Indy car record. The previous was 73 at Auto Club Speedway in November 2001.

124 - Starts between Indy car victories for Graham Rahal, the longest streak between wins by an Indy car driver. The previous record was 97 starts between wins held by Johnny Rutherford.

244 - Consecutive starts by Kanaan, extending his all-time record.

2,537 - Total on-track passes for position. Kanaan had 204 (in 250 laps), most of any driver.

3,173 - Total on-track passes. Of the 6,248 total on-track passes this season, 51 percent occurred in the MAVTV 500.
(ht: VICS)

As the Verizon IndyCar Series heads to race on "the oldest speedway in the world" known as the Milwaukee Mile, let's hope that the attendance gap closes up so that folks can actually witness competitive open-wheel racing on a flat oval venue and come away with the appreciation for the toughest competition in motorsport. NBCSN Race Broadcast - Sunday, July 12, 2015 - 5:00pm ET.

Regardless, it is still time for a change in management to one that actually has someone who drove a car in competition as opposed to a committee of people who occupy Race Control who make most of their decisions, post race, in a vacuum of direct competitive track knowledge driving in open-wheel cars.

... notes from The EDJE


TAGS: #MAVTv500, @ACSUpdates, Auto Club Speedway, Brian Barnhart, Country Club, Derrick Walker, Mark Miles, MAVTV 500, Race Control, The EDJE, Verizon IndyCar Series, NASCAR, Coke Zero 400, Daytona, Pack Racing

Bring your own Brembo is the rule at inaugural TUSCC's Rolex 24 at Daytona

The No. 99 Red Dragon crosses the stripe as the pole sitter for the 52nd Annual Rolex 24 At Daytona. Image Credit: GAINSCO Bob Stallings Racing via FB

Bring your own Brembo is the rule at inaugural TUSCC's Rolex 24 at Daytona

After an incredible 2013 race season with championships in F1, IndyCar, Le Mans, the inaugural World Endurance Championship and both classes of the Grand-Am Rolex Series, Brembo will provide braking systems for more than half of the field this coming Saturday for the inaugural race of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship (TUSCC) - 52nd Annual Rolex 24 At Daytona..

In the Prototype class, Brembo will equip 15 of the prototypes, including the Corvette DP owned by 2013 Grand-Am Champion Wayne Taylor Racing. Brembo is the only manufacturer to supply all three different chassis running in the class.

 

Today is the 1st official test day before Daytona 24h! ESM Patron car looking shiny! Very excited for this year Daytona! Image Credit: Simon Pagenaud via FB

Of special interest is the use of carbon-carbon rotors on the prototypes, the first such use since the days of the World Sports Cars. The benefits of carbon brakes are reduced weight, as much as a third of cast iron, and more reliability.

In the GT class, Brembo will support 23 cars, including all of the Aston Martins, Audis, Ferraris, factory Porsche 911 RSRs and SRT Vipers. The cars will be equipped with two-piece cast-iron racing discs with 6-piston front and 4-piston rear aluminum calipers. The GT brake system is essentially the same brakes used at Le Mans with lightweight, shape-optimized calipers with billet monobloc construction.

 

Tommy Milner and Corvette return to Daytona this weekend. Image Credit: TAG Heuer Eyewear via FB

Another Brembo innovation, the BRP34 and BRP35 pads, will also offer additional benefits for many of the teams, guaranteeing a high level of friction at working temperatures decidedly lower than other pads.  This helps ensure prompt and steady pedal response. BRP34 was the first pad to ever complete a 24-hour race without needing to be changed.

Whether four-wheel or two, open-wheel or prototype, Brembo, the Italian manufacturer of high-performance braking systems, has won more world championships at more great venues than any other competitor since it first began racing with Ferrari in 1975.

Racing teams and manufacturers such as Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes-Benz AMG and Lamborghini, who demand the best, turn to the experts in braking technology and performance: Brembo.  The strong support and trusted relationships that Brembo has with more than 31 original equipment manufacturers and hundreds of championship-winning race teams in F1, IndyCar, NASCAR and sports cars, is based on the fact that Brembo is the industry benchmark.  There is no other company or product line on the market that can match Brembo's level of technology and performance.

Coverage of the Rolex 24 at Daytona will start on Fox at 2:00 pm Eastern Time on January 25^th and continue on Fox Sports 1 & 2 plus live streaming at IMSA.com.

... notes from The EDJE

Mazda Burnishes New Mazda6 Clean-Diesel Reputation

Mazda announces its participation in the 2013 Grand Am racing series in front of the media crowd gathered at the LA Auto Show during Press Days. Image Credit:Edmund Jenks (2012)

Mazda Burnishes New Mazda6 Clean-Diesel Reputation

Mazda North American Operations, in a move to further enhance its reputation as a company that builds cars that are fun to drive, announced that the new, redesigned Mazda6, Mazda's flagship mid-sized car, will be entered into the Grand Am series running on Mazda's SKYACTIV technology clean-diesel.

The 2014 Mazda6 will make its motorsports debut at the Rolex 24 endurance race on January 26-27, 2013 in Daytona Beach, Fla. The Mazda6 racecar will be powered by a Mazda SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel engine (video) and is being developed to compete in the new GRAND-AM GX class.

This announced entrant marks the first time a diesel-powered vehicle of any type will have ever raced at the Rolex 24. Mazda will be seeking their 24th class win in the American endurance classic, having most recently won in 2008 and 2010.

John Doonan, Motorsports Director, Mazda North American Operations noted that:

“We have been eager to announce this car for months, but had to wait until the production car was revealed. The SpeedSource engineering team, working with the Mazda engineers, have been flat out for months on engine development. We’re happy to report that the engine is meeting the performance targets for both power and endurance. That means 400+ hp for over 50 hours, with an engine that includes a very long list of production Mazda parts. This is not a pure race engine; it is a production block SKYACTIV-D. We’re excited about having our newest engine powering our newest car.”

A few of the Mazda Young Guns 2013 - Kenton Koch, Elliott Skeer, Gustavo Menezes, Joey Jordan, at LA Auto Show. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

The Mazda6 was one of the first models declared eligible for the GX class, along with Lotus Evora GX and Porsche Cayman. The class will help nurture emerging technologies such as alternative fuels.

When one first sees the redesigned Mazda6, one is struck at the overall upgrade to the styling, primarily with the front end grille and rear tail light configuration. The front impresses the eye with a look similar to a blending of a Mercedes and a Volvo (not bad styling company), with the rear leaving one with the feel of a high-end Lexus without the ridging jut of the tail-light ... the Mazda6 being smoothed and rounded, say sophisticated.

Strongly influenced by the TAKERI Concept, the Mazda6 makes no excuses for its style, safety and spunk – qualities usually absent in a mid-size sedan. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012) 

The GX racing version of the Mazda6 is being developed by SpeedSource and Mazda engineers. The challenge expects to have two factory entries ready to compete at Daytona.

GX will join the Daytona Prototype and GT classes in events sanctioned by Grand-Am Road Racing in 2013, the last year before Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series merge in a single organization that has yet to be named.

Models eligible for GX besides the Mazda6, Evora and Cayman include the Audi TT, BMW 1 Series, Chevrolet Cruze, Ford Focus sedan, Hyundai Genesis, Subaru BRZ, Scion FR-S, Nissan 370Z or Altima, and Volkswagen Eos.

The KODO "Soul of Motion" design language commands and creates every facet of the vehicle's handsome sheet metal, from its alluringly swept elongated hood and cab-forward proportions to the chiseled steel shaping its frame, the Mazda6 suggests power and elegance before the gas pedal is even floored to go. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2012)

In making its North American debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the highly-anticipated mid-size sedan will go on sale in January 2013 and be equipped first with a SKYACTIV-G 2.5-liter gasoline engine.  The SKYACTIV-D-equipped version will follow suit during the second half of the year, making Mazda the first Asian manufacturer to offer a modern-technology clean-diesel engine in a non-commercial vehicle. The 2014 Mazda6 also will be the first production vehicle to feature Mazda's capacitor-based brake energy regeneration system called i-ELOOP.

... notes from The EDJE


** Article first published as Mazda Burnishes New Mazda6 Clean-Diesel Reputation on Technorati **