Posted: 6/12/2004 3:56:36 PM EDT
| I woke up from my passed out state just in time to watch F1 Qualifying, and then straight to LeMans on Speed channel. So far some good racing. Ron Fellows crashed his Corvette twice, but Magnusson is leading the class in his Vette. There's also a Morgan racing. Anyone know what's unique about the Morgan car that is entered in the race? |
Do they actually race 'real' cars, or is the 'corvette' as much of a Corvette as a NASCAR 'Taurus' is really a Taurus? |
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Anyone know what's unique about the Morgan car that is entered in the race? i do. it's british and it's still running. of course, after night falls and nigel switches on the lights, it will catch fire and burn...somewhere between the mulsanne hairpin and the whitehouse, i would assume. |
The top class, LMP1, is pure unadulterated race car. Ok, they have some lame rules but they're scratch built. A step down from F1 really. The middle class, GTS, are loosely based on production cars. The C5R is closer to a real Corvette than a NASCAR Taurus (scratch built race car). The C5R has an LS1 based engine (but this is 427 ci vs 346) as well as a few other things that are stock, but its mostly all race car too. Frame rails are based on production. A few years back they were more production than they are now. I suspect the Ferrari 550s that it races against are a little closer to production since they haven't been developing them as much. The lowest class, the GT3 or GT class as it is called now, are the closest to a real car. In fact, I could buy a Porsche 996 GT3 RSR and you probably wouldn't be able to tell it was a factory built race car if you were more than 20 ft away. It would just look like a regular car but with a body kit. Of course these are over $200k each, but for probably $250k you've got a car capabile of winning the race, with a few spares (engine, tranny, wheels, etc) and all the hardest engineering and testing has already been done. Races against BMW M3s or Ferrari 360s typically. |
Exactly what I wanted to know... For me, the only auto-racing that I'd find interesting would be some legal, organized form of street racing (on a track, of course)... Eg, off-the-lot cars (with some internal safety equipment), and whatever the owner can do to the stock engine to make it fast... |
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The Audi R8R is a awsome machine. Both cars wrecked in the 3rd hour on the oil slick at the Porsche Curves have returned and the Champion car from Florida is actually about to retake second place from the French Pescarolo/Judd. One of the 2003 Ferrari 550 Maranello's is now leading the 64 Corvette by 7 laps and the 63 by 11 laps. The new 7 liter 575 Maranellos have been dogs and are unable to to keep the pace of the Vettes and the old Prodrive machines. The #61 575 with Danny Sullivan amongst the drivers has made the biggest news by having a front brake caliper seize just past pit in, after a 8.4mi lap back around the car pulled in, could not turn in to its pit because of the locked wheel. It stopped in pit lane- then BURST INTO FLAME. The fire crew took four fire extinguishers to cool the rotor enough to get it from igniting spontainiously and the crew could drag it into the garage. The #64 Corvette stupidly tried to BLOCK the race leading 88 Audi UK R8R going into Indianapolis corner and the 900kg Audi PUNTED the 1200kg Corvette into the weeds! The Audi had NO DAMAGE, the Corvette had to take 18 minutes to get its nose fixed. Its since also had to have a gearbox leak fixed and refilled. The R8R is just astounding. That a car so much smaller could punt that Vette off and be undamaged. |
LMP1 isn't even a step down from F1 really, it is more of a F1 car with fenders. Really quite similar levels of technology. Slightly detuned, for better endurance, but still.. Edit: and really the GTS class is like a modded production car class. Production frames, but lightweight components/race aero package/modded engine. Certainly more 'stock' than the nascar tube frame cars. |
That is where Audi asked Joest to go. The R8Rs really have no opposition, so they have been farmed off to private teams like Champion, Audi Sport UK, Audi Japan/Team Goh. They get a good bit of support, like Porsche used to supply for the 962. Even at the reduced level of support no one can touch them. Also eventually, begining next year, the ACO wants to start making the GTS's the premier division. They want to bring back cars like the McLaren F1 and Porsche 911GT from back in the 90's. Cars that are at least technically roadgoing, like the Bugatti, Enzo, ect. Or rebulilt production cars like the Corvettes and 911 RS that started as a production line unit body and then are rebuilt like rally cars. |
No F1 car has a 3.6L biturbo V8. |
It may exist, its just going to have to be a coupe. A new Audi super car. Dang. The #8 Audi got knocked into the kitty litter by the Lister Storm The #88 has a suspension problem. Pushrod broke in the rear suspension, bolt came out. Team Goh Audi LEADS. Tom Christinson now has his chance to win his unprecidneted FIFTH STRAIT 24hr win. |
| The Radio LeMans announcers are ridiculing the Corvette drivers for "throwing their cars at various bits of the French scenery". The pit reporters are saying the prototype drivers are ticked at the Corvette drivers who keep getting into shoving matches with the prototypes like they are racing for position. Even though they are 25 and 31 laps off the overall lead and are some 25 seconds a lap slower than the prototypes. |
Nope that was the Audis fault, the overtaking Audi tried a stupid pass in a bad place. Did you notice how they've changed the rules so that the R8s (nor anyone else) can't change their entire transaxle and rear suspension assemblies anymore when there's a problem? It used to take them about 10 minutes to make that change over.  The F1 Race is on at 9am PST (roll off at 9:30), it should be interesting Schumi starts from 6th with Rubens in P7. I think the Ferraris are planning on two stopping the race and are very heavy on fuel. If so they have great faith in their brake durabilty that circuit is murder on brakes. |
Ok aside from that. Even though LeMans is pretty much the pinnicale for technology in motorsports, it was reported that true to Morgan fashon, the frame of the car was made out of White Ash wood. BTW I'm just getting caught up. I had to take a 10 hour break from Lemans due to a little thing called work. |
Grand-Am cup series (the old Firehawk series) and lots of Showroom Stock classes in SCCA. |
Lucas electricals, the prince of darkness. Lucas 3 position light switch.................dim, flicker, off. 
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As a corner worker, I will tell you that oil is not always readily visible from the corner station. |
Yes and no. Granted, it is the overtaking driver's responsibility, but the slower classes are told time and again to watch their mirrors. The lights on the Audi left no doubt there was someone overtaking. He also seemed to leave an opening initially, then slammed the door. |
As another former corner worker (GOD I NEED TO GET BACK OUT TO THE TRACK!!!!!!!!!), I can also back up that fluids are not always visible from the corner station. If it's in a spot that you cannot tell, usually the best indicator is a little yaw in a car going through the slick spot. |
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Speaking of LEMANS I happened across this the other day. That's one badass accident...! newsvote.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/june/11/newsid_3726000/3726535.stm |
That is why Mercedes did not race a LeMans for over 40 years. |
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The Corvette team seems to have left the same kind of "Ugly American" image after this that Ford did in 1966 when they spent millions to defeat privateer Ferrari's, then stage managed the finish to cost Phil Mills his long sought after Le Mans win (made more glaring when Mills died a few weeks later testing the first MkIV) The year old Prodrive's- which are not run with any support from Ferrari at all, have no sponsorship on their fenders, and are paid for entirely out of the pocket of the guy who owns Prodirve (so in a sense they are sponsored by the Subaru WRX ralley cars!)- were handing them their ass untill that damn wheel bearing failed. Even on a Maranello that isnt more than a 10 dollar part. ARRRGH! Plus the Corvette drivers where NOT the best behaved on the track. |
Uhhh before the Corvette (64) and the Audi (88) got together, the 64 car was steadily handing the prancing horses their collective butts. I'm not a Ferarri hater though, I was quite happy to see Team Ferarri finish 1st and 3rd in Canada today. |
The Prodrive Ferrari's were bought USED from a London Ferrari dealer. Ferrari at first refused to race the Maranello. The gentleman who owns Prodrive (which builds and runs the WRC Subaru WRX STI rally cars) decided he wanted to race THOSE cars and went and built his own. They were converted roughly along the lines of the way a Group A WRC car is converted from a street car unit body. Because of the success of the Prodrive cars Ferrari has built a batch of 10 turnkey 575 Maranello racers for customer use roughly along the lines of the Porshe customer car program. But the 3 575's that came to Le Mans were decidedly uncompetative compared to the older Prodrive cars and the Vettes. The Corvette chassies are built by Pratt and Miller. And while not a tube frame like a NASCAR stocker they did not start life as a unit body built at the Baton Rouge plant. They TRIED to run cars built off of stock tubs when they started the Corvette program back in 98 or 99. Along with running a near stock 6 liter engine. The Vipers then (which were built from unit bodies, even though Reynard built the suspensions) kicked their ass so bad Vette had to beg for relief from the organizers to get a 7 liter engine and a chassies with wider wheelbase and track than stock. The engine is based on the Chevy 410 "small block" sprint car motor. |
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Ok, I have since cooled off and will not hunt down the corner worker who missed the oil on the track...However, I remember the commentators saying in that incident the oil was visible, perhaps not from track level...Thanks to you guys who I know a lot of are volunteers, for supporting and being corner workers in american roadracing...
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Hey man no problem. Go to www.scca.org and look up your local reigon. Go pay your trial membership and volunteer for F&C (make sure you wear white), and have a blast. It's the best seat in the house IMHO. |
Corvettes are built in Bowling Green, KY. C5 Corvettes have hydroformed frame rails, not a unit body. C5R ran modifyed stock frame rails for many years and probably still do today. The engine is the C5R which is a version of the LS1, and bears NO RELATION to the 410 sprint car motors other than its an aluminum V8. The heads off the 98+ V8 Camaros, the C5 Corvette, or even the 5.3 or 6.0 liter Chevy pickup truck that your neighbor buys will fit a C5R block, just as that block would fit in thier vehicles. Granted it uses dry sump oiling, trick ass C5R heads with huge port volumes and tiny combustion chambers, and needs a custom made intake manifold. |
Well, it's the second best seat. However, the best seat is in the cockpit. Having done both, I do prefer the view from the cockpit, but that was many years, pounds, and dollars ago. Now, I work corners and it can't be beat by anything else except as noted. I certainly could never just spectate again.My favorite race to work corners is the 12 Hours of Sebring. The Grand Am series for the Rolex24 is okay and the Daytona prototypes are okay, but too low tech and the rules are very heavily flavored by NASCAR, as Bill France owns it. I much prefer the sights and sounds of the Audis, the MG Lolas, the Bentleys (last year), the Judd V10s, and the occassional 3 or 4 rotor Mazda. I really miss the old days of the 962s, the Nissan GTPs, the Toyota Eagles, and the various March chassis with many different powerplants, specifically the Kreepy Krauly March 85G Porsche. |
Been thinking about getting into the cockpit once I got everything settled. How much does a semi competitive Vee with trailer and spare engine/tranny/wheels run nowadays. |
I'm not sure, but I would think the whole package for $20K. I will look at my SCCA mag when I get home (I am in Dothan, AL right now) and will see if there are any listed. Are you sure you want to race something with Beetle drum brakes?????
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