A Dallara Judd in Grand Am?

[Dr. Austin]

Originally posted by cybersdorf


They closed their eyes and hoped it would go away.

That's what Peter Dumbreck said he did too!

[FastJoel31]

I thought Porsche pulled out because they were sick of being beaten by the CLK-GTR's in the FIA GT series...

[Dr. Austin]

Originally posted by FastJoel31
I thought Porsche pulled out because they were sick of being beaten by the CLK-GTR's in the FIA GT series...

I'm sure that did not help, either. Porsche were hamstrung by constantly changing rules. They had everyone covered in GT1 with the '96 car, but the FIA saw fit to strangle the cars with a smaller air restrictor for 1997. They were the fastest cars at the Sarthe (where the ACO let them have the '96 restrictor) until a crash and fire put them out. In the FIA GT series they were outclassed by the CLK partially because of the smaller restrictor, partially because the CLK was such a good car. Mostly because the 96 and 97 GT1's were built on production steel 911 tubs, while the Mercedes was a full blown racing carbon fibre monocoque.

1998 was a completely different case. The FIA rules stipulated the location of the air restrictor, which Porsche claims made the air go supersonic when it hit the impeller blade, and the sonic resonances affected boost pressure, or some such nonsense. They petitioned the FIA to let them re-locate the restrictor closer to the turbo, but they were unrelenting.

But who knows the truth and who will ever? The only way to be sure of who has what is to make everyone run the same set of rules. In group c, the only rules that mattered were everyone ran at the same weight and ran the same amount of fuel. Whoever did the best job usually won. Today it is a matter of picking the best set of rules, weights and restrictors to build a car to. Porsche just picked the wrong set of rules and Mercedes guessed it right. They were not so good in 99.

Porsche built an LMP for the 99 race, and Bob Wolleck said that right out of the box it was good enough to win the 24 hrs. Political pressures and the need to concentrated their resourses on their SUV (oh, just kill me now, ok?) led them to can the effort.

But I believe the car resurfaced with new bodywork as an Audi. Ferdinand Piech still has controlling interest in Porsche, a company that got it's start in consultancy. Piech was, i believe, smart enough to enlist the services of a company that not only was a forerunner in endurance racing, but a family consern as well. It all became way too obvious to me when Joest jumped to the Audi ship.

The car just looks like a Porsche. It sounds like one. It goes about the business of going fast without any undue fuss or theatrics. Just like a Porsche. I beleive Porsche is not in endurance racing because they are working with Audi (and Piech) on a consultancy basis. I believe the R8 began it's life as the Porsche 1999 LMP and was hurriedly converted to Audi bodywork to get it into the fight with the five rings on it. After watching the car run and being real up close on it, this is just my gut feeling.

Remember that Piech was the brains and motivation behind Porsche's greatest cars, the 908 and 917. It only make sense for him to dip into that pool of knowledge and heritidge to find success for Audi. And they are sister companies.

[The Beer Baron]

Austin did you go to Sebring 1997 and Homestead 1998 for the FIA GT races ?

That's a great post Austin regarding Porsche and their involvment in the GT series during the late 90's

[cybersdorf]

GT1 was getting too expensive, and the privateers (customers for Porsche!) were driven away. '96 cars weren't competitive in '97, '97 cars were also-rans in '98. That's what ultimately killed the series.

Originally posted by Dr. Austin
Porsche built an LMP for the 99 race, and Bob Wolleck said that right out of the box it was good enough to win the 24 hrs. Political pressures and the need to concentrated their resourses on their SUV (oh, just kill me now, ok?) led them to can the effort.

The SUV was just too lucrative a job to turn it down, I guess - they are developing it for VW, and basing their own Cayenne on it.

And they are sister companies.

Nnnnnot quite; Mr. Piech is also a major shareholder of Porsche but that's where the connection ends.

[BobN]

Originally posted by Dr. Austin
The car just looks like a Porsche. It sounds like one. It goes about the business of going fast without any undue fuss or theatrics. Just like a Porsche. I beleive Porsche is not in endurance racing because they are working with Audi (and Piech) on a consultancy basis. I believe the R8 began it's life as the Porsche 1999 LMP and was hurriedly converted to Audi bodywork to get it into the fight with the five rings on it. After watching the car run and being real up close on it, this is just my gut feeling.

Are you talking about a car different than the one McNish tested (I believe for the 2000 Le Mans)? If not, that car had a V10 and the driver was on the right side of the car.

Bob

[Dr. Austin]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BobN
[B]

Are you talking about a car different than the one McNish tested (I believe for the 2000 Le Mans)? If not, that car had a V10 and the driver was on the right side of the car."


Oh my God! You are so right! The Audi is certainly not the same car at all. Unless, of course, they are lying to us about the V-10. Did anyone get up close on that car? All I have every seen is spy photos. And the car was pretty ugly.


But I still think Porsche had enormous imput into the Audi. If I were Piech, it is certainly what I would have done. If you are going to war, go to win and use all of your resources.