Pirelli World Challenge Rounds 6 & 7: Barber Motorsports Park

[J Jay]

Dammit, the one race I miss and it's a good one. Oh well, football comes first.

[Mechanic Z]

Brilliant race from Parente and KPAX/Flying Lizard, this time they take the win on the track!

K-PAX Racing ‏@KPAXracing 24m24 minutes ago .@alvaroparente's LB was awarded post race. His comment on his first @WCRacing outright win: "Now this one tastes like a win!"

Super impressive drive from Michael Cooper too, made the battle for the lead a nail biter through the whole race!
Good scrap for fourth with James Davison and Pat Long, and a good finish to the GTA race.
Hopefully KPAX is able to get Thompson's #13 repaired in time for tomorrow's race.

Excellent race, hopefully tomorrow's is every bit as exciting.

[TF110]

I want a replay!

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by TF110

I want a replay!

Despite what the series' Pollyannas are trying to tell you, the race was pretty soso... it had a few good moments, but Barber being Barber it was largely processional.

[ttdriver2009]

The was was OK. Not really any passing and the front three just checked out on the field then they ran in formation to the end. No attempts at passing or anyone really driving the wheels off the car.

At least GTC didn't blow it for everyone. Someone must have had a talk to Calvert after St. Pete because he pretty much parked it when the leaders came by.

With Sin making such a great car I wonder if they might step it up a bit and run in GT for next year. They got it figured out in GTS and maybe they could give those Cadillacs and factory McLarens a run for their money.

[Mechanic Z]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Despite what the series' Pollyannas are trying to tell you, the race was pretty soso... it had a few good moments, but Barber being Barber it was largely processional.

I'm assuming this is targeting me and some others?

One of my favorite PWC teams won. This makes me happy.

One caution, and it didn't take half the race to clean up.

Parente and Cooper (and other cars) were nose to tail the entire race. They stayed patient and kept it clean. One could've wrecked the other to take the position. But they didn't. A respectful, professional battle of tenths and hundredths for the race win, and throughout the field.

I think this qualifies as an excellent race. Does it rival Sebring '07 or ALMS at Road America in '12? No, of course not. But it was a very good race.


On a different note, sadly it seems that, due to it's damage, the #13 car will not race tomorrow.

K-PAX Racing ‏@KPAXracing We're sorry to confirm that @AGOGECOLIN's No 13 @McLaren_GT has retired for the weekend

[Mechanic Z]

Originally Posted by TF110

I want a replay!

They usually upload them 72 hours after the CBS Sports broadcast, whenever that is.

[TRspitfirefan]

Sounds like a fun race. Sadly I had some other stuff going this weekend so I wasn't able to catch the livestream.
The good news is ,I should be able to watch race #2 tomorrow morning.
Double header weekends are awesome!

[canamman]

Its going to be interesting to see if the Cadi's can do
anything with Parente today. I expect some fireworks today at
turn 5 and 6 as last year when I think a Cadi or BMW burned there.
The mid pack battles have been fun to watch. At first glance,
I thought the Mercedes was a Viper. Weather is great, glad to be here.

BTW, racing is always 10 times better live at the track !

[Rodger Davies]

Great traffic management from Cooper, really used the Porsches to his advantage there.

[Rodger Davies]

No yellows for the Porsche in the gravel?

[Mechanic Z]

Originally Posted by Rodger Davies

Great traffic management from Cooper, really used the Porsches to his advantage there.

Been really impressed with Cooper this year, both today and yesterday he really drove brilliantly.

Great win for him!

[Mechanic Z]

Another great race, green for all 50 minutes!

Excellent battle between Cooper and Parente, and later O'Connell, fantastic driving among all three. Another Podium for KPAX! And double top 5 for EFFORT!

Surprised to see Davison so far down the order, the Nissans seemed to struggle all weekend.

Gutted for Frank Montecalvo, he had GTA in the bag until that fuel issue sidelined him.

Double win for Alec Udell, he was dominant both races.

Great set of races!

[TRspitfirefan]

Really good race!
Even with Barber being an inherently difficult passing circuit, the PWC teams put on a great show. Cooper had to really drive the wheels off that Cadillac to stay ahead of the Lizard McLaren. Johnny O and Pat Long were closing in so fast there at the end too.
Plus it went green flag all the way!

[TRspitfirefan]

Originally Posted by Mechanic Z

Gutted for Frank Montecalvo, he had GTA in the bag until that fuel issue sidelined him.

Oh man, that had to be tough after dominating the race to that point.
Good to see the Dime Mercedes show some quick pace.

Double win for Alec Udell, he was dominant both races.

Originally Posted by Rodger Davies

Great traffic management from Cooper, really used the Porsches to his advantage there.

That was clearly the key to victory today. Cooper showed great maturity as a driver. That guy has a really bright future!

[ttdriver2009]

Cooper was on fire at LB. Good to see him with some patience for race one and then holding Parente at bay today. Cooper is clearly becoming the fastest driver/car combination in PWC. Great to see my team finishing 4th and 5th. Can't wait until the Acura team switches over to the NSX. Sooner the better.

Udell killed the GTC race. Nobody could touch him no matter what. I was watching timing and scoring and he was over 2.5 seconds faster than Urry. That seems like a bunch. As for those other two guys, they really need to pick up the pace. Would be nice to see more than four cars in the class but at least they are not causing the obligatory yellow (at least for Barber).

[Baliwa]

I love see KPAX livery this year, where I can get car liveries photo?

[TRspitfirefan]

Originally Posted by Baliwa

I love see KPAX livery this year, where I can get car liveries photo?

The K-PAX cars are stunning this year.

Sportscar365 has posted a nice photo gallery from Barber.
http://sportscar365.com/features/pho...ekend-gallery/

[Rcz]

Missed another race. Ugh, why is this series so obscure? Anyone got a replay of the races?

[ttdriver2009]

I'm in the advertising business. I've been to a few PWC races and this is how I see it.

PWC main customer base are the teams and the fans are secondary. Here's why.

Here are the teams:
It reminds me of clients that have a small business in a a large city. There are the usual's that keep the business going. The business doesn't really need to advertise at all. They have that source of income and it works but the business will remain steady and stagnant. If they can get more locals to start going there, then that's even better.

Here are the fans:
These are the customers that get a coupon or flyer in the mail. They go try the place out and then forget about it. They are indifferent. It's a good place but nothing to write home about. The usual's don't understand it because they will swear that this is the best product ever. They become (what we call) the cheerleaders.

If PWC was relying on getting fans to follow their series, then they would advertise and promote more. People will not automatically come to you even if the cheerleaders try 110%. PWC rarely advertises outside of their neighborhood. This explains why the races are not easy to watch (when it comes to accessibility) and there's virtually no advertising when it comes to local events (there was zero advertising at COTA last year and nothing at Long Beach this year).

PWC has their core customer base and that brings in the money they need to operate. They spend a small amount on advertising and promotion to get the small base of casual customers. When PWC runs with Indycar, they are like the group of local food vendors that show up for a huge festival. People like the product, never knew about it before and will forget about it by the next day only to remember it the following year.

You have to constantly remind people that your business exists to expand your customer base and not continue to be obscure. From my standpoint on marketing and advertising, PWC is happy to be obscure and there's nothing wrong with that. It works for them and many others.

[MaskedRacer]

Originally Posted by ttdriver2009

I'm in the advertising business. I've been to a few PWC races and this is how I see it.

PWC main customer base are the teams and the fans are secondary. Here's why.

Here are the teams:
It reminds me of clients that have a small business in a a large city. There are the usual's that keep the business going. The business doesn't really need to advertise at all. They have that source of income and it works but the business will remain steady and stagnant. If they can get more locals to start going there, then that's even better.

Here are the fans:
These are the customers that get a coupon or flyer in the mail. They go try the place out and then forget about it. They are indifferent. It's a good place but nothing to write home about. The usual's don't understand it because they will swear that this is the best product ever. They become (what we call) the cheerleaders.

If PWC was relying on getting fans to follow their series, then they would advertise and promote more. People will not automatically come to you even if the cheerleaders try 110%. PWC rarely advertises outside of their neighborhood. This explains why the races are not easy to watch (when it comes to accessibility) and there's virtually no advertising when it comes to local events (there was zero advertising at COTA last year and nothing at Long Beach this year).

PWC has their core customer base and that brings in the money they need to operate. They spend a small amount on advertising and promotion to get the small base of casual customers. When PWC runs with Indycar, they are like the group of local food vendors that show up for a huge festival. People like the product, never knew about it before and will forget about it by the next day only to remember it the following year.

You have to constantly remind people that your business exists to expand your customer base and not continue to be obscure. From my standpoint on marketing and advertising, PWC is happy to be obscure and there's nothing wrong with that. It works for them and many others.

I would imagine the teams would be happy to get away from some street circuits. Maybe you can make a case to have them at St Pete because it is the only round in Florida they can get to be at but that is it. The rest of the street rounds need to go away.

[nasportscar]

Originally Posted by ttdriver2009

I'm in the advertising business. I've been to a few PWC races and this is how I see it.

PWC main customer base are the teams and the fans are secondary. Here's why.

Here are the teams:
It reminds me of clients that have a small business in a a large city. There are the usual's that keep the business going. The business doesn't really need to advertise at all. They have that source of income and it works but the business will remain steady and stagnant. If they can get more locals to start going there, then that's even better.

Here are the fans:
These are the customers that get a coupon or flyer in the mail. They go try the place out and then forget about it. They are indifferent. It's a good place but nothing to write home about. The usual's don't understand it because they will swear that this is the best product ever. They become (what we call) the cheerleaders.

If PWC was relying on getting fans to follow their series, then they would advertise and promote more. People will not automatically come to you even if the cheerleaders try 110%. PWC rarely advertises outside of their neighborhood. This explains why the races are not easy to watch (when it comes to accessibility) and there's virtually no advertising when it comes to local events (there was zero advertising at COTA last year and nothing at Long Beach this year).

PWC has their core customer base and that brings in the money they need to operate. They spend a small amount on advertising and promotion to get the small base of casual customers. When PWC runs with Indycar, they are like the group of local food vendors that show up for a huge festival. People like the product, never knew about it before and will forget about it by the next day only to remember it the following year.

You have to constantly remind people that your business exists to expand your customer base and not continue to be obscure. From my standpoint on marketing and advertising, PWC is happy to be obscure and there's nothing wrong with that. It works for them and many others.

They aren't happy being obscure and are finally starting to get some light on the series, but that takes a lot of time and money. Most of their investment now is going towards the competition side. They need to lock in teams and partners before they can really worry about expanding their fan base. They now have a team in place that can take the series forward both from a competition standpoint and fan standpoint.

[nasportscar]

a few thoughts on the weekend http://nasportscar.com/arm-chair-rac...pwc-at-barber/