Pirelli World Challenge Rounds 5: Long Beach

[carbsmith]

My first reaction watching it live was that the McLaren should have backed out considering he was 3 wide in the middle and not going to win that corner on either side, so maybe he's not entirely wrong.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Matt

I'm predicting at most 20 minutes of green flag racing tomorrow from the PWC guys.

Woo!

[HORNDAWG]

that is all.









L.P.

[TheMightyM]

Sportscar365 story on the race is available here. The big news:

World Challenge issued a notice to competitors late Sunday, confirming the following cars under review for incidents:

Cars No. 6, 9, 10, 11,13, 14, 16, 19, 20, 21, 30, 31, 32, 41, 42, 44, 54, 61, 65, 99, 01, 02, 05, 07, 08.

Rulings are expected to be made in the next few days.

Yup 25 of the 38 cars entered are under investigation in a 50-minute race that saw five yellow flags and maybe 15 minutes of actual green-flag time.

[MitchZ06]

61 is on that list so Beretta isn't out of the woods yet. 6 (Thorne) should've been penalized, 9 (Estre) not entirely sure all the blame lays at his feet.....most of the other incidents however were pretty damn appalling as far as driving standards are concerned. Not a good day for PWC.

[Rcz]

I haven't seen the race yet, but man it sounds like all those yellows from IMSA went to PWC so far.

I'm a little worried for them coming 2016.

Well when they get to a Natural Terrain race course the racing should improve in PWC.

[ttdriver2009]

Is SCCA going to do anything about this?

-The live stream was terrible
-The racing was terrible

This series has the potential to be the next big thing but it'll never happen if they do things like this. I'm almost to the point where I'll just watch the GTS and Touring classes because they put on a great race. I really hope they don't throw in those Porsches to the GTS class because that would ruin that race too.

IMSA did a much better job this weekend. That's something I'd never think I'd admit. Even Indycar did a good job.

[Bob Baldwin]

You would think that at the Monday morning meeting of the PWC that were a bunch of somber and red faces due to the Embarrassment of the event .

[WolfsburgRS]

The stream was fine for me, the race was obviously terrible for everyone.

Curious what changes happen from this.

[Rodger Davies]

Fell asleep in the third caution so missed what actually happened at the end and now can't find a video.

[Mike Hedlund]

Originally Posted by Lagunaseca_4life

Like I said at least ten minutes.

Sorry mike,I hope this isn't to frustrating for you.and I hope we still get to see you at sonoma and laguna.

It's all good, thank you! I'll be at Sonoma and Laguna as long as I still have my car (few people asked about buying it before then).

I mostly feel embarrassed for myself, my team, and for the series because of the terrible show we put on. Everyone knew it was going to be a tough race because of the car count and what happened at St. Pete. We didn't have a single FCY or red flag during the (limited) sessions before the race so we were hoping to get lucky for the race.

And with all my mechanical issues throughout the weekend (broken ball joint in first practice session on friday, but still ran fast in that session with it! replaced rotors/calipers/brake master cylinders before qualifying because of brake bias problems, shifting problems, no radio, or FCY in-car lights). We qualified poorly because of the car issues (went slower than I did in the first practice with a broken ball joint!!!) and was keeping my fingers crossed for enough green flag running to fight back towards the front of the field.

Clearly that didn't happen.. but I was pretty satisfied with being able to attempt a move on Sofronas for P7 on the 2nd to last lap after starting 17th with only a handful of green flag laps (and I didn't wreck anyone, but I was pushed into the walls 4 times, hit in the back 10+ times, jumped on the restarts by people hanging back, and went into the tire wall trying the overtake on James) but ended up finishing 10th. Although I did see my car # on the "under investigation list", so I don't know how that will turn out.

The only close call that could be considered overly aggressive driving was a pass attempt I put on Eric Lux in T9 at the beginning of the race -- I poked down inside but wasn't far enough to get there in time so I was in full ABS trying to back out when he turned down. I bumped him in the corner lightly, but it was enough to push him wide by a car width or so. Considering it was a street race with 40+ cars I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Some of the stuff I saw in front of me after that made me actually yell WTF in the car.

Anyway.. my apologies to any of you who came out to the race to watch (I met 3 or 4 ten-tenth'ers there!) or even spent the time to tune into the live broadcast stream. It really sucked for everyone and wish it would have been better. It'll be interesting how PWC handles this... if it's anything like the St. Pete start debacle, well... it'll be a long season. If it's like how they handled my "tow truck" situation during Sunday mornings warmup I think it'll be ok.

-mike

[Bob Baldwin]

Sounds like an average day on a street course !! LOL

Sorry to hear about all the problems .

Hang in there Better Days are coming !!! Lets Hope !!

[nasportscar]

My thoughts put together in Arm Char Race Director http://nasportscar.com/arm-chair-rac...wc-long-beach/

[ttdriver2009]

For me the stream was bad. Dropped out and when it worked, it was pretty much useless. It reminds me of when the ALMS went this route and where there were certain people that got it and other that did not. I'd pay for a subscription (like I do for V8 Supercar) but it better be a decent connection (V8 Supercar is perfect and it comes from the other side of the planet). So far, Pirelli World Challenge is not selling me on that at the moment.

I wonder if Pirelli needs to just run all of their races on regular road courses. Like the rest of you that go to these events, we want to see real racing, not just cars parading around at 30 mph.

[Maelochs]

The cars are so pretty the series wants to make sure everyone gets a good look. Helps for sponsor exposure too... TV viewers can actually read the sponsors' names.

[Coach Ep]

Turtle Tow & Wrecker Service - the best in greater St. Pete and Long Beach area!

[ttdriver2009]

Looks like the winning guy was cheating and yet upset that he won.

http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/driver...ag-1698976866#

[BullMan]

Originally Posted by ttdriver2009

Looks like the winning guy was cheating and yet upset that he won.

http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/driver...ag-1698976866#

Uh that's Ryan Dalziel. He didn't win.

[Fogelhund]

It is a shame that this weekend went the way it did, but that is often the nature of street circuits, with larger entries. I get the reason for these street festivals, but rarely is there much to be said positive about the actual racing, or the tracks themselves. The PWC is on the verge of becoming the best road racing series in North America, but it is these street races that are holding it back.

IMSA outside of GTE is just so dreadful, and Indycar with the planets ugliest cars are marching towards irrelevance. PWC has it all compared to these two, except for outright speed.

I had really hoped and planned on going to Mosport, alas it conflicts with my daughter's first REP soccer game of the year.

Growing pains of course... let's hope they can manage through this.

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

It is a shame that this weekend went the way it did, but that is often the nature of street circuits, with larger entries. I get the reason for these street festivals, but rarely is there much to be said positive about the actual racing, or the tracks themselves. The PWC is on the verge of becoming the best road racing series in North America, but it is these street races that are holding it back.

IMSA outside of GTE is just so dreadful, and Indycar with the planets ugliest cars are marching towards irrelevance. PWC has it all compared to these two, except for outright speed.

I had really hoped and planned on going to Mosport, alas it conflicts with my daughter's first REP soccer game of the year.

Growing pains of course... let's hope they can manage through this.

Mosport will be the highlight of PWC's season - along with Laguna Seca. The cars will shine brightly there! Too bad Mid-Ohio is another Indycar dictatorial.

[FLGTFAN]

If you're going to schedule this stuff, then you should be prepared for what you get. Only the Beretta move looked desperate. Butch and Duncan incidents were just unfortunate. I'm sure others disagree. I find the after-the-fact incidents review (well after the race is over) to be counter productive. Somebody should make a call while it still matters.

[TRspitfirefan]

Good stuff from Ryan Dalziel on twitter. https://twitter.com/ryan_dalziel

Ryan Dalziel ‏@ryan_dalziel

Race fans, dont write off @WCRacing yet. Indycar had a disastrous NOLA followed by flawless LBGP. Support them and they can turn it around.

[Mechanic Z]

Originally Posted by TRspitfirefan

Good stuff from Ryan Dalziel on twitter. https://twitter.com/ryan_dalziel

Yep, very well said, Mr. Dalziel.

[Mechanic Z]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Mosport will be the highlight of PWC's season - along with Laguna Seca. The cars will shine brightly there! Too bad Mid-Ohio is another Indycar dictatorial.

Hey don't forget America's National Park of Speed - Road America!
(I'm planning on attending PWC at RA, got tickets already. Should be a good one! )

[Coach Ep]

"Three strikes and you're out!" means they better get it right at Barber...