IMSA Race 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona

[Deleted]

Blahberton made a funny remark about those 53 cars the other day. He said that "there was a time not long ago we would have turned cartwheels for a 53-car entry.” Even though there were 4 more cars than that at Daytona 2013. And many more at Sebring year before...

Also those 53 of his aren't gonna stay like that when they move out of Florida are they, then you're really gonna see the typical 201X-2013 Grand-Am/ALMS 2h45min grid size. But with 50 % less cars from both old camps...

Btw with nine (even if ten) DPs is gonna be the lowest DP count since the debut year 2003 (6). So I guess there is something positive

[Lanky Turtle]

Originally Posted by Chiana

Blahberton made a funny remark about those 53 cars the other day. He said that "there was a time not long ago we would have turned cartwheels for a 53-car entry.” Even though there were 4 more cars than that at Daytona 2013. And many more at Sebring year before...

Also those 53 of his aren't gonna stay like that when they move out of Florida are they, then you're really gonna see the typical Grand-Am/ALMS 2h45min grid size. But with 50 % less cars from both old camps...

Btw with nine (even if ten) DPs is gonna be the lowest DP count since the debut year 2003 (6). So I guess there is something positive

But he comes from the ALMS side, where Sebring only had around 35 entries for most of the 2000's and even dipped below 30 starters one year before they added the PC and GTC classes.

[Deleted]

I would imagine he'd speak as NASCAR spokersperson and refer to both series

[joeb]

Entry list is out

http://t.co/dYpJQP7QrZ

No surprises

[BullMan]

VitaPhone really got my hopes up. When they didn't show up to the pre-season test I knew the writing was on the wall though.

Only 8 cars in LMPC. I don't think we will see more than that all season. Of course, GTE is going down too when AF Corse and Aston go away after Sebring. No clue on who will stick around in GTD.

[Speed-King]

No clue on who will stick around in GTD.

My best guess:
Turner
TRG
Riley
Park Place
Scuderia Corsa
Wright
Miller
Magnus
2x AJR

maybe 1 car for Mühlner.

[Deleted]

"Dying off" 2013 Sebring with "teams that like to travel" and "obsolete entries" might end up having more cars than the "unified" 2015 Sebring.

[joeb]

I was just looking at the schedule and noticed on track activities begin on Thursday with 2 practice sessions followed by qualifying on the same day. I wonder if the teams like it like this or if they would rather qualify Friday?

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Chiana

"Dying off" 2013 Sebring with "teams that like to travel" and "obsolete entries" might end up having more cars than the "unified" 2015 Sebring.

2013 Sebring also featured two different series racing at the same time and 9 podium presentations...

You'd have to count entries based on both individual series, not as a whole.

[chernaudi]

That was 2012 when the WEC and ALMS held their races at the same time.

2013 had a 42 car field comprised of full-time ALMS teams, with European-based teams from the WEC and LMS dotted in though the classes, namely in LMP1 especially and LMP2.

Most notable were Audi and Rebellion in LMP1 and Greaves/Dyson in LMP2.

Of course, the irony is that one could see Audi as being the most notable example of being a "field filler" (since they weren't a full-time ALMS team and used the 12 hours as part of a test session--they did an additional 30 hour test the week following the race--), but in terms of performance, they made the other LMP1 teams look like "field fillers" by comparison.

Of course, that's the difference between a factory-backed team with bespoke cars and a massive amount of corporate funding and the LMP1 privateer teams, as good as they were with the resources they had.

Unless the whole Prototype field has major issues and it becomes survival of the fittest and fastest, at least Daytona and Sebring this year should be a more pitched battle in general. Just imagine if Audi had stayed for the full ALMS season...at least the WEC was up and running in 2013...

[Gulf]

Originally Posted by Chiana

"Dying off" 2013 Sebring with "teams that like to travel" and "obsolete entries" might end up having more cars than the "unified" 2015 Sebring.

I sure hope it ends up that way.

[Maelochs]

Not sure how to read that, but ...

Foolish though it may be, I am starting this season with an air of optimism. I don't see any way things could be worse than last season, (well, there are plenty of ways, but I am trying to stay within the bounds of reason.) In fact, withthe speed shown by the new generation of P2s, it seems possible that balance the two P classes will be easier.

The new rules to separate the classes should help with traffic problems and hopefully lead to safer passing as well. I certainly hope the grid this year is as big as possible ... who hope for less?

The way I see it, it is unlikely that another could step up and take over North American sports car racing before 2017 ... and until Fall 2016 we won't know if the cooperation between FIA and IMSA is real or imagined, positive or negative.

Sure, a lot of bad decisions could continue to be made ... or, we might finally see that worldwide sportscar standard where there is room for full-on factory entries, privateers, prototypes, and GTs ... where teams can race anywhere around the world with the same machinery, where the rules are unified, where lap-down wave-bys get sh17-canned as they should ...

There is no reason sports car racing can't be a viable competition and entertainment business, like pro football or hockey. bad management has been the only reason it has struggled for so many years. As a fan, I would like to think that even stupid people can learn, and maybe this sport is on one of its periodic upswings ... that maybe my last few decades as a fan will be spent enjoying what is truly a "Golden Age" for the sport.

No group of investors is likely to replace TUSC in the next couple seasons, so until 2017, the best hope for North American fans is TUSC screws up less and less.

After Petit 2016, we should know if there is any further reason to hope ... Until then, I will try to be a TUSC fan.

[Coach Ep]

Don't get your hopes up - there'll still be an awful lot of long *peeping* Full Course Yellows.

[Maelochs]

FCYs are inevitable. The clumsy wave-by procedure and divided pit stops (which might or might not increase safety) are potential targets for improvement--particularly given GPS technology, re-ordering cars (legitimate wave-bys to not interrupt class battles) ought not to take long at all.

Free laps ... no more need be said, except that if they went away, that would be one less lap under caution.

So long as every yellow flag is waved for legitimate safety reasons, I cannot complain too much.

I would certainly prefer more local yellows as opposed to FCYs. FCYs Might be due to insurance costs, race philosophy, or the desire to give as many Lap-down wave-bys as possible--I cannot say for sure. I still saw plenty of situations last season where proper use of a local yellow could have saved a race-changing FCY.

Something I have noticed on all boards everywhere, is fans seem to think every FCY is too long. It is not limited to one series or one type of racing. This makes me think simple impatience is at play.

Anyway ... I am trying (as an experiment) to go all-out with this optimism stuff. I am not going to stress over FCYs (unless they are obviously false or stupid.) I am not going to stress over pit procedures, I am not going to worry about bad steward decisions until I actually see them, and then I will try to be charitable, or at least equitable in assigning blame.

There is no reason I cannot enjoy TUSC 2015, even if I simultaneously realize it is far less than it could be.

[Dodge_Swinger]

Originally Posted by Maelochs

Thing is, all the "Green Challenge" really is, is something to make the podium ceremony longer.

Efficiency standards? Sure. WEC and F1 both have very real efficiency standards—use too much fuel, get penalized or simply run out.

Maybe if the Green Challenge had a season-long Green Index—cars had to be within a certain average range of "Green Challenge" performance or got penalized some seconds, or had to achieve some Green Index standard or were docked fuel or tires ... Actually make some reward and some consequences or the Green Challenge is just something announcers mention as the post-race show is going off-air.

My two complaints with the Green Challenge: One, it is opaque, impenetrable, impossible to understand. Sure, it is a combination of tire wear, fuel economy, carbon emissions, maybe insects sucked into the intake ... but what? The formula is so abstruse that it has never even been published, which means armchair engineers cannot even guess at what each car might be doing well or wrong, green-wise.

Second, it has no real rewards or consequences. Teams simply ignore it and whoever gets the trophy at the end, whatever. It is a joke and an afterthought.

At no point would you hear a team's engineer radio, "Ease up exiting corners, you're applying the power to early and tearing up the tires and hurting our Green Challenge number," because (Curse your stupid pit rules, TUSC!!!) tire wear no longer matters and because no one cares if eating up the tires takes them out of the running for the Green Challenge.

Until teams start considering their Green Challenge index when making race strategy, the Green Challenge has no more weight than having one of the grid girls give an award to what she thinks is the prettiest car. In fact, that would be better, because we would see a pretty girl on screen for longer.

Why not finish each race broadcast with a Falken Tire Girls vs. Continental Tire Girls vs. Patron Girls bikini contest instead? It would have just as much to do with the race, and would be a lot more interesting to most fans.

Perhaps an "all-out pillow fight to the finish"?

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by Maelochs

FCYs are inevitable. The clumsy wave-by procedure and divided pit stops (which might or might not increase safety) are potential targets for improvement--particularly given GPS technology, re-ordering cars (legitimate wave-bys to not interrupt class battles) ought not to take long at all.

Free laps ... no more need be said, except that if they went away, that would be one less lap under caution.

So long as every yellow flag is waved for legitimate safety reasons, I cannot complain too much.

I would certainly prefer more local yellows as opposed to FCYs. FCYs Might be due to insurance costs, race philosophy, or the desire to give as many Lap-down wave-bys as possible--I cannot say for sure. I still saw plenty of situations last season where proper use of a local yellow could have saved a race-changing FCY.

Something I have noticed on all boards everywhere, is fans seem to think every FCY is too long. It is not limited to one series or one type of racing. This makes me think simple impatience is at play.

Anyway ... I am trying (as an experiment) to go all-out with this optimism stuff. I am not going to stress over FCYs (unless they are obviously false or stupid.) I am not going to stress over pit procedures, I am not going to worry about bad steward decisions until I actually see them, and then I will try to be charitable, or at least equitable in assigning blame.

There is no reason I cannot enjoy TUSC 2015, even if I simultaneously realize it is far less than it could be.

I believe we all do but that ain't gonna happen, such is the reality of life. One can only hope there'll be plenty of green time racing but I can honestly not see where there might be coming from...

[joeb]

The Fantasy Racing Thread is now open and accepting entries for Daytona:

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthrea...50#post3492950

[DeezPutz]

Originally Posted by Gulf

I sure hope it ends up that way.

Based on your cover photo we all know you're a Daytona fan first and foremost.

[TF110]

I hope the p2's are trouble free. If they can run up front for the race even if they dont win, it could give hope to more teams to stay on for the series instead of just saying forget it.

[Gulf]

Originally Posted by DeezPutz

Based on your cover photo we all know you're a Daytona fan first and foremost.

Wtf are you talking about I don't even have a picture?

[nasportscar]

If anyone is interested in doing a pick 'em, we run one. Daytona 24 is now open. Winner gets a signed hero card from Ricky and Jordan Taylor http://nasportscar.com/2014-tusc-pick-em/

[Gulf]

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/ro...r-all-classes/

Bop is out. Imsa is losing it how can they seriously have different Bop for each Oak car? If it's the engine slowing then car down the why not a bigger restricter?

[blankfile]

maybe the judd has no more to give before it stops being reliable?

[Ephaeton]

wondering what Maelochs will say now

[Maelochs]

Still Optimistic.

Judd at 3.6 liters is up against 5-liter Dinan BMW V8 and 5.5-liter Corvette V8. I can see where it might struggle. Odd engine choice; I am sure there were business reasons of which I know nothing.

Otherwise, just waiting to start packing.