ALMS at Miami this Weekend

[Tim Northcutt]

The next chapter in the ALMS Season is this weekend in Miami...a joint venture with CART...

Since it is a short & tight street circuit with fairly short straights, will the Dyson MG-Lolas be fighting it out with the Audis like they did at Sears Point?

Or will it be more like the Trois-Rivieres race with Audi walking away from everyone?


The circuit is different than last year's due to some construction on city streets...only 1.3 miles long....

How will the Panoz cars figure into the mix????

Or will they at all???

What about the Corvette-Ferrari battle????


I'd be inteested in your thoughts....

[billnchristy]

This is a tough one, the Panoz won at DC last year which was also a very tight street circuit, as for the MGs i guess it comes down to reliability...as usual...

I think I would look at results closer to DC than 3 Rivers

[slicktsax]

well the track should suit the corvette more than the ferrari as the corvette has more low end grunt coming off the line and corners, but the ferrari still managed to keep out in front till the yellows at 3 rivers, also the ferraris weren't running traction control where the corvettes were, now the ferraris have traction control so it should be an even better race. and as i recall last yeat the track surface was very slippery

[gttouring]

well good stuff the races!
the best union of events ALMS,CART, T/A- awesome
isn't there music too? who cares!
if panoz LMP's quali well- they should take it. i think MG lolas will be troble, AUDI will be in the way
the vettes should be up front, and as only the 550's can challenge....

[Tim Northcutt]

A Note or Two:

A Panoz finished 4th last year, but on the same lap as the two Joest Audis and the Cadillac (the latter was 2nd!).....

Panoz wins were at Sears Point & DC last year...both places where straight-line speed are not at a pemium, but getting out of corners with torque was...also like Miami....

The MGs were very new to Dyson last fall....they have been competitive with the Audis this year when they have held together or have not been "Helped" off the course by another competitor....

Personally, I like the Leitzinger\Wallace Dyson car to be a real challenger to the Audis, with Panoz definitely in the mix....

For GTS, I like the Corvettes.....this particular circuit seems better suited to their package and ability to get out of corners than it is to Ferrari's strengths......

Ought to be a fairly competitive race....the key will be to catch traffic at the right times on the course and to avoid trouble and contact when you do encounter slower cars......

last year I also remember the track as being rather slippery and narrow....traffic and mechanical grip played a huge role in the results because it is not a fast circuit, so aero downforce is not nearly as big a factor....

traffic also kept competitors closer than they had been in other races by slowing leaders who caught backmarkers or GT cars in bad parts of the circuit, and four cars finished on the lead lap....the top Audi won by only about 12 seconds or so over the Cadillac, if I remember correctly....

[gttouring]

i always have trouble predicting races (not because of lack of psychic powers mind you) because street courses are so made up and have no real histories (save for monaco and long beach and macau which have gone largely unchanged) Miami is so new period i have no memory to compare to,
a course can even be designed to favor one car over another in a series (hmm...) but i think my blowerCaddy would win this one

[Tim Northcutt]

You were reading my mind, gttouring!!!!! This place would be Ideal for it.....

This course IS somewhat different than last year's, due to some constrction going on down there, but some parts have remained the same.....I believe that the changes this year made the circuit a few tenths of a mile smaller this year...and one section has added a sharp hairpin on Biscayne Blvd. where they will make the loop around the existing median on the road (if I read that correctly...

There also are those three courners that take in what looks like half of a circle where people tried to pass last year only to find that there wasn't enough rooom and wrecked...

[Tim Northcutt]

One Other Note:

It has been raining most of the day in Miami today, and the forcast for the weekend is scattered heavy thunderstorms....Nothing like swapping paint on a tight, slick and wet street circuit....

[gttouring]

any thought on the success of the triumverate meeting at miami?
is the multi series circuit weedkend best for all?

[Fab]

I'd like to follow the race from the other side (of Atlantic ocean), and I need :
- timing schedules (it seems to start at 4pm EAT on saturday, but how long is the race ?)
- live timing and scoring URL (I think it's the IMSA one)
- live radio (same)

Is that right ?

[SALEEN S7R]

Yes Fab I belive it is. I too follow the ALMS races via www.americanlemans.com

[Tim Northcutt]

1st Practice Results:

1. Champion Audi -- 50.731
2. Joest Audi -- 50.748
3. Panoz (Beretta) -- 52.412
4. Dyson (Leitzinger) -- 53.012
5. Panoz (Jeanette) -- 53.110

GTS
1. Corvette (Gavin) -- 53.3 (6th overall)
2. Ferrari (Kox) -- 53.8 (7th overall)

[Tim Northcutt]

To Fab:

The race is at 4 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time...should be a 6 hour difference from France...

Today, qualifying takes place for GT and GTS from 2 p.m. - 2:20 p.m. and the LMP900 and LMP675s will qualify from 2:20 p.m.-2:40 p.m. EDT

There is Live Timing and Scoring on the site listed above, and there is a radio link....

Enjoy....

[Fab]

Thanks Tim and Saleen just one thing : how long is the race ? (sorry for using EAT instead of EDT : I thought that East American Time was the accurate designation)...

Seeing the lap times, the track is quite short... isn't it ?

[Tim Northcutt]

Timed event: 2 hrs. 45 min...

[Tim Northcutt]

VERY short...This year the circuit is 1.3 miles...last year it was a little over 1.5 miles...

Road construction in downtown Miami caused changes in the circuit...

If you go the the e-traks site, they have a map of last year's circuit and this year's that you can compare...

Click on North America...then on United States...the circuit is called "Bayfront" on their index...

A short, tight circuit with short straightaways...

[paul-collins]

Yes, the track is 1.21 miles.

Here's a pdf of the track:

http://www.imsaracing.net/2003/event...i/trackMap.pdf

[Fab]

It will be 10 pm to 1 am sunday morning... *yawn*

[Tim Northcutt]

Let's hope that the "scattered" part of the Heavy Thunderstorms forecast means just that....

I lived on the west coast of Florida for seven years....When they say "Heavy Thunderstorms" in Florida, they mean VERY Heavy Rain...could turn the track into a river and wash out the event entirely....

[Tim Northcutt]

Go to the ALMS site for a report on this morning's practice....

Both Panoz cars suffered damage during the session...Jeanette hit a wal in Turn 4....Beretta had some minor wing damage in another incident...the jeanette crash was caused by wet conductions...they should be back out this aftenoon...if they have the parts to fix both cars....

In the story, it also said that the track this year is 1.15 miles...

It shrinks with every account that I look up or read....Let's hope they don't put it in the clothes dryer to get rid of the rain...otherwise, by tomorrow, they may be racing on a Half-Mile Short Oval...Nazz-Caw-Wuhr Style!!!

[Tim Northcutt]

Sorry to send all of this piecemeal...

there is another practice session at 12:40 p.m. EDT before they qualify at 2 p.m.

[Liz]

Originally posted by Tim Northcutt
One Other Note:

It has been raining most of the day in Miami today, and the forcast for the weekend is scattered heavy thunderstorms....Nothing like swapping paint on a tight, slick and wet street circuit....

Ideal weather for the Panoz -- they always go well in the rain. Too bad Mags isn't driving for them this weekend. I love to watch him drive that thing in the rain.

Had an e-mail from a friend who is at the track and said it's like being in a very wet oven. I foresee the television production teams slowly going mad all weekend.

[gttouring]

how is the audi 4 seconds faster than anybody else?
Oi- can noone stop this thing- and i guess it doesn't help that Gunnar keeps wrecking the panoz- silly rich kid race cars are for gentlemen (anyone who has seen a Trix cereal commercial will understand)
he wreck a panoz at laguna didn't he-in practice too, and the 3-rivers crack on the wall..

[RacingManiac]

He did put on that 23rd hour duel with an ex-F1 pilot at Le Mans...and won out in that one....

Note how close the lap times are, AJR are running high 54s, Corvette in 53s, and Dyson MG is also in 53s....if the GTS car runs a perfect race and some of the LMP run into problem we might be seeing GTS on overall podium...

[kdr]

apparently its being shown vaguely "live" on eurosport 22.45 saturday night. thats if the person who makes eurosport scheduling decisions at the weekend(ie - the security guard)decides to go ahead and show it.