GA Rolex Series in Mexico City, Round 14

[billnchristy]

"The death of the series is upon is"

http://www.grandamerican.com/Events/Event.asp?ID=92
event page

http://www.grandamerican.com/Events/...asp?EventID=92
entry list

Notable on entry list: PCM makes Grand Am debut. Lack of GT cars making the trip across the border.


from a test run Fri-Sat. Looks like a decent crowd already.

Should be an exciting race, even if the numbers are down, and there are many team announcements expected to come.

Race plays 4pm EST live on SPEED, Saturday.

[richmini99]

What a great course to end the season at! Sportscars are back in Mexico City baby!!!! I expect there will be just as much excitment off the track as on with silly season kicking into high gear. It's going to be interesting to see how warm a welcome Luis Diaz Jr. gets from his countrymen come raceday.

[Danske]

Mario Haberfeld is also Tuttle's driver of the week. Maybe next year he'll have the same co-driver for three whole races in a row.

Rob Finlay is also making his racing debut in the Essex Ford Crawford, paired with Valiante. Finlay announced they'll be racing two Ford Crawfords next year. Valiante has been signed for the whole season next year, but no word on how McDowell will fit in with his unknown Champ Car plans. Nothing's been released on what will happen with Finlay's two BMW Rileys next year either. Damn silly season, and we aren't even into Daytona 24 rumors and speculation.

[19dodge]

Paul Metzger-Oke's Preview:

Race Preview

Dissapointing GT grid, but im sure next year's round in Mexico will have much more..

[ckc]

I don't know what I'm looking forward to more, the race or the announcements for next year starting to surface! Both are going to make for a great weekend of racing though!!!

[richmini99]

Valiante has been signed for the whole season next year, but no word on how McDowell will fit in with his unknown Champ Car plans

McDowell had a Q&A on the SpeedTV site, and he said he would be a 3rd driver for Finlay for the enduros.

[ckc]

Good for McDowell on reaching his goals and making it to Champ Car. The guys quick and isn't afraid to go toe to toe with the best. Unfortunate for sports car racing, losing another up and commer to the call of the open-wheeled wars.

[billnchristy]

Practice and qualifying today.

Its the first time many of the drivers have seen the track...could be interesting.

[Danske]

Just one green-flag lap for each on Saturday and Max Angelelli and Wayne Taylor are headed for IROC. Woo!

If Butch Leitzinger wins tomorrow he'll tie James Weaver for most overall victories in the history of the Rolex series too.

We have a green flag on the first practice, and the Pacific Coast car is the first one to trip the timing line. I wonder if it's still clad in carbon-fiber black or if they got it painted at the last second.

[richmini99]

Go Butch Go!!! If Butch does tie Weaver, maybe James will give DPs a try after all?

[richmini99]

Just caught this on the Speed site:

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/roadracing/20559/

I wonder how many races Dixon and the TBA driver will particapate in?

[ckc]

I don't have a link, but I read somewhere that it could be as many as 10 races in 2006!

[Danske]

Heh, Finlay announces they're ditching their BMW Rileys for next year and then McDowell nabs pole with one.

[billnchristy]

And an EX PTG Bimmer on Pole in GT

[richmini99]

I hope this is a sign of things to come from Segal Sport. I's sure hate to see the GTO.Rs run the table next year, though I'm sure the yeams with the new 997 Cup cars might have sonething to say about that too. I also noticed that a Mustang at the SEMA show is suposed to be headed to Rolex GT next year as well.

[billnchristy]

link?

[belt driven]

Is everybody depressed that road racing season is over? If anyone watched the La Gran Final de la Serie Rolex Sports Car race, why no commentary?

In the GT class the fierce battle for 3rd place between the #80 Synergy Racing Porsche and the #65 TRG Racing GTO was for the GT class driver's championship. In one of the quirks of US endurance racing, Craig Stanton (-1 in points) was listed for both the #80 & #81 cars. He drove the #80 car earlier in the race for whatever minimum number of laps required to get points; but was in the #81 car (7th/3 laps down) at the finish. If either Porsche finished ahead of the #65 car, Stanton got the Championship. If not, Marc Bunting and Andy Lally shared the crown. TRG had a lock on the GT Team trophy; Porsche had the Manufacturer's Championship (3 wins/10 podiums) covered. #80 driver David Murry had no chance of advancing his driver points place, but held off everything Andy Lally in the #65 GTO could throw at him for the last 15 laps. On the last lap, Lally took a small shortcut over the curb and tapped the Porsche wide (A GTO shouldn't need to hit a Porsche as hard as vice versa). A couple of turns later, Murry launched the Porsche over a curb (at least 1 foot AGL) and into the GTO's door. Both spun. Murry got away first to claim 3rd, and Stanton's driver championship. Does Murry sound like the kind of guy you would want as a teammate.

GARRA fined Murray and Lally $3500 USD each for "aggressive driving." Boo-hoo.

DP was not as interesting. Wayne Taylor and Max Angelelli needed only to drive 1 green lap each to clinch the driver's championship. Though the team (1 car/14 races/5 wins/worst a pair of 6ths) championship winning #10 Suntrust Pontiac/Riley set fastest lap, they never attempted to lead a lap.

The #01 Ganassi/Sabates CompUSA/Telmex Lexus Riley of Scott Pruett and Luiz Diaz was the class of the field, leading the most laps. Poor fuel mileage/pit strategy required a late splash & go stop which dropped them to 3rd, handing the lead and win to the polesitting #19 Finlay Motorsports Air Force Reserve BMW/Riley of Michael McDowell and Memo Gidley.

7400'/2255m altitude had everybody gasping for HP and flailing for downforce, so there was not a lot of passing. 18 of 20 DP's finished at least 86/90 laps & set fastest race laps inside 3.3 seconds.

(Can I write a race report or what? j/k)

Finlay gave BMW their first DP win, but the team is changing to Ford/Doran next year. BMW needs to get in DP with some factory engine support!

Synergy Racing, with not much apparent support (dull gray/exposed carbon fiber) from sponsor Rx.Com or BMW, started their #8 DP class Doran/BMW in all 14 Rolex races in 2005. Finishing between 7th & last; they placed 13th team and 17th in driver points. Sounds like a full-season test session to me. They like the Doran chassis. Porsche likes them (wonder why?) enough to give them factory engine support for next year.

Some would have expected Brumos Racing, the Porsche flag bearer stateside for decades, to get this kind of help. Possibly their lack of commitment/funds to upgrade from their old Fabcar chassis made them a bad bet. GrandAm needs to tighten the intake restrictors on the big block Pontiacs. Considering how badly Porsche abused the rest of the ALMS LMP2 field at Laguna Seca (admittedly with a more advanced car) I'm not so sure about letting them run a 3.9L in DP just yet. Porsche powered DPs get a new approved "upside down" transaxle for improved C/G and even better handling in 2006.

Next year the Rolex Series races the streets of Long Beach CA and the brand-new Miller Motorsports Park at Salt Lake City UT. They ditch the oval + infield at Fontana CA (boring) and Mont-Tremblant CN (a shame..., the wet race there this year was awesome!).

[ckc]

I think a lot of our fingers are getting tired from talking about it so much over on the GA board. The GT race has really created a big debate, but at least it has stayed civil so far.
As for the race itself, it was good to see another team get a win this year, BMW too. I was hoping to hear some more announcements for 2006, but the ones revealed during the broadcast should tide us over for at least a couple of week. At least those Finlay cars should be fairly easy to 'unload' to a new team.

[Danske]

I talked myself out online during the race. There were some storylines that almost but didn't happen. Butch Leitzinger was quick at the end, but was far enough back that he wasn't going to challenge for the podium. Angelelli was also quick and Gidley was horrendously held up by some traffic in the closing laps, so there was a bit of concern that Max might have caught Memo but he didn't.

In the end Finlay just had near the perfect race; they qualified on pole, had two quick drivers and a quick car, and made the distance with one pit stop. They spent the whole day in either first or second, with McDowell possibly just holding station behind Pruett and not attempting a risky pass early in the race.

Finlay's also switching to Ford Crawfords next year, not Dorans. Both Crawford and Roush/Yates are just down the road from the Finlay shops. The Essex Ford Crawford with Rob Finlay and Michael Valiante driving was beset by mechanical gremlins during the race, but put in a best lap faster than everyone else but the Finlay BMW Riley and the SunTrust Pontiac Riley. Despite finishing 12th that performance at least doesn't bode ill for the future of the Finlay Ford Crawfords.

PTG has also been supplying the BMW engines for the Cegwa Riley, so BMW has been somewhat providing factory support in DP. I've heard that there may have been either some honest misunderstanding or malicious lying, depending on who's talking, over how much support from Porsche Synergy is getting next year. As I understand it, PMNA will be offering DP-specific engines and Synergy will be one of their customers. So in one sense Synergy is getting engines from the "factory", but will not be a preferred customer and not really "factory supported". I'm currently working with the assumption that exactly what getting engines from PMNA meant got muddied along its journey to the press release; never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence. [Unless it's on the Net; that's full of deliberate knobbery. ]

The Brumos Porsche FABCARs have been running the 3.8L engine this year. Although allowed to stretch it out to 3.99L by the rules, the improved power from doing so didn't offset other introduced problems.

I think Lally's pass on Murry was a bit more of a shove than a tap, and he did kick up some dirt as well. Staton also needed only one green flag lap in the #80 to collect the points from its finish, as I understand it.

Picchio also recently issued another press release about their testing. They even mentioned CFD.

[richmini99]

I thought the race was pretty good. The battle for the GT championship was great, PCM had an impressive debut, the dice between Giddly and Diaz Jr. was entertaining, and Finlay's first win was well-deserved.
So begins Silly Season!!!!!

[belt driven]

Great info.

I misspoke about Finlay's chassis choice.

My commentary about Synergy was speculation; and intended to provoke same (how else do you make it through the winter drought?).

How much is factory engine support worth? How closely monitored are the approved "spec" engine packages/rev limits/restrictors? (I remember the disqualified 3.9L GT Porsche.) What would it take to get the oldest chassis/smallest engine up front?

-----

I have not been in jail the past 2 years. A previous dino-'puter refused to sign on, despite many admin email exchanges. Much profanity, with gnashing of hair and pulling of teeth, accompanied my abandonment of this place. I just wandered back in.

18 of 20 DP cars finishing at least 86 of 90 laps & setting fastest race laps within 3.3 seconds in Mexico City is competition.

[Danske]

Originally Posted by belt driven

My commentary about Synergy was speculation; and intended to provoke same (how else do you make it through the winter drought?).

Uh, just pay attention to the silly season news and rumors? Anyway, Cole Scrogham of Synergy recently said they're, "hoping to have both the Frisselle's and the Doran back for 2006. Ultimately working toward a 2-car Synergy Racing DP effort [...]". That leaves the door open for the possibility that the Friselles will be somewhere else next year. There had been some speculation over whether Synergy was going to stick with the Doran chassis, but that quote seems to put that to rest.

I think Tuttle will also be announcing at the Homestead test which of Ave, Cochet, Leinders, Sellers, and Haberfeld will be driving for them next year.

How much is factory engine support worth?

If all you get out of it is free engines and rebuilds that's still an edge over people who have to pay for it all and possibly put off rebuilds for a while, even if you don't get more power with the factory deal.

How closely monitored are the approved "spec" engine packages/rev limits/restrictors? (I remember the disqualified 3.9L GT Porsche.) What would it take to get the oldest chassis/smallest engine up front?

Various dimension, weights and materials are restricted in the engines, along with rev limits and air restrictors. Although I assume the Porsche is still subject to the general restrictions on the number and location of ports, camshafts, plugs and so forth (they must be stock), it also gets unlimited revs, compression and air inlet (needs it, too). On one broadcast the commentators said Brumos admits to over 9000rpm, but not a more exact number.

Dave Klym also revealed in an interview that he's contracted with Dan Gurney for some scale windtunnel testing on the FABCAR.

I'm not expecting Brumos to rocket to the front, but there's hope they'll squeeze out a little more speed for next year.

[belt driven]

NASCAR can change a rule in Nextel Cup racing in 20 minutes.

Why can't GARRA put a slight intake restriction on the Ponchos? Unlimited rpm with factory support for the Porches will never make up for 2 Liters.

[cybersdorf]

Why not can the Porsche flat 6 altogether? That thing is holding up the whole class. Porsche builds a perfactly capable V8 these days.

[Danske]

The Chevy/Pontiac did start at 5.5L in 2003, lost some rpm for 2004, then was reduced to 5L and gained rpm and compression for 2005. The engines are dynoed once or twice a year, and ostensibly the restrictions are based on those tests and not race results. It is possible the Pontiacs will be more restricted next year (they do currently have to run an OEM throttle body and intake).

The Porsches do also get one more gear than the 5L engines and 75lbs less. In this press release: http://www.theracesite.com/index.cfm..._article=10703 a peak horsepower of 510 is admitted to, which is close with the admitted power of the other engines. I am using "admitted" as a significant qualifier, and also acknowledge that peak horsepower isn't the whole story.

Dave Klym appears to be having a bit of fun dubbing the 2006 FABCAR the Evolution version. That's also the first official press release that confirms Alex Job for the Daytona 24 with a Porsche Crawford. The start of December with the tests at Homestead will be a bit interesting in the Porsche sector: new FABCARs and the first appearance of Porsche engines in the Doran and Crawford chassis.