The nothing to do with the Daytona 24 hr race thread. Cool wind tunnel pic...

[PorscheFanNo1]

Thought we need more DP talk in here! Long live the DPs! Yay!


Or maybe not...


Heres the new Dallara DP doing some wind tunnel testing...

Clicky, high res.

Did anyone say the new cars for 2008 would look better then the previous ones? Whoever said that needs to get his brain checked...

[AU N EGL]

if the green house was about 1/2 that size it would be OK

[notguilty]

it still looks like the doran. I know there using there license or whatever but I thought Dallara would come with a clean sheet of paper design. oh well

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by notguilty

it still looks like the doran. I know there using there license or whatever but I thought Dallara would come with a clean sheet of paper design. oh well

No allowed?

[Zytek_Fan]

Originally Posted by AU N EGL

if the green house was about 1/2 that size it would be OK

Maybe like the 908?

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Zytek_Fan

Maybe like the 908?

IMO height of the 908 but width of a current DP.

[Danske]

Still looks like the Doran?


Okay, they haven't done much, if anything, with the rear fenders on back or the tops of the sidepods, but the lower sidepod extensions are new, the greenhouse is more of a teardrop and with a steeper windshield, the nose is different, and in the larger image you can make out what may be a center schnoz ala LMP poking out just a bit at the front.

[Subaru_WRX_STi]

even with very close racing, the main problem wit GA, is the ugly DP's design, and they race alone many times without GTs !! sportscar racing has always been a good mixture between protos and gran touring

[The359]

Originally Posted by Subaru_WRX_STi

even with very close racing, the main problem wit GA, is the ugly DP's design, and they race alone many times without GTs !! sportscar racing has always been a good mixture between protos and gran touring

Like the FIA Sportscar Championship and FIA GT Championship?

[Subaru_WRX_STi]

how horrible it was the FIA Sports Car Championship, we are lucky to have the Le Mans Series now ! as for the FIA GT, I am a huge fan of it, and GT cars must have their own series for overall victories lol, Spa is great for that !

[KA]

Originally Posted by The359

Like the FIA Sportscar Championship and FIA GT Championship?

or Group C....not a GT in sight after the Group B class fizzled out around '85 or so...

[TWK]

Grand Am's Daytona Prototypes are what they are; rules won't allow much departure from those greenhouse dimensions.

There are a lot of myths around the differences between Grand Am and ALMS prototypes, that don't hold water, at least according to this article:

http://lastturnclub.com/index.php?op...d=244&Itemid=1

[Nine17]

Nice link, TWK. The piece makes very valid points, although the Laguna caution comparison is less apt if one considers that the ALMS race was a 4-hour affair.

I'm posting this from Rennsport Reunion III in Daytona, far from my home-base. The Porsche crowd sent a message about beauty at the race-car concours on Saturday, where the Penske and Dyson RS Spyders were given the place of honor opposite start-finish, while the Job and Brumos DP's were banished down with the other unauthorized "specials" like the Bobsy and the Dolfin. Of course, surrounded by that lo-oong concrete wall the reason d'etre for the DP greenhouse is quite clear. There's lots of room for a driver to rattle around in a DP in an accident. When the DP concept was announced, many of us saw this as a good thing, but the execution was poor. Depending on the shape of the apertures maybe the execution will be better in version 2.0.

[Subaru_WRX_STi]

what about a joint event between ALMS and GA ?
I know its a dream that will never come true

[johntt]

Originally Posted by Subaru_WRX_STi

what about a joint event between ALMS and GA ?
I know its a dream that will never come true

My idea is that they should scrap Grand Am (nothing against it, it just seems unecessary in an IRL/Champ Car kind of way) and shift its teams into ALMS.

Ganassi could run a customer R10 or two, Brumos would be able to run some RS Spyders in Red Bull colours and Dyson might be able to run an extra RS Spyder. Krohn would be able to run their own Ferrari 430s rather than renting from Risi etc etc.

When it comes to the races themselves, the Daytona 24 would become part of the sportcar racing fold again, could have ALMS race at Virginia (which looks like a great track). Could have some ALMS races at Infineon, Barber, Watkins Glen, Montreal and Mexico City, though as races in their own right, not Nascar support races.

[Mosport Fan]

Just remember, Montreal is only permitted to host 2 race weekends per year; but it would certainly be a nice addition to the schedule......

Personally the ALMS at Mont Tremblant would be even better, then 2 weeks earlier/later at Mosport....

[racerkeke]

I bet Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will never hold another top-level sportscar race after what happened in 1990.

Interestingly, very few history sites identify the exact reason that race was stopped although those of us who were there remember it clearly -- I even still have the t-shirt. The cars' downforce, over time, sucked a manhole cover up. It went through the windshield of Jesus Pareja's Porsche 962 and ruptured the fuel tank. The car caught fire and then crashed. Pareja was (amazingly) unhurt.

Yes, I know it was a long time ago. But I suspect something so spectacular might cause the promoters to think twice even now. Lifting manhole covers has been a common issue at that track for as long as I can remember.

keke

[johntt]

If you count Grand-Am as high profile then there was another top level sportscar race, there was a third page article in Autosport earlier this year mentioning it and Pareja's crash nd how it was the first sportscar race since.

With montreal holding only two weekends a year it would seem that a Nascar support would be the best option, though the idea of mont tremblent seems even better.

[chocmonster7]

The GA lot are starting a couple of days tire testing at Daytona today. There won't be official times released but garra-fans.com have reporters on site to get the latest gossip.

News just in - Jimmie Johnson is testing the #99 Gainsco car today & Bill Auberlan is in the Alex Job Racing vehicle.

[minimangler]

Just looking at that dalllara, and it looks better than any other DP so far, much more like a racecar. But DP's do all look waaaay too similar, and you can't argue against that!

[AU N EGL]

Originally Posted by chocmonster7

The GA lot are starting a couple of days tire testing at Daytona today. There won't be official times released but garra-fans.com have reporters on site to get the latest gossip.

The new Pirrelli tires are much faster 2-3 sec/ lap then the spec Hoosiers of last year.

[Hugewally]

Originally Posted by minimangler

But DP's do all look waaaay too similar, and you can't argue against that!

Not that there's much difference between all the ACO style LMPs...

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by minimangler

Just looking at that dalllara, and it looks better than any other DP so far, much more like a racecar. But DP's do all look waaaay too similar, and you can't argue against that!

Well, I can. The problem is that 80% of the current DPs are Rileys, so they naturally look the same, but there are big differences between the Rileys, Crawfords, Fabcars and Dorans in the design of the front, fenders, roof and placement of rearwing.
TBH: I have more problems telling the various LMPs apart.

[minimangler]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Well, I can. The problem is that 80% of the current DPs are Rileys, so they naturally look the same, but there are big differences between the Rileys, Crawfords, Fabcars and Dorans in the design of the front, fenders, roof and placement of rearwing.
TBH: I have more problems telling the various LMPs apart.

Only because DPs have stick on lights

[jhansen]

Let's stick to the topic at hand and not drone on about aesthetics.