24 hours, 16 valves, 1837 miles, and one Mk3 GTI - The Britcar 24 2011

Photo copyright / courtesy of John Brooks

As human beings we all share at least one similarity: We dream. As car automotive enthusiasts, and more specifically motorsport anoraks, we've all likely shared the same little day dream: Take a modest budget, a group of friends, a cheap car and go giant-killing at a proper endurance race with something akin to David's sling-shot in a battle of the Goliaths - if you allow me to use that well-worn cliche.

Video Post: TRG at Petit

The Racer's Group: 2011 Finale from TRG on Vimeo.


Very well shot little video short from the guys at The Racer's Group and their run at Petit Le Mans this year. I can dig it. I think more of these teams need to get into this sort of thing...

On another note, I'm currently packing to head to VIR tomorrow, so expect lots of pics and a full report on the Gold Cup Vintage festival in the very near future. It'll be my first time at the famed southern Virginia track, and I can't wait to experience it.

_WRS

Video Post: In-car with the Hotchkis / Wynn's Porsche 962 at Rennsport IV

This video has made the rounds on a bunch of the usual sites, so you may have very well already seen it, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth sharing again. It's worth noting that this old war-horse of a 962 can pretty well take it to the much younger and more technologically advanced RS Spyders...and that's with 1982 technology more or less. The 962 of course has a standard syncromesh gearbox (Mark Hotchkis here is using a clutch!), while the RS Spyders are fully computer-laden and cutting edge with fully sequential gearboxes, traction control and every other driver aid which is legal. And yet, the 962 is as fast. And sounds better. And looks better. And is more exciting to boot.

Bring back the 962? Re-legalize ground effects? Yes please.

_WRS

Rennsport Reunion: (Porsche video) This is how we take a picture

We'll have a full report from intrepid reporter Robert Overholser, but in the meantime, feast your eyes (and ears) on this...

_WRS

From behind the pitwall: Petit Le Mans 2011

\

The following can be attributed to Robert Overholser of Lufteknic Porsche, Richmond, VA. 

It's been a while since I was at the track for some ALMS crew work. It was refreshing and fun to be back in the action, almost a vacation to be away from the shop and doing something that I've enjoyed doing for a long time now. My good friend Marc at German Performance Service has been working with Black Swan Racing for the past 2 years.

 

The past 2 years have resulted in Championships in the ALMS GTC class. Road Atlanta was packed with fans ready to watch the battles, and it was also one of the few races in recent memory where there was more competitors than slots available to race cars. A few were cut depending on qualifying results...

The Baltimore Grand Prix

Approximately one month ago, Baltimore City, held the inaugural Baltimore Grand Prix. It was a double-header weekend featuring the American Le Mans series on Saturday, and IndyCar on Sunday. Despite the fact I was quite literally in the process of moving from New York to Baltimore, there was no way I was missing the ALMS on the streets of my hometown.

 

Open wheelers, let alone spec open wheelers, have never really done it for me, so I opted to finish moving on Sunday, but with the full blessing of the best wife in the world to go and enjoy myself, I was able to make it down on Friday and Saturday for the main event, the ALMS. And what a weekend it was.

A brief report: Waterfest 2011

Waterfest. Most people know of it, many love it, and it seems every year more and more turn their backs on it, claiming it to be too much of this, that or the other to be a 'real' show. I guess the cool kids decided it wasn't cool anymore, and while I get that, I have to say that Waterfest has done nothing except get more and more enjoyable to work and attend since the 'cool kids' deemed it uncool.

Allow me to explain it from a vendor's point of view...

Double Coaster: ALMS and CTSCC on Saturday

It's a busy weekend for motorsport in the good ole U-S of A. The American Le Mans boys are up one of the shortest and fastest tracks in the country, Lime Rock Park. We were there last year and it was blazing hot, much to my wife's chagrin at the time, but not many spouses are crazy enough to let you take them to a race track on THEIR birthday. Unfortunately with the upcoming Waterfest show and upcoming move from NYC to Baltimore taking all my time and energy, we won't be attending this year.

Still, it should be a great battle. Dyson brings a second car so at the very least there will be a full podium in LMP1, but of course, the real battle is in GT. It's anybody's guess as to what team will take honors - the Ferraris are always fast, Corvette and BMW have been the two to beat here and abroad, and Flying Lizard is overdue for a win for Porsche. As always my underdog favorite is the Porsche RSR of Team Falken Tire. In GTC look for it to be Black Swan's race to lose - not that the other teams are of lesser quality or ability, it's just that Black Swan have been that good. It is impossible to count them out.

Practice and qualifying all take place tomorrow, and the race is at 2:05pm Eastern Time. As usual those with ESPN3 will be able to stream the race live in its entirety, but it will be rebroadcast the following day I believe, should you miss it. You can also check www.americanlemans.com as international viewers don't have to worry about being "allowed" to view the ESPN3 feed.



All the way across the country and on a similarly historic track, the Grand Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (sheesh) is running at Laguna Seca.  APR Motorsport is going strong, after a fantastic 2nd place finish at Road America a couple of weeks back. APR Motorsport is 3rd in ST team standings (just one point behind Compass360), drivers Ian Baas and Ryan Ellis are tied for 3rd in the driver's championship, and Volkswagen lies 1st in the manufacturers championship. Mazda is nipping at their heels just 3 points back, so Laguna could be the make-or-break race of the year.

With just three races remaining, it's imperative that APR Motorsport put in consistent performances in all of them. A DNF or finishing out of the points would be devastating to drivers, team and manufacturer alike.

Practice kicks off tomorrow at multiple times before qualifying in ST goes down at 3:55pm PST.  Check out live timing and scoring at Grand-am.com - and then the race, a 2.5 hour run, begins at 10:45 am.


Hopefully after the silly season dies down I'll have some more time on my hands, and naturally our IMSA GTI will begin to make strides towards track worthiness in no-time.

Look for Waterfest coverage as well, at least a bit from my little dark corner of the vendor row...

_WRS

Pic Post: Porkers at Sebring

Ever felt like you had way too much to do and couldn't seem to gain traction on any of it? Well that's been the story around here lately. Simply way too much to do and not enough time in the day, or perhaps motivation / brain power to go around and make it all happen. So because of this, I've been a little slow for updating. It's not for lack of wanting, just for lack of time.



I've got a few things in line, waiting to be posted, the most interesting of which is almost certainly the IMSA GTI, but that will wait until next time.  First I will finally dig in a little more to Sebring. The event itself is so far in the past I hardly think it's worth re-telling the event itself, but why not throw up an all-Porsche post. Despite Audi being back in 2011 the Porkers are still my favorite,

Read on...

ALMS: Round 2 Qualify at 8pm Eastern - Race tomorrow

In just one hours time live qualifying will begin for round two of the 2011 ALMS season, taking place on the streets of Long Beach. Shown on ESPN3 - it should prove to be a great race in GT, but the LMP classes, if we're honest, are complete crap. Only 2 entries in LMP1, 2 entries (from the same team no less) in LMP2, and both of those cars are struggling to best the lowly LMPC cars.



In GT the Porsches have been doing quite well indeed (probably thanks to their post-Sebring weight break), with the #45 Flying Lizard ahead by a few tenths over the BMWs. Our favorite underdog, Team Falken Tire, are sitting 7th in GT behind the Bimmers, 'Vettes and the Risi Ferrari. We're pulling for a dark-horse upset, so look for Falken to be on the front row...mark my words.

In GTC Black Swan is clearly the team to beat. The 2010 champs have Jeroen back in the car for Long Beach, and there's no doubt that they're going to be on pole and will take the win, assuming no outside interference or problems.  

The race will be live in ESPN3 tomorrow at 7:15pm Eastern, and shown in "highlight" form on Sunday on ESPN2...

By the way, does anyone know how to set up a proxy so I can watch the race?

_WRS

12 Hours of Sebring 2011, Wed-->Thurs

 

For the second time in as many years, the crew (myself and Josh) have made the trek 1200 miles south from NYC to sunny Florida for the most important and exciting endurance race that takes place on United States soil: the 12 Hours of Sebring. So far we know one thing for certain, it's a hell of an adventure no matter how you slice it.

Victory for Oreca at Sebring

While the drivers are off at the podium receiving the accolades, the Team Oreca Matmut crew takes a moment to celebrate in their own way with the car they spend so much time with, and sent to victory lane at the 2011 12 Hours of Sebring. It was a great race. Back from Sebring with many more pictures to share and video to edit, but first, sleep...it was  a heck a of a drive back to NYC, and my mind needs a little time to catch up. 

_WRS

Ferrari 458 at night

Thursday night practice. A new Ferrari 458 is heading into the hairpin. Words can't quite describe this car, as it sounds and looks that good in person. Go to the track and see it, the 458 ain't no joke. Porsche, BMW and Corvette have their work cut out for them...

More soon, time for early bed and early rise for tomorrow's race.

_WRS

Sebring 2011; live updates from Wednesday to Saturday

In under a week's time, we'll be heading down to Sebring Florida for the second year in a row, and I for one can simply not wait. It's looking fantastic, with near 60 cars on the entry list, and the vast majority of those additional cars over last year's race have been gained in the prototype ranks. With Audi coming back after their absence in 2010, Flying Lizard coming back as strong as ever, and Falken with a much improved team working behind the scenes, we'll have plenty to cheer for.

CTSCC - APR Motorsport victory in ST!

APR Motorsport's Ian Bass and Ryan Ellis earned their second victory in as many races, piloting their Mk6 VW GTI (sponsored by Driver's Gear, Motul, BBS) to the winner's circle in this weekend's Kia 200 at Homestead Miami. With APR edging out the iMoto Mazdaspeed 3 and RSR Motorsport's MINI Cooper S for the win, and locking down fourth position with the #181 GTI of the Gleason brothers, APR and Volkswagen are now in firm command of the championships, both with 70 points over nearest competitor Kia who has 56. Likewise Baas and Ellis are tied for first place in the driver's championship, at 70 points each, with Kinetic Motorsports / Kia driver Nic Jonsson in third with 56 points.



Round three will see the GS and ST class cars running at APR's home track of Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama on April 7-9th.

For more see grand-am.com / goapr.com

_WRS

CTSCC - Round 2 from Homestead Miami (today at 4:15pm)

The second round of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge takes off today at Homestead Miami Speedway at 4:15pm eastern. APR Motorsport is there ready to continue the success they had in the ST class, and hoping to improve on their results in GS. GHary Gibson landed the big B8 S4 landed pretty much square in the middle of the GS field, 16th out of 29 cars. The 3.0 TFSI V6 showed supreme flashes of speed last season, but so far hasn't quite found the groove that the ST GTIs have.



Speaking of which, the two 2.0t Mk6 GTIs are toward the sharp end of a very competitive field. While not able to pull out a class poll-position, the 171 of Ian Baas and Ryan Ellis sits 6th out of 34 cars, and the 181 of the Gleason brothers earned 8th position.



Check out live timing and scoring at Grand-am.com or check out APR's Twitter feed for live updates.

Testing for the 2011 12 Hours of Sebring

Two days of testing for the 2011 12 Hours of Sebring concluded this week, with Porsche teams from Flying Lizard and Falken Tire posting very respectable times, up at the sharp end of the grid during just about every session. The Corvettes seemed to be the cars to beat, as expected, but Jorg Bergmeister and Wolf Henzler both had their 911 GT3 RSRs on the pace. If Falken gets better durability from their tires this year, they could prove to be a force to be reckoned with. Wolf put in a very impressive first sting in 2010, so Falken had the pace, they just needed the durability. Let's hope they've found it, it would be fantastic to see some blue and green on the podium or in the winner's circle in 2011.

These fantastic pictures are from James Boone, who has fantastic access to the Florida tracks and the skill to back it up. Lots of other great pictures are over on his Flickr stream.

_WRS

Audi R18 in testing

Fantastic night shot of the R18 undergoing testing in Sebring. We can't wait to see the R18 in action...too bad it won't be at the 12 Hours.

_WRS

Flash result: APR wins in ST!

APR motorsport took their first victory of the 2011 season at today's Grand Am 200, round one of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. Drivers Ian Baas and Ryan Ellis took command of the race starting from pole position, and led the ST class the majority of the event. A fierce battle developed at the end of the race, with Baas dicing and trading the lead with Nic Jonsson in the Kinetic Motorsports / KIA Forte Koup (co-driven by Andy Lally), with Baas emerging victorious. The BimmerWorld 328i took the final podium spot.

Image: APR Motorsport

_WRS