Peugeot wins at Le Mans, and other junk

By now everyone with a brain knows that Audi was unable to continue their amazing winning streak at Le Mans, but that's ok. It was pretty clear from the get-go that the R15 was out-gunned and out-paced by the monstrously fast and (now) reliable Peugeot 908 HDi FAP. The fact the cars were not able to keep up with the Pug's was one thing, but the other hiccups in the program, from fueling problems to overheating, and handling problems to some off-course excursions, well,the R15 just wasn't going to win.

That's pretty much the view that the Audi's had of the Pugs all race.

I suppose I should be bummed about this, but I'm not. Whenever any team / car / brand / whatever is too dominant (I'm looking at you, LA Lakers) it gets boring. The other reason I'm not bumming about the loss is that the R15 shouldn't have won. It was only the second race for the R15, and it was clear that the race condition development that Audi would have done if they had been smart enough to compete in the ALMS series this year hurt them. My suggestion? Aim for a 2010 win and commit to the ALMS. Everyone wins I think. The series, the fans, the manufacturers and the next 24 heures du mans.

The thing I AM a bit bummed about end the results in GT2. Porsche, as my good friend said, stepped on their dicks again and ended up without a single car on the podium, and in fact only one car finished the race in GT, and that was LAST PLACE out of the cars still running at the end. I think this picture of the lone, running at the finish 911 is an accurate portrayal of how the race went for the Porsche GT2 guys...

Really? Really Porsche? The best you can do is last? That has to be some sort of a record at Le Mans, that the only remaining Porsche (not counting the RS Spyder in LMP2) was officially not classified. So not one 911 classified...the car that was running did only 176 laps, the Endurance Asia Team. I quite liked the looks of this car, and I wished they had done better, but that's the way it goes.

Granted, I did say that I was routing for the Risi 430 to win, and in fact it did win GT2, but the main reason I was hitching to the Ferrari bandwagon was because I didn't really have any Porsche teams to get behind. I did like the IMSA performance / Matmut car quite a lot, and was disappointed when the car with Patrick Long went out.

A lot of the 911 RSR's had fuel pump problems, which seems odd to me, as it's a pretty basic system, and for more than one car to have problems to that end it was rather unusual.

Anyways, the race was still a good one in my book. There were some exciting moments out on the track and in the pits, and ultimately we got a pretty good show. I spent the vast majority of the time listening to Radio Le Mans and watching feeds from Eurosport or Speed TV. The internet came through and for the first time in many years I was tuned in for the majority of the race. I think I probably bugged Melody a bit much with my constant, unprompted updates on just what was going on every five seconds, but she did offer her iPhone to check standings when we were out Saturday night, so it can't have been too bad. Just wait until I actually attend the event...I won't stop talking about ever. One day, one day...


Check out plenty more awesome shots from Marshall Pruett at Speed TV's gallery.

_WRS

The first desktop image from WRS, BWM Art Car 320i

In honor of Le Mans, I'm posting up two large, desktop-friendly images from the BMW Art Car post. My favorite, the Roy Lichtenstein Group 5 320i. Finished second in class in 1977. So download and enjoy! I hope to bringing some better, more professional desktop images in the future, but until Josh gets back from Europe this will have to do.

Download the high resolution file 1 here!

Enjoy your weekend...

_WRS

Download the high resolution file 2 here!

This weekend there is only one thing that matters

Le Mans. This weekend. Awesome. Audi and Peugeot have the gloves off and are ready to duke it out to be crowned the king of diesel race cars and winner of the world's greatest race. Qualifying just ended and although Allan McNish was on the pole position initially, Peugeot was able to claim the fastest time with Stephane Sarrazin turning in a 3:22.888 with only ten minutes remaining in the session.

I'm a huge fan of the Audi's as any sane VW or Audi devote would be, but my heart is never really in that fight as much as it is in the slower classes. I love the GT2 spec class, and as much of a Porsche fan as I am, I have to give a nod to the Risi Competizione F430. I've never heard anything bad about the Risi guys, no shady back stories, just hard work and solid results. I was always cheering for them when they campaigned a 333SP back in the old days of the WSC classes at Daytona, so you can bet I'll be paying close attention to them this year.

By the way, be sure to download the Spotters Guide to this year's race. Very cool, and an easy way to keep track of the cars and classes this year.

I have to admit to being a bit of a poor bastard and I don't actually have a cable or satellite TV service with Speed TV or anything like that. Luckily for me there is Radio Lemans.com, plus Speed TV is going to be streaming select feeds on their website during the day. Now if you're like me, the feed at radiolemans.com may not work for you. I have a Mac, with Firefox, with plug ins yadda yadda yadda. No worky. Thankfully there are soutions, namely a direct link to the feed.

Open up Quicktime, open a new URL, and paste this link into the address bar:

http://tx.sharp-stream.com/tune.php?c=radioshowltd&.waxr

Problem solved! Don't forget to go to Speed TV for live video, driver blogs and pictures throughout the weekend. I'd also highly recommend checking up the Midweek Motorsport Listener's Collective on Facebook. It's got a ton of great threads for resources on viewing and watching content online. Plus check out the Radio Le Mans twitter page at twitter.com/specutainment

Now you have no excuse for not keeping up with the most exciting race of the year.

_WRS

Scirocco Madness: No where to go but up

The people...all 12 people....have spoken. They've decided to put Scirocco Madness into a dead heat between Mexico Blue, with black, or white, with blue. Well folks, it ain't gonna be white, because I already own a white car, and I don't want another one. I also think blue accents just wouldn't work on a Scirocco. It is after all, not a 911 GT3. (as much as I wish it was) Anyways, we're getting way ahead of ourselves. How far? Pretty damn far.

As you can see, we've made zero progress forward, and possible have taken steps backwards. Although I am now officially in possession of the title and keys, I found out a few things. First, and of least worry really, is that the front apron was indeed damaged when the "red necks with big machines" moved her. The bumper is tweaked too, and the burnt-out Corrado is trying to mate with her, but she's back against the wall and no one is going anywhere anytime soon.

We contemplated using the forklift to move the carcasses out of the way, but decided a god-knows-how-heavy forklift, uneven ground and a distinct lack of concrete or pavement would basically be the worst idea ever. So there she sits. Her paint had taken a lot of dings, dents and chips somehow, like a very large sandblaster sprayed the car with rocks. We're repainting so who cars, but still, it's annoying.

The other things awaited on the interior. The 16v kit is in place and ready to go...if by in place you mean piled on the driver's seat. The more time consuming fixes will involve the steering column (loose, standard Mk1 fare. In need of rebuild or replacement. Wish I hadn't thrown my old one out now!) and the wiring.

Oh yeah, the wiring. One of the things I was asking Jason when he was giving me the car was "why is this free." He responded that he's getting his money out of it by selling the suspension, oh yeah, and by the way, there may be some wiring problems, which is why it was parked in the first place. Fun stuff. Judging from the wires hanging out below the dash, I can't say I think he's making that up.

Speaking of fun stuff, I got my first fun parts for her. Actually I got these almost a year ago at Waterfest, but there's no way in hell I'm putting these on a street parked car in NYC. One of the best / worst steering wheel and shift knob combos ever made. The questionably awesome 80's Momo Benetton F1 models.

This rare, but not impossible to find set of restored goodness set me back just around $200, and as a fan of the wheel back in the day, I had to pick it up when I found it. I won't feel bad about actually using it since it's been re-dyed, but the color accents should compliment any exterior color I choose, especially Blue or Green, my two color finalists.


Finally, here's the sad, sad Rabbit GTI that will be giving up the last few valuable parts it possesses for der Scirocco. The transmission and suspension bits. This shell is still fairly straight, but the car has been treated poorly and it lacks a title, hence the reason it's been sitting for the last 7 years.


I think the 'Rocco officially needs a name now. It will forever continue to be Scirocco Madness, but she needs a name befitting her soon-to-be-awesomeness. Feel free to drop some suggestions below.

_WRS

Lime Rock Weekend Part Two: Koni Challenge

Sometimes things just get busy. It kind of drives me nuts, but I guess it's better to be busy than the converse, which is to have nothing going on at all. So with that, here we are finally visiting the May 23rd Grand-Am Koni Challenge race at Lime Rock Park.

I'm not sure if it's because I've had to go to events for work for so many years, but car shows really drive me mad. I get it on one level...lots of nice cars you would not typically see while driving down Main Street in Your Town, USA, share ideas and hang out with like minded people. That I love. It's the lack of visceral experience on the car end that make them a little boring. Sure that 'bagged Mk'XYZ' might look awesome sitting there in a parking lot, but that's about all it's doing at that ride height. Cars are (in my mind) modified to be better to drive first, look cool second. I'm just not thrilled by a car sitting still, no matter what the horsepower under the hood or potential speed it might possess.

So the Koni Challenge ST (Street Tuner) race was exactly my kind of event. Real world cars turned into track machines, fender to fender racing, no holds barred, all out for over two hours. One of my many "I should have done that" careers involves being a race car driver, just like the rest of the male population out there, so I was very, very, VERY excited to get a chance to participate in the VW owners corral in Lime Rock. The owners corral is a way for VW to get their car owners out to the track and maybe get a taste of just how much fun real motorsport events are. APR Motorsport, being the most serious (and successful) VW race team in the USA in a long time, is also there to give out shirts, answer questions, and give away signed race tires. Cool stuff like that.

One of the real highlights of the day were the parade laps. Included in your owner's Corral ticket was the chance to drive two laps of Lime Rock. Sure it was in a group behind a pace car, but the speeds still got up there a bit. (I think the WRS-mobile got up to 70mph at one point) Things were kept to a minimum down the front stretch, but once the pace car dipped into turn one and kit the esses, it took off, allowing the cars top single file it through the turns and really get a taste of the track. It. Was. Awesome. Leaving turn one at the top of second, hitting 3rd for just a bit before going through the esses, and so on... Even the future Mrs WRS had a blast, and she's not one for the speedy driving to say the least. Everyone was relatively well behaved, no one broke down or wrecked, and I'd imagine it gave a few other people the urge to get back out there again.

The most intense section of the track has to be the dip going-into the uphill right-hander after the no-name straight. We weren't going super fast at this point, as the organizers weren't under any illusions as to what would happen if they let Joe-VW in his street car blast through that section flat out. I was still at about 45-50mph though, so it was fast enough to be fun, and let me tell you, you can't appreciate that section of track until you drive it. As the track surface falls away you get roller-coaster stomach, which quickly changes to the sensation of you being slammed down into your seat as you blast up the hill. I would have done parade laps all day if I had the chance!

As you can see, this is a steep grade. Whatever lies over this hill is completely out of view of the driver until you are up over the top.

By the way, the race itself was awesome. APR scored pole position with the 171 car, and 181 was not too far behind. APR invited everyone from the corral to their garage area to see the cars up close and get an idea of the technical specs and rules of the series, plus meet and greet the drivers.

The threat of rain loomed all day, but it never did, and we had excellent conditions for the full 2.5 hour event. There were a good number of spins and incidents, including a very heavy wreck involving the Turner Motorsport BMW at the very beginning of the event. This was a real shame as it was a contender and would have only made the event that much more exciting.

As it was, the first three to four cars were no further than a few car lengths from each other for the entire race. It was that close. The 171 lead for what seemed like the entire race, and even when the caution came out for the 181, which died on the track right next to us with a fueling problem, they stayed out front. A win looked to be a sure thing.

Winning is anything but a sure thing however, and when the 181 went out of commission for a second time it allowed the field to group back up. The 171 battled to stay out front, but a little bit of contact with Compass360 allowed the Civic to slip by. A major shunt down the front stretch involving the other bright-orange Compass360 Civic and one of the Flat Out Mazda MX5's brought the caution out again, which is how the race ended. A second consecutive second-place finish. The team is, as Stephen said, just knocking on the door of their first win.

You would think that the guys from APR would be upset about this turn of events, considering they had the field behind them for almost the entire race, but they were anything but. In such a competitive series were the leader can be sent to the back of the pack with the smallest mistake, placing anywhere in the top 5 is a huge accomplishment. It's easy to be biased when you know a lot of the people involved, and when it's the team you're routing for to win, but Stephen, Keith and the rest of the crew are really great people, and are doing a great job of being ambassadors of the VW scene.

So with a few more races left in the season, I suggest everyone get out their calenders, go to the Koni Challenge website, and get out there to an event. I've been to a lot of much higher level (i.e. higher dollar) events in my day, but these guys lay it on the line for every lap of every race, and it's as good a show as any I've been to, if not even better. Be sure to check out the APR Lime Rock Park gallery for a TON of awesome shots from the weekend.

_WRS

(PS: APR did in fact score their first win just two weeks later, with the 181 car making up for the problems at Lime Rock and scoring first in class at Watkin's Glenn!)

Lime Rock Weekend Part One: Vintage F1

Back on the weekend of May 23rd, the future Mrs WRS and I made a quick day trip up to Lime Rock Park in lovely Lakeville, Connecticut. The primary reason for this was to check out the Grand Am Koni Challenge series and the APR Motorsport effort, consisting of the 171 and 181 GTi Mk5's, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice selection of vintage Formula 1 cars on hand as well. They were part of the Historic Grand Prix, and most were from the late 70's and early 80's. Some names I knew, some I did not, but they were all very cool. I can't really say they were going for it on the track, I mean they were running hard, but definately not as fast as I would have imagined they could, but hey, when you're talking one of a kind vintage race cars, probably the only thing more rare are the BMW art cars which I love so much.

If I had to pick a favorite? No problem. Sure I had the Matchbox John Player Special when I was kid, but it's the Tyrell Benetton that was my favorite. Sadly it didn't run on the track, but this car really hits home for me.
It always trips me out as to how small these cars are. They really are tiny little machines. It takes a man (or woman) with much larger Co-jones than I to climb into one of these. They probably would need to be shorter too, but that's really secondary.


By the way, I have a vintage Momo Benetton steering wheel and shift knob on ice for the future. Will it go on Scirocco Madness? Can't say for sure, but it's gloriously 80's, and that's really all that matters. I promise I'll actually talk about VW's next time, probably tomorrow.

_WRS

Video Post: Mk6 GTI action

Eurotuner magazine has a pretty cool video posted up of their drive with the new Mk6 GTI at its launch in France. I would have liked a little bit of the sound from the clip thrown in, but if the mic wasn't shielded from the wind noise it would have been pretty poor anyways. The scenery is beautiful, and the Mk6 is looking like even more of a home run than the Mk5 was. Can't wait to get some time behind the wheel at some point!

I myself just got back from Dubs at the Beach, and am working on getting some sorely needed updates taken care of. Until then...

_WRS

Video Link! (in case you missed the first one)