'Porsche' powered DP wins Rolex 24, Mazda takes GT

As I alluded to in my recent post about the Continental Sports Car Challenge, I have little to no love for Grand Am's performance-neutered classes in the Rolex series. I think the DP cars are ugly, uninspiring, and are generally the result of trying to apply a template that may work elsewhere (NASCAR's various oval series), but has no place in a top-tier championship. That said, Grand Am has what was once one of the most prestigious endurance racing events in the world under its jurisdiction, the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

So despite their best efforts to drag sports car racing back into the past, in terms of chassis and engine tech, Grand Am still has one event a year which is a little bit exciting and worth attending. This year the entry list was down compared to years past (when I was going back in the early aughts the field was into the high 70s and low 80s in terms of car counts), but the teams appeared to be as pumped as ever, and the result was quite a race.



A Riley chassis, powered by a Porsche Cayenne V8 which was not at all endorsed by the factory, somehow managed to overcome all the odds to take the overall and DP class win. The engine is street-derived, and despite Action Express being an offshoot of the Brumos team, it was not expected to win with all the other 'known quantities' at the top of the field. So I suppose Porsche won, but then since this was done without Porsche's blessing, who knows if they will acknowledge the win at all. Something tells me the marketing department will manage to put it in the headlines, even if they didn't originally want to make it so. Best thing about the win: Mike Rockenfeller played a key part in the victory and got a 24 hour win.



The GT class is one in which you pretty much expect a Porsche 911 to win. They always do, or used to anyways, as this year a tube-framed 'Mazda RX8' managed to stomp the formidable foes from The Racers Group, Flying Lizard, and the BMWs of Turner to take the GT class win. The winning 'RX8' was the #70 from SpeedSource Castrol Syntec. I feel about the same about tube frame racers as I do about the Daytona Prototypes, but damn that rotary sounded good screaming around the banking. Kudos to Mazda for getting the job done, and hey, at least they sounded good and looked good while winning. You can't count out the importance of that. In my opinion, winning is only worth doing with style...

Speed TV's race recap

_WRS

Continental Sports Car Challenge: Fresh from Florida 200

At the drop of the green flag for yesterday's Fresh From Florida 200, none of the APR Motorsport cars were in prime position for a quick or easy victory. Although solid times were managed in the warm ups, the brand-new supercharged B8 S4 in GS, and the two GTI Mk5s in ST, were starting towards the back of each of their respective classes. Still, it was a long race and anything could happen. Unfortunately it did, but not in a good way for the APR Motorsport team.



Ian Baas put in a strong performance in the APR S4, quickly and steadily moving up from 29th position to the top 10 before the first round of pit stops. Baas pushed the supercharged six up to a high of 6th place before handing of to co-driver Mark White. White re-joined in around 27th spot, and hung around the mid 20's for the entirety of his time in the car. Changing back to Baas at the second and final pit-stop once again saw the S4 on the move, before a puncture on the very last lap took the car out of any contention for a top-ten finish. The S4 ended in 19th position.

The potential is there, with the big sedan showing surprising speed compared to the more 'pure' sports racing cars such as the Porsches and BMWs, but naturally some teething problems were to be expected for the first time out. Matt Plumb was the eventual GS class and overall winner, in the #13 Rum Bum E92 BMW M3.



The results in ST were almost exactly the same as those in GS, in fact, you could substitute the names and problems and it would be almost 100% accurate. The 171 was piloted by last year's 3-time winner Mike Sweeney, with new driving partner Mike Halpin. 181 also had an APR veteran of 2009 behind the wheel, Josh Hurley, joined by Kevin Stadtlander. Both GTIs battled their way through the field, with Sweeney and Hurley handling first round driving duties. They eventually overcame the Jetta GLIs from Irish Mike's Racing before piercing the top-ten, much like the S4 had done.

After the first round of pit stops Halpin and Stadtlander took over for the 171 and 181, with Stadtlander putting in a particularly strong performance. The sheer number of cars in ST meant that the smallest problem or delay could cost precious positions on the track, and unfortunately for APR, problems for the team showed up in the waning laps. After his fantastic performance, Stadtlander handed the 181 over to Hurley within striking distance of a podium finish. It was not to be however as one of the Civics punted Hurley off the track with a hit from behind, ultimately moving him well outside the top ten. The 181 and 171 finished 15th and 16th in class. The ST class winner was the always quick Compass 360 Honda Civic of Aschenbach / Thilenius.

APR Motorsport showed real promise and speed in the Fresh from Florida 200, but the momentum carried from their outstanding late 2009 performances could not translate into victory in yesterday's race. You can bet they'll be working hard to prepare for a more successful round at Homestead Florida, on March 13th.

More info: Grand-Am.com / GoAPR.com

_WRS

Grand Am: CSCC First race of the season! 01/29/10

Today is the very first race of the Grand Am season. 1:45pm to 3:15pm, EST. Although TV coverage on Speed TV is delayed until February 13th, live timing will be available at Grand-Am.com, and I'm sure APR and other teams will be updating their various Twitter and Facebook pages accordingly. Taking place as a support race for the Rolex 24 at the world-famous Daytona International Speedway, APR Motorsport will be doing battle in the GS and ST classes of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. (Formerly known as the Koni Challenge) Honestly I am far from a fan of the Rolex series itself...the Daytona (D-U-M-B) Prototypes are possibly the ugliest racing cars this side of Death Race 2000 and they are far from interesting to watch.

Seriously...talk about a face only a mother could love. The best description I've ever heard of these cars is 'elephantine turtles.' Pretty accurate, no?

That said, the Continental Sports Car Challenge (also sanctioned by Grand Am) is everything that good racing is. Somewhat ironically, the success of the series is thanks to a sliding scale of weight, displacement, turbo boost and other factors which keep the diverse field close to the same times on the track. This is just like IMSA of days gone by, and is exactly the opposite of the approach with the DPs, which are the same car with very little to change in way of set up, horsepower, or anything else.



The ST and GS classes feature close, exciting, and cars that are not all that far removed from the ones which you and I drive on the street. More accurately cars that you and probably other people drive on the street, since my newest car is 15 years old, but you know what I mean. Anyways, when the Continental Sports Car Challenge comes to a track near you I highly recommend going to see it in person. It's great fun, the teams are fantastic, and the racing is absolutely some of the best you will see anywhere in the world. Better than F1, better than NASCAR, and better than half of the other series out there. I guarantee.

_WRS

I've never been a Sandra Bullock fan,

But she's got good taste in cars...

Pic Post: GT3R's under construction

So it would appear that the pictures which I posted here were in fact from an individuals collection, which I had no idea of, and even though I have received no direct inquiries, requests or anything else about these pictures from the person who took them, I've decided to remove them. It should be noted that these pictures were not displayed in such a way, nor were any claims laid to them being MY pictures. As an enthusiast who loves these cars, the early 996 GT3R models in particular, I simply wanted to share these images with those who read the WRS on a regular basis. It's not about money, of which I make none from this site, it's not about exclusivity, it's just about sharing the love of the cars.

Tagging along

I was put on 'assistant' duty for a Photoshoot that Josh had to do yesterday, and while I was standing around during all the static shots, I took the opportunity to take some pics of his Mk5. Winter can be a real pain the ass to deal with from time to time...brutally cold, hard on cars and equipment (not to mention people) and short days followed by long cold nights. It's enough to drive anyone to the brink, but it does have one thing: Good light.



Now, I'm far from a professional here, but I have picked up a few things in all my years of being drafted into the helper position for Josh's photoshoots, and I know good light when I see it. Capturing it is another thing altogether, but hey, I'm learning. (and yes I know these were all shot in the shadows..I was trying to get the 'setting sun vibe')



The main duty of the helper position usually involves a bit more hustle than yesterday's shoot, but that's often because there are cars about to run someone over, or bags to move, whatever. This was a pretty low-key process, so my main duty was navigator during the moving shots.



I've gotten pretty good, and can get close enough for the wide-angle shots to would make the Blue Angels proud.



Josh's shoot will appear in a future issue of Total 911. (it's a Porsche mag from the UK)





Despite the wind, which was cutting through us like an axe through butter, it was a good day, and nice to be able to get off from work early to enjoy the time outside.

_WRS

Is winter over yet?

Because it's depressing to open up the garage to this...