In the dept of overlooked stories in the media: USRC GTC/Rolex GT unaddressed thus far in the media

 Be sure to catch International GT Open on YouTube this weekend. If you can't catch it live, give it about an hour and watch the reply. Its not Geo Blocked so anybody can watch it.

 DTM will be making their annual appearance at the Norisring street circuit. Its also live and unblocked on YouTube as well.

 Anyway I was unaware of this, but driver Mike Hedlund apparently has a blog on called Maximum Attack. He's made in my mind an insightful post about the "other" GT class in the upcoming merged series (USCR). It also appears on Motorsport.com's web site.

 He supports moving the entire class to FIA spec GT3 cars.

 I also support this move, it makes sense, but of course as with lots of things in America today, it might not happen. 

 That is unless YOU the fan get involved.

 I have made it my personal mission to make USCR accept changing the Rolex GT/ALMS GTC class to FIA GT3 spec. It offers close racing via BoP and spec tire regulations. Some call these unregulated regulations are a cause of concern in media circles (Radio Le Mans) that I believe are largely unfounded.

 The base technological regulations are spec across the board. All the cars have mandated and restricted aero devices such as the size of splitters and rear wing dimensions. All the cars have ABS, Traction Control and Sequential/Paddle Shift.

 Balance of Performance which is controversial with some fans of Sports Car/Road Racing, it makes for close and competitive racing (the show) so I really don't have a problem with it as long as its fair.

 The results and popularity can not be argued.

 The only arguments against a change would be based on Grand Am's founding principals of close competitions and affordability. The results you see are a DP class slower than P2's in ACO spec at are the same price and a Rolex GT class slower than ACO GT and FIA GT3 yet cost no less.

 It will add the diversity that the ALMS fan base love. Some of these cars are already in the United States -

Black Swan (Tim Pappas) racing in SCCA World Challenge.

James Sofronas' of GMG also runs a GT3 spec Audi R8. I know these are not brand new cars (LMS Ultra) and seem to be 2009-2010 spec. The cars they run have open side windows like Grand Am Rolex GT spec cars.

 The real issue with having a Grand Am spec car is that technology that is allowed by rules in Europe are removed in a bid to reduce cost. But they don't reduce cost! These cars cost $450K + or the same prices as an FIA GT3 spec car. 

 It doesn't have to be this way, there are minor differences between FIA GT4 cars and Continental Tire Sports Car Championship. The biggest differences is fuel cell size since refueling is common in America, diameter of the rollcage (larger in America) and as of 2011 an FIA spec rear wing and splitter.

 I am unsure why Grand Am runs open side windows other than I think again to reduce cost, but again they don't. Audi had to use wind tunnel time to reposition the rear wing as the open side windows impacted the effectiveness of the rear wing. They run closed side window in FIA GT3 and I believe have air cond like ACO GT cars.

 Also removed from the Audi's especially are the front dive planes and the updated aero of the LMS Ultra.

 USRC is a reboot of two series merged, there is no reason to continue this foolish notion of cost savings for the sake of cost.

 This is our chance as fans to shape the series we pay to watch, please join me, Mike Hedlund and others who I know share this vision.

 Update: Elkins "I think what we need to do is do things that are more inviting to manufacturers to come play with us and not things that hold them up,” Elkins said. “By building a car to a single specification, where it can only race in one place, puts us in a difficult path. 

“I'm not being critical on how things were done in the past but I think we need to be more open-minded on how we approach realizing that people are going to want to come and race with us because there's only one series. So we have to look at things differently."

 Ding Dong the witch is dead! Its only a matter of time (I'd say ONE season) for Prep 2 cars to be phased out completely and the entire paddock switching to GT3 for loads of reasons.

 First: It would allow an American based team to ship a car to Dubai to run a 24 race in preparation for the Daytona 24 about a month later.

 Second: It would allow an American team to run Blancpain, ADAC GT, British GT, FIA GT Series, Blancpain/Spa 24 or VLN/N24. No changes needed, put the car on a ship or a plane and run those events.

 Third: It would give GTD (Rolex GT, GX, GTC) some badly needed diversity

 Fourth: Teams and the new series would be getting out ahead of any potential merger between SRO/FIA GT3 regulations (or lack thereof in somes cases) and ACO/Le Mans GT (LMGT) regulations that are likely to happen by 2016 since the manufacturers are pushing this.

 John Dagys has the full interview here

 Update # 1

 SRT has just announced 2-Time Viper Club Champing Ben Keating is the first customer for the recently released Viper GT3 that's eligible for the various GT3 based championships including GTD in next year merged USRC series.

 Check out the story by John Dagys here

  




  

More foolishness from the paddock

If you venture around the net some you'll find fans, insiders and even some media types simply don't get it...

 From the top, the ALMS despite being bought out by Grand Am/NASCAR which I thought was a possibility all the way back in 2007 has won the fan's hearts and minds. Grand Am supporters always want to look at the P1 and P2 class and say "its not successful". 

 What are you kidding me? So many ALMS fans are desperate to get Audi back into the fold, they are okay with them running a DP... So the rigidness of a few Grand Am teams (Spirit of Daytona, Action Express and Gainsco) *I should mention this is the FIRST AND LAST TIME you'll see me link these ridiculous Grand Am teams on my web site.* that  are reluctant to upgrade their cars to match P2 pace in the new merged series is unfounded and not easily explained.

 But I will attempt too! :)

 There is a CLEAR conflict of interest in who is paying the bills and it seems pretty obvious to me. Notice that all three teams mentioned run the GM designed, Pratt-Miller built DP body panels. I know for a fact and its been mention by Peter Keane on Racing Insiders that they would not like to upgrade their DP because it defeats the purpose of DP's cost control measures in Grand Am.

 Maybe that's because GM pays the bills? That has been confirmed by Starworks owner Peter Baron.

 He makes the comment @ 1:30 into the interview.

 That line of thinking is consistent with "The victor get all the spoils". But as the IRL paddock soon learned when it merged with CCWS (CART); ALMS has the fans Grand Am covets, but knows they alienated them with the first and second gen DP cars and yet some teams want to protect that which we (myself included) fans don't like at all?

 I would say I can't believe my eyes/ears but I'm not surprised at all actually.

 In the end, CCWS/CART fans got what they wanted, New Cars, Turbocharged Engines, Diversity and great racing;. The IRL brain trust had to yield.

 Two of the poorest (relative term) teams in the DP paddock are in support of allowing more technology into DP's and it would actually save money. Ryan Dalziel explained on Radio Leman's Midweek Motorsports that for example moving to carbon fiber brakes on the cars would actually save money and this was taken directly from their experience in running a cost controlled program with a P2 car in WEC. In fact Ryan discussed at length the differences between the DP and P2 since Starworks owns both and recently tested them at Sebring in April (2013).

 In the end the Grand Am brain trust and TEAMS will have to yield.

 The fans want P1 if they can keep it (won't happen) but will pretty much get the rest of the ALMS untouched, while the Rolex GT field will get pared down by attrition. Attrition you say? Yes I said it, the question is who?

 Right now if you cornered me, I would say Turner Motorsports is unlikely to continue in Rolex GT but may continue in Continental Tire. In fact I think all the Prep 2 tube frame cars will disappear, this includes the GX class Mazda 6's in a one and done for Mazda. I think that engine will be moved to Dyson's Lola LMP2 car, its always been an P2 car for those paying attention.


 If that wasn't enough, now comes more news about DTM being licensed in America without any domestic involvement.

 How can they push forward with this nonsense while trying to sort out Sports Car racing? I am not sure who believes this, but in some circles there is a belief that to capture the fan base that watches plays Gran Turismo (okay Forza too), Japanese Super GT and DTM online but actually goes to Drifting events will be interested in DTM America.

 Really? Is there any proof????

 Since DTM and Super GT regulations have merged, starting in 2014, except for the body panels and powertrains, the cars under the skin will be the same. Since GT500 in Super GT have a tire war, all things equal the GT500 cars will be faster over a lap.

 Anyway, IMHO you can't have an American DTM series without involvement from at least one US manufacturer. It has to be a coupe body style, so that leaves out Chrysler/Fiat. 

 Ford should and I believe would have some interest since they spent very little money outside of NASCAR and NHRA. It also allows them to race the Mustang body shell without the limitations of its current suspension. Though mules of the new Mustang coming in 2015 have been seen with Independent Rear Suspension . They are also moving away from retro body styling which means they may be finally be able to race the car in ACO GT spec.

 Without a clearly identified fan base and without any clear involvement from an American car company, I think correctly can hope for DTM races in the United States. But honestly if you're the type of racing fan I am, you knew this was coming anyway, especially since European car sales are slipping.

 An update on the podcast -

 It looks like August is the debut for the podcast and an update of blog visuals. It will also start using the domain name I purchased back in Feb.

GT Racing featured on You Tube

 Increasingly the internet, more specifically You Tube is quickly becoming the destination for high level sports car racing.

 Starting last season, the FIA GT1, European GT3 and Blancpain Endurance series were all live streamed on You Tube. However because of previous agreements say with Speed in America, the races were geo-blocked (IP address outside the local area are not accepted). 

 That is easily solved with a VPN and I will explain that in another post, I may have said that before but stick with me.

 International GT Open has moved to You Tube as well for live streaming. This makes sense and I have been saying this for years that if series want maximum exposure they need to be on the most popular video site in the world.

 Hint, Hint SCCA World Challenge....

 My podcast has been delayed as I take care of some other things, but look for it possibly in time for the Indy 500.

Petulant Children

 Unlike stick and ball sports, auto racing because of its monarchy structure, sanctioning bodies,  teams and manufactures can decided when and where to talk to the media, if at all.

 Both the Mazdaspeed web site and Speed Source websites are not updated with current information about the Mazda 6 GX cars and how they did this weekend. 

 Not surprising at all. Both sites are not updated frequently, see for yourself - 

 Speed Source

 The end of the 2012 GRAND-AM Rolex Series season also marked the end of an era in Mazda racing. This weekend’s race at Lime Rock Park was the final professional event for SpeedSource with the Mazda RX-8 GT car. 

 That's from Oct 1st, 2012....

 I won't even bother to show you the Mazdaspeed page. It hasn't been updated since 2011...

 This is what we can expect from this new Skyactive-D program, I don't expect much.

 My first podcast covers this issue and we will continue as things develop or should I say lack of development on this new diesel racing engine.

 Stay tuned this blog is going to explode!