2010 Spanish GP and GP2 Race

This morning, I stayed up after work and watched the GP2 race and the F1 GP from Spain. I was really impressed with Sam Bird in the GP2 feature race, what an aggressive strong performance after problems early. I enjoyed watching his drive through the field, it was more fun to watch than the F1 race was. The F1 race was honestly a snoozer, as a matter of fact I slept through the start and the first 20 laps, waking up in the middle of the first set of pit stops. As much as I was impressed with Sam Bird's drive in GP2 I was disappointed with Button's drive. It seemed as if he really wasn't making an attempt to get around Schumacher, who seemed to be slower and was holding Button up. I can't help but think if it would have been teammate Hamilton in the same position, a pass would have been attempted if not made. Here are my weak attempts at punditry from this morning:

• @MrSteveMatchett, David Hobbs, and Bob Varsha in fine form this morning! Flying like a Bird, Riccing, Hope In Tung, Tung in Cheek...

• Sam Bird in the ART GP2 car is impressive. Very aggressive and so late on the brakes. What a blast to watch!Botched pit stop by Mercedes on Rosberg's car following a blazing one on Schumacher's car. #F1

• Already dozed off and missed start of #F1 race, woke up in middle of pit stops.

• Schumacher really holding Button up at Lap 25. Can't help but think a more agressive driver (like his teammate) would be around him by now.

• Don't know if I can stay awake thru this #F1 race; it is like Button isn't evev trying to get around Schumacher.

• Methinks Hulkenburg should be glad #F1 cars don't have fenders or Rosberg would used them; Hulkenburg blatantly blocking and weaving.

• Wil Buxton just took the cover off of the elephant in the room and I'm glad he did. Rosberg has been screwed by Mercedes...

• Rosberg was doing very good but the team changed the car all around to suit Schumacher! Been thinking this since Friday practice results.

• RT @Formula1Blogger: If Button overtakes Schumacher I'll eat my face! #F1 >> Don't worry, he isn't even trying.

• Hobbs just said what I tweeted, Hamilton would've passed Schumacher. At least he would have TRIED!

• Hamilton loses a left front with 2 to go! Game Over! Will Vettel be on podium with failing brakes?!

• Webber wins, Alonso takes P2 and Vettel is a lucky boy as he takes P3 with failing brakes. Wee bit of drama at the end.

• Next weekend: Monaco. Now that I've used #F1 for a sleep aid I'm going to bed.

This afternoon, Pressdog tweeted the following in regards to Speed TV's new pit lane reporter Will Buxton. My reply to him follows; so far I really like Buxton, he is a good addition to the Speed TV F1 team.

• pressdog Really like Will Buxton addition to F1 posse. Makes some great points like Rosberg greating hosed in favor of His Worship.

• kf4lmt @pressdog Very much agreed. He stated something that others chose to ignore. Welcomed honesty from Buxton in the pit lane.

Mac McCormick III

IndyCar Debuts at Barber Motor Sports Park

I enjoyed watching the first IndyCar race at Barber Motor Sports Park in Birmingham, Alabama yesterday afternoon. I saw a lot of tweets and comments online about how boring the race was or how much of a snoozer it was. Not all races can be pass fests and even though this one didn't feature a lot of passing, it was still an interesting race from a strategy standpoint. Even though there weren't a lot of passes, there was still a lot of pressure being applied. I imagine you could probably ask Marco Andretti about the pressure that Helio Castroneves was putting on him. That said, some change could probably be made to the track to make for more passing opportunities and I understand that the facility has made promises to do so.

Congratulations to Helio Castroneves on his win. Good to see him climbing the fences again!

Mac McCormick III

I watched the F1 Malaysian Grand Prix last night but I wasn't able to tweet any live comments on it like I've been trying to do with some races. I did tweet some thoughts later in the morning, though. I'll pull them together here to give my thoughts on the race:

• Overall the F1 Malaysian GP was pretty good. There was really no podium fight but the fight for P5 back with McLaren and Ferrari was great!

• It was a shame Alonso's car gave up on the last lap. He put up a heck of a fight with a car that had downshift issues.

• Could it be a Red Bull season in F1? They are certainly the fastest and seem to be sorting out the reliability issues.

• Well Done Force India! A solid drive from a good starting spot by Sutil yields P5 in a dry race

• Well Done Nico Rosberg. 2 straight P5s now a P3 finish. He's outperforming Schumacher on a regular basis too.

• Re: Hamilton blocking early, Don't think he was blocking but instead trying to break the draft on the straight. Once common in NASCAR.

Mac McCormick III

F1 Australian GP

I stayed up early this morning and watched the F1 Australian GP and I'm glad I did. It was an exciting race and provided my only racing fix today; both NASCAR and IndyCar have been rained out until tomorrow. For much of the race Massa, Alonso, Hamilton, and Webber had a great fight (up until Hamilton tried to pass Alonso and Webber slammed into the back of him). Vettel went out due to brake failure and left the race in the hands of Button, who had stopped first for slicks after the track began to dry. Button ran a tire management race and did a great job of it; he went close to 3/4 distance on soft tires while some of the other cars stopped for new softs halfway through and used up the new tires trying to get back toward the front. Kubica did an outstanding job in a lesser car, finishing second in the Renault with Massa coming in third.

Here's some of my observations and commentary from Twitter (end of race at top, beginning of race at bottom):

• Good race by Button and Kubica, Massa follows in P3. Thinking McLarens are being built by Audi after seeing Hamilton's car survive! #F1 (Hamilton's car survived several instances of contact; it reminded me of how well the Audi R-8 and R-10 stood up to crashes)
  
• Webber and Hamilton crash as Hamilton tries to pass Alonso! #F1
  
• Heck of a race for P4-P6 now. Great Stuff!! #F1
  
• Hamilton and Webber almost to rear wing of Alonso and Massa. Business is about to pick up. #F1
  
• Kubica doing great job holding off the Ferraris, surprised that Ferrari hasn't pulled a shennanigan to get Alonso in front of Massa. #F1
• Can't see these tires lasting the whole #F1 race, already blistering on rears. (Boy was I wrong!)
  
• Vettel Off!!!! Brand New Race in #F1. Bad luck...
  
• Good action for P5-P8 in #F1
• Massa holding up Hamilton and Alonso is stalking them both. Still the Vettel show at the front though. #F1
• What a series of passes and errors: Webber, Hamilton, and Massa #F1
• Button is the guinea pig for slicks, let's see what happens #F1
  
• At least 4 cars off to start the race and the Safety Car is out due to massive crash. Good start by Massa though.
  
• I NEVER get tired of Sam Posey's intros to the #F1 races on #SpeedTV.
• Rain starting to fall in Melborne! #F1 race could get interesting

Mac McCormick III

ALMS Timing and Scoring For Smartphones

I got a tweet from the American LeMans Series this afternoon introducing their live timing and scoring for Smartphones. I tried it out during the afternoon test and session and it was pretty cool; it updates every few seconds with positions, times, driver in car, etc. To keep up with the ALMS test sessions, practice sessions, and races, try it at: scoring.americanlemans.com/m

Mac McCormick III

Danica Mania for the Second Week in a Row

Before anyone thinks I've got something against Danica Patrick, let me assure you that I don't. I really wish her well in both NASCAR and the IRL. Once again, this week, my problem is with the media. Just as they did at Daytona, they completely over covered Danica Patrick to the detriment of everyone else at the track. Never before have I seen a backmarker, and let's be honest - that is what she was at California, get so much TV time.

To be honest, I feel sorry for Danica and the microscope she's been under. It's really unfair to have such attention and expectations placed upon you when NASCAR's rules don't allow for a lot of testing. She has not had the chance to test in these cars and learn about them before coming to the race tracks. It really puts her behind the eight ball because most of the other rookies come from a stock car background rather than the open wheel background she comes from.

Mac McCormick III

Newman Hass Lanigan Signs Mutoh

I read several sources over the last couple of days that indicate that Newman Haas Lanigan has signed Hideki Mutoh for the 2010 IRL season. This leaves Graham Rahal out in the cold as far as a ride for 2010 goes. It shows the sad state of affairs the IRL and Motor Sports in general is in when a mediocre driver gets a ride instead of a race winning driver just because the mediocre driver can bring money and a sponsor. I can make the list longer: Takuma Sato, a driver with no experience in Indy Cars (but with F1 experience) gets a ride with KV Racing yet drivers like Paul Tracy and Oriol Servia go rideless. Once again, Sato gets the drive because of money and his connections with Honda, not because he is the best driver available.

Mac McCormick

DanicaMania Invades NASCAR

The Danica 500 week, sorry - I mean Daytona 500 week is over. No offense to Danica Patrick, but SpeedTV, ESPN, and other media outlets made it seem like it was the Danica 500 instead of the Daytona 500. She isn't to blame. The media is and they went overboard.

First, entirely too much attention was paid to Danica. The coverage seemed, at times, to be All Danica, All the Time. No doubt she was a major story line for the week, but you would have thought she was the only story of the week. What about the stories of Mike Bliss, Max Papis, and Joe Nemechek making the Daytona 500 with small under-budget teams? What about what seems to be the best restrictor plate package in Cup in quite awhile? What about teams who are working hard to make a full season in Nationwide or Cup but don't have the sponsorship; some media attention to their efforts could help them find that sponsorship.

Second, there were some absolutely ludicrous statements made during the course of the last week's NASCAR coverage. One analyst referred to Danica Patrick as the most important driver to come along in decades (not a direct quote, but a paraphrase). Huh? Seriously? Just to go back one decade, are we going to say she is more important than Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jimmy Johnson, or Tony Stewart? Another analyst stated that coming to NASCAR would make Danica Patrick a better driver in Indy Cars and inferred that the reason Dario Franchitti won last year's IRL title is that he spent a year in NASCAR (He also won an IRL championship BEFORE he came to NASCAR!). When she heard talk like this, I can't imagine how embarrassing it must have been for her.

In closing, I would like to say that I think Danica Patrick did a great job this past weekend. She raced well and finished well in ARCA and got an education in the Nationwide race. Her performance bodes well for her IRL season in that she seemed to handle adversity even better than she did last year; her temper control seems to be getting better. I don't understate her importance in NASCAR either; she probably has the best chance of any female to win a NASCAR race given the team she is racing for.

Mac McCormick III

Speed Performance Awards Ballot

Here's my ballot for the SpeedTV Speed Performance Awards:

Oops: Oops indicates that a mistake or error has been made. Of the choices, only 3 of the 5 to me qualify as a mistake or error. Steven Wallace at Montreal wasn't a mistake, it was simply an example of a lack of experience racing in the rain. Earnhardt Jr. at Daytona wasn't a mistake or error either, Earnhardt Jr. spun Vickers on purpose. That leaves the McLaren fuel error, Briscoe at Motegi, and Latvala rolling down the mountain. While the fire and rolling down a mountain are certainly spectacular, I voted for Briscoe at Motegi because Briscoe's mistake there at a massive impact on his season; had he not crashed there, he would likely have been the IRL champion.

Biggest Hit: All six crashes in this category were spectacular and several of the cars where comprehensively destroyed. In the end, my vote goes to Scott Sharp in the Acura at Road Atlanta in honor of what his crew was able to do in a day: build a new car and get the team in the race that weekend!

Best Move: I'm not sure that it really qualifies as "Best Move" because there weren't very many good moves in the Indy 500 this year, but I'll vote for Castroneves at Indy. What he did at Indy after being out of the car for the first part of the season and having no off season testing/practice was truly impressive.

Best Finish: the two NASCAR finishes smack of blocking and I hate blocking so I can't vote for either of them. Ashley Force Hood's win was a milestone, but as a finish, was it really all that spectacular? That leaves Rossi/Lorenzo, Bergmeister/Magnussen, and Briscoe/Dixon. Out of those three it is really a tough choice because all three are thrillers. My vote goes to Briscoe/Dixon because they were wheel to wheel for the whole last lap, not just a turn or two (but all three are deserving of the win!).

Temper, Temper: Easy choice here: Scott Pruett. I've lost a lot of respect for Pruett over the last few seasons. Pruett blew his top over something that he would have done himself; I just love to watch the pot call the kettle black. In Pruett's world, if he lays the bumper to someone it is racing, if the bumper is laid to him it is unfair.

Biggest Upset: It was a tough choice between Justin Wilson and Coyne Racing at Watkins Glen and Jenson Button and Brawn winning the F1 World Championship. Given the fact that Button and Brawn won the F1 World Championship a season after the former Honda team were also-rans, I had to vote for them.

Best Rivalry: Peugeot flat outperformed Audi this year. Reed/Stewart and Hamlin/Keselowski were at times downright nasty. That left Dixon/Schumacher and Haga/Spies. In the end I went with Haga/Spies.

Biggest Comeback: I've got to go with Jorge Lorenzo at Laguna Seca. To get thrown off the bike like he did and be injured, then to race the next day - that guy deserves the ironman award!

Rookie of the Year: Franchitti and Stewart-Haas rookies? Really? Hardly. To boot, the choice they label as Franchitti is Brawn in F1! I still wouldn't consider Brawn as rookies because they have 2 veteran drivers and a veteran owner/team-boss. Kliegerman did a great job, but what Spies did in World Superbike was special.

Mac McCormick III

Racing Ramblings

Miscellaneous stuff that has come to mind while reading recent racing headlines:

• Earnhardt Jr. Voted Most Popular Driver Again. It almost baffles my mind that a driver who has not accomplished much and finished 25th in points as his teammates finishd 1, 2, and 3 wins the popularity contest. I realize that popularity has nothing to do with results but I don't have to understand it.
• Jimmy Johnson to race in the 24 Hours of Daytona with Gainsco again. I'm happy to see this. I have to admit that Johnson is not one of my favorite drivers but you can't deny his skills in a racing car. I would love to see him in an ALMS GT or Prototype car to see what he could do some serious high tech equipment.
• British Touring Car Championship and the Australian V8 Supercars will be shown on Speed TV this winter! I love the touring cars and the V8 Supercars. Watch the V8 Supercars and learn where Marcos Ambrose came from; those guys make NASCAR look like a bunch of wimps when it comes to wheel to wheel racing; they make racing a Full Contact Sport.
• The DTM and Japanese Super GT series could race together in the future. Now this is interesting. Exciting racing in both series with some interesing machines; I'd love to see that if it could get on US TV.
• Andretti Autosport. Andretti Autosport has hired Tom Anderson as VP of Racing Operations. Anderson was running the Fernandez team in ALMS before they closed down and has a stellar history in American Open Wheel Racing. This could be the shot in the arm that Andretti's team needs. Also, Ryan Hunter Reay is in the running for a seat at Andretti Autosport. They need to hire him pronto; I think he would do a good job in proper equipment and he brings solid sponsorship from Izod. He's also one of the more high profile American open wheel racers.

Mac McCormick III

USF1 - To Be or Not To Be

I just read where the new Lotus F1 team is doing testing. USF1 apparently doesn't even have a new car assembled or anywhere near getting on the track yet. There isn't even much discussion of drivers for USF1.

At this point, as much as I want the USF1 team to succeed, I just don't see them on the grid in 2010. If they do make the grid, they won't be close to competitive. By now, they would have to be closer to having a car assembled and closer to testing. They have a lot of work to do before the start of the 2010 season, including testing a completely new car and they don't seem to be anywhere near ready.

Mac McCormick III

Danica Patrick's 2009 IndyCar Season

I was waiting for the IRL season to end before posting this in the interest of not placing a hex on the rest of her season.

The 2009 IRL season saw great improvement from Danica Patrick over her previous season. Granted, she did not win a race this season but her performance over the whole of the season was vastly improved over her past performances. She finished the season in fifth place in the championship behind only the two Ganassi and two Penske drivers, essentially putting her first in class. This was quite an accomplishment given that Andretti Green Racing (or whatever they are calling themselves now) had far from a stellar or even average season.

Danica Patrick was consistently the best performer on a subpar performing AGR and consistently the best performing non-Ganassi or Penske driver. It would have been expected that Tony Kanaan would have been that driver but instead it was Patrick. What led to her taking that position? In my opinion two things: an improved attitude and better teamwork.

1. In past seasons, Patrick's attitude and temper were stumbling blocks. She lost her temper quickly and it prevented her from performing at her best. She did not handle adversity well and it showed. This season, she seemed to be an almost different person. It would have been hard to blame her for losing her temper with her team's overall performance but she handled with grace in public (I have no idea what she said behind closed doors). She had several incidents in the pits and on the track that she handled more professionally and coolly than she did in previous seasons. I have no doubt that the way she handled the negatives this year led to her improved performance.
2. It was obvious this year that Patrick was better able to work with her team and engineer to keep the car's setup not only stable throughout the races but to improve it throughout the races. She started out races with good handling and was able to maintain and improve the handling throughout the course of the race. She kept her frustrations in check and took what the race offered rather than overdoing things and ruining the day's performance.

Personally, I would love to see what the improved Danica Patrick could do in a Ganassi or Penske car.

Anyway, congratulations to Danica Patrick on an improved season in 2009 and good luck towards continued improvement in 2010.

Mac McCormick III

NASCAR Hall of Fame

This evening, the first five inductees to the NASCAR Hall of Fame will be announced. Prior to the announcement, here are the five that I voted for in the open voting on the internet earlier this year:

1. Bill France Sr. Love him or hate him, there is no doubt that without Bill France Sr. that there would be no NASCAR as we know it. There are a lot of arguments that he cheated others out of their stake in NASCAR but he is the one who brought the founders together. It can also be argued that his style was dictatorial but NASCAR is the sanctioning body that has survived and prospered; you just cannot say that about other sanctioning bodies such as AAA, USAC, and CART.
2. Bill France Jr. Once again, there is no doubt that without Bill France Jr. there would be no NASCAR as we know it. Most of the same arguments from the father apply to the son. Bill France Jr. grew the sport from what he inherited from his father as a regional sport to gargantuan national sport that now garners international attention.
3. Raymond Parks The creator of the first superteam before NASCAR was even started, Raymond Parks planted the seed of what Rick Hendrick and Jack Roush operate today. Raymond Parks supported Bill France Sr. with loans before NASCAR was started and in NASCAR's early days. It would not be a stretch to say that there may have been no NASCAR without Atlanta's Raymond Parks.
4. Richard Petty There are only two seven time champions in NASCAR. Along with Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty has to be among the first five. Richard Petty also has the record of 200 wins, perhaps untouchable for the forseeable future.
5. Dale Earnhardt The same argument: The only two seven time champions must be in the first five selected to the Hall of Fame. Besides Earnhardt's success on the track, it must also be mentioned that Earnhardt's death on the track, more than any other's pushed NASCAR from simply paying lip service to safety to being more serious about safety (although in my opinion, they still have a VERY long way to go).

Mac McCormick III

Hendrick cars pass inspection

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar/cup/news/story?id=4537242&campaign=rss&source=RPMHeadlines

"NASCAR found that the bodies of the cars raced at Dover barely met specifications. The crew chiefs were warned not to bring the Chevrolets back to the track.
The close call led to grumbling by rivals that the Hendrick teams had been given a break by NASCAR and should have been penalized. Darby insisted the cars were legal, by a hair."


If the cars were legal, why can't they bring them back? This smacks of NASCAR's ban of Ray Evernham's Godzilla car at Charlotte in the 90's.

Mac McCormick III

Suzuka F1 Practice

Last night I stayed up late and watched the live practice session from Suzuka for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix. Out of the 90 minute session, there may have been cars on the track for 20 minutes, out of that the bulk of the cars were out for less than 10 minutes; maybe 7 at the most. There was heavy rain and a lot of standing water on the track that made conditions too dangerous for most of the session. Fernando Alonso ended up seventh for the session but I believe that his performance was the best of the session. He set his fast time before the bulk of the cars went out, thus doing it in worse conditions. Once the other cars came out, there wasn't as much water on the racing line making for better grip. I believe even more that Alonso has been carrying Renault the last two years. His performances have been far better than what the car is.

Mac McCormick III

IRL at Chicagoland - A Terriffic Race

What can I say about last night's IRL race at Chicagoland? One word can sum it up nicely: WOW! It was the best oval race I've seen in a long time, by far a better show than the IRL oval races prior to the rules changes at Kentucky and by far better than most NASCAR races this season.

At one point Graham Rahal, Mario Moraes, and Marco Andretti were racing 3 wide wheel to wheel to wheel over fourth place. That fight went on for several laps and unlike a NASCAR race, it didn't end in a crash!

The race ended with Ryan Briscoe taking the win over Scott Dixon in a side by side finish with Mario Moraes taking third from Dario Franchitti in a side by side fight that was nose to tail with the fight for the win!

Unfortunately because it was on Versus and most NASCAR fans won't watch the IRL, it is probably one of the best races only a few people ever saw.

Mac McCormick III

Racing on the Brain

ALMS
I blogged awhile ago about rumor that the ALMS would be going to a 2 class structure in 2010. The series will remain with a 4 class structure, but the structure will be different from the current one. Instead of LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2 the structure will be:

1. Le Mans Prototype (LMP)
2. Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC)
3. Grand Touring (GT)
4. Grand Touring Challenge (GTC)

LMP1 and LMP2 will be rolled into 1 class except for Sebring and Petit LeMans. The LMPC class is an entry class prototype car using an ORECA Courage chassis with 450hp engines. This could be an interesting class to watch, offering a relatively low cost prototype platform to both gentleman drivers and up-and-coming drivers. The GT1 class is all but dead, so the new GT class will be what the GT2 cars are now. The GTC class will be Porsche GT3 Cup cars with the class expected to open up to other manufacturers in the future.

NASCAR
I watched very little of the Michigan Sprint Cup race and really didn't miss it, indicating just how much I've lost interest in NASCAR's top level racing. Instead I watched ALMS with it's varied mix of chassis/engine combinations, tires, and classes and enjoyed some good racing. With the exception of a few races (Watkins Glen being one of them), the Sprint Cup racing just isn't that good and the cars are too similar, with no opportunities for engineering or design originality. I don't like the Nationwide series either. It has become essentially an extra practice session for the Sprint Cup drivers; they come down and take prize money and sponsorship from Nationwide teams and drivers.

Mac McCormick III

Oglethorpe Speedway 17 July 2009

For the first time this year (and I hope not the last) I had the chance last night to go out to Oglethorpe Speedway, the .5 mile clay oval in Pooler, GA. After some rain delays and dinner with the family I finally made it out there shortly after 8 PM. I took a scanner along and listened to the officials on both their frequency and the "Raceceiver" frequency which is used for the officials to talk to the cars.

461.500 - Oglethorpe Speedway Officials
454.000 - Raceceiver (Officials to Cars)

The racing was wonderful and there were some great battles for the lead in all of the classes. There was some boneheaded racing as well. The driver of the 29 car in the 440 class got his first victory; it was pretty cool to see him do a reverse donut in front of the grandstand (the 440's are front wheel drive, so you have to use reverse to do a proper donut)! The 6 and 20 cars in the Pure Stock class were black flagged and parked after abusing each other over last place, the result of a previous coming together on the track. I was watching the race for first, which was a terrific fight at the time when I heard race control get increasingly emphatic with the 6 and 20 to stop beating on each other. I look back to the end of the field and there they were pushing and shoving over last place...

Unfortunately, the Street Stock class was cut short because the rain returned about 3/4 of the way through their race during a caution period. The officials polled the drivers at first to see if the track was still good and they restarted. Eventually the rain began to fall harder and the track just became to slick to race on so it was stopped and called an official race. The Late Model race was postponed until next week, when they will have a double 20-lap Late Model feature.

Mac McCormick III
kf4lmt@comcast.net

ALMS to Two Classes in 2010?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/76994

I saw this article on Autosport's website earlier this week. The idea is that the American LeMans Series may go to a single GT class (GT2) and a single Prototype class (P2?) class in 2010 with the idea of helping the series survive during this economic downturn. This may not be a bad idea. GT1 is obviously going away. Aston Martin and Corvette have been the main competitors in GT1 the last few years; Aston has been gone for a couple of years and Corvette is making the move down to GT2 now. P1 is currently an almost all Acura show although there is a slight chance that Audi may come back later in the season and it seems Peugeot will come back for Petit LeMans.

I would rather watch ALMS than Grand Am any day. If this idea would keep the series strong and enable us to see proper GT and Prototype racing then I'm all for it.

Mac McCormick III
kf4lmt@comcast.net

The 24 Hours of LeMans

I was disappointed that Audi lost the 24 Hours of LeMans but I will congratulate Peugeot on their win. This year, they undoubtedly performed better than Audi. They not only had a better car this year, they also improved their performance in the pits and their decision making on the pit box. I think a lack of race time also accounts for Audi's performance this year. Peugeot ran the 908 at Sebring and during one of the LMS races this season whereas Audi only ran the R15 at Sebring. Given that the 908 is in it's third year and is a proven, developed machine the lack of race time on the first year R15 prevented Audi from finding and fixing flaws such as the intercooler overheating. You can test all you want, but some problems just aren't going to show up until you go through the stress of racing.

On the other hand, it was wonderful to see Corvette win their last GT1 race. If you don't think a win or class win in this race means something, witness Dan Binks as the 63 Corvette crossed the finish line. This is a man who had his hands in 15 sports car championships, yet he was in tears as he finally got his first LeMans win. Through all of Corvette's LeMans wins, he had never been on the team that won. Hearing our national anthem played as the Corvette team stood atop the GT1 podium was inspiring. Here's hoping that Corvette's GT2 program (if it continues given GM's financial problems) is just as successful.

Mac McCormick III
kf4lmt@comcast.net