Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

tifosi77
Posts: 51514
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:07 pm
Location: Batuu

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby tifosi77 » Tue Jan 16, 2018 2:44 pm

Man, I just saw in RIP that Dan Gurney passed away this weekend. What an absolute icon of motor racing.

Image

Racing cars simply do not look prettier than that, imo.

columbia
Posts: 34731
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 10:23 am
Location: South Baldwin Yinzer Strokefest

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby columbia » Tue Jan 16, 2018 2:45 pm

I would watch, if they still did.

tifosi77
Posts: 51514
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:07 pm
Location: Batuu

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby tifosi77 » Tue Jan 16, 2018 2:47 pm


tifosi77
Posts: 51514
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:07 pm
Location: Batuu

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby tifosi77 » Thu Jan 18, 2018 1:22 pm

Ask and ye shall receive, I guess.

Cosworth keen on Aston Martin F1 engine partnership
Cosworth says it would like to work with Aston Martin on a potential Formula 1 engine project and has had discussions with the British manufacturer about joining forces.

Aston is keeping a close eye on developments with F1's 2021 engine rules, and is keen on re-entering grand prix racing as an engine supplier should the new rules substantially reduce costs.

Red Bull says it would be open to running an engine supplied by its new title sponsor in future, and Aston says it has entered discussions with potential partners about developing an engine to the future regulations.

tifosi77
Posts: 51514
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:07 pm
Location: Batuu

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby tifosi77 » Fri Jan 19, 2018 1:01 pm

Roebuck's column might be behind the Autosport paywall, but he penned a nice obit for Dan.

Remembering the greatest American in racing history
One way and another, Jim Clark has been much in my mind of late, not least, I suppose, because this year we come to the 50th anniversary of his death. In April 1968 Clark's fellow drivers made the sorrowful journey to Chirnside for his funeral, and it was later that day that his father talked to Dan Gurney.

"You know, Dan," he said, "you were the only one Jim ever worried about." Perhaps those few words put Gurney's status as a racing driver more clearly into perspective than anything else ever said or written about him, and Dan, who had revered Jimmy, almost broke down.

Now, half a century on, it is the death of Gurney that has me, and countless others, reeling. Given that he had long been in failing health, we may not have been surprised by the news, but still we were shocked by it: the loss of Dan Gurney - pictured below, left, with Clark - is immeasurable in our sport.

If I have known many great drivers, I have known rather fewer great men: Daniel Sexton makes both lists.

dodint
Posts: 59160
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:39 pm
Location: Cheer up, bіtch!
Contact:

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby dodint » Mon Jan 22, 2018 10:50 am

Rolex 24 is this weekend, I'm intensely excited for it. RLL is running the new M8 GTE. Hopefully IMSA will hook them up the way the Ford GT was hooked up when it debuted. ;)

Fox is covering 13.5 hours of it on broadcast TV this year, down from the 23 hours they covered last year. They'll have the full 24 hours on their FSGo app, which is something.

Tangential; someone told me that WEC and Le Mans doesn't have a TV deal in the US this year. I plan to do LM in Kentucky again this year and don't generally watch the rest of the WEC calendar (I would, but they treat it as a prototype only series in terms of coverage, only acknowledging GT cars when they're in the way) so that might be transparent to me.

CBear3
Posts: 7666
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:02 pm
Location: KC, MO

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby CBear3 » Tue Jan 23, 2018 10:38 am

Finally found the Dinner with Racers podcasts. Too much fun.

dodint
Posts: 59160
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:39 pm
Location: Cheer up, bіtch!
Contact:

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby dodint » Tue Jan 23, 2018 10:44 am

I thought I mentioned it here but I did not. Bill Auberlen is accepting a new role at BMW as a Brand Ambassador. He will not be racing the full schedule, only the R12, Sebring, 6Glen, and PLM. He's three wins away from the North American sports car wins record and really wants to achieve that. It will be a tall order when running a new car in only four races a year, and in a multi-car team. I assume he'll pick up some Continental starts or something to help shift the odds.

Listened to this interview with him a few months ago, really interesting: https://marshallpruett.podbean.com/e/mp ... s-for-bmw/

He talks about his early days of racing, how he made a niche for himself as a driver that can also work on the cars and how that skill went away in the wake of computers and extreme specialization. Very cool guy.

tifosi77
Posts: 51514
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:07 pm
Location: Batuu

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby tifosi77 » Tue Jan 23, 2018 10:47 am

He's got to be among the last of that generation still racing, right? I mean, I'm sure that through karting, most drivers are also their own mechanics and whatnot. But to carry that through to cars and stuff, that would be..... let's call it rare...... today.

dodint
Posts: 59160
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:39 pm
Location: Cheer up, bіtch!
Contact:

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby dodint » Tue Jan 23, 2018 10:51 am

Yeah, he talks about in the mid-90s he could work on the car all night with the mechanics and use what he learned to work with part suppliers to develop a better part for his particular car. He'd do the actual engineering and write the specs for fabrication.

CBear3
Posts: 7666
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:02 pm
Location: KC, MO

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby CBear3 » Tue Jan 23, 2018 11:13 am

Probably the last at the top tiers. GT Racing was the last venue since the gains from CFD were at a minimum (close to factory bodywork), but nowadays even to fab a lightweight bracket you're doing 5 or 6 iterations of FEA work to get the extra couple ounces out.

As far as wrench monkeys go, there's still plenty of guys who turned wrenches on their street stock or modified at the local dirt track, or their kart or formula ford. But they aren't guys that could design and fab (or spec for fab) parts for the top levels.

BigMck
Posts: 1292
Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2015 3:09 pm
Location: At the mall watching Paul Blart.

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby BigMck » Tue Jan 23, 2018 4:55 pm

The NHRA begins the season February 8th, back in Pomona. The season will be shortened one weekend due to the news that Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., stopped all race operations. Rumor is that the demand for housing in the area is too high to keep the track operating. 49 years young.

https://www.nhra.com/nhra

Not from the showroom, and definitely one wild ride:
Image

dodint
Posts: 59160
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:39 pm
Location: Cheer up, bіtch!
Contact:

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby dodint » Wed Jan 24, 2018 11:01 am

Image

So, as festivals go, this looks pretty awesome.

I'll mention it again this summer. I'm trying to arrange a meet for my other forum around this event, I'll be there one way or another. 8-)

CBear3
Posts: 7666
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:02 pm
Location: KC, MO

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby CBear3 » Wed Jan 24, 2018 11:32 am

Hmm, Labor Day weekend. That'll be hard to get a hall pass for.

dodint
Posts: 59160
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:39 pm
Location: Cheer up, bіtch!
Contact:

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby dodint » Wed Jan 24, 2018 11:35 am

Yeah, I just told a friend that I wish it were on a non-holiday weekend. Great for locals but I have a friend in KC, amusingly, that I really would like to see come out. But the flights will be twice as much as any other weekend. Him and I are already meeting in Kentuckly for 24LM again so this might be a reach for him.

I told my other group that anyone that comes in from out of town is welcome to my E46 or MINI for HPDE/Auto-X. I'll extend that to you as well. ;)

I'll probably run the DMC in the HPDE.

The URL for that is www.carfestusa.com I forgot to include it in the original post.

CBear3
Posts: 7666
Joined: Fri Mar 27, 2015 10:02 pm
Location: KC, MO

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby CBear3 » Wed Jan 24, 2018 11:41 am

Appreciate the thought, but I'd drive it there if I came. Gotta go old school and run what ya brung.

dodint
Posts: 59160
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:39 pm
Location: Cheer up, bіtch!
Contact:

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby dodint » Wed Jan 24, 2018 11:45 am

Yeah. I toss that offer out there in the hopes that one of my California folks will come out. Would love to see Heitkotter in my car so I can tell just how bad I am. ;)

tifosi77
Posts: 51514
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:07 pm
Location: Batuu

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby tifosi77 » Wed Jan 24, 2018 1:07 pm

He'll set off in your whip, go 7/10, knock four or five seconds off your best lap, and then you'll feel bad for feeling good about that fist pump after that slick heel-toe you did that one time. :lol:

And I say that having been in a similar situation as a guitar player in college.

dodint
Posts: 59160
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:39 pm
Location: Cheer up, bіtch!
Contact:

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby dodint » Wed Jan 24, 2018 1:15 pm

Yeah, I have no delusions. I really felt I wrung everything I had out of the Mustang on that track. Kind of glad I sold it before Bryan could humiliate me. :lol:

tifosi77
Posts: 51514
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:07 pm
Location: Batuu

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby tifosi77 » Wed Jan 24, 2018 1:21 pm

Vasseur called off Honda deal an hour into Sauber tenure
Fred Vasseur's no-nonsense approach to being a motor racing team boss helped him carve out an ultra-successful career in the junior categories – and made him an obvious candidate when Sauber were after a new chief last year.

Yet there is no better proof for how intense, determined and focused he can be in his job than the speed with which he got on with plotting an all new direction for the Swiss team within minutes of getting his feet under the desk on his first day.

The boldest move of all – cancelling plans for Sauber to tie up with Honda – was top of his job list when he walked through the factory doors, and the wheels were set in motion within minutes of starting.

"I joined on July 17 at 9am, and the meeting was at 10am," he smiled, in an interview with Motorsport.com reflecting on his return to the front line in F1.

dodint
Posts: 59160
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:39 pm
Location: Cheer up, bіtch!
Contact:

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby dodint » Wed Jan 24, 2018 1:26 pm

Ohhhh, wow.

tifosi77
Posts: 51514
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:07 pm
Location: Batuu

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby tifosi77 » Fri Jan 26, 2018 2:52 pm

Anyone know anyone with experience going to Sonoma Raceway? Considering going for the Indycar race in September; 3-day packages are only around $100, including garage access. I normally wander the track, but I'm wondering what the best sightlines for a reserved seat might be.

dodint
Posts: 59160
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:39 pm
Location: Cheer up, bіtch!
Contact:

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby dodint » Fri Jan 26, 2018 2:54 pm

Sonoma is better than Sebring.

dodint
Posts: 59160
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:39 pm
Location: Cheer up, bіtch!
Contact:

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby dodint » Fri Jan 26, 2018 3:08 pm

I asked a buddy of mine that goes often:

"Sightlines are pretty reasonable everywhere
Grandstands have the possible perk of shade"

tifosi77
Posts: 51514
Joined: Wed Mar 25, 2015 1:07 pm
Location: Batuu

Motorsports (non-NASCAR)

Postby tifosi77 » Fri Jan 26, 2018 3:08 pm

Thanks for that. I guess it's helpful that the place is built into the side of a hill.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Beveridge and 121 guests