Hello gentlemen, i was wondering if any other bimmer nuts aside from myself will be at the 12 hours of Sebring this coming weekend...im about to hop on a plane myself and head down there...i'll be wandering the track and the pits for the rest of the week...shooting for a PR company for one of the teams...if anyone is brining their 6er down...let me know i'll probaly want to check it out. Maybe shoot it for you...anyhow..just drop me a line.. take er easy


Audi's world domination of ALMS continues in 2007

look for the BMW Corral- lots of cars every year.

i will do so....if your going to be there just keep an eye out for the 20 year old wandering about with a giant camera and camera bag wearing a orange audisport usa driver's suit...i'll be around....mostly in the pits i think...

Isn't Team PTG racing the Panoz cars now?

Isn't Team PTG racing the Panoz cars now?
Unfortantly yes.

That was an awesome finish to the GT2 race. Wow

That was an awesome finish to the GT2 race. Wow
+1!!!!

That was an awesome finish to the GT2 race. Wow
x100000000000 Simply Amazing. Couldnt of ended any better (Unless of course the flying lizard car won), id be pissed too if i was borg but as the race director said "it was good hard racing"

Go Ferrari...it's nice to see another marque win in the Spec-GT3RS class!

+3, I even had my gf standing on the sofa shaking her fist at the TV!! :lol:

Best finish I've seen in quite a while!

so theres nothing wrong according to the rules on what Melo did? i understand being competetive but wow.

so theres nothing illegal in what melo did? doesnt seem right, thats rough racing.

What was so rough about it? It would have been rough if he had taken Jorg out...instead, he squeezed him just enough to get the win. Brilliant move in a car that was obviously running on crap tires.

my understanding of the rules is very poor but if i were pulling for Borg i would be pissed, its hard to say if there was no contact whether he would have pulled off the win or not, thats got to be frustrating.

so theres nothing wrong according to the rules on what Melo did? i understand being competetive but wow.
You might think so if you dont watch/compete in racing that much but appently it was totaly legit, they even quoted the race director befor they went to F1 saying that it was just good raceing

my understanding of the rules is very poor but if i were pulling for Borg i would be pissed, its hard to say if there was no contact whether he would have pulled off the win or not, thats got to be frustrating. If i was Borg i would be pissed too but thats racing and it happens sometimes. It def makes really good tv though.

i've personally never seen a finish like that in LeMans.

i understand bumping and nudging on the track, i use those terms lightly, but thats gotta be a first for me to see, forgive my ignorance.

That was an awesome finish to the GT2 race. Wow
you should have been at Turn 16 when they came by, it was CLOSE!
Jake

you should have been at Turn 16 when they came by, it was CLOSE!
Jake

You are so lucky. That would have been awesome.

Turn 17 was better. :D

hahah just got in form the race. The finish was awesome. As soon as Melo went into braking first, I knew exactly how he was going to set him up. The exit of 17 panned out as I expected and was a real treat to watch.

I spent the day with some friends in the Acura corral, parade laps, and whatnot. It was a good day. We got to meet and greet some execs and engineers, and Acura was very hospitable and supportive.

Even if you weren't going for Acrua, they sure came out strong. A #1 and #2 in class with a 2nd overall is an impressive start, espcially considering all 3 teams were quite off pace a month ago (still on a steep learning curve) and the chassis on the highcroft car is only 3 weeks old.

Even if you weren't going for Acrua, they sure came out strong. A #1 and #2 in class with a 2nd overall is an impressive start, espcially considering all 3 teams were quite off pace a month ago (still on a steep learning curve) and the chassis on the highcroft car is only 3 weeks old.
I def agree. They were very strong for how short the program has been around. Do they plan on competeing the entire season? If so I cant wait to see how they do.

You are so lucky. That would have been awesome.
I am lucky. I've got Dave Mundy to thank for the opportunity.
Jake
EDIT:
Even if you weren't going for Acrua, they sure came out strong. A #1 and #2 in class with a 2nd overall is an impressive start, espcially considering all 3 teams were quite off pace a month ago (still on a steep learning curve) and the chassis on the highcroft car is only 3 weeks old.
true, but I must say, I don't think the whole 12 hour test at Sebring Acura was allowed was really fair. No other company got that kind of deal. I was really surprised the 26 lasted, through Turn 5 I kept seeing him let off some smoke, so, I figured his gearbox would be toast in no time...

i was in the pits almost the entire race....during the last half an hour i had never seen so many teams that tense at the same time....it was unreal. Oh and a big old F***K OFF to mr. dyson. Its not audi's fault you can win a race!
Congrats to Audi for doing what they do best. I was also glad to see Mr. Andretti's team walk all over porsche...i mean i love porsches but penske and dyson not so much...i'll post up some of my shots once i get done inventorying them.

I am lucky. I've got Dave Mundy to thank for the opportunity.
Jake
EDIT:

true, but I must say, I don't think the whole 12 hour test at Sebring Acura was allowed was really fair. No other company got that kind of deal. I was really surprised the 26 lasted, through Turn 5 I kept seeing him let off some smoke, so, I figured his gearbox would be toast in no time...


Although the Acura wouldnt have had the chance to pass the Audi (the audi being consitantly 21mph faster around the track, it would have not been so many laps down if they didnt baby it around the track for the last 15-20min. They incountered a leak in the gearbox, and had to make two lengthy pit-stops to refill it during the end of the race. But they took it easy realizing that if the car would drive they had 2nd locked in. They were turing 02:11 laps at the end opposed to around the 01:55's.

Great race though...cant wait for the other 6 im going to this season :D

true, but I must say, I don't think the whole 12 hour test at Sebring Acura was allowed was really fair. No other company got that kind of deal.

It was a private test wasn't it? Any other team could have called up Sebring and rented it out for 2 days to run their own test.

I watched about 6 hours of it, what a great finish for GT2. Corvette cleaned up again, their teamwork is stunning. What ended up being the problem with the Porsche's? Was it the alternator as they suggested?

What ended up being the problem with the Porsche's? Was it the alternator as they suggested?
I belive they said that it was a 50 cent part that attaches to a cable that leads to the alternator. The part falling off its connector and shorting out the alternator. It was that or somthing very very similar, i do remember that it was a 50 cent part causeing all the problmes though.

It was a private test wasn't it? Any other team could have called up Sebring and rented it out for 2 days to run their own test.
right, but I read somewhere that there is a rule with either IMSA or the ACO about testing. something like that 12 hour test doesn't seem like it would even have a chance of passing fairly...
Jake

Yeah i guess Acura found some sort of loop hole to have a one make race to do the final testing. But in most cases teams go down there for scheduled testing and run as if they were doing the actual race. I know they did similar with the R10 before sebring except they ran it for 24 hours...

I watched about 6 hours of it, what a great finish for GT2. Corvette cleaned up again, their teamwork is stunning. What ended up being the problem with the Porsche's? Was it the alternator as they suggested?

From a spectator's point of view, it's hard to tell. I went to the Pensky truck when the first spyder came in, and they replaced a LOT of stuff. I saw most of the engine's wiring harness come off, the alternator, and I think the battery as well.

From a spectator's point of view, it's hard to tell. I went to the Pensky truck when the first spyder came in, and they replaced a LOT of stuff. I saw most of the engine's wiring harness come off, the alternator, and I think the battery as well.
I bet it was the alternator. They had the same problem with one of the cars at Sebring last year. The problem is that it is a Bosch part, so there is little way they can fix the issue. It's really kind of dumb, Porsche could have gone 1-4 in LMP2 quite easily if they hadn't had so many problems.
also, anyone get to watch the start? Those Dysons just killed the Acuras right at the line...
Jake

The tv report showed a terminal lug from the alternator.

I got a little sleep and then went to church on Sunday morning. A guy came up and was talking to me about the race. He then proceeded to tell me that he was short of pit workers and could have used the help. He was pit marshall for 4 teams including Andretti/Green. I will have to keep a little closer contact from now on. I love getting involved in stuff.

that was definitely a great race! i had expected the acuras to do well, as well as Risi's Ferraris but it was a nice surprise for both of them to take their respective classes!

Got about 400 pics to sift through, will come back and post a link tonight, hopefully.

Was anybody else there for the monsoons earlier on in the week? Friday was absolutely ridiculous. I got there at the end of the SPEED touring race and that's when the skies opened up. Was glad everything cleared up for Mazda Star and SPEED GT, I enjoyed watching those races.

^^ excited to see.

Seeing as how they even hired IMSA officials to help monitor and run the 12 hours Test, I highly doubt there was anything wrong with it. And with how many times they got pegged for tiny infractions during stops.....they need even more test time I think! :D

Brian.....where you been? The 430 has been the class of the field since its introduction last season. P-Car's hope is the new 997 will help fix that.....Sebring showed for the most part they have a lot of work to do still. And I hope they get some more creative paint jobs....the Porsches for the most part were pretty boring to look at this year....