De Ferran to ALMS [Archive] - Off Camber Forums

extramundane

01-29-08, 12:44 PM

w/ former AGR guy John Anderson, no less.

Acura Motorsports announced at Sebring today that a fourth Acura ARX-01b will race in the ALMS this season, to be entered by de Ferran Motorsports, and Gil himself will race it. de Ferran Motorsports is a newly set up organization, based in Indianapolis.

Rats leaving the IRL ship?

Methanolandbrats

01-29-08, 12:49 PM

WTF? A good guy in a decent car in an actual racing series. Who would have guessed.:thumbup:

extramundane

01-29-08, 12:55 PM

Yep, and nice to see him come back in something a little less likely to further scramble his noodle. Glad he got out of the clustereff that was the Honda F1 program too. He's far too nice a guy to deserve that.

That he, Anderson and Honda set up shop in ALMS may well confirm what we already suspected about post-Clarke HPD's focus.

STD

01-29-08, 01:38 PM

Got to agree. Good racing to him.

cameraman

01-29-08, 01:53 PM

Makes it all the easier to root against Penske when you actually have somebody you can support:D

Sean Malone

01-29-08, 02:40 PM

How hard would it be for KK to bolt some fenders on the DP01's and call them prototypes?

Srsyly. :)

cameraman

01-29-08, 02:42 PM

He'd have to bolt on about half a ton of lead too...

Sean Malone

01-29-08, 02:46 PM

He'd have to bolt on about half a ton of lead too...

Even in tracys car?:)

pchall

01-29-08, 02:47 PM

w/ former AGR guy John Anderson, no less.

Rats leaving the IRL ship?

GdF is certainly not rat. He finished his contract with Penske and quietly bowed out of the IRL at the end of 2003 before collecting the wall enough times to cause permanent injury. It's nice to see him back in the sport again as team owner and driver. At 40 he's certainly got a good number of years in ALMS P2 ahead of him. :)

Sean Malone

01-29-08, 02:51 PM

Always liked GdF. Class act.:thumbup:

extramundane

01-29-08, 02:55 PM

How hard would it be for KK to bolt some fenders on the DP01's and call them prototypes?

Srsyly. :)

I think now that ACO prototype rules mandate a "2-seat" tub, that pretty much eliminates that prospect.

extramundane

01-29-08, 02:56 PM

GdF is certainly not rat.

I was speaking metaphorically :)

I've no qualms at all w/ Gil, and the series is lucky to have him, especially since he's not with Penske.

pchall

01-29-08, 02:59 PM

I was speaking metaphorically :)

I've no qualms at all w/ Gil, and the series is lucky to have him, especially since he's not with Penske.

It would be nice to see GdF beat Penske's PCNA backed Spyders. :)

Winston Wolfe

01-29-08, 05:08 PM

GdF is certainly not rat. He finished his contract with Penske and quietly bowed out of the IRL at the end of 2003 before collecting the wall enough times to cause permanent injury. It's nice to see him back in the sport again as team owner and driver. At 40 he's certainly got a good number of years in ALMS P2 ahead of him. :)

GdF is one of my favorite drivers from the CART days. I saw him at Fontucky back at the first earl race there (had to be there for work related duty) and saw him in the garage area and had him sign a die cast for me (walker valvoline car) - I asked him if we'd ever see him back in CART anytime soon and he looked around and said quietly "i hope so"....
I dont recall him ever trashing they guys who stayed behind at CART\ CCWS and drinking too much of kool aid whilst in the earl.... and he got his CART Championship and got out of the earl before things got too bad.
I wish him well and hope he gets a chance to take a few away from the Penske fellas....:thumbup:

JT265

01-29-08, 06:40 PM

Always liked GdF. Class act.:thumbup:

Indeed. :thumbup:

01-30-08, 12:33 PM

GdF is one of my favorite drivers from the CART days. I saw him at Fontucky back at the first earl race there (had to be there for work related duty) and saw him in the garage area and had him sign a die cast for me (walker valvoline car) - I asked him if we'd ever see him back in CART anytime soon and he looked around and said quietly "i hope so"....
I agree with everyone about GdF being a class act. It really saddened me when he went over. I didn't get pissed, just sad.

That said, I asked FMA back in 2002 if he was going to keep his newly-formed team in CART. His answer was, "I hope so".:shakehead

Probably the difference here, I knew FMA was lying.

eiregosod

01-30-08, 01:39 PM

That he, Anderson and Honda set up shop in ALMS may well confirm what we already suspected about post-Clarke HPD's focus.

the Indy-style engines are designed and prefected for the "how fast do wanna go 500". They dont have to compete in Indy style just keep enough good teams, FTG will pay for the rest.

ALMS is where they'll set their sights on competetive motorsport.

JLMannin

01-30-08, 02:29 PM

I happy for Gil that he got out of the IRL with his head and spine intact. I, too, was sad to see him go to the irl.

cameraman

01-30-08, 02:41 PM

Methanolandbrats

01-30-08, 02:45 PM

Gil De Ferran is the only human to navigate both sides the split with no damage to his reputation. He has been a Honda employee for years now and we don't hate him for it. He is truly Superman.

I'm going to be actively supporting an Acura to win. wtf is up with that???
:laugh:
I'm going to have a bit of trouble rooting for an Acura too since I hate Honda. Not sure how you root for a driver to win, but want his car to break :confused:

Al Czervik

01-30-08, 03:30 PM

I'm going to have a bit of trouble rooting for an Acura too since I hate Honda. Not sure how you root for a driver to win, but want his car to break :confused:

Just have him pull a 'Mansell in a Lotus, Dallas, 1984'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_United_States_Grand_Prix That wasn't for the win, but you get the gist of it.

pchall

01-30-08, 04:48 PM

Just have him pull a 'Mansell in a Lotus, Dallas, 1984'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_United_States_Grand_Prix That wasn't for the win, but you get the gist of it.

How about having that Honda mill blow spectacularly right before the finish line and GdF coasting across for the win?

RHR_Fan

02-01-08, 10:30 PM

I'll get to watch Gil and C. Fittipaldi race in ALMS this year. It'll be like being 11 years old again! :\

Methanolandbrats

02-01-08, 11:34 PM

I'll get to watch Gil and C. Fittipaldi race in ALMS this year. It'll be like being 11 years old again! :\ Chrissy has a ride? That tool, I thought he was growing oranges or something. I can't watch that. :yuck: How long till he backs it in, that was his specialty in CART.

pchall

02-01-08, 11:55 PM

Chrissy has a ride? That tool, I thought he was growing oranges or something. I can't watch that. :yuck: How long till he backs it in, that was his specialty in CART.

He did a good job just running into the Armco straight on, too. Surfer's Paradise, 1997 comes to mind. He wound up with the classic tib/fib breaks from stomping on the brake pedal while smashing the nose right in.