ALMS in Long Beach

[cameraman]

21 cars:shakehead

Two Lola/AER LMP1s vs two Acura LMP1s
Two Mazda LMP2s vs one Acura LMP2s
Two GT1s
and an even dozen GT2s
:shakehead

The GT2s are
five Porsche 911 GT3s
one Panoz Esperante GTLM
one Riley Corvette C6
one Doran Ford GT MK 7
one Dodge Viper
one Ferrari 430 :irked:
two BMW E92 M3

[Trevor Longman]

While that does seem like all bad news, it would been just 20 cars if not for this bright spot. Vici Racing announced a few days ago that they had picked up T-Mobile for the full season. They paid for the full livery, it's pink but whatever. It's nice to see a mainstream sponsor thats not brought by a driver or associated with the manufacturer invest in racing outside of NASCAR.

http://www.planetlemans.com/2009/04/14/vici-racing-announces-deal-with-t-mobile-usa/

[extramundane]

21 cars:shakehead

But that's 4 more than last race, so if they keep it up, they'll have, like, 87 cars by October.

</crappylogic>

[cameraman]

Speaking of all things crappy...

It seems Paulie boy and Rocketsports will be entering the ALMS this year in a GT2 Jaguar. Factory approved but not factory sponsored.

I'd like to see the Jag, too bad it has to be associated with that weasel.

[Trevor Longman]

press release:

http://www.planetlemans.com/2009/04/17/rocketsports-racing-unveils-alms-gt2-program/

Wow, I don't think they could have picked a worse color scheme. It woul be pretty sweet if they just got rid of the radioactive green and left it all in that flat/matte black, or if they changed that green to silver.

[extramundane]

It woul be pretty sweet if they just got rid of the radioactive team owner.

:thumbup:

Thus continues Mr. G's long relationship with tatas.

[NismoZ]

The Sharp/Brabham car certainly deserves the win. Why not just erase the bogus 20 (24) sec. penalty and declare them the victors? Heck, they even made up 18 of that 24 secs. by the time that final yellow came out. Give it to 'em!:mad:

[NismoZ]

Sheesh, speaking of "safety"...interesting to see Boris bailing from a fully engulfed Corvette as 2 of IMSA'S best race past him to attend to the car. I know, he appeared to be OK, but, c'mon...(and PS...I take NOTHING away from Gil and Simon. In fact I wish they had won... on their own merits.)

[G.]

Any post-race interview with Boris? I'd like to know what happened/how he is. Couldn't find much on The Google. He walked away (briskly!), but he was laying down for a while. Walked to safety car, etc., so he's generally good.

Got that "Oh ****!" feeling watching that.

http://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceball.gif

http://l.yimg.com/g/images/spaceball.gif

Can't link pics, maybe here. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/budzinskij/3455139918/in/set-72157616939145889/)

[cameraman]

Okay... Is IMSA getting lessons from the FIA?


However, an IMSA pit lane official imposed a 20 second penalty at the stop - alleging the Patrón Highcroft Racing fire extinguisher crew member was not wearing an appropriate helmet.

The penalty - which actually kept the car stationary for 24 seconds - was imposed despite the fact that the helmet has passed tech scrutineering at each ALMS event and that it was the same helmet used by the team since the commencement of the Acura program in 2007.

The team has appealed the penalty and is awaiting a decision by race officials.

Really deciding the race based on that?:flame:

[NismoZ]

At least they're going to take a look at it and I heard Sharp say they "might be given some extra points or something." Better than a "that's racin'", I guess.:)

[NismoZ]

Couldn't help but think of Jr.s' Corvette conflagration as Boris was rolling to a flaming stop. If there is even a REMOTE connection as far as cause is concerned SOMEthing better be done to correct it! Wasn't it (Jr.s') something about a fuel line safety disconnect part??

[extramundane]

So basically if you enter Boris in a Corvette, it's gonna burn down that weekend.

I couldn't find any coverage of this thing out in the English countryside, but I think that might have been a good thing.

[Easy]

:thumbup:

Thus continues Mr. G's long relationship with tatas.



:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Andrew Longman]

Couldn't help but think of Jr.s' Corvette conflagration as Boris was rolling to a flaming stop. If there is even a REMOTE connection as far as cause is concerned SOMEthing better be done to correct it! Wasn't it (Jr.s') something about a fuel line safety disconnect part??

Whatever the cause Boris got a real snoot full of heat the extinguisher. He had the door open before he came to a stop. A scary moment that took him a few minutes to recover from. Lucky. I hate fire.

[Gnam]

Anyone know if IMSA picked up any pieces of the Champ Car Safety Team?
The IMSA team response seemed similar to F1: corner workers first, then the safety team. Were there teams at various points along the track or just the one vehicle in pit lane?

As for the official ruining Highcroft's race, I didn't know an official could impose a penalty on the spot all by himself. Doesn't he have to consult Race Control and wait for a decision before standing in front of a car?

So the lesson learned is to pull the official out of the way, send the car, and argue about it later. ;)

[FCYTravis]

Last time I saw them working, the IMSA Safety Team had three or four crash/fire/rescue trucks at any given circuit.

[NismoZ]

I'd suggest more than that at RA.

[Gnam]

Found this description from 2007. Sounds good.

http://www.theraceforums.com/forums/series-news/220-behind-scenes-look-imsa-safety-team.html

[Trevor Longman]

Couldn't help but think of Jr.s' Corvette conflagration as Boris was rolling to a flaming stop. If there is even a REMOTE connection as far as cause is concerned SOMEthing better be done to correct it! Wasn't it (Jr.s') something about a fuel line safety disconnect part??

There was no connection between the two. About 15 min. earlier Boris had been hit and spun in a dive bomb pass attempt by Joey Hand. When Hand's BMW hit the back of the Corvette, the exhaust pipe was either bent or broken and all of the hot exhaust ended up being aimed at the carbon fiber rocker panel which eventually caught fire about halfway down the front straight and in turn ended up setting fire to the pressurized fuel line. The whole thing was just a freak accident and really couldn't have been prevented.

Also, Boris Said has minor burns on his arms and eyes. Hope he gets better soon. Besides Boris' condition, the thing I am most upset about is that LG Motorsports is a fully privateer team that was just starting to put it together this year. It will be sad to see them not in the field especially considering the already poor state of the ALMS field. :(

[oddlycalm]

I hate fire.
Amen to that. I miss some of the old cars but I don't miss all the fires one bit. I don't even like to think about race fires. Glad to see Boris escape with only a moderate singe.

oc

[Hameroids]

The Sharp/Brabham car certainly deserves the win. Why not just erase the bogus 20 (24) sec. penalty and declare them the victors? Heck, they even made up 18 of that 24 secs. by the time that final yellow came out. Give it to 'em!:mad:

Yeah, that was a bad call indeed; I think they should take Highcroft's Long Beach points away because of it.

You see in the version of the race without the penalty, they came out of the pit lane 24 seconds sooner, and hit the GT40, causing major suspension damage, and forcing them to retire before completing 70% of the race laps.