Auto Racing: Life in Fast Lane

Racing is the passion of my life. Whether I am watching a race, attending a race or just sim racing on my computer I'm happy. These are the stories that have to do with racing, motor sport and other various automotive topics.
Auto Racing
Fantasy Le Mans 2010
Written by rax262   
Friday, 04 June 2010 22:51

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is on June 12, or about two and a half weeks from now. As in years past I'm managing a "Fantasy Racing Pick-Em Challenge". The goal is simple, choose a set of cars you think will finish the race and earn points. I'll publish the results on facebook and on my website when the event is over. You can submit your picks via facebook or email by the deadline below.

At any rate here are the rules for this year's challenge:

Must choose 3 teams from each class plus 1 backup.

  • No more than 1 car "Chassis/Engine" or "Make/Model" per class (ex: "Peugeot 908 HDi FAP" / "Audi R15 TDI plus" / "Audi R10 TDI")
  • No more than 1 factory team per class. These are:
    • Team Peugeot / Peugeot Sport
    • Audi Sport (Team Joest, North America)
    • Aston Martin Racing
    • Corvette Racing
    • BMW Motorsport
    • Jaguar RSR * (Removed 6/5/10)
    • Spyker Squadron
    • AF Corse (Ferrari)
    • * No more than 2 Michelin shod (tires) cars per class

NOTE: You may substitute a back up entry if one of your three primary entries withdraws prior to the start of the race. Once the race begins no substitutions will be allowed.

Scoring for each class:

  • Points for final position after 24 hours as determined by ACO official results:
    • 1st - 10 pts
    • 2nd - 7 pts
    • 3rd - 5 pts
    • 4th - 3 pts
    • 5th - 2 pts
    • 6th - 1 pt
  • Penalties
    • -2 pts :: Car "Not Classified" by ACO - Not completing 70% of the winner's distance or not taking checkered flag
    • -5 pts :: Car retired "Did Not Finish" by ACO

Victory Conditions: The team with the highest score based on car finishing position minus any penalties is the winner.

Tie Breaker: All teams must choose the fastest qualifying time for LMP1, LMP2, GT1 and GT2. In the event of a tie the team whose qualifying time delta (difference) is the lowest, as calculated across all four classes in milliseconds, will be the winner.

A reference of teams is available here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans or on the official 24 Hours of Le Mans website. The official ACO entry list and event results will be considered for the purposes of team eligibility and event result scoring. For last years qualifying times see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_24_Hours_of_Le_Mans.

Deadline to choose teams is 9 am EDT - Thursday June 10 Deadline to use backup is 9 am EDT - Saturday June 12 Preliminary results will be calculated following the conclusion of the event, final scores will be determined when ACO publishes official results.

Update 6/4/2010 - Jaguar RSR removed from "factory" list.

Read more...
 
24 Hours Nürburgring 2010
Written by rax262   
Saturday, 15 May 2010 06:44

About:

The 24 Hours Nürburgring is a touring car and GT endurance racing event on the Nürburgring Nordschleife (north loop). With a lap length of over 25 km (15.5 mi), it allows the participation of more than 200 cars, and over 700 drivers. - From Wikipedia

Web Resources

Official Video Stream - Commentary in German.

Entry List

Radio Le Mans - English coverage by John Hindhaugh, Nick Daman, Graham Tyler, Jeremy Shaw

Midweek Motorsport Listeners Collective discussion - Facebook discussion group

Track Map - Turn by turn

AMR Teams - Live Video feed

Kiwi Team Nurburgring Videos, images, etc.

Track temperature and weather prediction

RacefansTV.com watch highlights of the past races (2002-2009) for free.

Alternate Live-Timing - Seems to update more frequently than the official site

Twitter

My List: nurburgring24h

Users to follow:

radiolemans
MidwkMotorsport
SPEEDHUNTERS
oneighturbo
Pistonspy
toomuchracing
jamiewolfcale
Audidriven
AUSmotive
GenevaAuto
astonmartin
ktn24hour
Lexus_EU
frozenspeed

Topics to follow:

#n24
#Nurburgring

Interesting Tweets & Commentary:

"The largest club race in the world"

"Looking out at the grid for the Nurburgring 24 Hours - Have you ever seen 200 race cars and 100,000 people in one place at the same time?" -Radio Le Mans

Nurburgring 24 Live Blog

Video: BMW vs armco. Armco wins (via Drive Cult blog)
"That little Lotus is BBQ'd. Not medium rare, well done." -RML

RT @radiolemans: Roger Green out of the car but car burnt out. Thank Goodness he is OK.

"I came around the corner and saw a set of headlights lying in the road. Obviously they weren't on." -RLM interview.

"Radio Le Mans just reported that the 911 Hybrid has been able to go two laps longer than anyone else. They’re currently in 5th. Not bad for a laboratory." - DriveCult.Com

 
58th 12 Hours of Sebring Resources
Written by rax262   
Saturday, 13 March 2010 07:17

All the links, material for the 58th 12 Hours of Sebring

Stats

    Previous Race
  • Length: 383 laps for 1417.1 miles
  • Duration: 12 hours 38.638 seconds
  • Overall margin of victory: 22.279 seconds
    Fast Laps:
    • Qualifiers:
    • P1: #66 Scott Dixon - 1:45.278
    • P2: #15 Adrian Fernandez - 1:49.686
    • GT1: # 4 Oliver Gavin - 1:57.882
    • GT2: #87 Dirk Werner - 2:03.051
    • Race Lap:
    • P1: #08 Sébastien Bourdais - 1:43.274
    • P2: #15 Adrian Fernandez - 1:49.068
    • GT1: # 4 Oliver Gavin - 1:56.905
    • GT2: #45 Marc Lieb - 2:02.494

Web Resources

SPEED TV - TV & Streaming coverage. TV: 10am-12pm, 2pm-11pm; Streaming: Friday at 1:45 p.m. ET for qualifying, Saturday at 12-2 p.m. ET

Radio Le Mans Audio coverage

Live Timing and Scoring

Pit Notes

Entry list with tire manufactures, etc.

Official Results

Provisional Race Results

Final Grid

2010 Sebring Practice 4

2010 Sebring Practice 3

2010 Sebring Practice 2

2010 Sebring Practice 1

2010 Sebring Entry List

Sebring Track Map

Fan Content

Stereo audio from track side by Fred Noel (konputa)

Twitter

My AutoRacing list

Users to follow:

almsnotes - Official American Le Mans Series

Sebring Raceway

MidwkMotorsport - Midweek Motorsport / Radio Le Mans

speedtv - TV coverage & news

Topics to follow:

#Sebring12

#alms

#Sebring

Interesting Tweets:

The_Lap_Times : Less than two-tenths between the 3 #LMP2 cars & three-tenths in #LMPC! Can it be tomorrow now please? #ALMS #Sebring12

Lemansrace : "it is never a good day when you are overtaken by bits of your car!" classic John Hindhaugh. Listen now at www.radiolemans.com

 
Re: Saudi royal buys stake in Richard Petty Motorsports
Written by rax262   
Monday, 05 October 2009 00:00

Right or wrong I think NASCAR will lose fans over this. The concerning trend here is not that a member of the Saudi royal family owns a part of a once iconic team, but that a majority stake holder in that team with no historical ties to the sport essentially sold his interest to the highest bidder.

George Gillett is a businessman and he sees fit to do with his money as he pleases. His stake in Evernham was just an investment and it's no surprise that he dumped his share when an interested party came knocking, it happens every day on Wall Street and Main Street.

That said the thing that won’t sit well with fans is realization that the days of familial ownership are over. Portions of a team can be bought and sold and the current owner may bear no ties which prevent him from selling his stake and he may do so with little care of the long term effect on the sport.

As a fan of many forms for motor racing I understand that while these cars run on gasoline the teams run on money, and lots of it. The dependence upon sponsorship and rich benefactors will always be a part of motorsports. Some folks believe that “any money is good money” and I don’t begrudge them for that belief, however I feel that they should carefully consider the source their funds.

When you enter into a business relationship you associate yourself with them. Be it a Saudi royal, Texas oil man, or good ole boy in Kannapolis, you and your reputation as a team will be judged by the company you keep. To see this look no further than GM and Chrysler who’ve experienced double digit declines in sales after bankruptcy and bail outs compared to Ford who thus far has avoided government aid.

At the end of the day fans will look at these teams with multiple stake holders and ask themselves if this is the NASCAR they know and love. Unfortunately some fans will not like what they see and will drift away from the sport. The question that this raises in my mind is whether this new era of ownership will attract new fans. In my opinion it will not, but it will sustain the sport through these dark times. If RPM is Richard Petty in name only then so be it, at least it will keep cars on the track. However don’t be surprised when fans turn elsewhere.

Original article and thread at: NASCAR Insiders: A Saudi Prince? Why Not?

 
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