ALMS Round 10 - Laguna Seca - Results

Overall: What a wonderful race. The first one in a while I have been able to listen to and follow the live timing of (despite an intense BSU vs. UI game in the background). The safety officials were spot on, doing a great job with the yellows when needed, and holding off when not needed. Only four or five cars retired - the #21 being the fifth, driving behind the wall with under 15 minutes left but not officially retired. I don't even want to guess how many lead changes we had. Creation, Zytek, Penske, Audi, and Dyson were all leading at one point or another, but at the end Audi pulled it out. After some serious troubles, they were very fast through the middle of the race, getting both cars in the top five on a different pit strategy from everybody else, which gave them the 1-2. Stunning accomplishment for the still unbeaten car. Good work by the ADT Champion Racing team, Audi Sport North America, and Team Joest to bring the undefeated underdog car home in first place. Perfect. A great accomplishment for a great team.


LMP1: Audi, Audi, Creation, Dyson, Zytek. A great race, every single car here lead at one point, except maybe Pirro's #2 Audi. Great racing, and I loved seeing more than one car challenging the Audi's. Autocon was the only other LMP1 on the track, but they had problems and were in and out of the pits most of the race. Highcroft didn't show.


LMP2: Porsche, Porsche, Intersport, B-K Mazda, Radical, Radical, Horag Lola. The Van Der Steur Radical and the Horag Lola both retired with a mechanical problem and an accident respectively. Intersport played it safe and capitalized on problems with the Radicals to take the third podium spot. B-K, the only team on Kuhmo tyres, had a great finish in fourth after slow pace throughout the race. The Bruichaddich team had a water pump blow on them, which put them second to last overall. Very unfortunate for the two Radicals, great cars, just unlucky today. Porsche, after saying all year that they are not gunning for a win and are only in ALMS for the LMP2 Championship, changed their mind right before the race when one of their drivers said, "I am a racer, I will try to win LMP2, but if I have a shot at winning overall, I will try." Their new car comes out in March, and they will be at Le Mans next year.


GT1: Wow! Wonderful racing as always in this close field. For almost the entire race, all four cars were on the same lap and within sight of each other. Stunning. In the last hour, Tomas Enge (007) and Johnny O'Connell (#3) each had a problem and dropped a lap from the leading 009 and the second place #4. The two top cars came across the line 5 seconds apart, while the two cars down a lap came across .5 seconds apart. Corvette got enough points to secure the manufacturers, team, drivers, and tyre championship.


GT2: Awesome race as always. Alex Job led, and finished third, but the race for the lead was really between Mike Salo (above) and Jorg Bergemeister (below) all day. The #62 Ferrari of Salo had about a second per lap over Bergemeister's #31 Peterson/White Lightning Porsche, but starting from pit lane set them back immediately. In the last ten minutes, Salo got the lead back after a great comeback, and finished almost 13 seconds up on the Porsche. Alex Job finished a lap back - a great podium for their beautiful car, but some bad luck put them off the top spot. Then came Flying Lizard, Panoz, Flying Lizard, BMW, and the other Ferrari. The second Panoz and BMW both retired. So, at the end of the season, the team championships go to Peterson/White Lightning, and the driver championship goes to Bergemeister. Johannes van Overbeek and Wolf Henzler's #45 Flying Lizard, which was a major contender, broke a radiator, giving bergemeister the championship.

ALMS Round 10 - Laguna Seca - Qualifying

Overall: Not Audi. Zytek (above) leads by .1 seconds over Creation, and .3 over the #6 Porsche LMP2 RS Spyder. Then the two Audi's.


LMP1: Not Audi. (I just like saying it.) Audi tried to make excuses by saying this track is the opposite of Le Mans and the R10 was designed for Le Mans, no other censors. Zytek is at 1:13.7. Audi is .4 seconds off, and gunning for a perfect LMP1 record for the season. Creation (above) was held up by Dumas in the #7 Porsche on their two hot laps. Dyson is unsure if they will be on pace for the race or not. They were inexplicably slow at 1:15.105.


LMP2: Porsche, Porsche, Radical, Radical. The Bruichladdich's (above) 1:15.311 is a half second faster than earlier - which is a great improvement in the 10 minutes between the final practice and the qualifying session. The Van Der Steur Radical also improved greatly, ending with a 1:16.267. This will be fun to see the gorgeous Radical SR9 take a podium spot. Horag and B-K are way off pace.

GT1: Half a second and seven points seperate all four cars. 009 is up by a quarter, #3 leads #4 by a tenth, and the 007 trails by a tenth and a half.


GT2: Poor Lizards. Their only car that did qualify finished two seconds off the lead. Risi took a stunning time across the line, finishing at 1:23.611 - fully half a second faster than the nearest car. The #23 Porsche of Alex Job (above) took second - a wonderful accomplishment for a team that has really struggled this year, and is battling with BMW over second-to-last place in the GT2 team championships. Peterson/White Lightning took third, while the other Ferrari is fourth. Panoz has the next two spots, followed by BMW, Flying Lizard, BMW, and Flying Lizard.

Predictions:

LMP1/Overall: Creation, Zytek, Audi.

LMP2: Porsche, Bruichladdich, Porsche.

GT1: Aston, Vette, Vette.

GT2: Risi, Peterson, Risi.

ALMS Round 10 - Laguna Seca - Practice #2

I think Audi will be beat this weekend. Their car is long, torquey, and heavy on this tight, twisty track.

LMP1: ZYTEK!!! WOHOOOOO!!!!! For a racing fan not quite the biggest Audi supporter, Zytek posting a time .4 second faster than the fastest Audi is huge. Also, the Creation sits only .4 seconds behind the Audi. I'm getting very excited for this race. Dyson is limping.

LMP2: Okay, maybe not. The #7 set a 1:14.169, .004 slower than the LMP1 Audi, and the #76 Bruichladdich Radical stayed at 1:15.766. Dang. Intersport/Lola spun into a tyre wall and may be unable to race, but with an all night repair, they could be there.

GT1: 009, #3, #4.

GT2: Risi Ferrari, Risi Ferrari, Peterson/White Lightning. Alex Job is really battling with the BMWs this race, but that lead last practice must have been encouraging for the team. Panoz had the lead early on.

ALMS Round 10 - Laguna Seca - Practice #1

This has always been my favorite American track. I am excited for this race. The first practice just wrapped up, and this is what I think.

LMP1: Poor Dyson. Their car had a "slight fire" and ended up behind the wall - broken oil line: fixed. Audi is fastest, followed by the Creation "Blue Rocket", then the Zytek.

LMP2: The Porsche Can Be Beat! I swear it. Maybe not this weekend, but they will be beat. Team Bruichladdich starts their ALMS season this weekend, in the last race. They bring a second Radical SR9 to the track, the other one dropping out of its first race at Petit Le Mans. However, Bruichladdich is pacing only .721 seconds off Penske's time, and a mere one second off the overall leading Audi. This is the most promise we have seen about the pace of the Radicals yet. However, in the other Radical, Van Der Steur is fully two seconds off Penske. Porsche debuted their car here last year and won, so they may be racing for more than just a win.

GT1: Aston leads, but only by .1 seconds - 009 over #4. #3 is third, then the 007.

GT2: The #7 LMP2 Porsche ran into the back of the #23 GT2 Porsche of Alex Job Racing, causing a red flag five minutes into the practice. The #23 rebounded and took the top spot. Ferrari's #62 had it early on, but ended third behind the Porsche of Alex Job, and the Peterson/White Lightning Porsche. The top three are within .5 seconds though.

Petit Le Mans & Laguna Seca

Petit Le Mans LMP1:

Creation: Awesome showing for them at Petit Le Mans: taking pole, then battling through multiple problems that left the drivers battered, before finally finishing fourth - they deserved a podium, but that is racing.

Zytek: They are quick, and reliable. A little more speed here and there and they will have their win.

Petit Le Mans LMP2:

Van der Steur/Radical: Reliability obviously an issue in their first race with the new Radical. The car looks beautiful, handles amazingly, but doesn't yet have the speed of the Porsche's. This is new territory for Radical though, with their carbon fibre chassis. Rumors have come about a Radical LMP1 in 2007, which would be appropriately ambitious for the company, but unlikely.

Porsche: They have greatly improved their reliability since the begining of the season.

***

Laguna Seca:

LMP1: Dyson has decided to run only one car after their crash at Petit Le Mans. Creation and Zytek will get another go at the Audis.

LMP2: Hopefully Radical can get their misfire under control. Porsche has the title. Intersport has second.

GT1: Seven points - tyre, manufacturer, and team championships are all a seven point spread with Aston down going into the final race.

GT2: Johannes Van Overbeek still leads Jorg Bergmeister by four points. Ten points back is Patrick Long. Wolf Henzler is thirteen points off Long. The driver battle will be good, but the team battle will be great: Risi leads Flying Lizard by six points, but the Lizards only have four points over Petersen/White Lightning. Panoz will stay in fourth, but the battle for fifth is close as well: BMW Team PTG only leads Alex Job Racing by five points. This is the class to watch. Good luck to all.

ALMS Round 9 - Petit Le Mans - Results

Overall: Audi. They ran a two driver strategy for the ten hour race, and won. (LMP1 was the Overall in this race)

LMP1: Minus the top spot, the rest of the podium was a great surprise - Zytek then Highcroft. That's right, I said Highcroft. Running Dyson's old Lola's, Highcroft's reliability got them on the podium in third. Zytek is stelar.

LMP2: Porsche, Porsche, Lola, Intersport Lola. Intersport had steering issues. Van der Steur had their engine blow. Porsche performed like Porsche.

GT1: 007! 009! #4! All within four laps at the end. Great racing here again. Sets up a seven point difference for Laguna.

GT2: White Lightning took it by two laps over Risi after spinning and a seperate puncture. Wonderful comeback. The other Risi had an accident. Flying Lizard had suspension go. So third place went to Panoz! Again they are strong in the long race. Good finish and exciting racing.