Have a FaceBook, Twitter, or other social networking account?

Link them to your fanatic account!

Add An Account

TAKE ME TO...
American LeMans
ALMS: Lime Rock Friday Notebook
Rainy Friday, Scorching Saturday?, Game on in GTC, Double Vision, Andy Lally's Challenge and more!
John Dagys  |  Posted July 23, 2010   Lakeville, CT
Rain, heavy at times, pounded the 1.5-mile Lime Rock Park circuit for nearly the entire day. (John Dagys)
Rainy Friday, Scorching Saturday?

For the first time since the rain-shortened Petit Le Mans last year, American Le Mans Series competitors faced the challenge of a wet track Friday at Lime Rock Park. Teams practiced and qualified in rainy conditions, which proved to not be quite as treacherous as last October’s monsoon at Road Atlanta.

“The heavy, heavy rain was making it real difficult in terms of aquaplaning, particularly under brakes heading into the first chicane,” said pole sitter David Brabham. “It was a little bit less in the second chicane and also coming onto the main straight, when you were on it, it was quite easy for the rear end to snap out.”
Patron Highcroft Racing searches for its fourth consecutive ALMS win on Saturday. (John Dagys)

Yet it still proved tricky for some. A number of cars had spins or off-course excursions, including one by LMPC pole-sitter Christophe Bouchut and a coming together of the wall by Guy Cosmo in qualifying. Yet, everyone walked away relatively unscathed, apart from Cosmo’s slightly damaged Ferrari.

However, with only a 30 percent chance of rain tomorrow, and highs forecasted to be in the 90’s, with a 100+ degree heat index, it looks like the major concern will be with the heat, and lack of dry running time.

“To be honest, it will be a fair amount of guessing,” Brabham said. “Good calculated guessing, but we don’t have enough data in the dry. The track will be green and any grip that may have been there is gone. The car will change from the start of the race to the end of the race. We’ll have to make sure we have something that’s drivable and fast for both circumstances.

“Luckily they’ve put a warmup in for this one,” he added. “It will be a very important session for everyone up and down pit lane to get as good of a feel on full tanks and see how we’re in the dry. Hopefully it will be dry, if it is, then we’ll know what it is. If it’s dry, everyone will be going slightly into the unknown.”

Game On In GTC

It’s amazing how quickly, and unexpectedly, the tables can turn in the American Le Mans Series. Less than two weeks ago, Alex Job Racing’s Butch Leitzinger and Juan Gonzalez enjoyed a healthy 13-point advantage over TRG’s Andy Lally and Henri Richard in the GTC championship standings.

While the duo are technically still atop the standings, neither are racing here this weekend, and have no current plans to compete in any remaining races. The withdrawal of two of Alex Job Racing’s Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars sent shock waves through the paddock, but whatever the reason may have been, it’s opened up a whole new race for the GTC championship.

With a win or second place finish on Saturday, Lally and Richard could walk away as the new point leaders. But as Lally points out, it’s not necessarily clear sailing just yet for the Kevin Buckler-led squad.

“I think we have a really good shot,” Lally said. “I feel really bad for Butch and those guys, Luis and the Gonzalez’s, for not being able to complete the season. It would be nice to have them back here because the competition is the most fun part of the racing we do, and if we’re just driving around out there without as many competitors, it’s not as much fun. Obviously we still have the No. 23 AJR car with ‘Rome’ to worry about and the Black Swan car too, which was very strong competition.”

Alex Job Racing’s sole remaining Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car of Romeo Kapudija and Bill Sweedler currently sit third in the standings and only four points behind the TRG duo.
The GTC championship could now come down to a two or three-way battle between three different teams. (John Dagys)

But the real threat is likely to come from Black Swan Racing, which rides a two-race win streak into its home race this weekend. The Boston-based squad of Tim Pappas and Porsche Supercup champion Jeroen Bleekemolen have been the hottest team in GTC as of late, with the veteran Dutch driver starting from the pole, his third consecutive, for tomorrow’s two-hour and 45-minute race.

“I think it was going to be very hard to catch them because we were not there at Sebring,” said Bleekemolen, who trails Lally and Richard by seven points. “We also had a bad race at Long Beach, but after that things went well... I always had hopes, and we’d never give up until there wasn’t a chance anymore.

“Now hopefully we can close the gap completely this weekend. We’re going to push very hard. We don’t want people to go away... and you don’t want to win that way. But we also missed one race, which was a double points race. I think it’s going to be exciting.”

While the championship is likely to now go down to the wire, it appears Lally will be missing the next round at Mid-Ohio due to previous commitments with TRG’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series program at Watkins Glen that weekend. With TRG regular Spencer Pumpelly likely to fill-in for Lally, a points-paying result would put Richard ahead of Lally in the championship standings.

“It’s a cool opportunity, but when that came up, we were pretty far back in the ALMS points, so we didn’t anticipate something like this happening,” Lally said. “I don’t really like giving away a shot at the championship, but if that’s the case, then I’ll be supporting Henri all the way to gain his first ALMS championship.”

Lally, who is one of the busiest drivers in all of motorsport with rides in the Rolex GT Series, Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, ALMS and select NASCAR rounds, will roll off second tomorrow, right behind title rivals Pappas and Bleekemolen.

Two G-Oil LMPCs

Some may have thought they were having double vision today when two G-Oil-sponsored LMPC cars were out circulating around a wet Lime Rock Park. But that was not the case, as a late deal has been struck for Genoa Racing’s Oreca FLM09 to carry the unique green livery for Saturday’s Northeast Grand Prix.
No, you aren't seeing double. There's now two G-Oil LMPC cars in the field. (John Dagys)

It’s a partnership of sorts between Kevin Jeannette’s Green Earth Team Gunnar organization and the Thomas Knapp-led Genoa outfit. Christian Zugel, GETG’s regular driver in the No. 99 machine, was not originally scheduled to compete this weekend but had the desire to gain some extra seat time.

Zugel managed to find a ride with Genoa this weekend, paired with Tom Sedivy.

“We obviously missed the last round because of low interest or low money, however you want to say it,” Knapp explained. “So we were able to accommodate their needs relatively quickly and take care of ours in all one fell swoop.”

The end result sees both cars carrying the same livery, which was only completed late last night to the No. 36 machine.

Jeannette and Knapp are now in discussions about continuing their alliance into Mid-Ohio next month, and possibly the remainder of the season. Jeannette says he hopes to put Frankie Montecalvo, his team’s IMSA Prototype Lites standout driver, in alongside Zugel for Mid-Ohio, with Zugel to complete the balance of the season in the No. 36 car.

While both parties are taking it one step at a time, it’s refreshing to see two rival teams, in a category with spec prototypes, join forces for the greater good.

Andy Lally’s Challenge To The GTC Field

One of the hot topics sweeping the paddock as of late has been the alleged ‘advantage’ GTC teams have by running the GRAND-AM variant of the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car. Recently allowed to use Porsche’s 3.8-liter Flat 6 instead of the original 3.6-liter powerplant, a few teams with Porsche’s 2010-spec GT3 Cup car claim to be at a top speed disadvantage with the way the current rules are laid out.
Andy Lally is one of the most versatile drivers in the sport. (LAT)

Andy Lally, who pilots one of two GRAND-AM-spec Cup cars in the field, is willing to prove everyone wrong with his offer:

“If you talk to each side, they’re each going to tell you the other one’s better,” Lally said. “But right now: Lay it on the table, any team that wants to bring their 2010 car over and trade us for our car, I’ll do it in a minute.

“If these guys want to complain and b@%$# and moan that our car’s better, put your money where your mouth is. Bring the thing over. If you think we’ve got a better race car, trade us your ‘lesser’ race car and I’ll gladly take it and I’ll go kick your a$$ with it!”

While Lally admits the GA-spec car may have a slight advantage on the engine side, the car’s rear suspension and lack of aero efficiency make up for the differences, especially on a tight and twisty circuit such as Lime Rock.

We’ll see which car comes out on top tomorrow. So far, 2010 Porsches have won every GTC race this season.

Fans Can Experience Virtual Green Racing
Courtesy of: MichelinAlley.com

The American Le Mans Series not only advertises itself as the Global Leader of Green Racing, but it is firmly at the forefront of developing green technologies, alternative energy uses and environmental consciousness with its teams and manufacturers at each and every race.

It’s no small feat to be working with officials from the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency as the series does. The latest innovation sees the green racing platform transition to the virtual world for fans to try out on a regular basis.

Salt Lake City marked the debut of a Green Racing Simulator that takes elements from the alternative energy uses of ALMS teams and the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge and converts it into a video game. It’s developed by the DOE, EPA and SAE.

The simulation uses the Gran Turismo 5 arcade racing game for the Sony PlayStation 3 as the outlet, and a team of developers who have integrated portions of the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge. Fans can now experience firsthand what goes into determining the winners of the race within a race that rewards teams that travel the farthest, fastest and with the least environmental impact.

Right now the simulation is set up using a Chevrolet Corvette that, like its brethren in ALMS, runs on Cellulosic E85 (second generation ethanol). But this Corvette also has a hybrid system developed with boost levels. The simulation captures the speed and energy consumption, which combined with the energy use, braking and acceleration, and fuel use, go into calculating the Green Racing Score.
In addition to the on-track battles in the ALMS, Green Racing has also come to the virtual world. (Rick Dole/Michelin)

“The way it’s set up now, upper 8’s is about the limit,” said Danny Bocci, a research engineer for the Center for Transportation Research at Argonne National Laboratory. Joerg Bergmeister and Gunnar Jeannette tested the system and set Green Racing Scores in the low 9’s, but Bocci said these were slightly inaccurate due to tweaks with the system. Adjusted for the proper system, the scores would have been even lower, to indicate a consistent balance of pace and efficiency over a race.

Bocci spent hours developing the simulation and integrating the Green Racing Score into the system. He explained the process of how the simulation came together.

“We started with Gran Turismo for PlayStation, because we didn’t want to develop an entire race simulator out of scratch,” he said. “So we made a system that sits on top of the PlayStation game, and it watches you play. With that information, like vehicle/engine speed, it runs this through the actuality of what the vehicle would be doing – say gasoline versus E85 and the differences between that.

“It also implements a hybrid system so it recharges the battery in the system,” Bocci added. “This allows you to have the boost functionality in the game. It’s the same equation used in the MICHELIN® GREEN X® Challenge to give you a Green Racing Score.”

The display at Salt Lake City was set up next to the first hybrid race car that competed in the ALMS, the Corsa Motorsports Ginetta Zytek 09S Hybrid that ran in the LMP1 class in 2009.

The simulator is in its earliest stages, and Bocci did not rule out the possibility of expanding to a multiplayer platform that could include other manufacturers, for instance Porsche, Ferrari or BMW.

“Right now it’s Corvette-themed, but possibly multiplayer down the road,” he said. “Calculating the numbers based on your Green Racing Score could possibly save you a stop in a 12 or 24-hour race, which is huge. This allows you to improve and capture the analysis.”

Fans can test out the simulator at all remaining U.S. rounds of the series, at Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio, Road America and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.

For more articles throughout each race weekend, check out Michelin Motorsports’ trackside blog, MichelinAlley.com

Corvette Racing Series Videos

Enjoy the two latest installments of the Corvette Racing Video Series chronicling the team’s trip to the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month:





Spotter’s Guide
Get Andy's latest spotter's guide today!

The Lime Rock edition of the highly popular Spotter’s Guide is now available. With the latest updates to this weekend’s Northeast Grand Prix, including the addition of the No. 61 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT that’s driven by Pierre Kaffer and Mika Salo, Andy Blackmore’s detailed guide has it all.

Whether you’re headed to the track tomorrow to see the action in person or will sit back, relax and watch it on SPEED, Andy’s Spotter’s Guide is a must-have.

Download Andy's Spotter's Guide Here.

News & Notes

• As expected, both BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team M3s are running with new aero kits this weekend. The changes consist of a new front valence, side skirts and rear diffuser section. While the team doesn’t expect there to be any massive gains, it could help in terms of producing added front downforce.

• Contrary to rumors swirling around the internet, Corvette Racing’s two C6.Rs are not running with direct injection, nor have been since moving to its all-new 5.5-liter power plant at the beginning of this year. Since the road-going Corvette ZR1, which the GT-spec machine is homologated according to, is not equipped with DI, the race car cannot be as well.

Play! SPEED Fantasy Racing and Super 7 Sweep
john_dagys's avatar

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John Dagys

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR
Advertising | Jobs | Feedback | FAQ | Terms of Use | NEW Privacy Policy | Ad Choices | Site Map
Fox Sports | FUEL TV | FX Network | National Geographic | IGN | AskMen
The Motor Sports Authority, SPEED and associated logos are registered trademarks of Speed Channel Inc.
All Rights Reserved © Speed Channel, Inc. 2012

All external links will open in a new browser window. SPEED.com does not endorse external sites.