PHILLIPS: The Wetter The Better

GRAND-AM

PHILLIPS: The Wetter The Better

Want wild and unpredictable racing like last weekend's Grand-Am racing New Jersey? Just add water, says David Phillips.

David Phillips | http://www.racer.com/speedtv | Posted May 06, 2009 Pittsburgh, PA

Water, and lots of it, has been the key ingredient in a number of thrilling races this season. Grand-Am's race last weekend at Thunderbolt Raceway in New Jersey was no exception. (LAT)

That was quite the Grand-Am Rolex Series race at New Jersey Motorsports Park on Sunday. Not only did Ricardo Zonta, Nic Jonsson and Krohn Racing team-up to bring Lola its first Daytona Prototype victory, they won by a veritable country mile over Max Angelelli and Brian Frisselle’s SunTrust Dallara/Ford with the Verizon Riley/Porsche of Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard right in their wake.

Literally.

For Sunday was a thoroughly soggy day in the Garden State. In fact so much liquid sunshine precipitated on Thunderbolt Raceway that a substantial portion of the race (Laps 32 to 44) was run with the field trundling around behind the pace car in the name of safety, to say nothing of sanity.

Nor were the Daytona Prototypes alone in delivering an upset of sorts, as the much-beleaguered Porsche contingent swept the top four places of the Rolex Series GT class. Taking nothing away from the fine job done by the likes of Farnbacher Lole’s Leh Keen and Dirk Werner or fellow podium finishers Ted Ballou, Spencer Pumpelly, Eric Lux and Bryan Sellers, but just about everyone agreed the rainy conditions negated the performance edge the Pontiac GXP.Rs have so far enjoyed
this year . . . even before the Pontiacs developed a terminal case of windshield fog.

The keen observer will have noticed a pattern developing so far in ‘09. We’re not even a quarter of the way through the racing season and already we’ve been treated to some of the wildest, most unpredictable racing in years. Look at the Malaysian Grand Prix. And how about that Grand Prix of China? Now comes the Verizon Wireless 250 at New Jersey.

What do F1 and Grand-Am have in common? Give yourself a pat on the back if you connected the dots and realized all three of those topsy-turvy affairs took place in decidedly inclement weather. Which just goes to support a little theory I’ve long kept to myself but am at last prepared to spring on an unsuspecting world. Namely, whenever new race tracks are built – or existing ones undergo major revamps – the Federation Internationale de Automobile should require the installation of computerized sprinkling systems capable of watering-down the racing surface before licensing the facility to conduct major league races.

Just imagine the possibilities. While the hospitality suite swells and paying groundlings alike enjoy a dry afternoon at the races, the competitors earn their pay in spades and put on a thoroughly unpredictable (and dare I say entertaining) show for those watching in person and on television.

Of course, not every race would be declared a man-made rain race. Nor would conditions at said races even have to be consistent. Surely some of the brain and computer-power used to conjure up the Brawn BGP-001, the Lola, Dallara and Riley Daytona Prototypes or the Porsche GT3s could be tapped to devise algorithms that randomly select not only when its “rains” but how wet to make the circuits in question at any given segment of the track or to even dial-up constantly changing conditions during the course of the race.

Who says you need to be able to see while racing at 150mph? (LAT)

What are the chances the fans in Dubai, for example, will ever witness a race the likes of what their counterparts in Malaysia and China saw this year? Or that the hearty fans endured/enjoyed on Sunday in New Jersey? With an FIA-approved circuit sprinkling system, even tracks in the most parched of climates could feature the occasional wet race; better yet, the degree of wetness could be adjusted for safety’s sake. For instance, straightaways could be damp or even dry to reduce the prospects of high speed aquaplaning while conditions on other, less dodgy parts of the circuit, range from damp to wet to flooded.

And just think of the commercial possibilities! Aquafina. Dasani. Evian. Potential event sponsors all, particularly Formula One where Bernie Ecclestone & Co. would doubtless arrange to have a couple of tankers full of Perrier delivered to each and every Grand Prix. After all, Formula One demands and deserves nothing but the best man-made rain races. Grand-Am? Well, they might have to be content with the local tapwater.

Somehow I think it would work just fine.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, SPEED, FOX, or NewsCorp.

David Phillips has written about auto racing for a variety of outlets including Autosport, Autoweek, Motoring News, On Track, Racer and SPEEDtv.com since the mid-1980s.

In the process, Phillips' travels have taken him -- so far -- to 71 race tracks from Ascot Park and Assento Zandvoort, Zeltweg and Zolder and more airports, hotels and rent-a-cars than he cares to remember.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Phillips

Senior writer, RACER Magazine

MORE BY THIS AUTHOR

PHILLIPS: Giving Thanks
There is still work to be done, but racing is infinitely safer than…
PHILLIPS: Upholding the Tradition
Team USA Scholarship's latest grads again flew the red, while and…
PHILLIPS: A Worthy Legacy
That there even was an ’08 Atlantic Championship is little…