SOUL: DRIVERS; NOT CARS

 

Oh, surely, engineers and auto clave specialists can put "something" into a race car while producing it - after all, craftsmanship is an important if not dying skill - but unless one is deeply into sportscar racing's dark side then who would know that Elliott Forbes-Robinson was driving a Suzuka-Harris (or was it a Harris-Suzuka?) at Riverside when a tire shredded, big time?

Or that Davy Jones and Arie Luyendyk drove a Brawn-Piper-Thomas in 1992 while Price Cobb and John Nielsen drove a Southgate prior to the Brawn-Piper-Thomas iteration?

Not long after meeting Fergie (aka Sarah, Duchess of York), Cobb would join Pete Halsmer in a stunningly beautiful but very, very hot 1992 Dykstra-Katz , in the construction of which Max and Jan Crawford rendered an assist (as did they on others).

Anyone remember the 1993 Fujimori-Ward driven by Juan Manuel Fangio II?

Like most airplane passengers who think flight occurs solely or mainly as a result of engine thrust, most so-described sportscar techies likely haven't even a clue as to the definition of "lift" nor the identity of those who countered its most extreme circumstance in race car designs.

Oh, of course, there'll be a few folks who'll be able to quickly name the above cars and their associated designers. Baffled others will at least care enough to Bing a couple or three. Some might even turn to Websites like Michael Fuller's.

Clueless, most will get glassy-eyed and altogether miss the point being made: A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney drove a Ford GT40 MkII; Alan McNish and Tom Christensen - the latter being Le Mans' winningest driver - drove an Audi R10; Scott Pruett drove to a Rolex 24 at Daytona crown eight (or is it nine?) times.

Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, are not cars. They made cars great; not the other way around.

REMEMBERING WHEN
There seems a tendency by those either in or along the periphery of the open-wheel and sportscar worlds to badmouth NASCAR's generally left-turning drivers - the complainers, evidently incapable of looking for, much less seeing good in something else, generally tend toward snoozing when exposed.

While paying his journalist dues toiling on newspaper lifestyle features, at roughly the same time this writer similarly worked in racing's support areas, amateur and professional.

It was at a time he also often anxiously awaited ESPN's embryonic Wednesday and Thursday evening Midget and Sprint car races. It was through those very same radio waves that a young Jeff Gordon - still using his momma's eyebrow pencil to enhance his mustache - became known outside of the USAC community.

About the same time, some guy from a once relatively obscure North Carolina town was named NASCAR Sprint (nee Winston) Cup Rookie of the Year.

Weeks later at a lunch break during a Daytona International Speedway winter test a jeans and plaid shirt-wearing Dale Earnhardt held court with a small knot of reporters along the pit road wall.

Watching it all unfold from a little farther up pit road, this race car guy at the time wasn't impressed with the new king wannabe and carried that feeling with him for years afterward.

Still, closely watching him and 42 others, though part of a job that paid nothing, was required.

As was the case with any intently watched driver, Earnhardt's preferred DIS line would be duly noted because, as is the case with any other driver driving any race course anywhere, a deviation from the norm signaled something amiss. Often, it could signal a driver undertaking desperate measures that consequently increased the likelihood of wrecking.

Though Earnhardt's 34 total DIS race victories still leads the track’s all time race-win statistics, he didn't always have the best car. Still, he darn sure could make a silk purse out of a hog's ear as good as anyone, taking a poor-handling car and still finish with a top-5 or top-10.

It was Earnhardt's ability to make a bad car do good things that ultimately gained many observers' begrudging but considerable appreciation of him, this one included.

YA GOTTA LOVE IT
ALMS mouthpieces love to belittle the Rolex Series' supposedly pumped-up race attendance and TV viewership counts.

As if cued, comes this end-of-year back pat from the Acura PR machine:

"Acura Motorsports teams and drivers dominated the 2009 American Le Mans Series with record runs in both the LMP1 and LMP2 prototype classes.

"The 2009 10-race ALMS campaign concluded last weekend with another Acura 1-2-3 overall finish at Laguna Seca Raceway. It marked the fifth time in 2009 that Acura placed in the top three positions overall. Acura became the first carmaker in ALMS history to win both the LMP1 and LMP2 classes in the same season."

"... Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz scored eight LMP2 class wins in their Acura ARX-01b. That mark tied the 2007 LMP2 win record of Penske Racing with drivers Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas ..."

Should the reader need amplification, then review the 2009 LMP1 points standings here and the 2009 LMP2 points standings here and try to divine a couple or eight reasons as to why Acura "dominated" the 2009 American Le Mans Series."

Surely, even Marx and Engels would be impressed with the, um, statement.

TOTAL WORLD DOMINATION
The vagaries of economics and racing having forced GM's hand in 2009, it decided to take its Team Corvette traveling show and switch from GT1 to GT2, but only after the 24 Heures du Mans.

As a result, Team Corvette as a GT1 team ran in but one of ALMS' first five events, then competed in the season's remaining races as a GT2 competitor.

Still, Team Corvette No. 3's Jan Magnussen and Johnny O'Connell finished sixth in GT2 championship points.

Does anyone doubt where Team Corvette will finish in 2010?

Next Question: Does anyone know why the ALMS' GT1 class died?

Last Question (for now): Do GT2 teams realize the class-killing Vette is now looking to take them out?

FIGURING LE MANS IN THE ALMS CHAMPIONSHIP
It seems as though certain races yearly play a big role in a racing championship's determination. Let's look at the role Le Mans played in the hunt for the American Le Mans Series 2009 championship.

LMP1: David Brabham and Scott Sharp won the ALMS LMP1 2009 championship in an Acura ARX-02a, scoring three wins and eight podiums in 10 races. Driving a Peugeot 908 HDI FAP (not Acura?), Brabham shared an overall win with co-drivers Alexander Wurz and Marc Gene. However, the Planet Earthman's Le Mans win did not contribute any points whatsoever to his ALMS championship tally. Mr. Sharp did not compete at Le Mans, much less derive points from the competition to which the ALMS so closely ties itself.

LMP2: Already noted above, Adrian Fernandez and Luis Diaz scored eight LMP2 class wins in their Acura ARX-01b despite not scoring a Le Mans podium - in which race they didn't compete, anyway. And, actually, neither did an Acura ARX-02a or ARX-01b.

GT1: Honestly, this writer's confused. Here's the deal: Just as in most GT1 years gone by, Chevrolet's Team Corvette in 2009 ran virtually unchallenged. The manufacturer, with drivers Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin led all GT1 year-end points category totals (save tires, which Michelin took hands down) yet there's no mention of a 2009 GT1 Championship actually having been awarded during the ALMS' "Night of Champions." No matter, Baretta and Gavin pulled a DNF at Le Mans and thus it did not figure in the GT1 non-award. Not that it would have, anyway. (Look Mark, like Steve Wesoloski wouldn’t, GM’s Jim Lutz won’t talk to me anyway. I might as well finally irritate you, too.)

GT2: Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long's Flying Lizards Porsche 997 dominated their class, winning six of 10 races but neither driver finished a non-points-paying 24 Heures du Mans, anyway.

Challenge: Martin Snow and Melanie Snow, who got off to a great Salt Lake City launch in the Challenge championship when they were the only such car in-class. And, no, Le Mans didn't figure in this class championship either. Then again, Le Mans didn't at all have a "Challenge" class.

Final Score: of the combined number of drivers at the top of each ALMS class, five (half) drove in the 2009 24 Heures du Mans and none (zero, nada) scored points applicable to the American Le Mans championship – even the one who won the race.

GETTING NAILED
In something that seems akin to a bank robber blaming a bank teller for getting caught, ALMS issued the following:

"Following the closing laps and finish of the GT2 race Saturday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, IMSA officials placed Jörg Bergmeister and Jan Magnussen on a two-race probation period for the start of the 2010 season with a minimum two race suspension in abeyance.

"Should either driver commit further offenses in the first two rounds of 2010, the participant will receive at minimum a two-race ban from competition by IMSA, which sanctions the American Le Mans Series." (sic)

The above sounding as though it came from a certain ALMS obfuscator, perhaps you’d like a translation: "Based on their actions at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, should either Jörg Bergmeister or Jan Magnussen do anything that angers ALMS officials in 2010's first two races they'll be told to stay home for two races thereafter. They can go back to having fun at the third race."

Check the 2004 Rolex Series' Miami race for a far longer-lasting Magnussen bump and grind. Bergmeister, the 2006 Rolex Series Daytona Prototype champ, doesn't similarly ring anybody's chimes. 

Later,

DC