126 replies to this topic

[Wingcommander]

I'm really starting to hate americans right now. What is it with these yellows? Are the marshalls incapable of doing anything?

[Andrew Hope]

Yeah, it's the marshals' fault.

Edited by Andrew Hope, 16 March 2014 - 00:04.

[Prost1997T]

I'm really starting to hate americans right now. What is it with these yellows? Are the marshalls incapable of doing anything?

 

Is it ok if I hate French people because of what the FIA does?   Le Mans had 5+ hours of safety car last year and F1 doesn't run in wet weather now. Don't start me on the farce that was the "Fuji 6 hours" race.

[Imateria]

I think theirs a bit of a difference between fixing barriers and being yellow ages after any incident has been cleaned up.

[Andrew Hope]

REFCAR!

 

Apparently a bullshit penalty alone wasn't bad enough, they have to apply it to the wrong car too

[Option1]

This stretching out the yellows so long is just nonsense.  So what if some of the little darlings didn't get to pit under a caution; tough chesticles.

 

Neil

[Andrew Hope]

EUGH GET ON WITH IT ONE CAR PARKED OFF LINE DOES NOT MEAN 45 MINUTES OF FULL COURSE YELLOW IS OKAY

[Option1]

WTF are they trying to do, create a REFCAR GWC finish??  It's starting to look like it.  

 

Neil

[Andrew Hope]

Refcar!

[Andrew Hope]

Did you miss the race? Never fear, let's summarize:

 

• The usual tedious BoP ****ery
• "Damn, they must be on some good **** to think RumBum Racing is a good name for their team". Good **** indeed
• Delta Wank the only decent graffiti spotted
• Viper grid girl
• Viper catches fire
• Viper is kill
• There was a two-minute stretch where 7 cars mysteriously spun all by themselves
• There was a two-year stretch of cawshun
• Cautions breed cautions, like ****ing rabbits apparently
• Tony Kanaan gets sick
• Maleucelli, who nearly broke Memo Gidley in half a month ago, drivers back on to the racing line after a spin and takes out half the GT field
• Gentleman driver/brainless fool Gaston Kearby takes out PC leader Alex Tagliani in a near repeat of the infamous Dale/Barbazza crash at Road Atlanta
• Andrew Merriot plays with Jordan Taylor's sweaty mullet and somehow Taylor is alright with this
• Corvette pit troubles
• RHR breaks the ass off the remaining Viper, crew fix it with Bear Bond
• I wonder how I failed to invent Bear Bond and become a millionaire
• >Women drivers and >Dildo Wing in the same instant
• The #911 and #912 both run over the back of the same Ferrari within a few laps
• Officials think it's the Alex Job Porsche that was a mile up the road, force it to serve a penalty, then realize they ****ed up
• The #912 goes on to win the class, never having been penalized for an incident the stewards had 6 hours to review, and no one seems to notice
• Full-course yellow for bird **** in the infield
• Half an hour is pissed away behind the pace car
• Franchitti gets a 7-second lead on the first lap returning to green, Dalziel can't catch him in 20 minutes (but would have in 40)
• We're all 12 hours closer to the grave

[whitewaterMkII]

Race report of the year.

Give it up, Autosport.

[SonnyViceR]

As I said previously, I did not watch this one for the first time in many many years so I cannot made any personal opinion of how the itself went (though I did read the overview article from sportscar365 - that alone made me shake my head). But the amount of downright hateful feedback I'm picking up from twitter, ten-tenths.com, news site comments sections and elsewhere are just astounding. Clearly I'm not the only one not interested in seeing the NASCAR product they're force feeding to us

[ArnageWRC]

I watched most of it - and I actually enjoyed the green flag racing. There, I've said it....

I still have a problem with the LMP2's being heavily handicapped, but know why.

However, the race was ruined by both shocking driving standards, particularly in the LMPC class, and the ridiculous FCYellows.

Seriously, when both commentators and drivers are saying 'pull his licence', you know it's a shocking piece of driving; in fact it's only his 2nd full year in racing. He shouldn't be anywhere near a GT or Prototype car.

The final FCY was frustrating; unless an incident/ accident is serious, is a FCY really needed? It seems you only have to sneeze on the track and they pull a FCY. The time taken over incidents was far too long - or did that suit the finale of the race.

Can you imagine IMSA running the N24??? Dear me.....and don't start me on the AJR penalty which the 912 should have got.

[SonnyViceR]

Mr Job is not a happy bunny in regards to the the ever-continuing incompetence of officialiting (too)

http://sportscar365....iciating-calls/

 

Basically says this:

 

But I think he really wants to do this next time he meets IMSA/NASCAR guys:

Edited by SonnyViceR, 16 March 2014 - 13:29.

[SonnyViceR]

I don't know, the DP up there feels just very wrong - like it would be more fitting if it was winner in 1994 or something...

 

Sebring overall winners of the past 20 years

2014 // DP - Riley-Ford - Ganassi Racing

2013 // LMP1 - Audi R18 E-Tron Quattro  - Audi Sport Team Joest

2012 // LMP1 - Audi R18 TDI - Audi Sport Team Joest

2011 // LMP1 - Peugeot 908 HDI FAP - Oreca

2010 // LMP1 - Peugeot 908 HDI FAP - Team Peugeot

2009 // LMP1 - Audi R15 TDI - Audi Sport Team Joest

2008 // LMP2 - Porsche RS Spyder - Penske Racing

2007 // LMP1 - Audi R10 TDI - Audi Sport North America

2006 // LMP1 - Audi R10 TDI - Audi Sport North America

2005 // LMP1 - Audi R8 - ADT Champion Racing

2004 // LMP1 - Audi R8 - Audi Sport UK Team Veloqx

2003 // LMP900 - Audi R8 - Infineon Team Joest

2002 // LMP900 - Audi R8 - Audi Sport North America

2001 // LMP900 - Audi R8 - Audi Sport North America

2000 // LMP - Audi R8 - Audi Sport North America

1999 // LMP - BMW V12 LMR - BMW Motorsports

1998 // WSC - Ferrari 333 SP - Doran Racing

1997 // WSC - Ferrari 333 SP - Team Scandia

1996 // WSC - Riley & Scott Mk III-Oldsmobile - Doyle Racing

1995 // WSC - Ferrari 333 SP - Scandia Motorsports

1994 // GTS - Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo - Cunningham Racing

Edited by SonnyViceR, 16 March 2014 - 17:33.

[Afterburner]

Hello all.

Didn't expect to take so long to write up a weekend review--Sebring really takes it out of you if you've got a 1:30 hour drive to and from the track every day.

Anyway, judging from the majority of the responses here, I'm assuming the race wasn't a really big hit. I don't want to debate the merits/demerits of the Tudor series thus far--it's not without its flaws--but having been to the race firsthand I'm optimistic that IMSA will learn with time how to handle its new child successfully, and that in the years to come the series will find itself. They're already working to address the causes of the wrongly-issued penalty and the lengthy cautions; give them time. IMSA gets credit from me with the colour-coded mirrors/endplates and updated leader-light system, which makes it much easier to follow the race from the track (and blue flag, lol).

But back to the race--I was at 16 alpha, along the back straight, when the red flag was called and was responsible for informing race control when the field was all properly stopped. If you had told me beforehand that that responsibility would've been on my shoulders this weekend, I never would've believed you. My shift at 16a with the red flag was one of the most hectic of any race I've worked so far. The rest of the weekend was fairly nondescript, with a couple of yellows here and there and plenty of blue flagging, which is always my favourite part of any pro-race weekend.

The rest of the weekend can be told in pictures:

The view from 16's green flag station.



The view from '16 flags', where the business end of the flagging occurs.


Some odds and ends from around the corner. (Andrew Hope will note with ecstasy that the race schedule was written in Comic Sans.)



Pre-race activities and warm-up laps as seen from Timing and Scoring. (Yes, they keep it that dark in there.)



One spot of which I was particularly fond of over the weekend was the fourth-floor balcony on the back of the race control building. If I had to watch the whole race from one spot, it probably would've been here--a fantastic view at the highest point on the track coupled with a nice breeze and a nearby TV set. The smoke in the second picture is from the Viper that self-immolated.





And then some atmosphere photos of the cold pits:





You never know what you're going to find at Sebring... how about a replica MS helmet signed by MS himself?



Didn't get many night photos due to the timing of my shift and the fact that I was more than happy to watch the last hour of the race from Timing and Scoring while I ate the dinner I was served at the corner two hours prior... it was a long day. Still got some pictures on my way back from 16 alpha and from the terrace.





Anyway, say what you will about the race, I had an awesome time and would do it all over again in an instant. Getting up close and personal with such awesome cars and then getting to listen to the symphony of different engines all day long was just an amazing treat. I wish I could've gotten some more pictures, but I was either too engrossed in the whole spectacle or too tired to do so. It was a very special experience, and I'm looking forward to it again next year.

[SonnyViceR]

As usual take this with pinch of salt or whatever, but nevertheless:

 

[whitewaterMkII]

Nice.

'the life expectancy is very short for the TUSCC'

 

Typical US sportscar 'fans'

No sportscars at all is better than what they have now.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Guy on the internet, who has a friend, that is friends with a team owner, that was thinking about racing in TUSC.

 

Jesus, I'm closer on the Kevin Bacon scale than that. 

[SonnyViceR]

Nice.

'the life expectancy is very short for the TUSCC'

 

Typical US sportscar 'fans'

No sportscars at all is better than what they have now.

 

 I really don't understand that argument - "if you don't like what we offer to you then it's your fault". What?

 

(btw technically speaking there is one bigger-than-club sportscar series in the US not under the NASCAR/IMSA regime, and that is SCCA World Challenge and it's sprint format. It has gone unnoticed for many many years, even though the likes of Cadillac are throwing money into it for very little ROI and media coverage, but them allowing FIA GT3 cars into series now might just peak popularity a little bit. not for me, but just saying)

Edited by SonnyViceR, 18 March 2014 - 18:11.

[whitewaterMkII]

 I really don't understand that argument - "if you don't like what we offer to you then it's your fault". What?

 

 

I still don't think you get it.

For years the Frances watched the 24 hours of Daytona sliding into oblivion, watched IMSA go broke, watched the 'series' that was Sportscars never figure out what it wanted to be, watched manufacturers come, dominate, and leave.

So, they started their own series to ensure the race remained viable. Granted, the cars aren't that sexy, but the same guys are and were there year in and year out, with teams that stuck with them, finally. Meanwhile the other sportscar guys continued to get dominated by a couple of teams, saw their 'regulars' come and go and eventually run their series into the ground to the point where they went broke. Again. 

So the Frances step up, buy out Panoz and his merry broke minions and are trying to reunite the sport. 

Now here they are trying to sort out the mess, but at least now they are guys running the series with deep pockets and a desire to keep US Sportscars off life support. What is this new lease on life at now, a year and a half or so in? Yet the same people that always bitched about Sportscars are still bitching and again, not giving it a chance to sort itself out.

You know what, maybe you (Sonny et al) should go play in SCCA for few years, then come back in five years and see whether the Frances have sorted this mess out,if they can't, there won't *be* any top level sports cars in the US at all and you will have your club racing and it's mentality all to yourself.

[SonnyViceR]

[Victor_RO]

MOD NOTE:

 

Folks, please respect the fact that other people might not share your opinion or outlook on this subject.

[Option1]

As usual take this with pinch of salt or whatever, but nevertheless:

 

As Ross effectively pointed out, that's not even worth the paper it's written on.  Seriously, let's all make up something we heard from a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend of someone who once spoke to a god on the big white telephone.

 

I hate seeing the hobbled P2's and NASCAR does need to learn that manipulated cautions (if that actually happened) don't go down well, but you do yourself no favours posting nonsense like that.

 

Neil

[Sheepmachine]

Great pictures Afterburner! Looks like it was a fun weekend.
What I saw of the race (between dodgy Internet dropping in and out being interrupted by medical people etc) it was good, although it was weird seeing DP cars going round Sebring.

[Afterburner]

I still don't think you get it.
For years the Frances watched the 24 hours of Daytona sliding into oblivion, watched IMSA go broke, watched the 'series' that was Sportscars never figure out what it wanted to be, watched manufacturers come, dominate, and leave.
So, they started their own series to ensure the race remained viable. Granted, the cars aren't that sexy, but the same guys are and were there year in and year out, with teams that stuck with them, finally. Meanwhile the other sportscar guys continued to get dominated by a couple of teams, saw their 'regulars' come and go and eventually run their series into the ground to the point where they went broke. Again. 
So the Frances step up, buy out Panoz and his merry broke minions and are trying to reunite the sport. 
Now here they are trying to sort out the mess, but at least now they are guys running the series with deep pockets and a desire to keep US Sportscars off life support. What is this new lease on life at now, a year and a half or so in? Yet the same people that always bitched about Sportscars are still bitching and again, not giving it a chance to sort itself out.
You know what, maybe you (Sonny et al) should go play in SCCA for few years, then come back in five years and see whether the Frances have sorted this mess out,if they can't, there won't *be* any top level sports cars in the US at all and you will have your club racing and it's mentality all to yourself.

Almost exactly the way I've come to look at it, but put much, much better. Well said.

EDIT: And thanks for the feedback, Sheepmachine. Glad you guys enjoyed them.

Edited by Afterburner, 19 March 2014 - 14:09.

[Bob Riebe]

Nice.

'the life expectancy is very short for the TUSCC'

 

Typical US sportscar 'fans'

No sportscars at all is better than what they have now.

The problem WW is that people with weak demands such as persons like yourself have are what politicians (and that what sports car racing has sadly become, a power play by god wannbe politicians )  feed off of as they know that if they give them fudge, they are too obtuse to care, or know, if it is butt-fudge or chocolate-fudge.

 

Butt-fudge is what has been fed to them for at least a decade and now they are reaping the sad rewards for being such easy marks.

 

With the France boy in control, and he is in control, it will not get any better as it took the power of Chevrolet, Dodge and Ford threatening to quit NASCAR if it went to a generic engine to make him kill that plan, and there IS NOTHING in road racing that equals the power those companies have with NASCAR.