Totally agree! Amazing how Grand-Am been able to keep things so close. Plus, I like watching the races live on Speed on my TV (as opposed to on my computer, as with ALMS). But, that is another story . . . .

 

No excuses just win.

I love the looks of the rsr.

 

Plain and simple- The NEW GENERATION can't believe old school sometimes works out better.
40xtra hp on the RSRs' would be victory for sure..Putting xtra 40hp in my 3.3T-cams,intercooler-turbo-makes the newest and greatest car guys sratch their heads and leave them thinking...WTF--just happened.

IMSA has released the benchmark BoP for the start of the season. Some interesting bits of info.

http://www.imsaracing.net/2012/alms/...IN%2012-01.pdf

-Porsche has been given a slight weight advantage

-Aston Martin has been given a VERY generous weight advantage. They have an all new car this year so we will see how this pans out. I have a feeling this may have been a little too much. Also this year it's the factory team racing in GT not the privateer.

-Lotus has also been given a very generous weight advantage. This is probably a good thing. The car was not on pace last year so this should help.

-Corvette has been allowed to run a rear wing that is 25mm taller then everyone else. I have a feeling that some competitors will be complaining about that.

-Restrictors between BMW and Corvette and been more evened out. Porsche has a slighting smaller restrictor, and Ferrari may have words with IMSA.

 

Thanks Pete. I got lucky on that one -- right time, right place . . . .

 

My opinion is, there will be some adjustments made in favor of Porsche. I'm sure they will get a restrictor adjustment made within the next 2 races. Just a guess on my part...

 

I suspect that the corvette & ferrari forums are complaining about BOP as well. Still like ALMS & WEC way better than Grand AM. Hook your computer up to your TV and watch all 6 hours of Spa!

 

With the Ferrari, Aston and Porsche in Grand-Am, it's becoming more interesting to me. I just got sick of all of the tube frame cars. Add a front running Corvette and maybe the new Viper in there at some point, and ALMS will get old quick. The BMW's are still sandbagging, they have a lot more in hand than they are showing. The Ferrari's are the real deal. I just plain don't like Corvette Racing, for several reasons.

The RSR's are almost back markers in ALMS now, non-competitive.

 

Fiat gained a lot by persuading the FIA and ACO to let them run at 4.5L. The 430 was forced to run in 4.0L (down from the stock 4.3L).

With Fiat at 4.5L, the Vette at 5.5L, it is tough for the RSR to run in that torque department.

BMW Motorsports has Dr. Mario Theissen and team (he ran the F1 program) behind, so they are a very strong team.

The R8 is a great platform, and AWD helps.

VW needs a new race engine, and there is nothing on the horizon. 4.0L flat-six cannot cut it anymore, despite of producing the same power as the competitors (470Hp).

 

Rad, Power is not the problem, the problem is to make them let Porsche use the power.
Manthey has bigger engines, with 550+ crank revving close to 10K to 10.5.

 

Also don't believe Audi uses AWD on those cars. They don't help in tarmac...

 

The Porsche has less Torque, but they were docked revs a couple of years ago, not sure if that is still the case. They should be allowed revs in place of torque, should be pretty simple.

There is no V8 coming (I don't think) so Porsche is going to have to find another way around this dilemma.

 

BMW is not focusing so much on their GT programs for 2012. Their focus is their 3 DTM teams. BMW Team RLL will be pretty much the last of the teams running the M3 GT this year. Schnitzer has gone to DTM, and so the Z4 GT3 will do most of BMW's grunt work.

The Audi has a lot of aerodynamics, a good chassis, very good customer teams and depending on the series, ABS helps too. No AWD for the Audi.

The 458 still needs more development work, the 430 was overall a very good endurance package (Risi did an excellent job of developing the car for endurance races, essentially stripping the Michelloto unit down and rebuilding it).

AMG's SLS GT3 program is slowly taking off as well, those cars are no slouch.

Hard to predict for the US, but I feel 2012 will be a year for Audi as far as motorsports goes in Asia and Europe.

 

When does the rear engine excuse come into play or is it actually a salient issue at this juncture in Porsche Motorsport?

 

Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Teams GT Teams Struggle at ALMS Long Beach: Lasaffre/Faulkner Win Gtc in Green Hornet Porsche


Peter LaSaffre and Damian Faulkner drove the Green Hornet Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup to the team's first GTC win at Long Beach.

Long Beach, Calif. – 14 April 2012 – After losing out on a chance for a good starting position because the qualifying session was cancelled, the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR customer teams were unable to improve their standing in the GT class at today’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.

At a street course on which it is already difficult to pass, Patrick Long in the #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR made a charge through field at the start, quickly moving up from tenth to fourth place, but a puncture from debris on the track forced a lap one pit stop, and the Lizard Porsche was immediately a lap down.

In the final GT results, the Oliver Gavin/Tom Milner Corvette took the class win, followed by the Dirk Mueller/Joey Hand BMW, the Scott Sharp/Johannes van Overbeek Ferrari, and the Jan Magnussen/Antonio Garcia Corvette.

The top finishing Porsche was the Team Falken Tire GT3 RSR of Wolf Henzler/Bryan Sellers (sixth), followed by - in seventh, eighth, and ninth – Joerg Bergemeister/Patrick Long Flying Lizard Porsche; Sascha Maassen/Bryce Miller Paul Miller Racing Porsche; and Seth Neiman/Marco Holzer Lizard Porsche. In the manufacturers point standings, Chevrolet and BMW are now tied with 40 points, with Ferrari at 27 points and Porsche with 23 points after two events.

“Rain during the two-hour free practice, resulting in a wet track, and subsequent cancellation of qualifying, did not enable our customer teams enough track time to set up the new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR for its best performance potential. The competitors who finished ahead of us at Long Beach all have a bigger restrictor – thus more horsepower – than we do. We must work with the American Le Mans Series to find a solution that gives us comparable classification to our competitors in this area,” said Hartmut Kristen, head of Porsche Motorsport.

In GT Challenge, Damian Falkner took over the Green Hornet Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car from owner Peter LaSaffre in fourth place after a penalty for a headlight defect, and quickly passed the two cars in front of him for a decisive win – the first for the Green Hornet team.

“The was my first time at Long Beach, and we were bitten right away when the Lotus had its first lap incident, resulting in a bent wheel for the Green Hornet Porsche. But this was a real street fight, and it was a total team effort,” said LaSaffre.

“The track was really green because of the rain on Friday, and it took a while for the streets to ‘rubber in,’ but Peter did a great job keeping the car in contention, and the set-up came to us during the race,” said Falkner.

The next race for the ALMS competitors will be at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca – a six-hour event – on May 12.

Porsche at the Grand Prix of Long Beach

 

the story on the street is the same on the track...... vipers, vettes, ferraris, GTR.... they all have the porsche beat in torque department.

nothing short of a turbo helps push the porsche up into the numbers of the competition.

not sure what porsche has for the future but i would love to know!

Porsche 961RSR perhaps?