mark kibort

Ahh, you must have forgoten about Foo, Farmer, Mumford, Kirberg, and a few others. (WC gt/touring winners) Sure, very few, but when the rules gave a privateer a shooting chance, these kind of winners will inevitably occur. after 2000, the odds went down, but still there were some to prevail. (the UPGRADED cup car was the beginning of the demise of this aspect of the series)

mk

DWalker

I didnt forget about any of those guys, BUT I knew Foo, and he wasnt a hobbyist, he was a serious racer. I didnt know Mumford, but I liked what I knew of him. He also wasnt a hobbyist, but a very serious racer who took his work seriously.
Farmer? Seriously? I consider him a hobbyist who got lucky more than anything, and spent a lot of money for very small results.

mark kibort

There are a lot of racers that are equal or more serious about racing than these guys. I knew Paul, Roger and Mark. raced against both Paul and Mark for years. (Actually beat both of them in a 10-15 year older, stock 928 with a set of headers, back in the day ) These were tallented drivers but were no more serious than many of the folks I race with. Foo quit for some of the his own reasons. His passion reached a limit, that was exceeded by the things I've talked about. Mark had SSF to back him, as Dobson did originally, and Paul had his own resources to draw on. Roger put his own program together, but did it with very limited resourses. Some of these types of drivers are even more "serious" about their training and abilities that most pros that get to be very complacent. The reason, is if the car isnt top knotch, you need to be able to drive around its deficiencies, and continually improve your abilites. A serious club racer might even race more in a season than some pros and have closer wheel to wheel encounters. Many club/"sometime" racers have even more passion and commitment to the sport than many pro's but just havent figured out a way to make a living at it. Some are perfectly content at the level and joy of racing competitively in the club ranks brings.

Like athletes, there are many things that make up a top level race car driver, but unlike athletes the car is an important element of the performance. The guys I mention didnt even have the basic level of commitment. They all quit, except Paul, who could have been a top name had he not died tragically.

The point is, other drivers like these can come out and give pro teams a run for their money if the rules put some type of ceiling on performance. Right now, speed GT, the sky is the limit. And the rule makers kind of know this already. However, If they were to limit mods to factory components with only things like headers and chips, along with factory stock transmissions, you could see a series , like we had back before 2001, that could easily allow privateers without millions of dollars to spend, compete and put on a show.

mk

DWalker

Mark are you trying to say that if you had Randy Pobst equipment and budget you would win a championship? Its the car that makes the driver? If this is what you are saying I suggest you look around at the reality of the situation.

mark kibort

That depends if I have the qualities needed to be consistant, drive fast lap times and make good on track decisions. . So, no, thats not what I'm saying. One thing that randy has over many drivers, is that most all tracks in the country IS his HOME track! . That knowledge base alone is incredibly valuable for any team pursuing a Championship in a national series. The point is there are many drivers that have beaten Randy on any given day, with equal equipment. A few of them I've beaten with MUCH less equipment. The real point is can you do it month after month in all conditions. What I said was that with a more attainable performance platform, privateers can compete and give the series something it doesnt have any more. That car certainly makes A LOT of the driver. Even Galati, who I dont think is anywhere near the driver as Randy is, has beaten him during the season, but who ends up with the straight car month after month? who ends up destroying their equipment? Who ends up winning the Championship when going head to head? So, if the question is can I run a quick lap time in a hot car and keep it safer than most, I think my answer would be yes. Lots of factors, some due to Randy' ability, in winning a champinoship. I would estimate 50% of it is driver and the other half is the car. Go have randy run one of the back markers Comp Coupe and see how he ends up at the end of the season. Just ask Randy, what his success is due to , even though he is basically a modest guy, he will tell you 3R and Kpax have given him a top knotch car and support along the way. This takes a lot of folks behind the scenes, just not fast lap times which a lot of guys can do. He is fast in the dry, fast in the wet, fast in front wheel drive, fast in rear wheel drive, engine in the back, front, etc etc. He is fast. But mostly, he is consistant and has great car control and abilities to know what the car can and cant do. Yes, I want to be like Randy.
Remember a guy like McMillian? (won SpeedGt championship) He never even won a race. I remember seeing his car on the track when I was in the back of the pack, and tried to keep up with my old bugger. He was about 1-2 seconds off the leaders pace in a well built, beautiful PTG equipped M3, but by keeping the car safe, finishing every race, and running in the top 5, he won the championship. Look at Brandon Davis. He spanked everyone several times last year. Now, is he Randy Pobst? No, but he is good, and has a very hot car! If you have looked at it, its bascially a FordGT with a transAm new mustang shell, and a monster motor.
There is a guy that has very few races under his belt but was up and coming in our SCCA racing. The guy bought a new viper comp coupe and was in the top 5 times in Speed GT. He has no where near the tallent as some of the good club guys, but the car can make the man! The car cant win championships though, that takes more than just skill!



mk

Cory M

Pictures of the 3R Volvo builds can be found here:

http://www.3rauto.com/gallery_folder...ld/volvo1.html

Drivers side door bars look like they are set up for an impact absorbing structure like the Caddies and ALMS Corvettes have. Nice carbon bodies and dash. Not a lot of images of the suspension or divetrain. Are those Ohlins shocks? One thing is for certain, they have done a ton of work to get these cars to this point, hopefully they have time to do some testing before Sebring.

Rassel

Quite possible, the S60 Challenge cars had Öhlins. But looking at this car, it seems so different than the old S60C. So it's probably a new suspension project.

mklaskin

They're running the Ohlins TTX.

ceebee

I have a more basic question: If this is Speed GT and supposed to be production-based GT cars, how does any Volvo (or the Cadillac CTS-V for that matter) qualify as a production-based GT car?
CB

Alpine951

Turn 10 at Sebring during the 12 hours week.

wanna911

K-Pax said they wanted a challenge, well they sure got one.

mark kibort

I said:

My prediction is that they willl be mid pack at best at sebring

How did it go again for them at Sebring???

I do think they will be toward the front eventually, becuase the driver line up this season with lower entries is just not as competitive as in years past.

Mk

wanna911

I don't agree with that, the cars that have been unleashing the most whoopings is that Mustang of Brandon Davis and Eric Curran's Corvette. They just haven't gotten the consistency down enough to beat Randy before who was winning by pure cunning and consistency.

I don't think they'll be very competitive this year but maybe for 2 or 3 races.

ajcjr

how did they sound?

DWalker

Mark they had overheating issues at Sebring and Randys car suffered a mechanical issue. In the (very limited) testing they were able to get in before Sebring the cars were faster than the Porsches and everything looked promising. Not sure what caused the cooling issues but I have no doubt it is being addressed right this minute.