mdrums

Why the heck did they let JC France back in....he must have brought a lot of money!

I can not stand JC France...big turn off for me. People like JC France that snort coke and then go drive there Lambo like an idiot on public streets have no place representing anything let alone racing. I just don;t get how JC france can lead such a bad life and do such bad things and still get ahead in life?????

paradisenb

Can`t say I understand how the new rule works that allows cars to make up laps or track position but I think it is good for the fans. Sometimes those cars have been taken out by a stupid or overly aggressively driver (see JPM or Gainsco last year) and offering them the possibility of coming back into contention makes the several 100k they spent on the race not look like a total washout.

Also, I suspect it enhances sponsorship across the board. Pro racing sanctioning bodies are a business first and foremost. Same with the teams. Profitability stems from fan participation and sponsorship.

One other point, the super teams are taking over. They have the really deep pockets that buys everyone and everything necessary to win. A small team has very little chance in pro racing any more; thus limited sponsorship oportunities. If a small budget team has a chance of running near the front at some point - getting TV coverage - the sponsor can find value in their limited investment in a non-big name team.

The end results remain to be seen but on the surface I commend Grand-Am, selfish act or not, they are possible opening doors for small teams to become competitive with the big teams.

Right now, boys. Right now!

Streak

I'm just despondent! Flying Lizard drove their a$$es off. Truly a monumental effort to try to get back on the lead lap. If that caution hadn't lasted three hours! Joerg and Pat drove that car like it was on fire right up until it actually caught fire. The two of them are so so so good! They were relentless in their effort to claw their way back. I have a hard time giving Neiman too much crap. Sure, he's no Bergmeister or Long but he's the money and without him there's no Flying Lizard so we gotta take the good with the bad.

And if JPM had been on the receiving end of his own driving he'd still be bitching!

Great to see TRG Lally et al go from last to first!

Props to Pat Dempsey too.

MSHii

I agree that something has to be done to address the juggernauts of the sport dominating sponsorship and escalating costs, but I also think there is something missing when it comes to Grand Am's version of endurance racing. The fact that teams can go from being out of the race to back on the lead lap simply because of the way the rules are written cheapens what endurance racing is at its core to me. There is a special respect for a team, a strategist, and a group of drivers that can maintain a lead for such a long time, and under this current articulation of rules, it is hard for us fans to know who is really the best out there. I am not trying to discredit the victorious ones, and I like the fact that drivers from several disciplines are participating in the 24, but I do long for the days when the teams that earned a lead that was several laps won the race by several laps.

It would be great to see what the results would be under both formats.

Perhaps I'm a bit old fashioned...

VaSteve

Some time in the middle of the night they had a shunt. All the body panels are connected. After they fixed the hood, the wind got under the misplaced roof panel and ripped it off. A cv ultimately took them out.

VaSteve

I don't follow flying lizard that close but their fans were out in force. If not for the long caution they would have flamed out earlier.

The 24 is a good opportunity for the owner to get some laps in Their Car and let the hired hands catch it back up. Unless they mess up the car. Do no harm.

There were some disaster teams out there. The 81 ferarri couldn't stay out of the way. Race control was alway yelling at him. #7 DP car came in on the hook twice...got stuck behind our tram once. One of the 911s wrecked early this morning and drove through the infield back to the garage. That'd be like a hurt quarterback going through the stands on the way to the locker room. LOL

Rob in VA

JPM while crude, he's very fast which is hard to fault. Plus he wants to win at any cost.

Mark Dreyer

What was up with that 81 car? I was thinking he was out there doing parade laps! I actually was thinking I could hang with him in my Boxster. How is it that a car is driven that slow in that environment? Do they let just anyone on the track as long as they have the $ to field a team?

BTW, the incident with the Lizard DP going off at the kink happened in front of me and it appeared as though it was unavoidable as a Ferrari (can't remember if it was the 81 car) spun out in front of him. At least from my angle it seemed unavoidable for the Lizard to take a dirt detour.

VaSteve

The 81 did cause a number of incidents. It was the 81 that caused FL to go off the track.

The 56 ferarri was strange too. Where was it all race and the it shows up for a few laps in the last hour! I wonder if they were just field fillers.

VaSteve

Hey, where was Loles?

BlueRiver86

I remember the #56 and maybe #58 Ferraris from '09 test days. Those cars have never been real competitive.

Nizer

Race report from Patrick's website. Professional to a T.

Disappointment in Daytona

Patrick Long and Flying Lizard Motorsports experienced a mixed weekend at the 49th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona this weekend, in the #45 Porsche-powered Riley Daytona Prototype. Patrick's teammate, Jorg Bergmeister, scored a shock pole position and set a qualifying lap record at Daytona on Friday, then followed it up by leading the opening 27 laps of the race and claiming fast lap of the race with a 1:40.417. In the third hour of the race, the #45 went off-track into the grass to avoid a spinning GT car in front of it, necessitating a lengthy repair which cost the team 18 laps in the garage. The team would bounce back to run as high as 11th place in class, but a small fire in the engine bay in the 22nd hour of the race caused the team to retire, recording a DNF.

Patrick said, "In the end it was a ton of fun. We knew we were in a pretty deep hole early in the race, but we battled back to regain as many laps as we could. The Lizards were very clear that they wanted us to stay motivated and keep pushing the car. It was great to be able to pass the entire DP field and eventual overall winners in the process. It's a small consolation, but we'll be back to fight another day. Daytona is all about chasing the watch, and there's lots of years of chasing left. Some years, it goes like it did today, and other years, it all goes perfectly. Congratulations to the #01 Ganassi car, and we'll hope to be back next year chasing an overall victory!"

Patrick next races in the American Le Mans Series season opener, at the Mobil One 12 Hours of Sebring, on Saturday, March 19.

rdstemler

Was Milka Dunno in one of those slow cars???

SoClose

Looks like Corey Friedman and his team finished 9th in class-
Corey, please let us know what your experience was like this year-

TrackdayRSA.

Pat Long is a consummate professional, in & out of the car. On an unrelated note, DPs are really stupid looking racecars.