GRAND-AM Championship Weekend

Chip Ganassi wins Championship for 2013

 Was waiting for this to post, unlike many motorsports it seems Grand AM gives good highlights of the race but are held off for a week.  Well better late than never and this series was just fantastic this year, quite possibly the most exciting road racing has been Grand AM, along with announcers Brian Till, Bob Varsha, Calvin Fish and Dorsey, you guys are the best!

It was the final race in the 14-year history of the Rolex Series, which is merging with the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón and will debut as the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship beginning with the 2014 Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Full Standings 2013

Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates won its seventh DP team championship in 10 years and fourth in a row, finishing six points ahead of Wayne Taylor Racing. Yacaman finished the race second in the Michael Shank Racing’s No. 6 Aero/Tuvacol Ford/Riley started by Justin Wilson, followed by Pruett and Rojas, who were seeking their fourth straight championship.

 “This is bittersweet,” Pruett said. “GRAND-AM’s been home for us for the last 10 years, and you hate to see it end – even though there’s a new beginning ahead. I enjoyed the last 10 years and everything we've achieved.  At least no one can break our records.”

63 Scuderia Corsa pulls the championship in GT, 44 Magnus Racing 2nd and 57 Stevenson Motorsports was 3rd in points.

As for the GX class 38 BGB Motorsports wins the series followed by 00 Visit Florida Racing/Speedsource and 3rd place goes to 70 Mazdaspeed/Speedsource, so the little engine that could pulls a 2nd and 3rd, pretty awesome for the first time out on the track!

Ford's new DP 3.5-liter V6 EcoBoost for 2014

 Alright a new series to look forward to and how about this, DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 1, 2013 - As part of its continuing strategy to introduce product-relevant technology into racing, Ford announced today plans to bring its 3.5-liter V6 EcoBoost racing engine to the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship series. The new engine, which will debut at the 2014 Rolex 24 at Daytona on Jan. 25-26 and run the entire 12-race season, will power a new-look Daytona Prototype car, created with Ford corporate design influence.  Michael Shank Racing is on board as the first team to put EcoBoost power behind its DP car.

2014 Ford's EcoBoost 3.5 liter V6 Twin Turbo

Bringing a direct-injected, twin-turbo 3.5-liter V6 EcoBoost engine to the United SportsCar Championship in a field of competitive V8-powered entries.  We want to show Ford EcoBoost’s capabilities as an engine that provides both performance and fuel economy, on and off the track. 

 GRAND-AMvids

 

SFP Grand Prix Kansas Speedway Night Run

 It's been a great series and the Championship Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT is this coming weekend Sept. 27th and 28th. The big news here is Mazda with the little engine that could, SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel.  Team Mazda is 2nd and 3rd in the championship, team Visit Florida Racing/Speedsource and Mazdaspeed/Speedsource are 6 and 11 points behind the BGB Motorsports in GX class if either Mazda team wins this coming weekend that 4 diesel banger takes the championship. 

In the GT class, Stevenson Motorsports still has a shot at the title there in 3rd place for the championship, Magnus Racing is on top followed by Scuderia Corsa, this is going to be a battle at Lime Rock Park. 

 As far as DP class goes well this two will be a ball buster, Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates who's drivers are Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas are sitting on top but Wayne Taylor Racing with drivers Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli which are the number 1 and 2 drivers this year in the Rolex series are in 2nd place for the championship. 

Right now take a look at Kansas, Jordan Taylor was up to the task, holding off Scott Pruett all the way to the checkered flag.  Taylor won by .568 seconds in the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP started by Max Angelelli.  Winning their third race of the season, they also came from fifth to regain the lead in the DP championship standings with only two races remaining. 

  In GT, Alessandro Balzan took his first Rolex Series victory, joining Leh Keen in the No. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 458 Italia.  Balzan led the final 30 laps, holding off Patrick Long in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche GT3 that was started by Patrick Lindsey.  Emil Assentato and Anthony Lazzaro rounded out the podium in the No. 69 AIM Autosport Team FXDD Ferrari 458. 

Joel Miller took his fifth GX victory of the season in the No. 00 Visit Florida Racing/SpeedSource Mazda6 co-driven by Tristan Nunez.  It was Mazda’s seventh straight victory in the class. Jim Norman finished second in the No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman co-driven by Spencer Pumpelly, with Miller cutting Norman’s lead in the standings to seven points (329-322). 

One to GO!

Rolex standings

GRAND-AMvids

 
Race Strategy 

Rolex Sports Car Series drivers in the 2013 championship battle talk strategy. 

GRAND-AMvids

 

SFP Grand Prix Continental Tire- Kansas

From Grand Am Racing:

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (August 17, 2013) – John Edwards held off Matt Plumb in a three-lap sprint to the checkered flag Saturday at Kansas Speedway, joining Matt Bell in winning their second race of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge season in the No. 9 Stevenson Auto Group Chevrolet Camaro. With the victory the duo extends their Grand Sport (GS) championship hopes with two races remaining. 

Well, I've been wondering how the Mustangs been holding out in the series, Shelby Blackstock went from ninth to third in the final 30 minutes to score his first GS podium finish in the No. 51 Starstruck Ford Mustang Boss 302R. The car was started from the back of the grid by Joey Atterbury due to a technical infraction after qualifying fourth. 

After running the opening hour under the green flag, the latter portion of the race was slowed by four caution periods. A multi-car accident in Turn 1 with 17 minutes remaining sidelined the third-place Porsche of Ken Wilden and also involved the Aston Martin of Kris Wilson and the Volkswagen Jetta of Aleks Altberg. Wilden and Altberg were both evaluated and released from a local hospital. 

In Street Tuner (ST), Taylor Hacquard and Derek Jones their first CTSCC victories in the No. 32 i-Moto/Cybernation Mazda Speed 3 after race leader Michael Valiante was penalized for manipulating the final restart. 

GRAND-AMvids

 

Grand Am Racing Road America

Grand AM News:

 It was the first GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series victory for both drivers of the No. 8 Starworks Motorsport BMW/Riley.  The turn of events that put Hartley and Mayer  of Franklin, Wis.  in victory lane began with misfortune for Starworks teammates Ryan Dalziel and Alex Popow, who won the Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis in the No. 2 Soloson BMW/Riley.  Dalziel lost his engine exiting the pits after a stop with one hour remaining and came to a stop at the exit of Turn 1  bringing out the first caution of the race.  Action Express Racing finished second and third. Joao Barbosa finished 4.290 seconds behind Hartley in the No. 5 Corvette DP started by Christian Fittipaldi.  

Polesitter Dane Cameron and co-driver Wayne Nonnamaker dominated much of the race in the No. 42 Team Sahlen’s BMW/Riley.  Cameron broke an axle while leading on lap 54 – moments before the engine let go in Stephane Sarrazin’s No. 3 Corvette DP resulting in a spin to Wayne Nonnamaker in the No. 43 Team Sahlen’s BMW/Riley to bring out the final caution.

Bill Auberlen prevailed in a terrific battle with Patrick Long to join Paul Dalla Lana in winning GT in the No. 94 Turner Motorsport BMW M3, their third victory of the season.  Long finished second in the No. 73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche GT3 started by Patrick Lindsey, followed by Michael Marsal and Maxime Martin in the No. 93 Turner Motorsport BMW M3 and Indianapolis winner Jeff Segal, who was joined by Ken Wilden in the No. 61 R. Ferri/AIM Motorsport Ferrari 458.

The little engine that could, Joel Miller led the final four laps to take his fourth GX victory in the No. 00 Visit Florida Racing/SpeedSource Mazda 6, joined by three-time winner Tristan Nunez. Points leader Jim Norman and Spencer Pumpelly finished second in the No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman. 

GrandAmVids

 

Brickyard Grand Prix 2013

Tough course, once again lots of banging going on and  many cars spun the tires out of the turn, around you go!  DP 1st: Ryan Dalziel, Alex Popow, No. 2 Starworks Motorsport BMW/Riley.  GT 1st: Jeff Segal/Max Papis, No. 61 R.Ferri/AIM Motorsport Ferrari 458 Italia finally pulls a win on that Damn Camaro 57 (Goodwin for the Ferri Team).  The little engine that could is pounding wins! GX 1st: Tom Long/Sylvain Tremblay,  No. 70 MAZDASPEED/SpeedSource Mazda6.

Next weekend is Road America and someone is always in the sand trap at Canada Corner!

 The Recap from Grand Am Racing:

A switch to BMW power may be the missing piece in Starworks Motorsport’s bid for the Daytona Prototype championship. Driving the No. 2 Soloson BMW/Riley, Ryan Dalziel took the lead with nine minutes remaining and led the rest of the way, giving both the team and co-driver Alex Popow its second consecutive victory in the Brickyard Grand Prix. Dalziel and Popow also opened a 10-point lead in the DP standings over Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney, who finished third in the No. 99 GAINSCO Auto Insurance Corvette DP.  Scott Pruett finished second, 3.438 seconds back, good enough to give Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates the $100,000 prize for winning the North American Endurance Championship presented by VISITFLORIDA.com. Pruett and Memo Rojas, co-driver of the No. 01 Telcel/TELMEX BMW/Riley were NAEC DP driver champions.

Formula One veteran Rubens Barrichello made his Daytona Prototype debut and led 22 minutes down the stretch in Doran Racing’s No. 77 Ford/Dallara co-driven by Doug Peterson. Barrichello pitted for fuel with nine minutes remaining, going on to finish fifth.

Jeff Segal and Max Papis gave Ferrari its first victory of the year, winning GT in the No. 61 R.Ferri/AIM Motorsport Ferrari 458. Stevenson Motorsport won the GT NAEC title with a second-place finish for John Edwards and Robin Liddell in the No. 57 Camaro (that Damn Camaro).  Sylvain Tremblay and Tom Long took both race and GX honors in the No. 70 MAZDASPEED/SpeedSource Mazda 6 (the little engine that could), while Dr. Jim Norman won the GX driver title with a second-place finish in the No. 38 BGB Motorsports Porsche Cayman. 

GrandAmVids·

Grand AM 2013 6 Hours of The Glen Highlights

The little engine that could

Christian Fittipaldi held off a last-lap charge from Michael Valiante to give the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP its second consecutive GRAND-AM Rolex Series victory Sunday in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International. 

The Camaro is running hot, Robin Liddell led the final 11 laps of the race to win in the GT class, the fourth win in five races for him and co-driver John Edwards in the No. 57 Stevenson Automotive Group Chevrolet Camaro GT.R. 

More good news for the Mazda Diesel. Joel Miller, Tristan Nunez and Yojiro Terada gave Mazda and SpeedSource its fourth consecutive victory in the GX class in the No. 00 Visit Florida Racing Mazda6. 

TUDOR Championship

Grand AM at Belle Isle 2013

This was one race with a lot of banging and pushing going on, so many of the Corvette Prototypes were busted up, thanks to Gustavo Yacaman (he's on probation now) by driving too aggressively and that is going to cost the teams.  It was estimated at about $300,000 in damage for the teams.  The win for  the DP class was No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing who is on top of the standings. 

But aside from that, No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports in the GT class pulls three straight victories in a row, how appropriate for Chevy in Detroit!  

As for the GX class, the little diesel that could is in the winners circle once again!  The second win for No. 00 the Skyactive Diesel Mazda team, Speedsource. 

GrandAmVids




Grand-Am Diamond Cellar Classic 6/14-15/13

Happy Father's Day and wouldn't you know it Yacaman gets into Chip Ganassi Racing the 01 car and he's on probation!  Well something broke because he couldn't drive through the turn and after blasting off the track, an oil line or gas line broke and the car cooked, Michael Shank Racing has got to be thinking is this guy worth it even though he brought on sponsors.  Shank said it's going to be hard to get a car together for Watkins Glen. 

Joao Barbosa gave Action Express Racing its first Daytona Prototype victory of the season, “Just racing here is intense,” Barbosa said. “It was really hard racing.

No.31 Marsh Racing Corvette was driving down hard behind No. 94 BMW Turner Motorsports but was penalized with less than 2 laps to go in the race for contact. Tough call these guys' were racing hard for many laps, No. 94 got the win for the GT class.

 Once again the little engine that could, that's right Pod Skyactive Diesel.  Sylvain Tremblay and Tom Long took the first GX victory for the No. 70 SpeedSource Mazda 6, with the pair leading 96 of the 100 laps. 

This season has been great so far, don't miss a race!

Grand AM Road Racing

GrandAmVids

Grand-AM/IMSA/DTM Heading to America

On the heels of the GRAND-AM/IMSA/DTM announcement, a glimpse of what could be headed to a North American track near you in 2015.

 Press Release:

 Audi welcomes US DTM initiative

 - Plans for new US race series with DTM racecars
 - Possible new fields of competition for the Audi RS 5 DTM
 - Development Boss Wolfgang Dürheimer: "Of interest to Audi"

 Ingolstadt/New York, March 26, 2013 – a new and promising opportunity in motorsport opens up for Audi: as announced at a press conference today in New York, the organizers of NASCAR and GRAND-AM plan a US based race series for DTM racecars like the Audi RS 5 DTM.

 To this end, a dedicated platform for the spectacular DTM cars should be in place in the USA by 2016.  The responsible parties of the ITR have concluded a corresponding cooperation with their partners in America.  It complements a previously existing and similar agreement with the Japanese Super GT Championship organizers.

 "As a consequence, the opportunity arises in the future to race the Audi RS 5 DTM not only in Europe but also in Asia and North America in premium championships," says Wolfgang Dürheimer, Member of the Board for Technical Development at AUDI AG. "As a globally active company, this is exciting and interesting for Audi."

 Scott Keogh, President of Audi of America: "Audi has a strong and spectacular history in US motorsport.  We are currently looking for options that will allow the four rings to be more visible again on the race tracks throughout the USA. It's fantastic news that there could soon be a US DTM.  The Audi RS models are very popular in America. I'm convinced that our customers will be delighted to see the Audi RS 5 DTM in action."

 Audi has been active for more than 30 years in motorsport and was frequently successful in the USA during this period.  In the 1980s, the brand with the four rings triumphed three times in succession at the Pikes Peak hill climb in Colorado. In 1988, Audi won the Trans-Am Series, in 1989 the Audi 90 quattro was the dominant car in the IMSA GTO series.  Audi won the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) championship title nine times in succession between 2000 and 2008. In January, the Audi R8 GRAND-AM celebrated a GT victory in the 24-hour race at Daytona (Florida).  With the R18 e-tron quattro, Audi clinched the brand's eleventh victory in the 12-hour race at Sebring (Florida) 10 days ago.

 Audi teams have won the DTM title in Europe eight times to date: 1990 and 1991 with the Audi V8 quattro, 2002 with a Coupé based on the Audi TT plus 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011 with the Audi A4 DTM.  For the new DTM regulations introduced last year, Audi Sport developed the Audi RS 5 DTM, with which three teams join the grid with eight drivers in 2013. The new DTM season begins on May 5 around the Grand Prix circuit at Hockenheim.

DTM

GrandAmVids

Circuit of The Americas

Circuit of The Americas is a new world-class motorsports and entertainment venue in Texas, located nine miles from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and less than 15 miles from downtown Austin. Circuit of The Americas is more than a track – it is designed to be the only purpose-built facility in the U.S. to host the FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX™ through 2021 and V8 SUPERCARS from 2013-2018.

It will be the only FIA-certified Grade 1 track in the United States, and one of only 26 Grade 1-certified motorsports facilities in the world. The circuit currently holds exclusive rights in the United States to host a V8 SUPERCARS event. The venue is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of fans from all over the world and be seen by approximately 30 million television viewers across the globe for the FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX™ while also hosting dozens of high-profile motorsports, entertainment and business events each year. 

Construction of the 375-acre Circuit of The Americas™ project cost approximately $400 million in private investment and create approximately 1,700 construction jobs. Sixteen Texas-based companies are contracted to work on the project with participation by minority- and women-owned businesses totaling an estimated $50 million.

This is a challenging course and the drivers love it! GRAND-AM drivers who have tested at the new course share their thoughts on the world-class facility. 

GrandAmVids

GRAND-AM 

 Highlights from the inaugural Rolex Sports Car Series race at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Tex.

Circuit of The Americas

GrandAmVids

Grand AM Rolex 24hr On board

24hr Rolex into the Night

The Speed Channel does a great job of presenting the races to the public if you have not looked at their onboard camera around the track today, have a look. It's going to be a long night and the race season is under way. 

 Allmendinger is seven laps down after breaking a piece of suspension Saturday on his Ford Riley.  Michael Shank Racing teammates - Oswaldo Negri, Justin Wilson, John Pew and Marcos Ambrose might have a tough time making up those laps but as the yellow flags come out you get to move ahead,  good luck to these boys'. 

 Wow! tuff luck for the Mazda Teams' which were running three cars.  John Doonan, "We've had vibration problems, and so the engines are running at about 80-85 percent.  Besides, how do you define slow?"  Three and a half hours into the Rolex on Saturday evening, all three 6s were in the garage.  A $0.25 nut (isn't that always the way?) failed on each cars' fuel line.  Doonan was able to get one back out and he hopes it will finish the race tomorrow.  All three 6s, however,  were out of the race less than six hours into the race.  Looks like Mazda has a lot of work to do but say they are here to stay,  but how is that going to affect sales on the new 6?  It didn't even make 24!

 Green, Green, Green

TUDOR Championship

 

Well here ya go, Daytona in the little monster Mazda6 GX Grand AM Racer. 

That was Flippin Great (Results) 1/27/13

 

The BMW power-plant dominated the DP class, where the Bow Tie Boys' are complaining! 

Juan Pablo Montoya and his No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing ahead 21.922 seconds of Max Angelelli and the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP.

 In the GT Class Alex Job Racing gave Audi its first victory in the Rolex 24 and in the Rolex Sports Car Series. (Nice Ride Audi)

NRacing made history as the first winner in the new GX class. Jim Norman, pole-winner Shane Lewis, David Donohue and Nelson Canache teamed in the No. 16 Porsche Cayman that won by 10 laps. 

 2013 Highlights 24hr Rolex at Daytona

 

I'll update the clips as they come available, the race season has started and I know we're in for tough competition, the Rolex spotlighted the pressure in today's racing.



Thanks for watching and get sideways yourself!