Grand Am series

[pwd72s]

Should be interesting in the GT class this year

http://www.grand-am.com/

BMW M3

Ford Mustang (Boss 302)

Lamborghini Gallardo

Porsche 911 GT3

I'm jealous of those close enough to the tracks to attend....

Nary a well set up 944 in sight...

[David McLaughlin]

My shop is working on the Turner Motorsport M3 now. The body of this car is so cool; gotta love carbonfiber.

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by David McLaughlin

My shop is working on the Turner Motorsport M3 now. The body of this car is so cool; gotta love carbonfiber.

Any pics allowed?

[David McLaughlin]

I doubt it, most of what we work on we're not allowed to take any photos. The chassis was painted a week ago and now we have the body parts (already fitted) for prep and paint.

The shop owner has some pics of other Turner cars on facebook. Login | Facebook

[pwd72s]

I guess all will be revealed at Daytona....

[URY914]

They should dump the DP's and only run GT's.

[sammyg2]

Grand am isn't for sale but you can rent it by the year.
Cadillac did it, then Pontiac GTO, looks like ford ponied (sic) up the rent this year.

[Noah930]

Yeah, I still don't understand the concept of running some tube-frame racecars (Pontiac, Camaro, Mazda) against stock-bodied racecars (911, Mustang) and calling that an equivalent fight. I understand the concept of inclusion, but that's taking it a bit too far, IMO.

Those DPs are ugly as sin, too. Functional, but fugly.

[ErVikingo]

functional.....I've heard different from some of the drivers.

[Jeff Alton]

What he said.... Drives me crazy that they put full tube frame race cars up against factory tubbed cars. But then I guess it would be a one or two horse race I guess..... Having worked for a team for the last 3 years at the 24, I can say that Grand-Am treats the GT cars and teams as a side show.....

Cheers

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Yeah, I still don't understand the concept of running some tube-frame racecars (Pontiac, Camaro, Mazda) against stock-bodied racecars (911, Mustang) and calling that an equivalent fight. I understand the concept of inclusion, but that's taking it a bit too far, IMO.

Those DPs are ugly as sin, too. Functional, but fugly.

I never had a vote, but count me among those who think it would be a more fun series for the spectators if it was GT only...

[legion]

I'd bet if a DP and an LMP2 car were to race....we'd know who was boss.

[Nine17]

Originally Posted by legion

I'd bet if a DP and an LMP2 car were to race....we'd know who was boss.

Or how about putting a DP up against one of those very cool 'Vette-engined LMPC cars like Kevin Jeannette ran in ALMS last year? Faster and better looking. Grand-Am seems to exist simply for the France family to punish GM for the Corvettes. The Frances talk about their "level playing field" but the same teams win the DP championship year-in and year-out riding the Taylor/Ganassi/Gainsco merry-go-round. Now their family accountant won Daytona with the ex-Brumos Porsche-engined DP as "Action Express" and this year they gave a another car to the Lizards for Daytona since Brumos has gone fully GT. I wonder who really put up the money for those two campaigns? The way that Grand Am schooled-up Alex Job when he tried to run a Crawford-Porsche DP a couple of years ago by taking gears out of the tranny and adding ballast told me everything I need to know about that series. They wanted him to show up, but they didn't want him to win. Same with Penske's Porsche DP.

[450knotOffice]

I totally agree with you guys - on both counts. For me, I could care less who wins the DP class of each race. I'm interested in the GT class. And yes, I have a big problem with the tube framed cars being allowed to run in this class alongside production chassis. How is that fair, and how does that represent the makes in any way - just because they carry bodywork that look similar? Those "Mazdas" are Mazdas in name and engine only. Same for the GM cars. It would be a much more representative fight if the real tubs of the manufacturers were the only chassis' allowed. Let's see a real Mazda RX8 fight it out with the 911 GT3 Cups - and real GM's and, etc.

[AFC-911]

What a proper GTE car looks like:




I love the Porsche v Ferrari v Corvette v BMW battle in the ALMS. And if Robertson Racing runs an all-pro driver lineup with Murray in the Ford GT, then that's even more fuel to the fire.

[Flieger]

ALMS über Alles!

I wish Audi would bring the R8 GT3 car to play, like the great battles with the GT3R and RSRs at the Nordschleife 24 Stunden Rennen.

[Flieger]

Originally Posted by Noah930

Yeah, I still don't understand the concept of running some tube-frame racecars (Pontiac, Camaro, Mazda) against stock-bodied racecars (911, Mustang) and calling that an equivalent fight. I understand the concept of inclusion, but that's taking it a bit too far, IMO.

Those DPs are ugly as sin, too. Functional, but fugly.

So true. I heartily agree.

[AFC-911]

I'm curious to know what the Grand Am "BMW" looks like. I'm seriously trying to picture it, but this is all I can come up with:



...I have a feeling I might be disappointed.


As a side note, I really wish Brumos would switch over...How great would it be to see their livery on an RSR?

[450knotOffice]

I hear ya!

[Flieger]

The Grand-Am BMW is a tube frame. They decided to go with the longer wheelbase, larger M6 body due to aerodynamics advantage. I understand that the DTM cars will be racing in a parallel series to Grand Am in the next year or two, along with the Japanese Super GT. I have heard that they will be in a separate race, so as not to upstage the DP cars. (DP cars are way more primitave than the carbonfiber monocoque, highly aerodynamic, high tech engine DTM cars)

I wish the ACO and FIA would allow the BMW E92 M3 GT2 to run to the same specification as the VLN/Nordschleife 24 Stunden. They had to reduce engine power, take off ABS, and change the rear subframe/suspension for things like LeMans and Spa 24. The VLN let them run what they had, but with 10 kilos or so of weight penalty.

ALMS lets them run like they want and the bigger engine restrictor lets them be super fast on the straights for Road America. The Dunlop tires hold them up sometimes. Ferrari has the edge on the fast sweeping tracks like Mosport. The Porsches still seem to be able to win on the tighter tracks like Lime Rock where traction out of tight turns, trail braking and rotation come into play. All in all, the ALMS has such a great balance of performance that means lots of competition and anyone can win at any racetrack, should there be unforseen incidents.

BMW won the manufacturer's and team title by 1 point over Porsche and Flying Lizard, though Joerg and Patrick won the Drivers title by a much bigger margin.

The new Ferrari looks like trouble the 430 was hard enough to beat; often but not always it was faster than the RSR. The 997RSR is getting quite old now.

I am going to hope the 458s all burst into flames.