Porsche Spyders - why aren't they running Le Mans today?

[Paul Franssen]

Air cool, water cool, diesel...quite frankly I can't get into this "hurrah for our side" type of approach. OK, I prefer air cooled Porsches. So what? It really is a personal thing, a true or a perceived form of "purity"...
About Le Mans.
There's some complaints about the diesel not making any noise, or not the "proper" noise. So what? The dam thing was first, it -and the winning team- didn't cheat. OK, they could make a "safety" rule saying a driver can't drive for more than, say, two consecutive hours (which would force the diesels to stop -which is what they haven't been doing, one of the main reasons for their winning).
Of course (poor Mr.) Pescarolo (truly a great car guy!) only had (for his entire racing team budget) 2.5% of the money Audi spent on the development of the engine alone.
I guess automobile racing will change a lot - again.
4th place for a Corvette effort. Hmmm.... I don't like it, but...
I ache at not, first hand, coming accross the name PORSCHE in any conspicuous way in any race reports. Must be a near first time this happens at LM since, euh...the early 1950's???
Yep. Getting old is sh..

[930Jim]

With the kind of profits Porsche enjoys, there is no excuse for them not to have factory cars at LeMans this year, and EVERY year. If not the Spyder then something else.

Ferrari sells (or at least sold when Enzo was at the helm) customer cars to finance their race program. Porsche races to sell more customer cars.

[GDSOB]

Porsche had the GT2 class won until the last hour when a shifter broke in the leading car. The Panoz was close enough to make up the ground when the shifter was replaced. Good race. Congrats Dr. Panoz.

The commentary about the LMP2 class probably revealed why the Spyders weren't there. Most, if not all were having reliability issues and were limping around at the finish. The class has smaller, high strung cars that are good for the sprint races, but need to be detuned for enduros. I'll bet the Spyder smokes the Audis at Lime Rock.

[Netspeed]

Porsche made the decision a long time ago not to race at Le Mans this year....it was even in the contract when Penske took on the program. In 2007, Penske will be there with a Porsche factory effort along with privateers in Spyders.

[juicersr]

"I ache at not, first hand, coming accross the name PORSCHE in any conspicuous way in any race reports."

Says it all

[herman maire]

Can somebody tell me WHY, OH WhY... a 911 GT2 TURBO is not fighting with the Vettes in the GT1 class.

Man....when I saw 1 of 2 PANOZ cars beat a field of GT3's in the GT2 class I felt sick. I know the GT3 was leading but they decided to take a detour through the field near the end, they could have won ......but still..... it sucks.

[John Brandt]

The thing that upsets me is that they let Audi surpass the distance record set in '71

[Netspeed]

Originally posted by herman maire
Can somebody tell me WHY, OH WhY... a 911 GT2 TURBO is not fighting with the Vettes in the GT1 class.

Man....when I saw 1 of 2 PANOZ cars beat a field of GT3's in the GT2 class I felt sick. I know the GT3 was leading but they decided to take a detour through the field near the end, they could have won ......but still..... it sucks.

How about running the Carrera GT in GT1? Saleen runs his S7. I wish I won the lottery....I'd run a Carrera GT there!

[304065]

Can somebody tell me whether the Porsche Spyders will be racing at Lime Rock on July 2nd? Penske has the race listed on their website but I want to be sure.

[Netspeed]

I think they are. Penske's website seems to be more current than Porsche's. Maybe check out the official ALMS website for entries.

[GDSOB]

Originally posted by john_cramer
Can somebody tell me whether the Porsche Spyders will be racing at Lime Rock on July 2nd? Penske has the race listed on their website but I want to be sure.

I was at Mid-Ohio and they had the Audis covered. They Spyders are probably better suited for Lime Rock - They should compete well for the overall.

[lateapex911]

Jeez...if they DON'T show up, what will they have for cars?? 4?

Seriously...

2 for Dyson

maybe 2 for Audi

2 for Mazda in LMP2

2 for Porsche in LMP2

And........????????

If Porsche/Penske and Audi skip it, that would be a joke...ALMS doesn't need that.

[earlyapex]

Aside from Audi and Pescarolo, the LMP 1 and 2 classes are a joke. A quick scan showed GT1 cars running higher than most of the LMP cars. The competition is really going to get a shot of quality when Porsche Spyders get into the hands of privateers. We may bemoan Porsche's racing decisions, but we don't see the whole picture. I frankly don't want them to get stuck in a manufacturer battle. Porsche is still relatively small compared to their competition.

[304065]

Jake, do you think they would take a fly yellow and a light ivory 911E as late entries?

[lateapex911]

We'd put on a good show, eh????

(But let me lead for just a bit.....don't embarrass me right from the start!)

[304065]

I just bought a ticket to the IMSA Porsche Corral for Saturday! This is going to be fun!

[lateapex911]

Where'd you buy it John?? I'm PCA...is that involved? I have the old 911 and I can always bring a new 944 S2, ("Shaggy") if it looks like rain.

I think I need to get in on this deal!

[SweetE]

The Porsche Spyders will be running aginst the Audi TDI cars at the ALMS Race at Miller Motorsports Park / Tooele, UT the weekend of July 14-15.

There will also be a "Porscheplatz" parking and events.

Check out the IMSA site for details.

[304065]

Jake, go to the Lime Rock site and look for the IMSA "porscheplatz" section.

And be sure to get the "hospitality" pass. << Hic!>>

[SC-targa]

Originally posted by john_cramer
Gentlemen please.

It's their first season. Even the original 917 had issues until Penske and Donohue got them sorted out.[/i]

Actually, it took John Wyer of GT40 fame to make the 917 a winner with the 917K in the 1970 season.

Penske and Donahue were years later.

Regards,

Jerry Kroeger