USCC (leave your axe outside)

[TRspitfirefan]

Originally Posted by joeb

The one change I would like to see is no work while refueling. That would put some tire strategy into the race and, without changing bop, would make p2's more competitive.

This would be great. It would encourage teams to double and triple stint tires.
Better races+cost savings.

[Mechanic Z]

Originally Posted by joeb

The one change I would like to see is no work while refueling.

The pitstop rules are indicative of TUSC's issues right now.

They minimize the pit crew, so as long as nobody messes up too bad, there is no advantage to be gained by having a better pit crew.

The Lap Down Wave By renders most of the race completely meaningless, and therefore the driving from most of the race. Essentially minimizing the drivers.

The over-emphasis on 'equality' and close racing, and the cars currently favored by BoP, minimizes the cars, the most important element of all.

Is there any racing, when the teams, drivers and cars, are all being hidden in a blaze of flashy promotions and overdone hyperbole?

TUSC's current path is changing racing from life to just waiting.

[ttdriver2009]

In Europe they don't have a pit wall. I don't understand that at all, as it seems to be pretty unsafe. Plus in Europe you can stand out on pit lane and signal the car in (which seems pretty unsafe too).

For me, I don't understand what is so unsafe about having the engine run. NASCAR has over thirty races a year in three divisions with forty cars in each series. They do at least five refuelings per race. That's about 18,000 refuelings per year. I can't remember the last time they had a fire due to the engine running.

Indycar has had plenty of fires in the past but it doesn't seem to happen because of the engine running, but of hot exhaust (which stays hot for a long time after you shut the engine off). Out of any series, you want to avoid those Indycar fires.

Has Grand-Am had a problem with pit fires due to engines running? I assume they didn't. Don't they have that Continental Tire Series? Do they let the engines run while refueling?

I like the American way of pit stops. The crews really have to work hard and it's a true team effort. Even though I don't like stock car racing, I find their pit stops extremely exciting.

[David Land]

If you really want a measurement of how bad TUSCC is just take a look at the 2010 ALMS Long Beach race.

-A combined P class with two fundamentally different cars balanced to perfection ending in a dramatic battle between a P1 Lola Aston Martin and a P2 Acura ARX.

-Smart and fair officiating.

-BoP was actually so good Jon Feild nearly stole this race from a Factory Aston, Factory Acura, Factory Mazda, and a Pseudo-Factory Porsche... only to have a fuel leak kill that chance.

Take a look and you be the judge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U4ilW4j88A

[Rodger Davies]

Axe outside bro.

If Intersport nearly won the race then you 100% sure BoP was fair?

That was 2010. It was ALMS. I loved it. But it died. Not a particularly swift death either. Now TUSC's job is to patch together two series that both had huge flaws by the time they died out. Personally, I enjoyed watching Pruett and Barbosa fight it out, decided with good driving on a track that suited their cars' strengths.

Yeah, I'd have liked to have watched more of it, which I was prevented from doing by too many breaks, but whilst this series patches itself together and hopefully forms something we can all truly enjoy then at least there are some enjoyable races to watch for the year. Laguna is a track more suited to P2s and I am looking forward to watching this year's IMSA race(s) there more than I have done since 2010. I really enjoyed the P1 v P2 battles there in the past and anticipate something similar.

Here's hoping.

[TRspitfirefan]

Originally Posted by Rodger Davies

Axe outside bro.

It is not "axe grinding" to compare the 2014 Long Beach race, to the races held in the past.

Admittedly, many of us that live in the US are having a hard time accepting the demise of the American LeMans Series, because it was really the only good sports car series that was accessible to us.
Europe is blessed with so many wonderful types of sports car racing,
ELMS, British Gt, multiple WEC rounds, Blancpain, and of course the 24hr. of LeMans itself, but for American sports car racing fans, the ALMS was all that we had.
Sure... We can watch the TV broadcast of most of those other international racing series, but it's not the same as being at the race in person.
If the best that the "new" IMSA can offer continues to be mediocrity, then I, for one,will continue to long for the great times that were the American Lemans Series.

[isynge]

Originally Posted by TRspitfirefan

It is not "axe grinding" to compare the 2014 Long Beach race, to the races held in the past.

Admittedly, many of us that live in the US are having a hard time accepting the demise of the American LeMans Series, because it was really the only good sports car series that was accessible to us.
Europe is blessed with so many wonderful types of sports car racing,
ELMS, British Gt, multiple WEC rounds, Blancpain, and of course the 24hr. of LeMans itself, but for American sports car racing fans, the ALMS was all that we had.
Sure... We can watch the TV broadcast of most of those other international racing series, but it's not the same as being at the race in person.
If the best that the "new" IMSA can offer continues to be mediocrity, then I, for one,will continue to long for the great times that were the American Lemans Series.

Beautifully put and I think sums up my more distant perspective on things.

America deserves and should have a world class Sportscar series, much like in the 1980s when we look back fondly at Group C IMSA often presented a cogent and persuasive alternative way of going racing.

TUSC should be able to do the same, be innovative in how to stage races and welcome different philosophies of car design, as such keeping is Europeans on our toes. That it falls short in the way it does today makes all of us, across the Atlantic or Pacific, poorer.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by David Land

-BoP was actually so good Jon Feild nearly stole this race from a Factory Aston, Factory Acura, Factory Mazda, and a Pseudo-Factory Porsche... only to have a fuel leak kill that chance.

In addition to the LB comparison, the ALMS BoP in general worked well to keep the likes of Dyson and Field on pace with the factory teams until the Dyson caught fire and Jon broke the car on someone else or from the thrashing he gave it. Like the ALMS, it was all good and exciting while it lasted.

[Matt]

Good to see the SoD Corvette running the C7 style overlays on the headlights again.

[Breitling24]

Looks a bit better, I would rather see C7 style working DRL's instead of decals.

[Dyson Mazda]

Originally Posted by isynge

Beautifully put and I think sums up my more distant perspective on things.

America deserves and should have a world class Sportscar series, much like in the 1980s when we look back fondly at Group C IMSA often presented a cogent and persuasive alternative way of going racing.

TUSC should be able to do the same, be innovative in how to stage races and welcome different philosophies of car design, as such keeping is Europeans on our toes. That it falls short in the way it does today makes all of us, across the Atlantic or Pacific, poorer.

We had one and the ACO got jealous and killed it (along with a very poor economy in 2008). I for one am glad that the ALMS of 12/13 was killed. Watching 16 ACO spec cars in 3 class was downright awful. I know what we have right now is far from perfect, however, I still feel is a lot better than what we had.

[TF110]

Originally Posted by Dyson Mazda

We had one and the ACO got jealous and killed it (along with a very poor economy in 2008). I for one am glad that the ALMS of 12/13 was killed. Watching 16 ACO spec cars in 3 class was downright awful. I know what we have right now is far from perfect, however, I still feel is a lot better than what we had.

Howd they kill it? P2's were suppose to be p1 pace. Is that what you mean? Or do you mean making a series for teams in Europe to run?

[Dyson Mazda]

Originally Posted by TF110

Howd they kill it? P2's were suppose to be p1 pace. Is that what you mean? Or do you mean making a series for teams in Europe to run?

They changed the P2 rules when the factories were setting up shop in the states and launched the WEC, driving the factory P1's out of their North American programs (this effectively killed the ELMS as well). You could make an argument that the 2008 Sebring grid was better than the one at Le Mans that year. At the end of the day they should have left the ELMS and the ALMS as they were, allowing the factory teams to bounce between the two series. Both worked fine, but no the ACO/FIA tried to get greedy took the sport to SE Asia and the Middle East. They really took it away from the people the love it most (and do not even have the decency to give us a decent TV package to watch it on).

[TF110]

The wec wasnt created until 2012 You talking about the ilmc? Because the LMS (Le Mans Series) was in action during the alms at the time youre specifying. So whats the big deal? ALMS was always Audi beating up on smaller fish and before that it was lightweight P2's allowed. The ACO didnt kill it imo. Only time Peugeot would enter was Sebring or PLM. That was Audi's real competition.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

In addition to the LB comparison, the ALMS BoP in general worked well to keep the likes of Dyson and Field on pace with the factory teams until the Dyson caught fire and Jon broke the car on someone else or from the thrashing he gave it. Like the ALMS, it was all good and exciting while it lasted.

Aww, I miss the Dyson turbo fire pool.

Originally Posted by Matt

Good to see the SoD Corvette running the C7 style overlays on the headlights again.

I think you are trolling me, but I have to bite... I HATE those. Hate.

[nkoske]

I think headlight stickers are the least of our worries...just saying.

[MagVanisher]

Originally Posted by nkoske

I think headlight stickers are the least of our worries...just saying.

At least the DPs have working lights while the stock cars does not. Chevrolet should have created a body kit for- Oh wait, there's no reason for making one since the prototype regs are uniting in 2016 or 2017.

[Christian Mogami]

I had a friend at LBGP(been going since the first race) and his view on TUSCC.

1)Why the F... was there only like 20 cars racing!
a)P2's use to be fast on this track,want did NASCAR do to them to make them so slow?
b)The most boring sports car race I've ever seen at LBGP!

2)The best racing of the weekend was the WC race.
a)TUSCC should hire WC to run their series.

3)Next year they better have all four classes racing if their smart and about 30 minutes longer!

[Lagunaseca_4life]

Originally Posted by Christian Mogami

I had a friend at LBGP(been going since the first race) and his view on TUSCC.

1)Why the F... was there only like 20 cars racing!
a)P2's use to be fast on this track,want did NASCAR do to them to make them so slow?
b)The most boring sports car race I've ever seen at LBGP!

2)The best racing of the weekend was the WC race.
a)TUSCC should hire WC to run their series.

3)Next year they better have all four classes racing if their smart and about 30 minutes longer!

Yep i was there and it pretty much felt like a better version of grand am,and the grandstands weren't jamb packed like in previous years for alms races but that could be for many different other reasons.

[Aurora]

For anyone interested in the lap time comparison between the GTLM cars in USCC and the GT3 cars in PWC here are the results:

http://www.imsa.com/sites/default/fi...rovisional.pdf

http://www.world-challenge.com/image...ults-1-GT-.pdf

Short version, fastest laps:

GTLM #4 Corvette 1:18.954

GT3: #9 McLaren 1:21.322

Both of which were new lap records.

[Speed-King]

a)P2's use to be fast on this track,want did NASCAR do to them to make them so slow?

P2 pole time 2013: 1:16.014
P pole time 2014: 1:15.325 (best P2: 1:15.668 )

Yup, NASCAR really slowed them down...

[MoMedic9019]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

P2 pole time 2013: 1:16.014
P pole time 2014: 1:15.325 (best P2: 1:15.668 )

Yup, NASCAR really slowed them down...

4 tenths "faster" isn't much, easily could be better setup/driver combo. If it was a second or two, I'd take notice. 4 tenths? Call it equal.

Perception is everything, the DPs have a 10mph advantage on the P2's, they appear to be slower because they are when being compared to the DP.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by MoMedic9019

Perception is everything, the DPs have a 10mph advantage on the P2's, they appear to be slower because they are when being compared to the DP.

Or maybe because people see what they want to see?

[TRspitfirefan]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Or maybe because people see what they want to see?

This also could apply to people who claim that the P class is well "balanced".

[Danske]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Or maybe because people see what they want to see?

Or it's real dark in there.

By the top trap speeds at LB in the online timing data, the Fords were fastest at 140.7-141.2mph, Corvettes at 138.1-140.3mph, P2s at 137.0-137.9mph, and the Marsh DP at 135.9mph. That's somewhere near the end of a straight based on the speeds, so no complaining that's right after a corner. Let's see, 141.2 - 137.9 = ... 10mph?