ALMS Rnd 7: Mid Ohio 20-22 July 2007

HORNDAWG · 11 Jul 2007, 18:33 (Ref:1960901)

Well with about a week and a half till the race, I thought I would start the race thread.

Schedule

Entrant list

Track map

Timing & scoring

Internet broadcast ( Hindy)

IMSA

L.P.

The Badger · 11 Jul 2007, 19:29 (Ref:1960949)

Ya think the long straights will appeal to the R10's , over the Spyder's ?

mjmueller · 11 Jul 2007, 20:00 (Ref:1960972)

Is there anymore information on the Woodhouse Viper? I would love to see what IMSA is doing to start getting these cars our there.

mj

HORNDAWG · 11 Jul 2007, 20:03 (Ref:1960974)

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Badger

Ya think the long straights will appeal to the R10's , over the Spyder's ?

I think that this track is better suited to the torque of the Audi than most of the previous races in the ALMS this year, so far. This might also be where we see the 5% play a roll in outright top speed. So yes I think that Audi will come back to the front. We have no comparison since Audi ran the R8 last year at Mid Ohio so it will be interesting to see what kind of speeds we get in practice! I also think we might see a better performance from Intersport and Autocon, since this track set-up translates so much better to Road Atlanta than Lime Rock (

)!! And as we saw at Lime Rock the Creation/Judd has plenty of stones on the straight stretches!!

L.P.

HORNDAWG · 11 Jul 2007, 20:12 (Ref:1960986)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjmueller

Is there anymore information on the Woodhouse Viper? I would love to see what IMSA is doing to start getting these cars our there.

mj

Good question! Some are saying it is a Comp. Coupe but from what I remember the comp. coupe is not ACO legal anymore. So it appears that they are fudging it a bit. But if this is a trial to homologate one of the new Vipers into the ACO then great!! If not it is a little puzzling as there are a sufficient number of GT-2 cars to not need to excise the rules to allow it in.

L.P.

mjmueller · 11 Jul 2007, 20:15 (Ref:1960989)

What are the lap times of Speed Gt cars compared to GT2? I have no Idea.

mj

HORNDAWG · 11 Jul 2007, 20:39 (Ref:1961012)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjmueller

What are the lap times of Speed Gt cars compared to GT2? I have no Idea.

mj

Here is the SWC site , if you click on the track (same as ALMS runs) it will take you to the race page then scroll down about a third of the page for results/times.

Then you can compare them to ALMS GT-2 times.

L.P.

jhansen · 11 Jul 2007, 20:46 (Ref:1961017)

Quote:

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

I think that this track is better suited to the torque of the Audi than most of the previous races in the ALMS this year, so far. This might also be where we see the 5% play a roll in outright top speed. So yes I think that Audi will come back to the front. We have no comparison since Audi ran the R8 last year at Mid Ohio so it will be interesting to see what kind of speeds we get in practice! I also think we might see a better performance from Intersport and Autocon, since this track set-up translates so much better to Road Atlanta than Lime Rock (

)!! And as we saw at Lime Rock the Creation/Judd has plenty of stones on the straight stretches!!

L.P.

Not to mention the Zytek (similar design) was magic here in 2005. But I'm not getting my hopes up for Autocon (drivers) or Intersport (tires).

I still think the Spyders (and Acuras) will go well here though.

Fogelhund · 11 Jul 2007, 21:19 (Ref:1961043)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mjmueller

What are the lap times of Speed Gt cars compared to GT2? I have no Idea.

mj

Go to the FIA GT website for slightly more applicable comparisons. The FIA GT3 cars are very close in performance to the GT2 cars. It shouldn't take much with the right team and drivers, for a Comp Coupe to be competitive. Given this is more of a test, don't expect too much first time out. If the car can stay close, then I think they might have something.

HORNDAWG · 11 Jul 2007, 21:31 (Ref:1961058)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

Go to the FIA GT website for slightly more applicable comparisons. The FIA GT3 cars are very close in performance to the GT2 cars. It shouldn't take much with the right team and drivers, for a Comp Coupe to be competitive. Given this is more of a test, don't expect too much first time out. If the car can stay close, then I think they might have something.

So is this a FIA GT-3 Comp. Coupe instead of a SWC modified? And how do FIA GT-3 times give a better example of SWC vs. ALMS GT-2?

L.P.

minimangler · 11 Jul 2007, 21:36 (Ref:1961066)

Because FIA GT is generally better

We'll ignore some odd decisions.
Then again, ALMS organisers have made some odd ones.

Fogelhund · 11 Jul 2007, 22:06 (Ref:1961097)

Quote:

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

So is this a FIA GT-3 Comp. Coupe instead of a SWC modified? And how do FIA GT-3 times give a better example of SWC vs. ALMS GT-2?

L.P.

It is a Comp Coupe, that was SWC modified, and now has been further modified for this ALMS test.

FIA GT3 times comparison are better examples, as the relative performance differential should be closer. In my opinion, the Michelin tires used in FIA GT3, will offer better performance than the Toyo's in SWC. The Viper's in SWC are also more restricted.

cmk · 12 Jul 2007, 04:12 (Ref:1961225)

Quote:

Originally Posted by minimangler

Because FIA GT is generally better

We'll ignore some odd decisions.
Then again, ALMS organisers have made some odd ones.

Not relevant. Don't even try to start something, or we'll have to look at the whole GT3 homologation and equalization debate!

Fogelhund definitely hit the nail on the head with the tyre difference. Aren't the SWC Toyos high-performance road tyres or cut slicks or something? They're not true racing slicks, that's for sure. SWC cars are already fairly close to GT2 times, but the GT3 times in Europe are almost identical. IIRC the Ludwig Corvette outqualified the Mullen 430 at Monza during the FIA-GT meeting, had they been on the same grid.

Is the CC legal in the ALMS because it's running in 'GTS2' like the M3s last year, ie. effectively on a special IMSA dispensation?

Fogelhund · 12 Jul 2007, 04:28 (Ref:1961227)

Quote:

Originally Posted by cmk

ie. effectively on a special IMSA dispensation?

From what I understand, yes.

yamato · 12 Jul 2007, 13:43 (Ref:1961590)

The car will be in GT2-S for sure; and there is no reason that it cannot be competitive. The questions are: 1) has the team made all of the allowable changes under the rules? 2) are the drivers and teams capable of hanging with other cars? 3) what type of tyre is Kumho going to bring to the table (have the serviced a GT2 team elsemhere?)?

BTW - the Toyos used in SWC are DOT (i.e. Street Legal) tires that have the treads shaved off. They work really well for what they are, but they just don't compare to a true racing slick. Around a track like Mid-Ohio, that's likely to be worth a couple of seconds.

HORNDAWG · 14 Jul 2007, 15:53 (Ref:1963120)

The #22 PTG Panoz has been withdrawn.

L.P.

cmk · 14 Jul 2007, 17:46 (Ref:1963183)

Talk about the program being on life support, as the bear implied. Embarrassing for Panoz.

Purist · 14 Jul 2007, 18:26 (Ref:1963200)

Even more embarassing for PTG.

HORNDAWG · 14 Jul 2007, 18:40 (Ref:1963209)

Looks pretty good!

Images from ALMS news

L.P.

SebringMG · 14 Jul 2007, 19:07 (Ref:1963219)

Nice lookin car

hope it goes as well as it looks!!

The359 · 14 Jul 2007, 19:32 (Ref:1963236)

Same paintjob they use in SpeedGT.

AUTOart is planning a diecast of their SpeedGT car soon.

Fogelhund · 14 Jul 2007, 21:26 (Ref:1963271)

Quote:

Originally Posted by The359

Same paintjob they use in SpeedGT.

Not only the same paintjob... it is the SAME car.

cmk · 14 Jul 2007, 22:19 (Ref:1963300)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Purist

Even more embarassing for PTG.

Is it, though? PTG has traditionally been a team that supports a factory-backed project, so they probably don't (and shouldn't, if you will) have the resources to internally fund a program. That was the case with BMW, certainly (was it the case with the Probe GTP too?) so if they were expecting a level of factory support from Panoz it is clearly not arriving.

Was the Maxwell Paper Products branding associated with Ross Smith? Despite the name of the lead driver in that car, I didn't think Scotty brought sponsorship with him, so maybe that second car was funded by Smith and, let's face it, he drove like a bit of a hack.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

Not only the same paintjob... it is the SAME car.

Not sure that sounds so great... Can it be converted in spec easily on a shared race weekend? I remember Bob using a second chassis the first year I saw him at Mosport because of an accident with his main car. I guess that was just a lease, not a 2nd chassis, or has since been sold?

The359 · 14 Jul 2007, 22:22 (Ref:1963302)

I figured it might be a spare chassis the team had. Bit of a pain to modify it to GT2 spec then modify it back to SpeedGT to finish off the season?

Fogelhund · 14 Jul 2007, 23:16 (Ref:1963328)

This Viper won't be used in SWC on that weekend. The number of modifications being made on this car are not significant, and the car probably doesn't need many anyway. Having said that, don't expect alot from it.

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