ALMS: Petit Le Mans (October 4, 2008)

[Wouter Melissen]

Well as the season has turned out they would've won with an A3 TDI...

Concerning engine regulations I read somewhere that they want to introduce the LMP2 rules in LMP1. That means 2-litre forced induction engines and 3.4 litre normally aspirated units.

That's 2011 at the earliest and very little is confirmed yet.

[Dino Scuderia]

One of my pals arrived at the track last night to set up camp....he said there's already a 'Friday' crowd there...loads of campers.

Weather is going to be perfect....but I figured with the fuel shortage in the southeast that many fans would opt for watching on TV.

[Kitdy]

One of my pals arrived at the track last night to set up camp....he said there's already a 'Friday' crowd there...loads of campers.

Now that is hardcore - camping in midweek ahead of the weekend race.

Respect.

[togos452]

I have an inkling that maybe not all of the chassis in GT2 maybe allowed to be aluminum or something.

The Prodrive-built Aston Martin Vantage GT2 has an aluminum chassis. Perhaps Chevrolet wants to take aluminum to the next level for the Corvette as both the Z06 and ZR1 have an aluminum chassis.

Vici Racing Petit Le Mans preview

# 18 Hughes Telematics, Hughes Network Systems, LuxuryMotors.com and Wempe-supported Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

9-29-08

VICI RACING

[Kitdy]

The Prodrive-built Aston Martin Vantage GT2 has an aluminum chassis. Perhaps Chevrolet wants to take aluminum to the next level for the Corvette as both the Z06 and ZR1 have an aluminum chassis.

So why not use an all aluminum chassis?

[MPME]

The Prodrive-built Aston Martin Vantage GT2 has an aluminum chassis. Perhaps Chevrolet wants to take aluminum to the next level for the Corvette as both the Z06 and ZR1 have an aluminum chassis.

Vici Racing Petit Le Mans preview

# 18 Hughes Telematics, Hughes Network Systems, LuxuryMotors.com and Wempe-supported Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

9-29-08

VICI RACING

Purdy car.

[MPME]

should have a nice 'lil exclusive video up tomorrow -- a car intro and tech overview of the new Mazda Lola Coupe and 6 wild in-car laps -- the first seen from inside the hot rod.

[Kitdy]

should have a nice 'lil exclusive video up tomorrow -- a car intro and tech overview of the new Mazda Lola Coupe and 6 wild in-car laps -- the first seen from inside the hot rod.

I will ask you bluntly: does this car have any chance at being competitive in 2009? The current Lola Mazda has basically been an embarrassment in my eyes. I don't even know why Mazda bothers with this program as they are not at all on the same playing field as Acura, Audi, and Porsche. One advantage next year may be the reduction of competition in LMP2 with some Acura teams leaving to LMP1, and Penske potentially being out of it.

[MPME]

here's a question: If you had 60% of the budget that a solid GT2 team had to work with, your results and showings would likely be tempered by certain financial limitations, wouldn't they?

if they had a lot of money and produced few results (which there are 3-4 such entries in p2) i'd agree with the derisive comments. looking at what they have to work with, they're punching a few classes above their weight.

they do actually take things very seriously and just spent 200% of what the B07/46 cost them to try and challenge the leading manufacturers in the category.

2009 will be tough, no doubt, but they will be a much better program for '09 with proper testing with the b08/86 and the dunlops. the car now has a total of two days of proper testing under its belt...

[Zytek_Fan]

here's a question: If you had 60% of the budget that a solid GT2 team had to work with, your results and showings would likely be tempered by certain financial limitations, wouldn't they?

if they had a lot of money and produced few results (which there are 3-4 such entries in p2) i'd agree with the derisive comments. looking at what they have to work with, they're punching a few classes above their weight.

they do actually take things very seriously and just spent 200% of what the B07/46 cost them to try and challenge the leading manufacturers in the category.

2009 will be tough, no doubt, but they will be a much better program for '09 with proper testing with the b08/86 and the dunlops. the car now has a total of two days of proper testing under its belt...

The Mazda effort has been focused mostly on being the biggest bang for the buck. "How can we get the best results for the lowest amount of money spent?"
They've done pretty damn good with a limited budget


Given the poor economic status of the world at the moment, it will stay that way until there is an economic upturn.
I'm sure we'll see a Mazda LMP1 in 2011

[Kitdy]

here's a question: If you had 60% of the budget that a solid GT2 team had to work with, your results and showings would likely be tempered by certain financial limitations, wouldn't they?

if they had a lot of money and produced few results (which there are 3-4 such entries in p2) i'd agree with the derisive comments. looking at what they have to work with, they're punching a few classes above their weight.

they do actually take things very seriously and just spent 200% of what the B07/46 cost them to try and challenge the leading manufacturers in the category.

2009 will be tough, no doubt, but they will be a much better program for '09 with proper testing with the b08/86 and the dunlops. the car now has a total of two days of proper testing under its belt...

I suppose that my "embarrassment" comment was a bit harsh but you know, I think this is potentially accurate. Can I not be honest? Are they really doing Mazda proud? How many fans care about how well the team does in relation to it's budget? Indeed an interesting thing for the more hardcore - and I think that the ALMS has a higher proportion of hardcore fans than say NASCAR or F1, but at the end of the day, I think fans care about what teams, and Mazda is not winning, and not only are they not winning, they are not even close to winning.

The main point of my post was simply to illustrate that Mazda is not getting much exposure in the ALMS and even at 60% the cost of a "solid" GT2 team, is it worth the cash? I figure if you are a manufacturer it pays to win and get exposure - not to be a back marker - if you are a privateer, then I can understand being further back. I haven't seen many races on Speed this year, but the ones I have have shown almost nothing of the B-K. Is this at all positive coverage for Mazda? Does this program actually serve them any good?

I just think Mazda should abandon the program. If they were willing to commit huge resources and contend for LMP2 or LMP1 championship then it'd be different, but I don't think that it'd be wise either as trying to beat Acura and Audi in LMP1 or Porsche and Acura in LMP2 because this would probably cost Mazda more money than they are willing to spend.

The Mazda effort has been focused mostly on being the biggest bang for the buck. "How can we get the best results for the lowest amount of money spent?"
They've done pretty damn good with a limited budget


Given the poor economic status of the world at the moment, it will stay that way until there is an economic upturn.
I'm sure we'll see a Mazda LMP1 in 2011

Once again, what do you mean by pretty well? They compete, but they are basically always the slowest by a large margin in LMP2 and are in last place for full entry season teams, and even behind de Ferran which joined several races in the season. Even if this is good for the budget, it is not good overall.

Will Mazda really compete in LMP1 in 2011? They are unwilling to commit major resources to their LMP2 program at current, and 2011 will potentially be very competitive and I don't see Mazda having as big a budget as their competitors. Maybe they will supply an engine for the privateers that will almost definitely be outclassed by full factory efforts.

Then again, feel free to savage me for my stupidity/lack of knowledge/inaccuracy/bluntness.

[MPME]

as one of their managers told me, the average guy sitting in the stands can't afford any of the cars raced in the series but theirs, and that fact is worth considering when measuring what they get out of such a program.

i don't know if the mazda6 owner expects the p2 car to beat a porsche or acura, but the mindset of a current or potential mazda owner is surely different that they guy who's considering a porsche, acura, audi....

they wouldn't commit the funds if the program wasn't giving them the return they needed, and they just forket out a large sum for a newer and faster car.

their past efforts haven't been impressive, but maybe give their new efforts a chance before writing them off.

[RacingManiac]

Its very much the same approach Mazda have always taken in the international sports car program. None of their past cars were particularly competitive, 787B included. But its only because they kept going at it with what little resource they have had that they can sometimes get unexpected results.

[Kitdy]

as one of their managers told me, the average guy sitting in the stands can't afford any of the cars raced in the series but theirs, and that fact is worth considering when measuring what they get out of such a program.

i don't know if the mazda6 owner expects the p2 car to beat a porsche or acura, but the mindset of a current or potential mazda owner is surely different that they guy who's considering a porsche, acura, audi....

they wouldn't commit the funds if the program wasn't giving them the return they needed, and they just forket out a large sum for a newer and faster car.

their past efforts haven't been impressive, but maybe give their new efforts a chance before writing them off.

This is true, but does the average guy in the stand even care about the P2 Mazda? I was at Mosport and I know there were Porsche and Audi supporters, maybe even the odd Acura ones, but I would say it would be very rare to see Mazda fans.

AS for committing funds if it wasn't getting them the return the needed I disagree - companies make mistakes all the time and this may well be one of them. Motorsports is a form of advertising and not all advertising campaigns are successful - my intuition tells me this is one of them.

As for me writing them off, I don't believe that I have done so at all. They have participated in the ALMS for several years and I don't think have ever had good results in terms wins so this does not hearten me. In fact, I recall asking you would the new car be competitive as I did not know. How is this writing them off? I figured it would likely not be that successful due to Mazda's lack of resources and the use of a privateer chassis but I figured I should ask an expert to see what they thought and your answer confirmed what I thought - that it will be tough for them next year. Maybe your view was a bit more optimistic (it sounds like someone form B-K would say it) but even though I have limited knowledge of the series and the new car, I do know that Mazda's past efforts have not been strong while Acura and Porsche's have been and I would expect this to be the case next year as well. No less, I don't think this is writing them off - I think this is a realistic assessment and I was not certain in it so I asked you to clarify - I was entirely open to the idea of Mazda's new effort being successful and in fact, I hope it is competitive as I prefer having many cars all having a good chance to win a race and the championship.

[The_Canuck]

I was at Mosport and I know there were Porsche and Audi supporters, maybe even the odd Acura ones,

The odd Acura ones? Their support was massive! The damn shirts sold out of all sizes but XL before the bloody race started! Brabham had fans everywhere as well..