Termie & Christopher, I wasn't taking a shot at you guys, it was at the ACO.  I understood you were just "the messenger".  I just find it puzzling that the ACO would think of trying to "regulate out" the Porsche.  Its one of the most exciting sports racers to come along in a good while, and it would be a shame if the fans at the Sarthe never get a chance to see and hear it simply because the ACO would see it as a threat to their perceived class hierarchy.
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Just out of curiosity, why should a LMP2 car not be capable of winning?  If a LMP2 constructor builds a better mousetrap, where is it written that there's a flaw with the regulations.  I watched the Porsche RS Spyder blow the doors off Audi, Dyson Lola, etc. at Mid-Ohio this year and everyone loved it.  There's a lot to be said for seeing a "underdog stick it to a team who is "supposed to win overall"  Anyone remember when a privateer Porsche 934 won the 12 Hours of Sebring? Beating the high dollar 935 and GTP teams.  Personally a think the notion that LMP2 is grid filler and should not be in with a shout of winning overall is ridiculous.
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Fully agreed, both men had more charisma than the entire current F1 grid put together.  One thing both Vittorio and Clay had in common was that they were both highly regard as test and development drivers.
When at March and paired with the fearsomely fast Ronnie Peterson and Hans Stuck, it was Vittorio's testing feedback that was the most highly regarded.  Clay's testing skills were hugely important in turning the Williams FW07 into the world beater it became.
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Yeah, Brambles was another great character.  However with all due respect to Vittorio's memory, I don't think he was ever in the same league as Regga as a racing driver.  That said, early in his career, especially in F2, Clay had a similar "wild man" reputation on track.  As said though, both great personalities, something sorely missing from F1 today.
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Makes pretty good sense considering the Porsche was usually quicker, and more reliable than the bigger Lola last season.  But I would have to think Penkse will still get the latest bits.
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Agreed, terribly sad news.  For those of us who grew up watching F1 in the seventies, Regga was so much a part of the very fabric of the sport.  Although many will remember him for giving Williams their first win at Silverstone in '79, I will always think of him as a Ferrari pilot, hurling a 312B around a pre-chicane Monza in 1970 to take his first win, beating the likes of Jackie Stewat in a straight fight.  He was one of the bravest men to ever sit in a racing car and his recovery from his terrible Long Beach injuries was as brave as any of his racing accomplishments.  He was one of the four young superstars to arrive in F1 in 1970, now only Emerson remains with us.
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Trust me, I tried to find a better forum and mostly found ten times more immature sh**t than I've ever found here.
Mostly a bunch of F1 bullcrap (I think David has a far better hair style than Kimi, I think the new Mclaren wing is far more manly looking than the Williams, that makes me so hard for Nico )
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Hi Garyfrogeye,
WTF is a wicket?  Sounds bad from the tone of the conversation
Oh well, the Bengals are in good shape to make the playoffs after a shitty mid-season slump.
Yep, makes about as much sense to you guys as 2nd test does to us.
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Hmm, going to go out on a limb here but....
Why Andy Wallace?  With all due respect to Andy, who's been a hell of a racer over the years, I would think in Rob's situation he would look to go in the direction of a fast, young gun to partner with Butch and build a team around for a few years to come.  This seems like replacing one middle aged racer with another.  You need someone in the car who's going to drive the wheels off it, especially if Dyson is going to take the fight to Audi. I'm not convinced Andy's the guy, not anymore.  There may have been a time when he would have been the guy for this, but I don't think so anymore.  To me this is a case of Rob opting for Andy out of loyalty and his relationship with the team. I think he could have gone with someone quicker.  Like I said, I think Andy's a great guy and a hell of a racer, but I think he's past his prime for the role of a fulltime ALMS LMP1 driver, where most of the races are two hour and forty five minute sprints.
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Lorry I can think of about fifteen or twenty British drivers who have deserved a shot at F1 who were better than DC.  Unfortuantely F1 (like NASCAR) is all about a cult of celebrity and once Coulthard got his mug out there on TV and magazine covers, sponsors and VIP's who wouldn't know a F1 car from a shopping cart would want a familiar face in their car regardless if there were more talented but lesser known drivers out there.  As I said, coming straight from the source, he wasn't at all liked within McLaren.
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For what its worth I had dinner with a senior member of the Mclaren team a few years ago who told me that DC was not a very popular member of the team. Basically a piss & moaning prima donna.  Good grief I got so tired of those dumb-ass Autosport "David vows to fight back!" covers.
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Its interesting that for a sport that promotes itself as so cutting edge, that its one of the last disciplines of motor racing to include a black man among its competitors.  Champcar, NHRA, bike racing, even NASCAR, all have broken down the color barriers long before the elitist F1 establishment.  The 2006 AMA Supercross Champion James Stewart is African American.  Its interesting that the AMA Supercross championship is the second most watched (in TV ratings) motor racing series in the US behind NASCAR.
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I suspect Prost is unlikey. If memory serves me correct he was offered a French Audi ride a few years ago and turned it down because of his stance on some LM safety issues.  I would think Olivier Panis would be a fine canidate given his reputation as a superb R&D driver with McLaren.
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Hi Wade, Hmm, never heard that about Tony Hulman, as far as I know he was a pretty well respected businessman.  But anything that went on with the Hulman family wouldn't suprise me given the behavior of his daughter and grandson.  I've met Tony George, and know several people who dealt with him, to a man they'll tell you that if Grandpa hadn't left him one of the worlds most famous racing facilities, he'd be working in a Burger King drive-thru asking "Would you like to super-size that?"  What he did to the sport is unforgivable, it was all out of pure ego.  Because he wasn't getting the attention he wanted he decided to pick up his ball and go home, hopelessly screwing up a good thing in the process.  Like I've said before, I'll never spend another dime going to any event he has anything to do with.
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Couldn't agree more Chop.  As long as the "Coke-head Idiot and his boozing, brawling Mom" is running the show, it'll never have any credibility.
His Grandfather has to be puking in his grave.
I've seen several Indy 500's and two Kentucky Speedway races run by the IRL (free tickets on every occasion) boring as hell, and they're a pathetic shadow of what the CART turbo cars were like on a speedway.  Sure the racing is close, when you've got a bunch of spec cars clattering around on a rev limiter its pretty hard to get away from each other.  And the way they promote it is nothing short of nauseating, reminds me of the ads for skatepark shows for mallrats.  As you said Chop, The Boob will have to bankroll two-thirds of the 500 grid again this year, especially since Honda is pulling their driver money over to the Acura ALMS program.
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