motor

666fast · 03-18-2005, 06:53 PM

Rotory power is back!

Sebring, Fla. - The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) hit the jackpot with a full house of ALMS sponsorship announcements made at Sebring International Raceway prior to the historic Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring March 19.

Sportsbook.com has decided to become a player on the track. The online giant will join the return of Mazda to North American Road Racing as the primary sponsor of the No. 8 Mazda factory powered Courage C65 for B-K Motorsports. Pat Kestner and Bob Bach of B-K will display a scale model of the race car at Chateau Elan at Sebring International Raceway.

Sportsbook.com will also be the "official online gaming partner" of the ALMS for one year, which will include sponsorship of the "Sportsbook.com Winners Circle" at all ALMS events. Sportbook.com will also support a "Lucky Move of the Race" contingency award of $1,000 presented to the one driver who got lucky on the track at the previous race during prerace ceremonies. The last "Lucky Move of the Race" award at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca will be given to the recipient driver at the ALMS year-end banquet. In addition, lucky fans will have the chance to win Mazda RX-8s and other prizes over the course of the season via online entries.

The final aspect of the sponsorship trifecta involves Sportsbook.com becoming the title sponsor of the Grand Prix of Atlanta April 17.

B-K MOTORSPORTS ANNOUNCES THE SPORTSBOOK.COM, MAZDA ROTARY POWERED, P2 COURAGE 2002 FORMULA MAZDA

Wisconsin based B-K Motorsports announced at Sebring International Raceway that it would carry the Mazda banner and rotary power back into endurance racing in the LMP2 class of the American Le Mans Series for a full season in 2005. The Mazda powered Courage will be piloted by 2002 Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Formula Mazda National champion, Jamie Bach, and 2002 Star Mazda Championship winner Guy Cosmo. The Formula Mazda graduates duo has worked together previously as Cosmo served as driver-coach for Bach during the 2003 campaign.

The twenty-one year-old Bach, a junior Engineering student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, will be entering his fifth season of racing cars in 2005 having spent most of his time behind the wheel of Formula Mazdas. Bach, the 2002 SCCA Formula Mazda national champion, has amassed nearly 50 victories and over 30 pole positions in four seasons and currently holds six track records. Bach spent 2004 behind the wheel of the SIRIUS Satellite Radio Pro Formula Mazda, finishing eighth in the Star Mazda Series North American Championship presented by Goodyear. In 2004, he also scored his third SCCA Central Division Championship in four years, his third Central Division Star Mazda Series crown, and scored a runaway victory in the prestigious Chicago Region June Sprints at his home circuit -- Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin's Road America. Bach got his start in karting at the tender age of nine, scoring victories and championships at all levels.

Brian Skuza of Road Atlanta, Scott Atherton of the ALMS, John Doonen of B-K Motorsport, Alex Czajkowski of Sportsbook.com, Robert Davis of Mazda
Cosmo has basically driven anything with wheels on it. Also a product of karting, he has driven Formula Continentals, Formula Fords and Formula Mazdas to divisional championships in the SCCA. In 2002, Cosmo won the crown in the Star Mazda Series North American Championship with dominant victories at Mid-Ohio and Road America. With that championship, Cosmo was given the opportunity to drive the Panoz LMP1 car and ultimately had the opportunity to start his first Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in the LMP1 Riley and Scott of American Spirit Racing in 2004.

The program is made possible largely because of a partnership with Sportsbook.com, a division of Sportingbet, a UK based company. Sportsbook.com and Sportingbet easily form the world's largest Internet gaming company and one of the Internet's most profitable companies.

In 1991, Mazda became the first and is still the only Japanese car manufacturer to win the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. Mazda did so with the legendary rotary power plant, a key icon that has contributed to the unique heritage of the company that instills the "Soul of a Sports Car" in all of its products. With the rotary engine back in the marketplace as of 2003 in Mazda's RX-8 four door, four-seat sports car, it is only fitting that a group of young, dedicated racers bring Mazda back to endurance racing.

The team also brings Goodyear Racing Tires back to the American Le Mans Series, a fitting tie-in with the Star Mazda Championship presented by Goodyear.

The 10-race American Le Mans Series will have three network television broadcasts on CBS and seven races televised on SPEED Channel and worldwide on the Sky Sports World Motorsports program.

After an absence of one year from the race schedule, the American Le Mans Series will be back at its home track of Road Atlanta for the Sportsbook.com Grand Prix of Atlanta on April 17. The Sportsbook.com Grand Prix of Atlanta will be the warm-up for the world famous Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta in October.

QUOTES:

Pat Kestner, Co-Owner, No. 8 Sportsbook.com Mazda Courage

"We want to thank Sportsbook.com for its commitment to our program and its partnership. Bob (Bach) and I are honored to be associated with Mazda's return to the American Le Mans Series and the folks at Mazda North American Operations. We have made a strong commitment to put our best foot forward in everything we do at B-K and the organizations we are aligned with are no different. We are honored to represent Sportsbook.com, Mazda, Goodyear, and the other companies we will bring on board both on and off the track, scoring victories at race tracks and in board rooms."

John Doonan, Director of Marketing & Public Relations, No. 8 Sportsbook.com Mazda Courage

"For decades, thousands of race drivers have chosen to race Mazda products because of Mazda's relentless commitment to achieve motorsports success at a grassroots level. The spirit of these drivers is the same energy and "never give up" attitude Mazda engineers possess and instill in new Mazda products. It is this "will to never give up" that will be the foundation of our team as we put Mazda back on the American Le Mans Series grid. This is a dream come true for everyone on this team. We are thrilled that Sportsbook.com saw the link with Mazda's return and the reach and exposure through the American Le Mans Series. It is a true victory for everyone involved."

Sylvain Tremblay, Team Owner/Driver, SpeedSource Race Engineering

"SpeedSource has been working on a three-rotor development program for almost a full year now, and we are excited that we have a great partnership with B-K and its new Courage Chassis. The Mazda rotary engine has a great racing heritage. We are focused on developing the power plant to be competitive with the best the class has to offer. We made a substantial investment in infrastructure with the addition of our new state-of-the-art DTS computerized engine dynamometer. David Haskell leads the engine department and has been busy all winter. Now the challenge of the track and the rebirth of the rotary on the ALMS circuit await us."

Yves Courage, Courage Competition

"We feel honoured to have been chosen both by B-K Motorsport and by Mazda; Mazda is returning to endurance races on American ALMS tracks, but it has marked the history of endurance races for decades; such challenge makes our team extraordinarily enthusiastic! We all remember the unique sound of the Mazda engines and the great results achieved by Mazda in endurance races, particularly in the 24 Hours Le Mans. Mazda has been victorious six times in its category between 1983 and 1996, and has won the 24 Hours Le Mans in 1991. In 1991, three Mazdas finished among the top eights. I am also most glad about the quality cooperation with the American B-K Motorsports team. We are proud to offer such quality chassis as the C65 to our B-K Motorsports partner, and we are actively working together on the new Mazda engine."

Guy Cosmo, Co-Driver, #8 Sportsbook.com Mazda Courage

"Jamie and I are thrilled to have this special opportunity to represent Sportsbook.com across the country and be a part of Mazda's racing history. We are going to grow throughout the year and look for as many testing opportunities as we can. The new car is very exciting and takes our game to the next level. The Renesis rotary power from Mazda will be outstanding. We will be able to relate our experiences on the track with those of RX-8 owners on the streets. We are thrilled that the team at Sportsbook.com had enough confidence in us, the American Le Mans Series, and our program to join forces with us for 2005."

I'm glad to hear it, a Renisis 3 rotor ought to just scream! I better bring earplugs to the next race! I just wonder how there Courage will compare to the new Lola. I've mentioned the Lola a few times now, but it's just so damn fast! I wish them luck and I'm happy to have them aboard!

In other news, in todays practice session, the Dyson Lola set the fastest lap in LMP1. I really hope Dyson does good, if anyone deserves it, it's them.

The Pacific Coast Motorsports C5R has beaten the C6R's! Their fastest lap was just over half a second faster than the C6R's pulled off. Not much, but it goes to show that the C6R's won't be unbeatable!

SFDMALEX · 03-18-2005, 06:59 PM

What did I tell yea

But I think practice times are what they are......practice times.......tomorrow is the day. I say the C5Rs are going to take the class win...I cant wait....Ill have to go to work early tomorrow so I can go home early to watch the race!

666fast · 03-18-2005, 09:28 PM

It won't be easy for them, but i do think they'll take the win. Thats if they dont' have any problems or offroad adventures.

666fast · 03-19-2005, 09:33 PM

Aston is leading GT1! At about the 8 hour mark, the #4 C6R had a brake failure and spun off the track, resulting in a broken wheel. The #3 C6R was shunted by a Porsche and has dropped back.

Darren Turner is currently driving, with a 3 lap lead on the #3 C6R and a 13 lap lead on the #4 C6R! There is still a few hours left, so anything can happen!

For those interested:
Radio LeMans
http://play.rbn.com/?url=lemans/lema...rbnkey=1%3E%20

Live Scoring and Timing, leave the page open, it'll refresh itself
http://www.imsaracing.net/2003/lt/ltc.html

blah · 03-19-2005, 11:43 PM

almost 3 minutes to go and Aston Martins DBR9 is still in the lead, with a 2 lap lead i believe. HOLY CRAP FIRST RACE EVER AND THEY ARE LEADING.

blah · 03-19-2005, 11:49 PM

ASTON WINS!!!!!! HOLY CRAP GO ASTON!!!!!!

666fast · 03-20-2005, 12:01 AM

Checkered Flag!

Aston takes GT1! The Vettes fought back after both went for an offroad adventure! One being shoved off and the other having a brake assembly exploding!
The #3 C6R ended up just over 1 lap down from the #57 Aston! Not bad considering it was almost 4 laps down after the accident! Who knows what would have happened if the Vettes didn't go off, they had a decent lead beforehand. Bad luck to them, but a big Congrats to the Prodrive Astons in the hugely successfull first outing!

The ACEMCO Saleen guys must be really irked. Had they been able to complete just a few more laps, they would be on the podium. Tey would have dumped oil all over the track while doing so though. So hats off to them for doing the sportsmenly thing and dropping out! I wish them the best of luck for the rest of the season!

The R8's were going at it like no other. With just 6 seconds between the two. The Dysons ran into some bad luck, one had a turbo go boom and the other needed to pit and have a new radiator installed. I was hoping to see them do better, but they still made it to third and onto the podium!

Petereson Motorsports and white lighting kicked ass all over the place in GT2!

Tentative results:

LMP1
Car #1 Audi R8 in first
Car #2 Audi R8 in second
Car #16 Dyson Lola in third

LMP2
Car #10 Miracle Courage C65 in first
Car #27 Kruse Motorsport Courage C65 in second
Car #37 Telisis Intersport Racing Lola B05/40 in third

GT1
Car #57 Aston Martin Prodrive DBR9 in first
Car #3 GM Racing Corvette C6R in second
Car #4 GM Racing Corvette C6R in third

GT2
Car #31 Peterson Motorsport/White Lighting Porsche GT3 RSR in first
Car #79 J3 Racing Porsche GT3 RSR in second
Car #45 Flying Lizard Porsche GT3 RSR in third

A damn good race!!

Pimp Racer · 03-20-2005, 12:04 AM

Yay the Aston got first in GT1 class!

666fast · 03-20-2005, 12:41 AM

Overall Position-Car #-Class-Class Position-Team+car- retired+why

1-1-P1-1 Champion Audi R8
2-2--P1-2 Champion Audi R8
3-16-P1-3 Dyson Lola EX257 AER
4-57-GT1-1 Prodrive Aston Martin DBR9
5-3-GT1-2 Corvette Racing C6R
6-4-GT1-3 Corvette Racing C6R
7-31-GT2-1Peterson Motorsports/White Lightening Porsche GT3 RSR
8-63-GT1-4 ACEMCO Saleen S7R
9-35-GT1-5 Maserati Corse MC12
10-5-GT1-6 Pacific Coast Motorsports C5R
11-79-GT2-2 J3 Racing Porsche GT3 RSR
12-10-P2-1 Miracle Motorsports Courage C65 AER
13-45-GT2-3 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche GT3 RSR
14-71-GT1-7 Carsport America Didge Viper
15-58-GT1-8 Prodrive Aston Martin DBR9
16-66-GT2-4 TRG Porsche GT3 RSR
17-96-GT2-5 IN2Racing Porsche GT3 RSR
18-34-GT2-6 Zip Racing Porsche GT3 RS
19-20-P1-4 Dyson Lola EX257 AER
20-51-GT2-7 Panoz Motorsports Panoz GTLM
21-27-P2-2 Kruse Motorsports Courage C65 Judd- Retired, Engine
22-43-GT2-8 BAM! Porsche GT3 RSR- Retired, Engine
23-12-P1-5 Autocon Motorsports Riley and Scott MkIII C- Retired, Gearbox
24-37-P2-3 Telesis Intersport Racing Lola B05/40 AER- Retired, Gearbox
25-83-GT1-9 Graham Nash Motorsport Saleen S7R- Retired, Accident
26-41-GT2-9 Team LNT-Magic TVR 400R- Retired, Engine
27-86-GT1-10 Care Racing-Labre Ferrari 550 Maranello- Retired, Gearbox
28-40-GT2-10 Team LNT-Magic TVR 400R- Retired, Engine
29-88-P1-6 RollCentre Racing Dallara Nissan- Retired, Gearbox
30-50-GT2-11 Panoz Motorsports Panoz GTLM- Retired, Electrical
31-48-GT2-12 Spyker Squadron Spyker C-8 Spyker GT2 R- Retired Mechanical
32-23-GT2-13 Alex Job Racing Porsche GT3 RSR- Retired, Engine
33-30-P2-4 Telesis Intersport Racing Lola B2K/40- Retired, electrical
34-24-GT2-14 Alex Job racing Porsche GT3 RSR- Retired, Gearbox
35-44-GT2-15 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche GT3 RSR- Retired, Engine
36-67-GT2-16 TRG Porsche GT3 RSR- Retired, Mechanical
37-47-GT2-17 Spyker Squadron Spyker C-8 Spyker GT2 R- Retired,Mechanical
38-15-P2-5 Binnie Motorsports Lola B05/42 Nicholson/McLaren- started from pits, 17 laps only
39-83-GT1-10 Graham Nach Motorsport Saleen S7R- never ran

GT-R_R34 · 03-20-2005, 12:53 AM

not the greatest coverage from Speed, but it was an awesome race. also the good news of Mazda coming back with a 3 rotor renesis engine for P2.
great that the Aston got the 1st place.

666fast · 03-20-2005, 01:08 AM

Whew, that took forever it seemed to type out!

Other things I want to comment on:
I'm still surprised at how well the Astons are sorted, i knew they would be good, they come from Prodrive afterall. I wasn't expecting either car to take the class win, but I expected them to be on the poduim. They really luked out having both Corvettes run into problems. Either way, it's part of racing and it means the #57 Aston wins! Congrast bigtime!
I hope this is reason enough for them to consider thier investment into the ALMS a worthwhile one. This will make headline sin all racing publications! New car, first race, takes win! Awesome. It's also great to see some proper competition for the Vettes!

The Corvette Racing C6R's were doing damn good. Holding their own as they usually do untill about hour 8, when the Brake assembly on the #4 car went KAPOW!! Forcing him off the track and into a minor arguement with a wall. They fought back after being down a lot, I forget how many laps it was down, but considering what happened, the finish is beyond great!
The #3 car also ran into some problems, well, problems ran into it. Shoved off the track by a Porsche, again, it lost a lot of time having to pit, but like the other Vette, it fought back hard and made a lot of ground. Going from 4 laps down to just over 1 in that amount of time is pretty damn good!

ACEMCO Saleen. I know I already said this, but it's so sad to see someone fight for 11 hours and 45 Minutes and drop out! SO CLOSE!!! Tdid a short interview with the team on Radio LeMans, in short, they dropped out ude to the fact that they would dump oil all over and it wasn't fair to the other teams.
Good guys IMO. I really hope they do well with the rest of the season. If anyone deserves it, it's them! Just a couple more laps and the Saleen would have been on the podium!

Dyson Lola, again, another team I really expected to do well. They did, third in class and overall, but they had a very good shot at doing better. Too bad about the problems. One car had a turbo fail and the other a radiator failure. ANother team I hope does well with the rest of the season!

Pacific Coast Motorsports was another team to pay attention to IMO. They were doing great at the start, but something happened and I don't know what I decided to take a break from listening to the race, so it must have happened then. I'm trying to find out. I thought if anyone had a chance at beating the C6R's, it would be these guys. They are still a team to keep your eye on for the rest of the season.

Peterson?White Lightening, these guys have always been good, so it's no surprise to see them take the class win. I's lso nice to see J3 and Flying Lizard on the podium. Both great teams, Flying Lizard being one of my favorites in GT2.
I'm very surprised to see both Alex Job cars have to retire, they are one of the best teams out there. Another favorite of mine, but I always root for Flying Lizard!

Take a look at Zip Racing/Hazardous Motorsports, they took 6th inclass, which is pretty good. Considering that they run an older GT3 RS and not the RSR. As usual, Andy Lally and Spencer Pumpelly make an awesome team of drivers!

Not that it matters, but the Maserati did ok, with it's penalties and all. It was lagging behind pretty much the entire race. But they did manage to finish, so thats good! I personally can't wait to get an upclose look at one (maybe 2 by then) at Road America.

Carsport Viper, I'm glad they made it to the race. They crashed in practice and literally fixed the car with a minute to spare. Just barely got it, they were doing good, so I'm not sure what caused them to fall back.They still did good, they beat the other Aston!

Care Racing, I wish they would come back to the ALMS full season. It would be nice to have a Ferrari thrown in to the mix. I remember hearing the Olive Garden 550's scream, awesome sounding car. Too bad it dropped out. It was the only Ferrari too!

I'm glad to see Miracle take the win in LMP2 with the C65. I love that car, it looks great and goes like stink. It dominated most of last year in ALMS and LMES. I was at it's first race in the US, pretty cool to see it hanging with the slightly slower LMP1's and totally kill the other LMP2's. Plus, I scored 250 points in Fantasy Sebring at th ALMS forum! LOL

I was sad to hear the Telesis Lola had dropped out, it was haulign some serious ass in practice! I just wonder once the true to new reg's LMP1's come out, will they still seem so fast? LOL

Awesome race, even without actually watching it, I didn't miss much. Thanks to Live Timing and Scoring and Radio LeMans!

gobs3z · 03-20-2005, 02:16 AM

I was just surprised to see the Maserati get taken away from the top spot. And great job to aston on a victory over the undefefeatable c6r. What penalties did the Maserati suffer?

coombsie66 · 03-20-2005, 05:00 PM

38-15-P2-5 Binnie Motorsports Lola B05/42 Nicholson/McLaren- started from pits, 17 laps only

Couldnt have gone worse 24 fucking minutes, gutted...

666fast · 03-20-2005, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by coombsie66

38-15-P2-5 Binnie Motorsports Lola B05/42 Nicholson/McLaren- started from pits, 17 laps only

Couldnt have gone worse 24 fucking minutes, gutted...

Yup, I saw that. They retired because of mechanical problems apparently. The Miracle Courage was the only LMP2 car to finish the whole race.

HoboPie · 03-20-2005, 10:42 PM

Originally Posted by gobs3z

I was just surprised to see the Maserati get taken away from the top spot. And great job to aston on a victory over the undefefeatable c6r. What penalties did the Maserati suffer?

I know the ALMS organization was essentially given a free hand in penalties given to the Maserati especially since I think it was only a guest car, but it apparently had a shorter nose than the FIA GT car and was carrying 150 pounds of ballast.