Sports car racing

[Jaguar D-Type]

Do you think sports car racing is the best form of motorsports?

Do you think it can help production cars?

[kfoote]

Yes, and yes, it does help production cars.

I've done a bit of work with one of the former drivers for the Hyundai factory Motorola Cup (now Grand-Am cup) team, and due to the rules, over the course of the year there were several parts and updates that they asked for that made it to the production Hyundai Tiburon. Think about how much the reliability and performance of the Tiburon improved inthe late 90's-early 00's, and I think a large part of that can be directly attributed to the factory involvement in production racing. Other examples include:

Cadillac CTS-V (SPEED World Challenge)
Corvette C6 (ALMS/Le Mans)
Subaru Impreza (JGTC)
BMW E46 (ETCC)

and I'm sure there are a lot more that I could come up with given a bit more time.

[Jaguar D-Type]

Check the links for news and pictures of motorsports

http://www.theracesite.com

http://www.racingfanatics.com

http://motorsport.com/

[Jaguar D-Type]

Here is a video of Peter Cunningham in an Audi R8 driving in Spain.

cool video

[Jaguar D-Type]

For American Le Mans Series (ALMS) news...

There is a new 2006 race in Utah:

http://americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=1486

Full 2006 season:

http://americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=1530

Houston Circuit Unveiled for ALMS' Lone Star Grand Prix:

http://americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=1660



Panoz and Multimatic join for GT2 effort:

http://americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=1667

BMW to run in the new GT2S class:

http://americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=1672

Two Lexus IS 350s to join new GT2S class:

http://americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=1675

The GT race cars in the FIA GT Championship are similar to those in the GT1 and GT2 classes of the ALMS.

At the seventh round of the FIA GT Championship, at Oschersleben in Germany, Ferrari Corse Clienti announced that it is to develop a racing version of the F430. The new car will be built to GT2 rules, allowing it to be entered in national and international championships, including the FIA GT Championship. Ferrari Corse Clienti stated that the car will make its competition debut in 2006.

- fiagt.com

[Jaguar D-Type]

Audi will unveil the new R10 on December 13th in Paris.

[Jaguar D-Type]

Autocon Motorsports will field a Lola LMP1 in 2006.

http://americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=1677

Mike Lewis, Autocon Motorsports team owner

[Jaguar D-Type]

Dayton's Highcroft Racing to Campaign Former Dyson Lola

http://americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=1681

[Jaguar D-Type]

Check the links for the new Audi R10.

http://americanlemans.com/News/Article.aspx?ID=1686

http://racingfanatics.com/Reports%202005/r10pics.htm

[Jaguar D-Type]

Tom Kristensen

[Jaguar D-Type]

the-paddock.net

Courage Competition has unveiled early renderings of their brand new LC75 LMP2 chassis for 2006. The LC75 is the French constructor's first purpose built LMP2 machine, and it is designed to fit completely into the 2006 ACO LMP2 regulations. There has been no official word on what teams will purchase the car, but there has been interest from current Courage customers campaigning the C65 model in 2005. Stay tuned for information on this car in the coming weeks.

[Jaguar D-Type]

Check the link

Audi R10 to be shown at L.A. auto show

Testing

[Jaguar D-Type]

Oreca returns to GT racing with a Saleen

Oreca had a lot of success running Viper GTS-Rs several years ago.

http://fiagt.com/newsitem.php?key=837

[Jaguar D-Type]

Dodge, ORECA form partnership

- motorsport.com

1/16/2006

- ORECA to be exclusive source of Dodge Viper race cars to European teams

- Dodge Viper Competition Coupe to compete in new FIA racing series

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (January 16, 2006) -- Dodge announced it has signed a letter of intent with France-based Organisation et Exploitation Courses Automobiles (ORECA) Motorsport for sole distributorship of the Dodge Viper Competition Coupe in Europe.

"This agreement will help us build on the racing heritage and presence of the Dodge Viper, which has been one of the most successful racing cars in Europe," said John Fernandez, Director -- Motorsports Operations, Chrysler Group. "Our European customers who race will benefit tremendously from the services offered by ORECA, with whom we've partnered for many years."

The Dodge Viper Competition Coupe currently competes in several U.S. and European racing series, including the SPEED World Challenge GT Championship and Dutch Supercar Challenge. Until now, Viper Competition Coupes racing in Europe have been purchased from Dodge in the U.S. and exported to Europe. ORECA will now directly handle sales of the Dodge Viper Competition Coupe in Europe from its Toulon, France facilities, as well as provide race preparation, service and parts availability.

"We can offer racing customers a wide range of services," said Hugues de Chaunac, ORECA Chairman. "Our goal is to not only provide customers with the Dodge Viper Competition Coupe -- a proven race winner -- but also with whatever level of support they may require."

Building on a long relationship

ORECA campaigned Viper GTS-R race cars in Europe in the 1990s, winning three consecutive Federation de l'Automobile (FIA) championships in 1997-1999, as well as victories in the GT2 and GTS categories at the 24 Hours of LeMans endurance race in 1998, 1999 and 2000. In the U.S., Viper Team ORECA entries captured first overall at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and a 1-2-3 class win at the Sebring 12 Hours race, both in 2000; as well as championships in the American Le Mans series in 1999 and 2000.

Viper Competition Coupe in a new series

Separately, the FIA recently announced a new GT3 European Championship for 2006, with 10 manufacturers expected to field cars in competition. Dodge Viper Competition Coupes are anticipated to race against cars including the Aston Martin DBRS9, Ferrari F430 Challenge, Maserati Trofeo Light, Porsche 997 Cup and Lotus Exige [and the new Corvette Z06].

[beef_bourito]

no and yes

Any r&d that goes back to manufacturers is a good thing, if they can use that to improve the cars, everybody wins.

I hink that Formula 1 is better, it may not be as dynamic (less passing) but i just enjoy seeing those cars go around a circuit faster than anything else in the world, all with a smaller engine than almost any of the big car racing competitions. the politics in it do get tiresome and i would like to see it more competitive but i still love it.

Although i really enjoy sports car racing, that and motorbike racing are my second favorite types of racing.