Daytona Test Days GRAND AM Style When the Grand American folks introduced there new Daytona Prototype coupes last year, they were very clear to point out that a key objective was to create competitive equality through strict rules limitations. No longer would designers be free to find their own solutions to a given challenge. Now, for many of the key engineering criteria, those solutions would be mandated. The idea, said Grand Am was to keep things in balance, not only on the track but in the pocketbook while providing the maximum in safety production. It was not then, nor is now the traditional way most of us think of sports car racing. Yet, no matter what traditionalists feel, the fact is that the Daytona Prototypes appear to be catching on, and in the process they also appear to have raised the profile of the Grand Am. Hey 19 This past weekend no less than 19 of the sports racing coupes were on hand for the Rolex tour’s annual January test days. That’s nine more cars than there were at last fall’s 2003 Grand Am finale, and thirteen more than raced for much of that 2003 season. And, while one might argue about their looks and their performance, one can’t argue about the fact that no one had an edge. Fastest was last year’s champion Terry Borcheller and his Bell Motorsports team consisting of owner Forest Barber, Andy Pilgrim and Mika Duno in their Chevrolet powered Doran at 1:48.31. Right behind them but all covered by less than a second, and none slower than 1:49.0 were the Brumos Red Bull Porsche Fabcar of David Donohue, Darren Law, Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr; the Chip Ganassi entered Riley MKXI Lexus (yes Virginia it used to be a Toyota, but they changed the valve covers) of Scott Pruett and Max Papis; and the Crawford Chevy, of Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Tony Stewart and endurance star Andy Wallace. Quite a mouthful, but if one likes close racing, potentially compelling nevertheless. Which of course, brings us to the crux of the issue with the Grand Am. Put simply, the Rolex tour is road racing NASCAR style. Whether Grand Am will be able to translate what has been a hugely successful oval track formula to the kind of racing that employes right as well as left hand turns is the big question. A tradition of traditionlists Clearly, the traditionalists will most probably turn their noses up at what they believe is something less than acceptable. At least for the near term future. But, having attended the the test days, I can say that I haven’t this level of interest in the upcoming Daytona 24 Hours for many years, if not a decade or more. However, with 59 overall entries and a huge number of production cars – even though the production classes are in a “transitional year,” The Rolex tour will start 2004 on a high note. Again, though, the real test will be if the series can sustain the energy boost throughout the season. The suspense of who will ultimately prevail in the Daytona prototype category will no doubt go down to the final race at the California Speedway next fall. Likewise, the Porsche-Ferrari duel that ended in the Italians’ favor for 2003 ought to be an on-going contest to the end. Still, can the Grand Am get the public to care? Time has come today One doubts that the NASCAR audience is willing to expand its interest much beyond the stock car arena. So, it appears that the fate the Daytona Prototypes and the championship will be in the hands of the traditional road course fan base. Will they opt to put aside their enthusiasm for technology and replace it with an equal passion of wheel-to-wheel competition regardless of the performance specifications of the cars racing? Grand Am is, in the final analysis, betting its credibility that will happen. In the meantime, this weekend’s test session showed that wanted or not the Rolex baby is reaching the early stages of puberty. |
|
|
