Another Lost Weekend… and other adventures Last weekend was certainly interesting wasn’t it? Daytona, Super Bowl, Janet Jackson’s breasts, it says a lot about pop culture as to which one of those is in constant rotation. (I’m so shocked that I need to see it again) As Ian Shoales one said, ”Come on kids, they’re only milk glands”. At home in the depot I had Daytona on the box, mostly as background, but it made for interesting viewing at times. It wasn’t until Bill Oursler’s column arrived and I was formatting it for the site that I gave any real thought to this year’s version of the ballet on the banks. Is there anyone out there who was tired of hearing about how brilliant Tony Stewart was in his first 24 hour race? No doubt this constant hype was to please the NASCAR fan(s) who tuned in and to promote the series… but what of the long suffering sportscar viewer who wants their favorites discussed. The fact that Tony Stewart drove a brilliant race is no surprise; the man is a hugely talented racer and would be fast in almost anything given the time to learn the controls. Max Crawford’s new baby clearly shows the links to his past when he was with John Fitzpatrick back in the Group C days. Kiwi boy had come up with a superior set of tunnels that helped the Fitz Porsche wax the factory effort in 1983 at the Brands Hatch 1000K during a very wet race. The lines of the GA coupe show a considerable amount of time was devoted to the aero package. The next test for the Crawford will be on the slower, tighter circuits and that will show if Max and Company has something special. Robin and the Hoods Wayne Taylor’s effort seems to have gotten itself together after a somewhat disappointing run during the test days and Max is still mad after all these years. Cheers for Robin Liddell and Johnny Mowlem aboard the Orbit GT 3RS that came close to upsetting Grand Am’s prototype class. On the surface, the Orbit and Flying Lizard (Ventura Highway in the sunshine!) results are far more impressive than The Racer’s Group GT 3 overall win last year. Why? Because they had to contend with a much larger field of prototypes this go around. Count ‘em up. Still, Grand Am has a real problem with its supposed prototype class. Even with the weather, the race stopped due to a shortage of rain tires (it was a very badyear) there is no acceptable reason for the winning car to have so few laps in hand over a GT car. None, not after so many hours. Then there was the strange spectacle of the two top Ferrari teams of last season running… Maseratis??? Somehow I am not convinced that Risi or FOW volunteered for that duty. And Brumos Porsche? Let’s just say that David Donohue was not exactly talkative after the race. Express yourself My unofficial survey of several of the pros from Dover that cover the big races worldwide question the red flagging of the race. Was it the weather? I have seen a lot worse in Daytona and the race went on. Could it be with a full field of prototypes that Grand Am could not have a repeat of last years GT win thus a few hours of downtime to insure that a prototype finished first? Pure speculation for sure but the fact that it has been brought it up makes you wonder. Just like all those late yellows in a NASCAR race for debris on the track. Gone in 60 seconds I didn’t see any of the Super Bowl but I did view an unedited copy of the Ford GT ad that had its premiere at the start of the game. Shot masterfully by Jeff Zwart, whose spots of the Audi R8 in the 2000 season remains some of the best footage ever shot of a race car, installed Rod Millen in Ford GT chassis 002 for a full make it slide and lite ‘em up workout. Hopefully the full version of this spot will air in the future. No SUV’s allowed How I spent the Super Bowl weekend was catching up with a lot of people who I only see a few times a year. The annual Porsche & VW Literature Meet was held at the Hilton near LAX and the offerings were rare, unique and mostly expensive. Sunday was a Porsche parts and car display that mixes the weird with the obsessed held down in Anaheim. The fact that Disneyland is close by makes perfect sense. A totally original paint 1959 356A parked near a Parnelli Indy car that had been turned in to a home built copy of the ill-fated Interscope Porsche. A copy of the Peter Gregg ST that raced in the early 70’s? Come on down… Time has come today Our favorite timing and scoring person has a new gig. Chris Syfert will be leaving her duties at Panoz and joining the official timing crew of IMSA. One of the most well liked and respected of the circus, Chris will no doubt bring her expertise to what can be a difficult job. This also means that Marty will get a break from my constant complaining. Chris recently lost her husband, Greg Syfert, to complications following surgery. Greg was well regarded in the racing community so much that in a tribute to his talents, Roger Penske shipped a PC1 over to be displayed at the gathering. Racing was in Greg’s blood and it is good to know that Chris will continue to keep the Syfert name alive in the sport he cared so passionately about. |
Kerry Morse |
