petite LeMans

962porsche · Post by **962porsche** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 6:06 pm

FYI Paul Newman was scheduled to drive the car he raced at the 24 hours of LeMans years ago for this years parade laps at the petite LeMans . but becouse of his death Mike Brockman will do the driving in his place . the season P.L. only did the 24 hours of LeMans one time was becouse the press and fans were all over him the hole time he was there and he never had a moment of peace . paul likes quiet time is he called it before he got into the car to race .

breakaway500 · Post by **breakaway500** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 10:09 pm

I can see the #79 Red-white and blue PLN Corvette now...

962porsche · Post by **962porsche** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 10:57 pm

its not the vett. he raced a porsche there . the car owner restored it and added the names of all the places that paul made charitable contributions to .

breakaway500 · Post by **breakaway500** » Sat Oct 04, 2008 7:29 am

Porsche 935 Twin-Turbo
Second, 1979 Le Mans 24 Hours
Driven by Paul Newman, Rolf Stommelen & Dick Barbour

"Teamed with Porsche factory driver Rolf Stommelen and the great American actor Paul Newman, Barbour again blew away the IMSA class competition in 1979. Most impressive was the performance of the trio to cross the line in second position overall!"

What a life!

DanB · Post by **DanB** » Sat Oct 04, 2008 10:24 am

But of course he was *really* a Datsun guy:

breakaway500 · Post by **breakaway500** » Sat Oct 04, 2008 11:18 pm

What a great race. I can't believe how fast they drive with headlights,and slower traffic

Amazing stuff.
Road Atlanta looks like a fun track.

cuda6666 · Post by **cuda6666** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:28 am

In my opinion, extremely high downforce and wide sticky tires make those cars alot easier to drive than they look. I also think the addiction to downforce leads to almost identical body shapes and lack of diversity. Ever wonder why these top level so called "sports car" series generate such limited spectator interest? Just my two cents, and I realize that there are several other factors that prevent sports car road racing from attaining the popularity of F1 in Europe, or NASCAR here. Driver name recognition is one of them, of course.

breakaway500 · Post by **breakaway500** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 10:25 am

I dunno....watching the in-car cameras,especially at night, made me glad I was in my lazyboy. Well,almost

I certainly would NOT call it easy.

They are travelling at close to 200mph down the straights and coming up on traffic 20-30mph slower. Meanwhile,trying to hold their positions in their own class.(LMP cars)

The GT cars have it just as rough,with faster cars darting in and out of their ranks all day...and night.

As far as drawing crowds, the LMP cars have little...OK,zero resemblance to any cars most will see on the road,so there is no "hey,that's what I drive" kinship involved.

I can tell an R10 from an RSR spyder

My favorite was the Aston Martin.Too bad it dnf'd

I personally think the LMP and GT cars should run in separate races,which will never happen.
Next year they are eliminating one LMP class an one GT class I believe. That will make for some interesting decisions.
I like the series and enjoy the raw performance the cars have,with minimal electronic help. (no abs,traction control,active suspension etc)

962porsche · Post by **962porsche** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 10:17 pm

there are alot of factors why sports car racing will never be as big as nascar . one is simple minded peaple cant tell what car is in what class . as most nascar peaple tell me . another reason is you cant see the hole track . as for high down force cars being ez to drive . hell no there not an ez car to drive ! just the G-force alone kicks the hell out of you . and now do it stint after stint . ez no ! as for all cars looking the same gt1 and gt2 .no that porsche does not look like a vet at all to me ? and when you get to any class that has full down force cars like F1 , LMP1 , LMP2 , IRL and so on cars do start to look the same its called aerodynamics a wing will always look like a wing . but whats nascars excuse there full bodyed cars and they all look the same . ask a IMSA fan what IMSA stands for they can tell you . then ask a NASCAR fan what nascar stands for and in most cases they cant and dont have no clue . the most popular form of racing in europe is road and railly racing .F1 is the most popular in the world . and nascar is in the states . on monday mornings at work the sports car fans are talking about the racing and did you see that come from behind driving that so an so did . and the nascar fans talk about did you see the crash that so an so started . the sports car racing fan likes racing and to race . becouse the steering wheel does turn to the right . they think of the back roads to drive fast on . the nascar fan likes calamity . they slow down to rubber neck for crashes on the free way .and think of the the high way to drive fast on . ON FORM OF RACING IS BETTER THAN THE OTHER ITS ALL GOOD IF YOU LIKE IT !! AND THATS MY 2 CENTS .

breakaway500 · Post by **breakaway500** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 6:58 am

Hey,I even watch monster truck races...occasionally

escortracer · Post by **escortracer** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 7:25 am

National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing

cuda6666 · Post by **cuda6666** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:03 am

962porsche wrote:there are alot of factors why sports car racing will never be as big as nascar . one is simple minded peaple cant tell what car is in what class . as most nascar peaple tell me . another reason is you cant see the hole track . as for high down force cars being ez to drive . hell no there not an ez car to drive ! just the G-force alone kicks the hell out of you . and now do it stint after stint . ez no ! as for all cars looking the same gt1 and gt2 .no that porsche does not look like a vet at all to me ? and when you get to any class that has full down force cars like F1 , LMP1 , LMP2 , IRL and so on cars do start to look the same its called aerodynamics a wing will always look like a wing . but whats nascars excuse there full bodyed cars and they all look the same . ask a IMSA fan what IMSA stands for they can tell you . then ask a NASCAR fan what nascar stands for and in most cases they cant and dont have no clue . the most popular form of racing in europe is road and railly racing .F1 is the most popular in the world . and nascar is in the states . on monday mornings at work the sports car fans are talking about the racing and did you see that come from behind driving that so an so did . and the nascar fans talk about did you see the crash that so an so started . the sports car racing fan likes racing and to race . becouse the steering wheel does turn to the right . they think of the back roads to drive fast on . the nascar fan likes calamity . they slow down to rubber neck for crashes on the free way .and think of the the high way to drive fast on . ON FORM OF RACING IS BETTER THAN THE OTHER ITS ALL GOOD IF YOU LIKE IT !! AND THATS MY 2 CENTS .

If you re-read my original post, you'll see that we pretty much agree. To reiterate:

Today's high downforce cars are comparatively easier to drive fast than were cars of a previous era. Watch Fangio winning the 1957 German GP in a zero downforce Maserati with rock hard narrow tires. You no longer see that kind of delicate high speed four wheel drifting. Lots more fun to watch than a car running around on rails until the spoiler breaks.

As you note, high downforce stipulates a particular design paradigm that results in similar body shapes in the prototype classes. Remember the variability in looks among the Ferraris, Maseratis, Jaguars, and Porsches of the late 1950s and 1960s when sports prototype racing was a much bigger deal than it is today?

And don't be so hard on NASCAR. I know those "peaple" can't spell very well

, but try to think of NASCAR as a spec series with an amazing amount of effort put into pushing the rules envelope.

962porsche · Post by **962porsche** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 8:54 am

HAY IM NOT PUTTING NASCAR DOWN OR THE NASCAR FANS . I THINK I PUT IN MY LAST REPLY( THAT ALL RACING IS GOOD IF YOU LIKE IT !!!!!)and how the hell did we get on this topic ????? and like i stated in my last post my help came in this morring and the road racers are talking about the audi teams come from behind win . and what are the nascar guys talking about the last crash in the race and the driver how past under the yellow line and ended up finishing in like 16 ? place . as for new cars herder to drive than the cars of yeaster year . i would have to ask in what way is it harder . a small tired car with bad handling thats 100 miles an hour slower in speed . or i car with fat tires and down force that beats the hell out of you . i dont think this is apples to apples ?

breakaway500 · Post by **breakaway500** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 12:57 pm

I think NASCAR fans want to be entertained and don't really care what goes on beyond what they see on track. Not all of them,but a vast majority of the ones sitting in the stands.

As far as difficulty in driving yesterdays cars or todays, 962porsche has a very good argument when looking at the speeds obtained.
Todays cars have to be in absolute control as things are happening at a much greater pace. Being off line by inches or out of shape can mean an off course.There is much less room for error in a modern car.

I don't see better or worse,just different.

962porsche · Post by **962porsche** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 5:56 pm

just look at the drivers of yesterday in a pit stop they would get out of the car have a drink of wine grab a smoke . and do it in street clothes ????

COM Sports Car Club

petite LeMans

petite LeMans

Who is online