Time Warner Road Race Showcase at Road America
Four Miles of Fun

Just when the critics had written the American Le Mans Series off as dead, it puts together back to back fantastic race weekends; returning from the long Le Mans break to a huge crowd at Lime Rock Park and delivering an exciting race; and following that with an even better show at Mid-Ohio.  The loyal Ohio race fans turned out in large numbers and got treated to battles and drama in every class. 

The return of Corvette Racing certainly helped to spark enthusiasm, and adding a Porsche Spyder to the LMP2 mix probably didn’t hurt either.  Off the track, excitement continued with news of de Ferran’s retirement as a driver and his intentions to come back next year with two cars.  I won’t recap the whole weekend, as my compadre Gary Horrocks has already done a fine job of that.  But suffice it to say, it was a busy weekend, on and off the track.

But there is no time to rest on our laurels, as we have another race this weekend.  Road America has been a stalwart on the ALMS schedule for many years and most drivers when asked, list it as one of their favorite tracks.  With over four miles of asphalt winding through the Wisconsin countryside, nowhere else on the ALMS schedule allows these racing machines to stretch their legs like Road America. 

Most P1 previews start with talk of the Acura teams.  Rightly so, as they are winning races and have a heated battle going for the points championship.  Instead though, I am going to recognize the two teams that have shown pace and reliability while fighting their own battle for that last podium spot.  The Field family had a solid race at Mid-Ohio and came away from their home track with a well deserved 3rd in class.  Road America has been the race Jon Field has been waiting for since Sebring.  If they can avoid mechanical misfortunes with their now three year old Lola, this should be a fun race for them.  Meanwhile, Corsa Motorsports and their crazy Hybrid prototype have defied all odds by not only finishing the last two races, but have been pretty darn quick doing it. 

Autocon had a gearbox break at Mid-Ohio, apparently heat related. They have a plan in place with additional coolers to fix this, but it might not be that simple. They also will have the correct rear wing installed which will reduce the weight.

Both Acura P1 teams talk about sharing information and working together for the betterment of the Acura effort.  And that’s probably true, but it sure hasn’t lessened the race day intensity.  Both de Ferran and Highcroft have been fighting ‘tooth and nail’, albeit very cleanly; but this current streak by de Ferran has got to be wearing on the Highcroft boys.  The #9 Acura has certainly had its share of bad luck lately, but I bet Duncan Dayton would tell you that you have to make your own luck.  Make no mistake though; the #66 team has been hot, red hot.  And are there any questions left about the driving talent of Simon Pagenaud?

What a great addition to the P2 class the Cytosport Porsche Spyder is.  Fernandez and Dyson can no longer just keep an eye on each other.  Not only is it another competitor to contend with on the track, but also in pit lane.  The strategists for both Fernandez and Dyson will have to up their games.  The #20 Dyson Mazda led for most of the race at Mid-Ohio, but watched the finish parked in the grass. There is no question they have the pace, but the Acura has the reliability over them, at least for now. Fernandez claims their Acura has a 7mph top end disadvantage to the Mazdas.  If this is true, it will become painfully obvious at Road America. 
 
If de Ferran is on a hot streak, then the #45 Flying Lizard Porsche has gone super-nova.  They just can’t seem to do anything wrong right now.  There has never been a more talented GT2 class, and these guys are making it look easy. 

I thought the circuit at Mid-Ohio would favor the Ferrari and that they would knock the #45 off the top of the hill for a week; but a caution period wave-by for the #45 & #3 left Melo with too much ground to make up.  As a rule, the longer straights at Road America shouldn’t suit the Ferrari 430 and Melo stated after the last race that they were at the limit of their car’s performance. 

 And how about Corvette’s return? Their first race with the new GT2 car and they run flawlessly to a 2nd and 4th place finish;  and if not for a gutsy call from the Flying Lizards to skip the expected late race splash of fuel, the #3 Corvette might have won.  The Corvettes do have a little body work to address before this weekend’s meeting. The rules state that the tire must not be outside of the fender opening from the center line of the wheel. The fenders on the new ‘Vette didn’t meet this criterion, but they were given a one-race waiver (Mid-Ohio) to get it corrected.

The M3s have been steadily improving and slid in behind the #3 Corvette to take the third in class last weekend.  This track though will be real test for the boxier shaped BMW.  The big American powered Panoz, Viper and Ford GT should excel on the four mile circuit.

Farnbacher-Loles has been somewhat the forgotten team the last few weeks.  The procession of different co-drivers for Wolf Henzler could be the problem.  This week Bryce Miller is back in and that could be good news.  Miller was part of the three man team that won the GT2 class here last year. 

The Challenge class has turned into a real Snow job! (Sorry I just couldn’t resist)  But it’s no joke that the husband and wife team of Martin and Melanie Snow have taken charge of this class.  With two wins out of three races they are atop the championship standings with a 17 point lead over Hoaglund and Faieta.  The class grows in numbers again; up to seven for this race.  

The last two ALMS races here were both 500 mile events, which took roughly four hours to complete.  The 2009 visit will just be the standard 2:45 timed event, which is unfortunate as this is one track that would really suit a true endurance length event. 

Russell Wittenberg