Reposting from another blog

http://www.carguydad.com/guide-to-american-le-mans-series/

 I submitted this article, and will be making it a series with entries on all major national and international racing series.


Check it out and give me some feedback.

Sebring

I just rolled out of the car, and into Sebring, Fl.  I am posting this from the McDonalds (they have free wifi).  More to come as the weekend progresses.

NASA Weekend at Road Atlanta

I spent the weekend trying to take some pictures of Porsches at Road Atlanta.  NASA was running the Pot O' Gold Rush weekend.  Had a lot of fun.  Look for more soon!

MidWeek Discussions.

Brown Porsches. What makes them sexy?

RennSport!

Rennsport Reunion on for a fourth iteration!

SPEC-tacular racing

How exciting would it be to see the Gulf 917s turning wheels in anger on the same stretch of tarmac as a Martini 935, a Coca Cola 962, and a Sunoco 917-30?  It would likely be one of the most exciting races anyone has ever seen, if only for the historical significance that each of these cars represents.  The Cayman Interseries, presented by Napleton Porsche takes this concept to a more realistic level.  Boiled down to what is essentially a spec racing series, the Cayman Interseries allows only identically prepared Cayman S to compete in a semi-professional racing series wearing the liveries of some of the most iconic Porsche racing cars of all time.  Spec racing is often equated with boring and staid so-called performance cars, partly due to the popularity of spec-miata series being run throughout the country.  Luckily, the Cayman Interseries is more than that, whether it owes its success to the beauty of the cars involved, the memories of the cars that they invoke, the sounds they produce, or the tantalizingly close racing, no one can be certain.  One thing is for sure, the Cayman Interseries is the ultimate in spec racing.   

Napleton began the series in 2009, preparing several Cayman S models for Interseries duty.  Beginning with a stock example of Porsche’s mid-engined beauty, Napleton Racing then fits the requisite safety equipment, improves on the excellent suspension with adjustable remote reservoir shock absorbers and stiffer spring rates, the braking system is reworked with race grade components, and finally, power is increased, simply through use of a catalyst-back exhaust system, and a quick PCM flash.  The end result is staggering as the newly reborn Cayman looks and sounds as though it were built in Zuffenhausen alongside the GT3 R Cup in the factory Rennworken.  Weighing in at just three thousand pounds full of fluid, equipped with a full roll cage, and a heavy driver behind the wheel, the Cayman is a truly quick car, as it makes full use of 300 horsepower at the rear wheels.  The cars are capable of speeds around 162 miles per hour depending upon track configuration, and the engines rev to about 7400 RPM.

The cost of preparation on a Cayman Interseries racer is approximately 40,000 dollars over the cost of the Cayman S base car.  The list of what you get for your 40 grand is quite long, and after having read it, it seems like quite the bargain.  The car must be prepared by Napleton, where the PCM, Engine, Transmission and ports are sealed to avoid tampering.  Longevity is certainly nothing to worry about, as the cars run stock OEM internal running gear components.  Series Vice President Jack Baldwin claims that last year’s champion had over 7500 at-speed miles on his engine-chassis combination without any reworking.  Since the series started in 2009, only one car has had to have the engine replaced, though after sifting through the electronic data, the engine was proven to have spent nearly 3 and a half minutes in the “level five over rev” range which is defined as 9300 RPM and above.

Running an eight race series in 2011, the Interseries travels in conjunction with established SVRA and HSR vintage events.  Not only are the cars easily recognizable, and immediately competitive, they also are given the opportunity to shine on major national circuits such as Daytona, Mid Ohio, Road America and Watkins Glen.  The average competitor in the series may not become the next Mario Andretti, but they are certainly given the chance to race where legends race.  At the benefit of both participant and spectator, the Cayman Interseries is one of the most interesting spec series you can be a part of, and certainly the most pleasing to the eye.

Chassis/Body

Full Roll Cage with door beams

Window net

roll bar padding

Cobra Hans style race seat and brackets           

Schroth 5 point quick release harness

Remote on–board fire system with 8 nozzles 

Electrical cut-off switch

MOMO steering wheel  with adapter

Quick release hub  &  roll bar hook     

Cayman Interseries Front splitter 

GT3 style adjustable rear spoiler painted body color 

Suspension/Brakes

JRZ Pro adjustable remote reservoir shocks 

3 way adjustable front and rear sway bars

Hypercoil Springs with helpers

StopTECH 6 piston Cayman Interseries designed front calipers

StopTECH full floating front rotors with aluminum hats

Performance Friction Cayman Interseries brake pads front and rear

Stainless steel brake lines

SRF racing brake fluid

GT3 two piece lower control arms

Solid front and rear control arm bushings

Spherical bearing tie rods with bump steer ends

Rear toe links with bump steer adapters

GT2 front brake ducts     

NACA rear brake ducts     

Engine/Transmission

Cayman Interseries developed ECU flash for PCM, ABS and engine mapping

Series specific race exhaust system

Center mounted third radiator

Electric oil pump with auxilary oil cooler   

limited slip differential with chrome-moly housing 

Porsche at Daytona 2011

Porsche motorsport has earned quite a reputation for winning at the famed Daytona Motor Speedway.  The Rolex 24 at Daytona has been won overall by a Porsche an astounding 22 times.  The Porsche badge has been in victory lane at Daytona more than any other marque.  The 2011 running of the event has proven that Porsche is still aiming for victories, and certainly has the equipment and driver talent to do so.

The general consensus among racing fans is that Seth Neiman has built the Flying Lizard team to do one thing, and do it well. Win.  One of Porsche’s premier customer efforts, The Lizards have a legendary reputation for their ever present fastidiousness, focused personnel, and determined preparation. In the lead up to the Daytona 24 hour they treated it no differently, and even as a one-off, rookie effort, they proved to be the class of the field.

On the Thursday before the race, Joerg delicately placed the Porsche powered Riley at the top of the time sheets.  With a flying lap that easily eclipsed the previously held Daytona Prototype lap record at the track, Joerg commented that he didn’t take a single breath for the full one minute and 40 second lap.

                On race day, it looked like the Lizards had gotten their setup perfect yet again.  At three-thirty in the afternoon on Saturday, the green flag fell on the start of the 24 hour enduro.  Shortly thereafter, Bergmeister led the field, followed by 17 other Daytona Prototypes, and driving away as though he were still qualifying.  Stretching out an enormous gap over his first stint, everything was going according to plan.  They proved to be the quickest of the field, consistently lapping in the low 1 minute 40s, while most teams circulated the track in about 1 minute and 43 seconds.  The red and silver 45 managed to grab the fastest lap of the race with a 1 minute 40.417 second pace.  Joerg set the blisteringly quick time during one of his stints and, in race trim, was only three tenths of a second slower than his pole position winning lap, proving that the team had the package to beat. 

            Due to unfortunate circumstances, the Flying Lizard Porsche lost out in the end to Chip Ganassi’s team, who ended the race in first and second position.  Not of their own doing, the Lizard team was caught up in a two separate incidents within the first three hours that permanently affected their finishing position.  During an early restart, the field was bunched up and, caught unaware, Scott Tucker in the Level 5 Motorsport BMW Riley drove the front left corner into and through the right rear bodywork of the Lizard car.  In a second incident, the No. 81 GT class Ferrari fielded by DragonSpeed Motorsports spun into the path of oncoming cars, before rolling backward off the track.  Seth Neiman navigated the Lizard car off track to avoid contact with the Ferrari, and as he was easing his way back toward the racing surface, he struck a short mound of dirt head on with the front of the car.  The carbon composite splitter fitted to the front of the Riley chassis dug into the dirt.  Once back on the track, Seth found himself at a loss for downforce and grip as the splitter and the front undertray had separated from the chassis and the assembly was dragging on the ground.  Effecting repairs to the car to regain its race worthiness lost the team a total of 35 minutes in the garage, and 19 laps to the leaders.  What could, and should, have been a race for the overall win, was cut short twenty two hours in, when damage dealt in the first incident caused an oil line to burst. 

            Similarly, in the GT class, Porsche’s 911 GT3 Cup had the field covered, and qualified on pole with an additional 5 Porsches in the next 6 positions.  The pole time of 1 minute 48 seconds, again a track record, was earned by The Racer’s Group’s ever quick Andy Lally.  Misfortune was soon announced for Porsche as the pole time was disallowed due to technical infraction, citing that the rear wing was mounted one millimeter too far back on the chassis, and the car was relegated to the back of the grid.  Luckily, Porsche also had the second fastest time with Dominik Farnbacher, in another of TRG’s five entered cars, starting in the first slot.

            Porsche had a full 14 cars in the race, and made up nearly half of the 32 car GT field.  The deck may have been stacked in Porsche’s favor, but there was still 24 hours of race to run, and run it they did.  The quickest of TRG’s cars, driven by Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly, Wolf Henzler, NASCAR driver Brendan Gaughan, and Steve Bertheau, made its way from the back of the field to the front in 22 hours, and held the lead for the final two hours, winning by five laps from the Steve Miller racing Porsche GT3 Cup, making the Rolex a one-two finish for Porsche.

            TRG’s weekend was not without issue, however.  Just over 7 hours had passed when the No. 67 car developed an issue with clutch engagement, before completely losing the clutch altogether.  A decision was made that the car would go behind the wall to the garage for repairs, and the team went to work preparing tools, parts, and personnel in the garage area, waiting for the car to arrive.

            At the last minute, team owner Kevin Buckler made the decision of a lifetime.  Weighing his options, he came to the conclusion that bringing the car in to change the clutch would give them no chance of finishing in the lead.  If the drivers could change their driving style slightly to mitigate the damage to the transmission, shift without a clutch, and stay out of trouble, there was a small chance that they could salvage the race.  Buckler was of the mindset that TRG would either come away with a win, or throw the car in the scrap bin when the day was done.

            Thanks to the extreme talent of the drivers enlisted, they did exactly as they were asked.  Keeping the car out of trouble for over 17 hours without a clutch was paramount, as any spin or off track excursion would have ended in a stalled car with no chance of getting it moving again.  Every pit stop, the car had to be push started to get on its way again.  Pumpelly and Lally both agreed that the braking zone for turn one was a bit disconcerting while driving without a clutch, but they managed to persevere, and finish in the lead.  Winning the race, quite literally, came down to a split second decision.

            Call it a testament to Porsche’s engineering skill, their ability to attract winning drivers, or their sheer number of entrants, but even with a bit of difficulty, Porsche’s weekend at the high banks of Daytona was eventful, and even successful.  The track record in both DP and GT, pole position in both classes, fastest race lap in both classes, consistently quick laps in both classes, and a 1-2 finish in the GT class all have the Porsche name attributed to them.  The 49^th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona was absolutely obliterated by Porsche’s determined drive for excellence.