Daytona prototypes?
Discussion
Just watching the live coverage of the Daytona 24hours (awesome to have it shown live here in Europe - first time I think?) and I'm wondering that these Daytona Prototypes are all about? They look fast enough and the racing is good but they sure are ugly. How come the ALMS prototypes are not allowed to race here? It would be great to see the Audis and Peugeots etc - anyone know why this format came about?
kusee pee said:
Just watching the live coverage of the Daytona 24hours (awesome to have it shown live here in Europe - first time I think?) and I'm wondering that these Daytona Prototypes are all about? They look fast enough and the racing is good but they sure are ugly. How come the ALMS prototypes are not allowed to race here? It would be great to see the Audis and Peugeots etc - anyone know why this format came about?
Because being American they understand the key principal to sporting success.Make it affordable and simple so more people can do it and relate to it!
In major european or Japanese led race series (ALMS, LMS, FIA GT, WTCC, DTM, Super GT etc) the rules are created by the manufacturers and their desire for technology, in the US the rules are made to suite the people who own the teams.
The DP's are the ugliest race cars ever. Its all to do with safety though.
Eric Mc said:
What channel is this being shown on?
Supposedly on Eurosport 2 but so far they canned the coverage an hour early last night because they lost the feed from the track, then the 2pm coverage today didn't happen and wasn't mentioned! Fingers crossed we're back to it for the finish from 4pm till 6.45pm
kusee pee said:
Just watching the live coverage of the Daytona 24hours (awesome to have it shown live here in Europe - first time I think?) and I'm wondering that these Daytona Prototypes are all about? They look fast enough and the racing is good but they sure are ugly. How come the ALMS prototypes are not allowed to race here? It would be great to see the Audis and Peugeots etc - anyone know why this format came about?
First off, they're NOT ALMS cars. The ALMS runs to ACO rules, P1, P2, GT1 and GT2. Grand Am is it's own thing, the France family who own NASCAR and the Daytona track set up the series in the same way Tony George started the IRL. Secondly, the cars would be destroyed in an ALMS/LMS race. The prototurtles are slower than a GT2 car - the first year they raced (2003 iirc) they almost got beaten by a GT3-R. As a result, the GT class runs GT3 cup cars, F430 Challenge cars etc, and they all have to have 5 lug wheels instead of centerlocks to slow down pitstops. Up against an RS Spyder, R10, 908 or just about any other P1 or P2 car, the DP wouldn't see which way the real prototype went.
They're also very low tech. Now, the advantages of that is that it's cheap for the teams to run, and they're very evenly matched, so you get great racing, but Grand Am is all about the drivers, not the cars. The ALMS/LMS/ACO is about great drivers, but also very technologically advanced cars.
Edit - on second reading, it seems you do know that they're not ALMS cars. Anyway, the reason they don't race at Daytona is the same reason ChampCars don't race at Indy anymore - the France family wanted to own the series.
Edited by Dr JonboyG on Sunday 27th January 17:04
They are generally bad looking, however the Doran (soon to be replaced by Dallara) and Crawford chassis look ok.
Apart from the France family having Tony George Syndrome and wanting to have their own special series another reason for DPs was that the LMPs were reaching speeds round the oval that were believed to be dangerous.
A variety of US road courses and rovals, including great racks like Watkins Glen and Virginia International (which is why you won't see ALMS running at those tracks).
Apart from the France family having Tony George Syndrome and wanting to have their own special series another reason for DPs was that the LMPs were reaching speeds round the oval that were believed to be dangerous.
skeggysteve said:
Dr J, Thanks for that info.
Where else do the DP's race?
What is the Grand Am series? What cars etc.
The Speed coverage is much better than the feed we go yesterday.
http://www.grand-am.com/index.cfm Where else do the DP's race?
What is the Grand Am series? What cars etc.
The Speed coverage is much better than the feed we go yesterday.
A variety of US road courses and rovals, including great racks like Watkins Glen and Virginia International (which is why you won't see ALMS running at those tracks).
Edited by johnph on Sunday 27th January 17:49
Yeah, the series is actually pretty good to watch - the cars (mainly the Rileys but then they make up the bulk of the competitors) are fugly, but the driving talent is top notch, and since the races never clash with the ALMS, it means there's twice the amount of sportscar racing to watch each season.
Edited by Dr JonboyG on Sunday 27th January 19:23
rubystone said:
Grand Am cars insult the word "designer". They are so ugly I refuse to read anything about them or watch them on TV. Mind you, from the people who brought you the "Car of Tomorrow"...what could we expect?
Agree on the first point - Terrible - JOKE Cars.CoT is OK though - give it a few years and you will not remember the pre-CoT cars.
fastfreddy said:
Some of you may not consider them real race cars, but a lot of oval racers start off in these.
My nomination for the ugliest car used in racing - Modified Stock Cars:
Bet that will teach you car control though - whooooaaaMy nomination for the ugliest car used in racing - Modified Stock Cars:
Edited by fastfreddy on Monday 28th January 10:48
Simon Mason said:
Because being American they understand the key principal to sporting success.
Yes, pay the teams to come and join the series and pay them to stay there racing. It's not the draw of the competition, it's the fact that Grand-Am want the ALMS to fail, so they pay teams to come and race in their series.
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