ALMS Round 9 Detroit Aug. 29-31, 08

[mpme]

After the magical battles for pole at Mosport, expect a street fight around the confines of Detroit's Belle Isle. Watch it live Friday on SPEEDtv.com at 4:30PM ET.

John Hindhaugh, Radio Le Mans host and play-by-play man for Friday’s streaming qualifying, predicts we’ll see sparks fly at Belle Isle. "I hope people can now understand why we get so animated about these qualifying sessions. In the last ten minutes of the prototype session we were actually jumping up and down with excitement... I'm pleased you didn't see that it may have been somewhat embarrassing! I expect no different an outcome at Detroit this Friday. The cars come within millimeters of the concrete walls to get the most from their cars. Look for a few of the more brave souls to come in contact with the barriers on their way to pole position."

Visit http://gms.speedtv.com/Online/?SID=*3 this Friday at 4:30PM ET to watch a full hour of live GT and Prototype qualifying.

1) Click on the Qualifying session button to the right of the video player (under the 'Now Showing' tab to activate the video stream.

2) For a larger viewing window, click on the tab (highlighted in yellow) to expand the video player.



Archived video highlights of both qualifying sessions will be available soon after on SPEEDtv.com's ALMS page at http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/lemans-alms, and at AmericanLeMans.com

[zac510]

So that's 2130 GMT+1.

Cheers!

[andy_b]

is it just me, or does anyone else hate the updated AGR livery. Makes the car look very ugly with the yellow wrapping around the lights, almost looks like its cross-eyed.

I know its only paint, but paint and stickers are one of the most important things on a car...because without a sponsor, you wont have a car

[The359]

Originally Posted by andy_b

is it just me, or does anyone else hate the updated AGR livery. Makes the car look very ugly with the yellow wrapping around the lights, almost looks like its cross-eyed.

I know its only paint, but paint and stickers are one of the most important things on a car...because without a sponsor, you wont have a car

I agree, too much yellow.

[zac510]

I think it stands out much better, so it wins in that regard.

[cmk]

I thought I hated it, but it looks like an angry bumblebee, maybe moreso than the Patron car. When I think of racecars as angry bumblebees, I think of high-strung 4cyl touring cars, and I smile at the noise. By some strange dint, that makes me like it more!

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by andy_b

is it just me, or does anyone else hate the updated AGR livery. Makes the car look very ugly with the yellow wrapping around the lights, almost looks like its cross-eyed.

I know its only paint, but paint and stickers are one of the most important things on a car...because without a sponsor, you wont have a car

Nope , your right , way too much yellow now . Much better before .

[CarolK]

Originally Posted by andy_b

is it just me, or does anyone else hate the updated AGR livery. Makes the car look very ugly with the yellow wrapping around the lights, almost looks like its cross-eyed.

I know its only paint, but paint and stickers are one of the most important things on a car...because without a sponsor, you wont have a car

If they are like others, it's tape not paint, not too difficult to remove and that would certainly improve an ugly appearance.

[mazda1]

Originally Posted by WMUCarGuy

Man I wish Guy Cosmo was still driving for Mazda. Cosmo/Devlin would be such a fantastic combo.

How can you say something like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jaime Bach was almost as fast as Cosmo, why you think he was able to keep his job for so long. Ben Devlin was, or is, at least 4 seconds faster than Bach. If you have been following the lap times this year, you can see that Gerardo Bonilla has been as fast or faster (by a little) than Devlin in every race. Let's go back to St Petersburg. Gerardo, on his first race in LMP2, recorded the fastest lap of the race for Mazda. Ok, Devlin had a huge accident two weeks earlier at Sebring, but what happened when they went to california? Same thing, Gerardo faster again. You also have to remember, we are comparing Gerardo with Ben Devlin, ex Formula 1 test driver, and years of pro racing experience, and Gerardo is right there with him. Cosmo and Devlin!!!!!? I don't think so.

[cmk]

Seems current Porsche Junior Martin Raggenger is making his ALMS debut subbing for Seth Neiman in the Flying Lizard #44. Interesting choice, in my opinion. I would have thought Westbrook would be available with no FIA clash. I haven't watched a lot of Supercup this year but Raggenger has rather underwhelmed me in what I've seen; I thought Marco Holzer was looking more impressive in the UPS Junior Team.

[WMUCarGuy]

Originally Posted by mazda1

How can you say something like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jaime Bach was almost as fast as Cosmo, why you think he was able to keep his job for so long. Ben Devlin was, or is, at least 4 seconds faster than Bach. If you have been following the lap times this year, you can see that Gerardo Bonilla has been as fast or faster (by a little) than Devlin in every race. Let's go back to St Petersburg. Gerardo, on his first race in LMP2, recorded the fastest lap of the race for Mazda. Ok, Devlin had a huge accident two weeks earlier at Sebring, but what happened when they went to california? Same thing, Gerardo faster again. You also have to remember, we are comparing Gerardo with Ben Devlin, ex Formula 1 test driver, and years of pro racing experience, and Gerardo is right there with him. Cosmo and Devlin!!!!!? I don't think so.

Yea, buy Guy also never got to drive the Lola, he was just in the Courage so your comparisons are kind of irrelevant. Put Guy in the Lola and I'm confident he'd be the fastest of the bunch.

[mazda1]

Originally Posted by WMUCarGuy

Yea, buy Guy also never got to drive the Lola, he was just in the Courage so your comparisons are kind of irrelevant. Put Guy in the Lola and I'm confident he'd be the fastest of the bunch.

Guy never drove the lola, but Jaime Bach drove both. Bach was also slow on both, and Bach was not that much slower than your Guy. It's so easy to understand.

[mpme]

From Porsche:

While Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas tackle the race with the #7 car, there is a change in the cockpit of the #6 sister car: Ryan Briscoe (Australia) replaces Germany’s Sascha Maassen to share the cockpit with Patrick Long (USA). Briscoe, who competes in this year’s IndyCar Series for Penske Racing, will use Detroit to prepare for next month’s important ten- hour Petit Le Mans race in Road Atlanta, where ten bonus points are up for grabs. Briscoe drove the #6 car for the entire season last year, and was scheduled to be a third driver at Sebring ’08, but did not get into the car as it retired before it was his turn to drive. Briscoe has won two IndyCar races so far this year

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by mazda1

Guy never drove the lola, but Jaime Bach drove both. Bach was also slow on both, and Bach was not that much slower than your Guy. It's so easy to understand.

Actually the,"It's so easy to understand", statement is a misnomer. How do you prove that the performance gap between the two drivers in the two cars would be linear?


L.P.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by mpme

From Porsche:

While Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas tackle the race with the #7 car, there is a change in the cockpit of the #6 sister car: Ryan Briscoe (Australia) replaces Germany’s Sascha Maassen to share the cockpit with Patrick Long (USA). Briscoe, who competes in this year’s IndyCar Series for Penske Racing, will use Detroit to prepare for next month’s important ten- hour Petit Le Mans race in Road Atlanta, where ten bonus points are up for grabs. Briscoe drove the #6 car for the entire season last year, and was scheduled to be a third driver at Sebring ’08, but did not get into the car as it retired before it was his turn to drive. Briscoe has won two IndyCar races so far this year

So their prepping Briscoe for the third seat in the #7, points leading, car at Petit?


L.P.

[mpme]

I'd think Collard wold be back in the #7 he drove to victory at Sebring.

Porsche keeps this release nice and vague. Note that there's no mention of Sascha driving at PLM...

[The359]

Or maybe keeping Briscoe in the #6 car to help give the #7 car a gap if they run 1-2?

[WMUCarGuy]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

So their prepping Briscoe for the third seat in the #7, points leading, car at Petit?


L.P.

I don't get anything out of that to say he'll be the 3rd driver for the #7. I'd expect him to be in the #6 with Collard in the 7.

[Aslak Vind]

Hopefully not, Ryan Briscoe has had his chance, if you ask me. To many mistakes me thinks..

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by cmk

Seems current Porsche Junior Martin Raggenger is making his ALMS debut subbing for Seth Neiman in the Flying Lizard #44. Interesting choice, in my opinion. I would have thought Westbrook would be available with no FIA clash. I haven't watched a lot of Supercup this year but Raggenger has rather underwhelmed me in what I've seen; I thought Marco Holzer was looking more impressive in the UPS Junior Team.

Shame they didnt give Damian Faulkner a drive , considering he came 2nd in the PC last year !!

[andy_b]

Ageed!

Spotters Guide up btw with the latest driver changes. Also grey'd out boxes for non entries. all in the usual place www.spotterguides.com

[Zurbert82]

Originally Posted by mazda1

You also have to remember, we are comparing Gerardo with Ben Devlin, ex Formula 1 test driver, and years of pro racing experience, and Gerardo is right there with him. Cosmo and Devlin!!!!!? I don't think so.

Devlin was never an F1 test driver, though that doesn't take away the fact he is bloody quick.

[mazda1]

Originally Posted by Zurbert82

Devlin was never an F1 test driver, though that doesn't take away the fact he is bloody quick.

A very young Devlin Test Drove the Arrows ORANGE sponsor f1 car. He helped with the development of that car. He said that, not me! Go to bendevlin.com classic pictures, and you can see him in action!

[mazda1]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

Actually the,"It's so easy to understand", statement is a misnomer. How do you prove that the performance gap between the two drivers in the two cars would be linear?


L.P.

Of course, you can't prove that, but when the guy is slow, he is slow in any car. If Guy Cosmo was devlin's team-mate, I am sure Devlin is going to destroy him as bad as he did Jaime Bach. How do I know? I'm not going to repeat myself.

[WMUCarGuy]

Originally Posted by mazda1

Of course, you can't prove that, but when the guy is slow, he is slow in any car. If Guy Cosmo was devlin's team-mate, I am sure Devlin is going to destroy him as bad as he did Jaime Bach. How do I know? I'm not going to repeat myself.

Well until we get Cosmo in the Lola, no one will really know for sure... You can speculate all you want, as can I, and I definitely think he'd be as fast as Devlin.