NGT Withdraws from Petit Le Mans

NGT Motorsports has withdrawn from the Petit Le Mans (the season finale for the Tudor United Sports Car Championship).  Here are the details as to why.

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/ngt-withdraws-from-petit-le-mans/

Durheimer (Bentley): "It's Our Intention to Grow On A Global Scale"

Bentley CEO Wolfgang Durheimer talks about how racing is used to grow the brand in an interview with Sportscar365 from the Blancpain Endurance Series season finale at the Nurburgring a few weeks back.

http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/durheimer-bentley-its-our-intention-to-grow-our-program-on-a-worldwide-scale/

Don't fret.  Eventually, race reports from Spa and the Nurburgring, will be published.  Yours truly has been very busy and has not had the chance to get around to them quite yet.

Mike Skeen Set To Make FIA WEC Debut with AF Corse in Fuji

Mike Skeen will make his FIA World Endurance Championship debut in the next race, the Six Hours of Fuji at Fuji Speedway in Fuji, Japan, in two weeks, sharing the #61 AF Corse LM GTE Am Ferrari 458 Italia with Bret Curtis and Jeroen Bleekemolen.

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/mike-skeen-set-to-make-fia-wec-debut-with-af-corse-in-fuji/

sports car racing news update

The latest sports car racing news update.

Updated Bathurst 12H Entry List Released
http://sportscar365.com/gt/bathurst-12h/updated-bathurst-12h-entry-list-released/

Project Brabham Launched, Targeting LMP2 Effort in 2015
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/project-brabham-launched-aiming-for-lmp2-program-in-2015/

37 Entries for Estoril
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/elms/37-entries-for-estoril/

Porsche to Focus on Two Factory Entries for Petit, Bamber to Debut
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/porsche-to-focus-on-two-factory-entries-for-petit-bamber-set-for-debut/

Taisan Ferrari Withdraws, 27 Entries Set for Fuji
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/taisan-withdraws-27-entries-set-for-fuji/

Briscoe Rejoins Corvette Racing for Petit Le Mans
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/briscoe-rejoins-corvette-racing-for-petit-le-mans/

WEC Plan for all-pro LMP2 lineups shelved

The FIA has scrapped the idea of having three professional drivers share cars in the LMP2 division, and so, the class will remain in a framework where each team and car, will consist of two professional drivers, and one Pro-Am or amateur driver.

http://www.racer.com/latest-stories/item/109056-plan-for-all-pro-lmp2-line-ups-shelved

Entry List for the 2015 Bathurst 12 Hours

The entry list for the 2015 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hours at Mount Panorama circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia, has been released.

http://www.bathurst12hour.com.au/event-info/entry-list

IMSA: Will Porsche customers desert the TUDOR Championship for WEC?

Yours truly has yet to write the race report on the Tudor Championship event from Circuit of The Americas, and promises that it will be posted.  But, until that happens, here's something to chew on.  Will customer Porsche teams currently in the Tudor Championship, abandon ship for the FIA World Endurance Championship, despite promised ideas of integrating GT3 spec machinery into the series in a couple of years, by 2016?  Only time will tell.

http://www.racer.com/imsa/item/109016-imsa-will-porsche-customers-desert-the-tudor-championship-for-wec

Race car driver survives 22 hours trapped under ATV

Thank heavens IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge driver, Charlie Putman is OK, after surviving a horrendous ordeal, of being trapped under his ATV on his farm, before being rescued.

http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/race-car-driver-survives-22-hours-trapped-under-atv-092314?cmpid=tsmfb:fscom:speed

Bentley Confirms VLN Entries And Partner Team In China

Bentley will expand it's involvement in GT racing.  Here's that story, on the heels of the finale of the Blancpain Endurance Series which was run at the Nurburgring.  Highlights of that event, will have to be saved for later, though.

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2014/09/23/bentley-confirms-vln-entries-and-partner-team-in-china.html

sports car racing news headlines

More news to catch up on from the world of sports car racing.  A race report for the Tudor Championship from COTA, will come, later this week.

Eurasia Expads to ELMS with Oreca-Nissan for 2015
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/elms/eurasia-expands-to-elms-with-oreca-nissan-for-2015/

Schutz Announces Baku World Challenge Entry
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bss/schutz-announces-baku-world-challenge-entry/

Dunlop Set for Re-Entry into GT Ranks in 2015
http://sportscar365.com/industry/dunlop-set-for-re-entry-into-gt-for-2015/

Sharp: "The FIA WEC is Very Impressive"
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/sharp-the-fia-wec-is-very-impressive/

Eversley, Merzon Join Starworks PC for Petit Le Mans
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/eversley-merzon-join-starworks-pc-for-petit-le-mans/

Starworks Finalizing HPD P2 Program for 2015
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/lemans24/exclusive-starworks-finalizing-hpd-p2-program-for-2015/

Audi scores 1-2 finish in FIA WEC Six Hours of Circuit of The Americas

Video of the last minutes of the FIA World Endurance Championship Six Hours of Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas yesterday.  Fox Sports' Bob Varsha, Calvin Fish, and Dorsey Schroeder called the action.

http://www.foxsports.com/motor/story/audi-scores-1-2-finish-in-fia-wec-six-hours-of-circuit-of-the-americas-092114

FIA World Endurance Championship: Six Hours of Austin: Hour 6 (the finish)

Marc Lieb continues to lead in the #14 Porsche 919, which could win it's first race, in four appearances.  What will Lieb do with tires?  Get the soft ones.  Again, let's look at highlights.  The field took off at the start, and we saw Mark Webber and Alex Wurz battle as Andre Lottrer tagged one of the Toyota's.  There were lots of battles.  Romain Dumas runs wide.  A spin for Sebastien Buemi, leading by half a minute.  Then, in the next hour, it was a deluge.  The track became a skating rink, before a red flag.

They did exploratory laps behind the safety car.  Nicolas Lapierre passed Tom Kristensen.  Some amazing driving, on a damp track.  The #47 P2 car spun, and G Drive had a problem which needed attention in pit lane, after Julien Canal jumped a curb in the Ligier.  Nick Tandy had his issues in the factory Porsche 911 RSR.  Actually, it was Patrick Pilet.  Lucas di Grassi has been pushing it, and so has Toyota.  Jeff Segal spins, and almost gets hit by the ESM HPD car!

Darren Turner is booking it, going after Pilet.  The Porsche and Aston Martin drivers are running with two man teams.  These guys remained on the pace with the heat, humidity, and rain, in central Texas.  These blokes, are brave.  That's for sure.  Russian driver Sergey Zlobin for SMP Racing says there are no issues, and tells pit reporter Louise Beckett that there's a problem with the clutch in the car.

Zlobin shares with Maurizio Mediani, and Nicolas Minassian.  While we're at it, click on this video, and check out the wicked spin outs in the rain.

http://www.foxsports.com/video?vid=331632195800

Good clean racing between Darren Turner and Frederic Makowiecki.  Maintain track position.  Lucas di Grassi made his last pit stop in the #1 Audi with 50 minutes to go.  Good racing all over the track.  Fassler is one second behind Marc Lieb.  So, Audi, has a fuel advantage over Porsche AG.  Fassler gets stacked up by a GTE Am Porsche. 

Toyota won the first two six hour races at Silverstone and Spa.  Audi won double points at Le Mans, and looks like they might win again here at Austin, Texas.  For the lead, Fassler is right on Lieb's gearbox.  Audi's handling is amazing.  Porsche has downforce, but they can't get the handling to work.  Toyota and Audi revamped their cars, while Porsche built a car to the new rules.  Fassler retakes the lead as Lieb takes a short fuel stop.  No need for full tanks.

Do they take tires so Lieb can chase down Fassler?  They short filled the car.  They've played their card.  We watch Patrick Pilet in the factory GTE Pro Porsche.  Warning lights are put on the outside of the car, because these cars are electrically charged, and they have to be assured (crew members or marshals), so they don't get electrocuted by the race car.  Marcel Fassler sets the fastest lap for the Audi.

The Aston Martin may be outperforming the Porsche in LM GTE Pro in dry conditions.  Makowiecki won for Aston Martin here at COTA last year.  Sebastien Buemi is still pushing and he's taken over third from Lucas di Grassi.  We have 36 minutes left in this race.  Rock and roll bands, and fireworks entertain the fans as the #7 Toyota comes in with Alex Wurz at the controls, running sixth in the overall.  Marc Lieb runs second overall, a minute behind Marcel Fassler, actually at 63 seconds.

Lena Gade, is an engineer at Audi, that has won three 24 Hours of Le Mans races with Audi.  Also, dig a webpage called www.safeisfast.com.  It's all about motorsports, in video, as to how to drive, and how to drive safely in a race car.  The Rebellion R-One is running well, with a new aero package in LMP1 Lights, with competition only from the Lotus.  These cars don't have hybrid power.  1:50.3 is fast lap for Porsche.

The amazing technology of these hybrid race cars, is diverse, and competitive.  Appropriately, this could be Audi, Porsche, and Toyota, on the podium.  The Porsche runs wide, and rams another curb, sparking.  There's a second, taller curb there, to keep drivers from cheating.  When the car rises onto that orange lump, it flies.  Marcel Fassler has a six second advantage over Marc Lieb.  Three wide action for position, as Ed Brown gets split by the Porsche and the Toyota.

Buemi has been amazing in this Toyota.  He ran Formula One with Toro Rosso, just a few years ago.  Benoit Treluyer and Andre Lotterer speak to each other in the pits.  It's a totally different dynamic, racing against the faster prototypes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, along with the factory drivers.  These guys are paid, not to be average, but to be, the fastest driver for their team in the best sports cars in the world.

The factory Toyota's are built in Europe, while the petrol motor in the Rebellion LMP1-L car, is built in Japan.  Patrick Pilet is first in LM GTE Pro.  Check that.  Pilet is still second to Darren Turner, with Gianmaria Bruni, in the Ferrari, in third place, a lap down.  Lucas di Grassi passes Marc Lieb.  Maybe the gremlins have come back to bite Porsche, that nabbed them at Le Mans, and gave Audi the win in that race. 

Lieb is slowing.  He'll just be saving fuel.  Porsche has to wait, for the first triumph in FIA WEC racing.  Toyota sets up for a pit stop for car #8 for a splash and dash.  Lucas di Grassi is close behind Sebastien Buemi, and thus, he will be passed.  Buemi has given everything, going purple in sector one, at 1:23.2, fastest of all.  Pedro Lamy passes Christian Ried in an amateur Aston Martin.  Sharing that car, is Paul Dalla Lana, and Christoffer Nygaard.  Dalla Lana is a regular in Tudor Championship competition.

Sixteen minutes remain in this race.  Marcel Fassler still leads, and is a full lap ahead of his team mate.  Buemi has passed Marc Lieb for the podium.  Too bad.  The Porsche's are snakebitten, again.  Lena Gade calls in Marcel Fassler for his final stop.  "Box this lap.  Box this lap."  Ooh.  Debris.  It's astro turf.  No harm no foul.  Fassler pits.   Check the right front tire, and go back out.  It was only a fuel stop.

Don't clog the radiators.   Less than ten minutes to go.  We've had astro turf breakup, rain showers, and spins all over.  Sebastien Buemi is fastest on the road.  He will end up on the podium with the Audi's.  The two Porsche 919's will complete the top five.  Both Audi's had the same problem in qualifying.  It's not clear as to what that was. 

The Rebellion is being driven effectively by Matthias Beche, seventh overall, and in class.  ESM will get a world championship point in the FIA World Endurance Championship.  Jordan and Ricky Taylor, and Tommy Milner, will be seventh and last in LM GTE Pro.  They've had a fraught weekend.  Krohn Racing is sixth in class, in LM GTE Pro, and will move up to LMP2 next year with a Ligier Judd.

Nissan will soon be a fourth factory team in FIA WEC.  Nissan will race in the championship, and they want a young American driver, too.  Jann Mardenborough of England, is one of the driver's being brought up by Nissan.  For the first time since 1999, we've had more than one full factory team in worldwide endurance racing.  Time is of the essence.  Just a short time remains.  Mere seconds.  Corvette Racing lost two laps during the red flag fracas.

We will see the checkered flag next time by.  Something slowed him down.  It will be an Audi 1-2 in Texas.  Pedro Lamy and Richie Stanaway in the Aston Martin's are battling for a win, and Stanaway is flying.  Who is going to win this race?  The #47 KCMG team wins LMP2.  Aston Martin sweeps both LM GTE Pro and LM GTE Am with #97 the Pro winner, and #95, the Am winner.  Pro is Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke.  Am, is Kristian Poulsen, David Heinemeier-Hanson, and Richie Stanaway.

Overall/LMP1 #2 Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer           Audi R18 eTron Quattro

             LMP2: #47 Howson/Bradley/Matsuda      Oreca 03 Nissan

             LM GTE Pro: #97 Turner/Mucke             Aston Martin V8 Vantage

             LM GTE Am: #95 Poulsen/Heinemeier-Hanson/Stanaway     Aston Martin V8 Vantage

The next event for the FIA World Endurance Championship, takes the series to Fuji Speedway in Fuji, Japan, in three weeks.

FIA World Endurance Championship: 6 Hours of Austin: Hour 5

Here are the highlights.  At the green, Toyota took the lead and Sebastien Buemi took off.  The battle was on at the front.  The overtaking was amazing between Audi and Porsche.  Porsche didn't have enough power to get off the corner.  Aston Martin vs. Ferrari in GTE Pro.  The weather was beautiful early.  Sebastien Buemi spun and kept the lead.  Tracy Krohn spun his #57 Ferrari, and Darren Turner, and Giancarlo Fisichella were doing a great job.

But, then, the skies opened, and eventually the red flag had to come out.  The racing resumed an hour later, while it was still very wet, when we joined the Fox Sports coverage.  The Porsche's were doing really well, and the prototypes were also flying around the speedway.  The GT LM battle earlier, was all about Porsche.  Now, we see Matsuda spinning off the road again.  Now, the #13 Rebellion Toyota has damage.  Fabio Leimer, at the controls.  The #14 Porsche's crew chief, was summoned to the marshal's office.  The FIA/ACO is no nonsense.

The lap times keep swining two to three seconds, over a lap.  Teams, and everyone on pit lane, get the same message via text, from the head honchos at the FIA.  Behave and follow the rules.  Or, you'll be sent to the principal's office.  Frederic Makowiecki and Marco Holzer are 1-2 in LM GTE Pro, with both factory Porsche 911 RSR's.  The first couple hours (though we didn't see them), were all over the shop.  Tom Kristensen has driven lots of different cars, with many types of technology, through the years.

The younger drivers, see the hybrid cars as high tech gadgets, just like video games.  Whoa!  Marcel Fassler passes Tom Kristensen!  Where did that come from?  That was a definite overtake.  Eek!  James Rossiter in the Lotus P1 car, was reported to have a door open.  But this is unclear.  The chief mechanic on the #14 Porsche still has to report to the stewards.  Julien Canal has launched his Ligier Honda over the curb, and he's pitting it now.

Julien Canal is a native of Le Mans, France.  Need I say more?  Ryan Dalziel works the brakes on the #30 HPD car.  The brakes glow cherry red.  Canal launches the car onto the curbs, and solidly hits it.  A new nose is now being chaged onto the car.  Something is wrong with how the nose fits on to the front of the car.  This Ligier has had quite an impact.  One races in the Tudor Championship, which will be blogged here.

G Drive is a fuel subsidary of Gas Prom which is a Russian fuel subsidiary and fuel giant.  Back time this race, again.  Marcel Fassler leads, and folks, we're going to have an hour of this motor race remaining.  The Ligier goes back ionto the garage.  The Ligier launched off the curb in a biug way.  The curbs are progressive on the front size and go up.  But, they drop into a square on the back side of the course.

The corners at COTA, some of them, are influenced by Spa, Silverstone, and other worldwide great tracks.  Audi, Porsche, Toyota, Audi, Porsche, Toyota, the top six.  An Aston Martin spins with Christoffer Nygaard off the road.  Nico Prost and Nick Heidfeld had a horrendous dust up as rivals in the Formula E opener in Beijing, China, last week.  Read about the fracas, HERE:

http://chicaneman.wordpress.com/2014/09/14/formula-e-round-1-china/

But, now, they are team mates in the Rebellion Racing sports car.  We are in the live music capital of the world.  Austin, Texas.  Bands have been playing, in addition to the race.  Tom Kristensen said that he made one less stop, and still had an issue with a strategy backfiring about going out on slicks.  He is the last remaining holdover from the original Audi lineup.  People like Allan McNish, Rinaldo Cappello, Frank Biela, and Emmanuelle Pirro, are no longer driving.

McNish and Cappello are still involved in the sport as ambassadors.  You win enduranc sports car races by staying in the pits for the shortest time.  Lucas di Grassi is driving the leading Audi now.  Kristian Poulsen brings the #95 Aston Martin into the pits in LM GTE Am.  Darryl O'Young is at the wheel of the Aston Martin.  Corvette Racing is not up to speed with their entry.  Ricky Taylor is at the wheel.

The #92 Porsche is now on pit lane.  So many things to look for, that can show the wear and tear on the cars.  There is less offline tire debris because of the earlier rain.  Marcel Fassler, Marc Lieb, and Anthony Davidson (Audi, Porsche, Toyota), still lead.  Actually, it's Lucas di Grassi, Marc Lieb, and Alexander Wurz.  Nick Tandy brings the LM GTE Pro #91 Porsche into the pits.  It's a pit stop duel between Porsche and Aston Martin.

Only two air guns are allowed over the wall.  The mechanics run around, and the chaps with the air hammers, take care of the nut, while someon else puts on the new wheel.  Stefan Mucke has ended his shift.  Trouble for the #91 factory GTE Pro Porsche.  The car is on the dolly, and there could be a major issue with the car.  Is it game over?  Maybe, it needs the full engineering staff to look.  But, the #92 sister car is running in the lead.

But, the drama for the #91, persists, as Nick Tandy's team mate, Jorg Bergmeister, looked in to ask, "hey dude, what's the problem?"  We have an hour and 20 minutes left in this race.  So, one more update on the race, folks.  Patrick Pilet leads LM GTE Pro.  We watch the third place AF Corse Ferrari.  Nope.  It's James Calado in another Ferrari in LM GTE Pro.  AF Corse has no fewer than seven cars, in LM GTE Am, LM GTE Pro, and LMP2.  That's a quarter of the field.

The #85 Corvette C-7-R- pits.  The hometown team is not doing as well as they wanted.  Ricky Taylor is at the controls.  Brendon Hartley is pushing hard, nailing the curbs.  The undertray is always vulnerable on these machines.  Sparks fly.  These guys are so used to simulators, they have a knowledge of how these high tech race cars work.  Hartley is trading fast laps with the Toyota of Anthony Davidson.

Lucas di Grassi posts the quickest third sector time of this race, as we have an hour and fifteen minutes to go.  Watch the 130 degree uphill climb, and then, the flowing corners from turns two through five, in the Audi.  Average people, would not be able to handle the G force.  But, Lucas di Grassi is having a good drive, as we watch Toyota boss Hughes de Chaunac.  The #90 Ferrari 458 Italia spins.  Jeff Segal at the controls, sharing with Italians Gianluca Roda, and Paolo Ruberti.  Segal was very close to being t boned by the Patron HPD prototype!  Phew!

The #2 Audi with Marcel Fassler at the wheel, has pitted.  Now, the #14 Porsche has retaken the lead.  This is going to be a strategic race.  The #20 Porsche pits.  Brendon Hartley, at the controls.  Wow.  Debris on the road.  Andre Lotterer, looks on.  We begin to count backwards from the end of the race.  We are coming to the final hour of this race, everyone.  It's going to get interesting, despite the fact we didn't get the coverage we were hoping for.

We're going to take you to the end of this race.  Ryan Dalziel battls for third in LMP2.  Actually, Ed Brown is at the wheel.  Lots of dirty water on the camera.  We have an hour to go now.  It's going to be very close.  Maybe ESM will get a podium. 

FIA World Endurance Championship: Six Hours of Austin: Hour 4

Can Darren Turner fight back?  This is a great pleasure to watch.  These blokes are on a knife's edge right now.  The Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD is in the pits for a hand cut rain tire, that just has small grooves cut into it with an iron.  Neel Jani has moved to the lead.  Jorg Bergmeister is eating up Darren Turner for second.  The Aston Martin is being shared by Darren Turner, and Stefan Mucke, as mentioned.  The track is now beginning to dry.  The window will open, and soon.

Jorg Bergmeister wants to cool his tires to keep them from chunking and blistering.  The cars are sliding around, and have lots of lateral load going through the chassis.  Bergmeister tries and Turner is going for the over/under.  This is wild racing.  It's dry online.  But, you have to have faith that grip is there.  Here comes Timo Bernhard in the #20 Porsche 919 hybrid.  Mike Conway is on his race debut with Toyota.

Sports car racing is a very viable career path for top drivers.  The prototype teams want the good drivers.  Nicolas Lapierre passes in the sister Toyota, saying to Conway, "watch out, sunshine.  I might be quicker."  These cars fly around the track.  These cars dart through the turns with just as much precision as a Formula One car.  The track is drying now in some spots.  Treluyer is fighting the Toyota of Conway.  This isn't for position, according to timing and scoring.  Yet, it could be.  Neel Jani, Tom Kristensen, and Benoit Treluyer, are all on the same lap.

Tom Kristensen pits the #1 Audi R18 eTron Quattro.  Maybe he hit a curb.  The change is being made to intermediate tires.  The car heat soaks.  The heat rises through the car, and you, the driver, are being steamed.  Neel Jani and Porsche, lead.  They have to win a race, and are looking for the checkered flag, here, at Circuit of The Americas.  Porsche leads Prototype and GTE Pro at the moment.  Use the eentire fuel tank.  Toyota #7 is in pit lane.  This is a driver change.  Mike Conway, out.  Alexander Wurz, or Stephane Sarrazin, has gotten into the car.

All the top runners in each category, are on full dry tires.  In the heat, even in practice, drivers nearly got sick to their stomachs.  This track is very physical with the s curves.  Left and right G forces really pound you as a driver.  These boys are athletes for sure.  Both Rebellion LMP1-L cars are pitting.  Older cars pulled lower G forces.  The new cars, are much more physically demanding, in any kinds of racing.

This is great action, though.  On of the factory Porsche's pits.  We also see IMSA officials helping the FIA World Endurance Championship officials, for this race.  Stefan Mucke is in the #97 Aston Martin V8 Vantage.  He will be overtaken by the Porsche's in short order.  The factory Porsche's lead.  One of the Oreca Nissan's in LMP2, pits.  Toni Vilander is the top running Ferrari.  This is the halfway mark of the FIA World Endurance Championship.

Neel Jani continues to lead overall.  Benoit Treluyer runs into this section of right hand corners can do lots to a driver's neck.  But, the hybrid power can show it's stuff.  The #14 Porsche pits from the lead.  But, no driver change, or tires.  Fuel only, and Neel Jani stays at the wheel.  Benoit Treluyer should take over the lead as we goi into the last few hours, or the last hour.  Back-time this race from the end, to evaluate where your pit stops fall.  If you need a repair, or have a puncture, you lose time.  But, don't go forward.

With a hybrid car, don't roll through the center of the corner.  How do you drive a hybrid?  If you got on the throttle with a front or rear wheel drive car, with a big motor, you'd slide the car.  We watch a split screen between the Porsche and Audi.  On runs a diesel, and one, runs petrol.  Now, we see the #37 SMP Racing prototype that is in the garage.  This is Viktor Shaitar, sharing with brothers Kirill and Anton Ladygin.

Hitting curbs in a race car, is like body punches in a boxing match.  Now, we see the Aston Martin being overtaken by the race leading Audi.  The dark colored pavement offline, is still wet.  Benoit Treluyer still has two hours and sixteen minutes to try and get this job done.  Porsche has yet to win.  Toyota and Audi have had everything.  Porsche can't quite close the deal, yet.  There aren't any weak links in this series.  World class drivers run well for their teams.

Christian Ried, Kristian Poulsen, and Marco Cioci, run 1-2-3 in LM GTE Am, as it's a scrap between Toni Vilander and Stefan Mucke for GTE Pro.  Who takes it?  It's Vilander.  Whoops.  That's Cioci.  Marco Cioci, the Italian, is a GTE Am driver.  Once you acclimate to running in the dark, it is pleasant as a driver.  You will run on your own, go quicker than in qualifying, and you'll do really great to the end of the event.

The stats people are working just as hard as the drivers are, piloting these rocket ships around COTA.  The prototype lap times swing by three seconds, especially when it comes to the hybrid systems recycling.  Anthony Davidson in the Toyota #8 is a lap down.  Sebastien Buemi, is strategizing with a crew member.  He had a spin early, and was told, "don't overheat the brakes."  He was accelerating when he spun off the road.

Bernhard is slicing through the GTE traffic like a hot knife through butter.  Car #20 is pitting.  The inlap and outlap are measured, to wring every ounce of speed that you can out of the car.  A yellow flag is being shown at turn nine with a big spin, for the #9 Lotus.  Lucas Auer is at the controls, and he is the nephew of Formula One veteran, Gerhard Berger.  The #2 Audi pits, and will undergo a driver change.

More horsepower is being pit through a smaller tire with these cars this year.  Amazingly, the cars are running faster.  Amazing!  Car #26 shortcuts the track.  That's the G-Drive machine.  That puts the #30 car up a spot.  That's the #30 Patron HPD of Ed Brown, Scott Sharp, and Ryan Dalziel.  We are now just under two hours from the end of this one.

FIA World Endurance Championship: Six Hours of Austin: Hour 3

Will the teams change tires?  What will the call be?  Rain tires, or slicks?  Thankfully, football did not take over the Fox Sports broadcast of this race, chaps.  That's American, college football, which was being shown earlier.  Michele Rugolo is interviewed, and says the team can't work on the cars now that there's a red flag.  In replay, we see Timo Bernhard plowing through the gravel in the Porsche 919 and he barely missses the Ferrari!  Holy cow!  Edoardo Freitas, race director, says, "race will be resumed behind the safety car at 19:25."

19:25 = 7:25 P.M.  So, we have to reshuffle the order, and will race in another 13 minutes, chaps.  There's more to come.  Rugolo, is sharing his #81 GTE Am class AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia with Stephen Wyatt and Andrea Bertolini.  Two Italians, and a New Zealander.  James Rossiter explains that the gearbox had to be replaced earlier this afternoon, in the Lotus T129 AER he shares with Christophe Bouchut and Lucas Auer.

It is now starting to get dark.  Tom Kristensen is going to drive the Audi on wet tires, as Loic Duval was in the car before, but, will have new tires.  Five minutes until we resume.  It's getting dark in Austin, Texas.  Please, start your engines.  They are running full wet tires, everyone is.  The track is still cold.  They are seeking out channels of water on the track.  Look for anything shiny.  If it's shiny, it's slick.  That gives you asymmetrical grip.  We are resuming the race.  Here we go.  Look at the colored paint.

This stuff is real slick.  Red looks like black.  It's hard to see, especially in a prototype.  There are curbs that can break the chassis.  Don't hit them.  Be very careful.  The floodlights are very far from the track because it's a Formula One track.  Again, it's a lot lighter on camera, than it is.  It's a lot darker on the road.  Look out for what you'll do for brake bias.  There's no chance for a wave by.  One more lap behind the safety car.

The Corvette #65 is running well in LM GTE Pro.  Tommy Milner, Ricky Taylor, and Jordan Taylor, have to be careful to adjust their routine.  The earlier event in the Tudor Championship, is different.  Nine-time Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen is leading the race in the #1 Audi R18 eTron Quattro right now. The #14 and #20 Porsche 919 hybrids have intermediate tires, and not full wets.  There was a wreck when the rain came.  The Audi's and the #14 Porsche 919 are the only cars on the lead lap.  We've had three months since Le Mans.

So, drivers need to get back into thir rhythm.  We're ready to race.  But, the safety car is still out there.  It's an Audi R8.  The spray will be put out by the louvers in the tops of the fenders on these prototype machines.  Water, darkness, and track lighting that isn't the best.  It's going to be a wild one to the finish.  Open a cold beverage, and get ready for some wild racing.  Benoit Treluyer and Tom Kristensen are 1-2 for Audi, with Neel Jani, third, in the Porsche.  Toyota is fourth.  In GT, it's Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Porsche.

One more lap behind the safety car, now.  Settle down.  Watch out for the painted lines on the road.  It's very humid, too.  Heat and fatigue will be an issue, evn though this is a six hour race.  Everyone has to do their allotted driving time, whoever was in the car, during the red flag.  It's different between Pro and Pro Am categories.  The pace is picking up.  Safety car in this lap!  Green flag!  Benoit Treluyer leads, and here comes Kristensen.

The Toyota tries taking a lap back.  These corners are so fast!  The drivers haven't driven in these conditions for 25 minutes.  Nicolas Lapierre passes Kirstensen, and now, has to pass Benoit Treluyer.  Neel Jani has sunk down the order in the #14 Porsche 919 hybrid.  Through turn twelve, we see Timo Bernhard trying to make a pass.  With the hybrid cars, you are controlling 850 to 1,000 horsepower.  The ESM HPD open prototype is pushing hard.

Darren Turner, Toni Vilander, and Jorg Bergmeister run 1-2-3 in LM GTE Pro.  Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni are passed by Jorg Bergmeister.  We need to recap the first few hours.  Wow.  There's more argy bargy.  That's Victor Shaitar in the #37 leading SMP Racing P2 car, an Oreca 03 Nissan.

Patrick Pilet passes Toni Vilander into the left hand sweeper that goes downhill.  Pilet tries the over/under.  Vilander was out on the paint for a second.  Yikes!  Push, push, push.  This is a very wide track at Circuit of the Americas.  Benoit Treluyer continues to lead this race.  Patrick Pilet slides by Jorg Bergmeister.  Team mates, going at it, hammer and tongs.  They are chasing the Aston Martin with Darren Turner at the controls.

Timo Bernhard pits the #20 Porsche for rain tires.  Change the nose for a different downforce setting.  Lucas di Grassi will take over the #1 Audi R18 eTron Quattro, soon.  Jorg Bergmeister tries not to run into the third place P2 car which is the #47 KCMG Oreca Nissan.  Matthew Howson at the controls.  He shares with Richard Bradley of England, and Tsugo Matsuda of Japan.  Scott Sharp is defending against Romain Rusinov.  It's the HPD open cockpit car, and the G Drive Ligier JS P2 Nissan coupe.

Scott Sharp is pushing.  The Ligier is very effective with handling and top speed.  Romain Rusinov is a quick shoe.  Can Scott Sharp take the fight, to Rusinov?  Lead change at halfway!  Neel Jani passes.  Take a little off your lap time.  There is an awareness among the top prototype drivers about this hybrid technology and regenerating the power back into the car.  The top cars, regenerate the energy similarly, and yet, differently.  Toyota and Porsche from the front.  Audi, from both the front, and the rear.

The GT cars have such a high level of technology, that a private team, cannot run it efficiently.  The GTE Pro battle is down to a second and a half.  Patrick Pilet has caught Darren Turner.  Pilet sharing with Frederic Makowiecki.  Here comes the Toyota TS040 of Mike Conway.  Turner shares his Aston Martin with Stefan Mucke.  It's been all humidity the last few days.  It's going to be wet, because there's no wind in Austin, Texas.

Pilet is all over Turner, like a rash.  The sheen makes it slippery.  Pilet is hustling Turner right now.

FIA World Endurance Championship: 6 Hours of Austin: Hours 1 & 2

The summer break after the 24 Hours of Le Mans, is over for the FIA World Endurance Championship.  Howdy y'all.  Break out the Stetson hats, western shirts, Wrangler jeans and Lucchese cowboy boots.

Now, Toyota led with Sebastiuen Buemi first.  Toyota and Audi had a dust up or two wuth the Audi's and the Porsche's.  Porsche has not been running as well as they would have liked.  Aston Martin and Ferrari scrap in GTE Pro.  Sebastien Buemi, continued to lead.  These three cars ran together.  Tracy Krohn got spun around, and Scott Sharp in the ESM Honda have been running well.  Side-by-side action, but then, the rain.  Mike Conway, and Timo Bernhard, have both had troubles.  Lots of spins happening.  It's hard to inch your way back into the pits.

Now, the race is stopped due to the rain.  

FIA WEC: Circuit of The Americas: Entry List

Folks, check out this link.  This is the entry list for Saturday afternoon's FIA World Endurance Championship event at Circuit of The Americas.

http://www.dailysportscar.com/2014/09/18/fia-wec-circuit-of-the-americas-entry-list-2.html

sports car racing news headlines

Lots of news in the world of sports car racing, headed into this weekend's action for the Tudor Championship, and the FIA World Endurance Championship, at Circuit of The Americas, in Austin, Texas.  Here are some stories being followed.

IMSA: Interesting Prototype data to be gathered at COTA.
http://www.racer.com/imsa/item/108751-imsa-interesting-prototype-data-to-be-gathered-at-cota

Nissan Confirmed As LMP3 Engine Supplier
http://www.dailysportscar.com/2014/09/18/nissan-confirmed-as-lmp3-engine-supplier.html

8Star Closing in on P2 Decision for 2015
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/8star-closing-in-on-p2-decision-for-2015/

Castellacci Switches to AF Corse to chase Pro-Am Title
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bes/castellacci-switches-to-af-corse-to-chase-pro-am-title/

Falken Looks to Build on VIR Runner-Up
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/falken-looks-to-build-on-vir-runner-up/

Fassler Tops FIA WEC Practice 1 At COTA
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/fassler-tops-fia-wec-practice-1at-cota/

Krohn Racing Confirms Ligier JS P2 Judd for 2015
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/krohn-racing-confirms-ligier-js-p2-judd-for-2015/

Westbrook Leads Opening COTA TUSC Practice
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/westbrook-leads-opening-cota-tusc-practice/

COTA FIA WEC Thursday Notebook
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/cota-fia-wec-thursday-notebook/

Nissan Seeks American Driver for LMP1 Effort
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/nissan-seeks-american-driver-for-lmp1-effort/

Nissan GT-R LM Nismo Set for Dec. 8 Launch in Florida
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/nissan-gt-r-lm-nismo-set-for-dec-8-launch-in-florida/

WEC 6 Hours of CoTA Preview

Another race preview for Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, this weekend.  This is the preview of the FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of CoTA, from the blog, North American Sportscar.

http://nasportscar.com/wec-6-hours-of-cota-preview/

2014 Lone Star Le Mans Preview

A video, previewing the action this weekend, for the Tudor Championship, at Circuit of The Americas, in Austin, Texas.

http://www.imsa.com/imsa-tv/episode/2014-lone-star-le-mans-preview

IMSA: GM considering Prototype future after 2016

GM is at a crossroads about continuing in prototype racing after 2016, because in 2017, the new formula will call for P2 class coupes coming into the Tudor Championship, and the current spec Daytona Prototype cars, carried over from the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series into the Tudor Championship, after the merger, eventually becoming obsolete.

http://www.racer.com/imsa/item/108616-imsa-gm-considering-prototype-future-after-2016

OAK Racing Enters Honda-Powered Ligier For COTA

Oak Racing will enter (for the final two Tudor Championship races), a closed cockpit Ligier JS P2 with Honda power, as opposed to it's open cockpit Morgan Nissan that has been running for the duration of the Tudor Championship season.

http://www.imsa.com/articles/oak-racing-enters-honda-powered-ligier-cota

Video highlights of the Tudor United Sports Car Championship Prototype Challenge/Prototype Lights races at VIR

Two races were run for the Tudor United Sports Car Championship a few weekends ago at Virginia International Raceway.  Instead of focusing on the race report, you, the fans, will be able to check out those races for yourself, and see how things all went down, with the two races for the Prototype Challenge class of the Tudor Championship, as well as the Cooper Tires IMSA Prototype Lites division.

Segment 1:
http://www.imsa.com/imsa-tv/episode/2014-oak-tree-grand-prix-broadcast-segment-1-pclites

Segment 2:
http://www.imsa.com/imsa-tv/episode/2014-oak-tree-grand-prix-broadcast-segment-2-pclites

Prototype Challenge will be running along with the other classes in the Tudor Championship's next event, this coming weekend at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, along with the FIA World Endurance Championship.  Both races will be covered here.  But, yours truly will do his best to cover the races in a timely, but thorough manner, and has had a lot going on lately.  Stay tuned.  Something will come out of the races in Texas.  That's for sure. 

brief headlines

A couple of noteworthy stories, including a possible return to racing for former Formula One and Indycar champion Emerson Fittipaldi, in sports cars.

24H Series to Apply For FIA International Series Status
http://sportscar365.com/gt/24hseries/24h-series-to-apply-for-fia-international-series-status/

Emerson Fittipaldi Added to FIA Driver Ratings List, Racing Return?
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/emerson-fittipaldi-added-to-fia-driver-ratings-list/

Marc VDS Enters BMW for ELMS Finale at Estoril
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/elms/marc-vds-joins-elms-four-hours-of-estoril/

Matsuda Confirmed in KCMG Oreca-Nissan for COTA
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/matsuda-confirmed-in-kcmg-oreca-nissan-for-cota/

51 Entries for TUSC at COTA
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/51-on-cota-tusc-entry-list/

Pilbeam MP100 On Track for End-of-Year Debut
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/asian-lms/pilbeam-mp100-making-progress/

Stories previewing the Tudor United Sports Car Championship race at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas

A couple of stories from the IMSA website, previewing the Tudor Championship's first visit to Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas, next weekend.

Texas-Sized Celebration To Welcome Tudor Championship For First Visit To COTA
http://www.imsa.com/articles/texas-sized-celebration-welcome-tudor-championship-first-visit-cota

...and

Tudor Championship Drivers Ready to Tackle Austin
http://www.imsa.com/articles/tudor-championship-drivers-ready-tackle-austin

IMSA: Series makes pre-COTA BoP Adjustments

Before the race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, these are the adjustments IMSA will make to each of the four classes insofar as the Balance of Performance is concerned.

http://www.racer.com/imsa/item/108439-imsa-series-makes-pre-cota-bop-adjustments

Porsche To Enter Third Factory 911 RSR for COTA Tudor Round

Porsche North America will enter a third factory 911 RSR for the Tudor Championship race at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/porsche-to-enter-third-factory-911-rsr-for-cota-tudor-round/

Oak Tree Grand Prix race broadcast

Check out the race broadcast of the GT LM and GT Daytona Oak Tree Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway.

http://www.imsa.com/imsa-tv/episode/2014-oak-tree-grand-prix-broadcast-gtlmgtd?invalidate-cache=1398038480

Winner & highlights of the Tudor United Sports Car Championship Oak Tree Grand Prix at Virginia International Raceway

When Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, was built in 1957, the racing was strictly for Grand Touring (GT) cars.  Well, today, 57 years later, they are reunited for a GT sprint.  Today, this is an old school GT rumble, while the Prototypes are silent.  Corvette, BMW, Porsche and Ferrari are in the battle.  Ferrari, Porsche, Audi, and BMW, are all in contention in GT Daytona, with just three races left in the season.  We are on the Virginia/North Carolina border.  This is the Oak Tree Grand Prix.

30 points covers the top five in GT Le Mans.  Now, as mentioned on the blog before the race, there was a HUGE incident.  In Saturday practice, Richard Lietz went off the road, slamming the tire barrier, and as he was sitting stationary, the factory Corvette C-7-R- of Antonio Garcia also got off on the wet grass, plowed over it, and, boom!  Straight into the Porsche!  Porsche and Corvette rebuilt their cars.  But, both their drivers were injured in that shunt.

Corvette Racing fixed the car and made qualifying.  The factory Porsche squad had more work ahead of them, and needed a new tub for the car.  Jan Magnussen was treated and released for the hospital, but was not cleared to drive in the race.  Jordan Taylor will replace Jan Magnussen, and co-drive with Antonio Garcia.  Richard Lietz was at the wheel of the Porsche, and had an upper arm fracture.  The car was not able to be repaired.  Michael Christensen will start his original car (#912), and then, switch to the #911 chassis to partner Nick Tandy.

Lietz came back to Europe to recuperate.  In the GT Daytona ranks, the points situation is even tighter, with a mere 25 point spread between first and seventh, and only three points separating Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler from Leh Keen and Cooper MacNeil.  James Davison put the #007 TRG Aston Martin V12 Vantage on pole in GT Daytona, after the car crashed and couldn't race last time out at Road America.  We are located west of Richmond, Virginia, at VIR, and the track is 3.27 miles in length with 17 corners, new curbing, and new asphalt.

Watch for high speeds, on both straightaways.  Pierre Kaffer starts from pole in the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia, and becomes the ninth driver, in as many races in GT LM, to take a pole position this year.  We're ready to race GT style at VIR.  Ferrari and BMW on the front row.  Pierre Kaffer vs. Andy Priaulx.  Watch out for a very tight turn one as the field forms up nicely.  Go!  Kaffer leads and Dominik Farnbacher in the SRT Viper goes with him.

Jorg Muller goes inside Priaulx.  This is the tight stuff through this first series of corners.  The factory BMW's nearly touch going through turn three!  Jordan Taylor and Bryan Sellers run side by side.  Watch out through the tricky uphill esses.  Fly up here at 150 miles an hour.  Oh no!  A Ferrari is off the road already!  It's Pierre Kaffer, our polesitter!  Kaffer's radiator is stacked with grass as he wedges between the two factory Corvette's.

Kaffer wants by Jordan Taylor.  He'll be watching the water temperature gauge.  But, there doesn't seem to be a ton of grass in the front radiator grille.  Kaffer kept his foot planted in the throttle, and managed to get out of the grass, and back on the road.  Kaffer's pole lap was remarkable as his team mate, Giancarlo Fisichella, suffered the same fate during practice, putting the 458 Italia, off the road.  Andy Priaulx now runs second.  You can't afford to give up track position in a race only including GT machines like this one.

Now, there's been an accident someplace.  Al Carter and Mario Farnbacher have had a coming together.  These are both GT Daytona cars.  Carter in the #007 TRG Aston Martin.  Farnbacher in the #23 Alex Job Racing Porsche.  Nick Tandy in the #911 Porsche was also involved in this shunt.  Tandy went off on his own to avoid the fracas between Carter and Farnbacher.  Mario's brother Dominik Farnbacher is doing well in the #91 factory SRT Viper.

But, car #23 has right front suspension damage, as the #62 Ferrari makes a pit stop.  Kaffer has overheating issues.  Risi Competizione was hoping for a yellow, but it never appeared, and we remain under green.  Mario Farnbacher is limping his way down the 4,000 foot back straight.  Only twelve points separate the top drivers in the GT Daytona division.  It's a battle between the Level 5 Ferrari, the Alex Job/Weathertech Porsche, and the Turner Motorsports BMW.  We watch Jan Heylen pilot the #58 Porsche 911 GT America in GT Daytona.

This track is so high speed, you have to be on it at all times.  If you get offline, you are going for a ride.  Markus Palttala is second in GTD with team mate Dane Cameron in the #94 Turner Motorsports BMW.  Leh Keen and Cooper MacNeil run third.  The Porsche and Aston Martin have the straightaway speed in GT Daytona, while the BMW has cornering speed, but is eight and a half miles an hour slower in a straight line.

Nelson Canache Jr. passes Cooper MacNeil for third in GT Daytona.  Nick Tandy is carving his way through GT Daytona traffic right now.  This is a long race track.  The keys to today's race will be not to bank on yellow flags, because of having just two classes, and having a wider race track to work with.  Watch the tires.  Tire management is critical, because the new asphalt here at VIR has lots of grip.  Use patience, too, especially if you are a GT LM driver as the GT Daytona cars are just as fast down the straights.

Whoops!  The #33 ViperExchange.com SRT Viper GT3 is off the road.  Ben Keating is at the controls and has caught grass in the radiator of the car.  He's definitely mowed the grass and down some re-sodding work.  Keating has lots of experience on this race track.  He's run a dozen Viper Club club races here, and has won, nine of them.  So, he knows his way around this place.  In replay, we can see that Keating got loose and may have had help from the #48 Audi R8 LMS of Bryce Miller.

Spencer Pumpelly in the #35 sister Flying Lizard Audi is also indulging in some autocross.  He's off the road and back on.  Pumpelly is doing double duty and will switch between both the #35 and #45 Flying Lizard Audi's.  He got wide, had too much speed, clouted the curb, and sailed off the road into the grass.  Crunch!  Right over the curbs.  That's a wallop, for sure.  Fortunately for Pumpelly, the wheel was not bent out of shape.  Andy Priaulx is running well at a track he's never raced on before.  But, unlike any other GT LM manufacturers, BMW is still in search of a race win.

Dirk Muller is in the sister car.  This track requires handling for all the corners, and horsepower, for the straightaways.  There could be smoke emanating from the #007 Aston Martin.  The car has lots of body roll, and may have a tire rubbing on a fender.  The smoke isn't a braking issue.  It's a hub seal, or something.  Dominik Farnbacher leads overall and in GT LM.  Andy Priaulx is second, with Kuno Wittmer in the sister Viper.  Then, it's another BMW, and the privateer Falken Tires Porsche 911 RSR #17.

Corvette's run next with Jordan Taylor leading Oliver Gavin.  Taylor is subbing for the injured Jan Magnussen of course.  Magnussen is watching the race.  He feels fine.  But, he wasn't cleared to drive.  The crush panel did it's job.  But, another thing to take a hit was the data recorder inside the car.  The shell is made of billet aluminum, and it looks like someone just squeezed it and put a big ripple in it.  The impact was monstrous.  A 16G hit with a lateral force of seven G's!  That's seven, and sixteen times the force of gravity, folks.  Yikes!

Taylor was here to run in a Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 R in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race.  That's a race you will see the footage of, when the broadcast becomes available, via a link, here on the blog.  Stay tuned.  Oliver Gavin goes deep on the brakes into turn one, trying to pass Bryan Sellers in the Porsche.  Sellers runs side by side with Gavin, tightening up the corner.  Oliver Gavin should have the position.  Sellers taps the brakes well before the braking zone, which suggests the brake pedal is soft.

Falken Tire did test at VIR before the huge BoP (Balance of Performance) adjustments.  The #911 Porsche and the #555 Ferrari, (#911 is eighth in GT LM, while #555 is sixth in GT Daytona), have been called in for drive through penalties by the race stewards for jumping the start.  Many drivers expressed concern in the driver's meeting before the race about getting bunched up at the start.  At the start of this event, they were so bunched together that it was going to be a disaster if someone checked up.

Now, Tandy has gone off the road.  Tandy was pushing too hard knowing he has to serve the penalty.  Some cars probably just jumped out of line at the start.  We are now getting reports that the penalty is being reconsidered by race control.  He had a radiator grille full of grass, so, he got up behind his team mate, and the aero wash, sucked the grass straight out of the grille.  On second thought, maybe that penalty will stand, as Tandy passed a car in his line on the starting grid, which is against the rules.

The Porsche North America team has appealed, and the situation is under review.  You cannot pass the cars in your column of the grid at the start of the race.  To the untrained eye, the GT LM and GT Daytona cars look similar.  But, they are not.  Let's compare the factory SRT Viper, to the customer car.  On the GT Daytona Viper, there are louvers that extract air from under the nose.  Those are not found on the GT LM Viper.  The wing on the GT Daytona car is smaller, offering and creating less downforce.  While, on the GT LM machine, the wing is wider, and set lower.

With the engines, the components on the GT Daytona car are more like a road going SRT Viper.  The air box and intake manifold, are stock parts.  The GT LM Viper has a custom built carbon fiber air box with sonic restrictors at the front.  More jumped start penalties are being reviewed by IMSA.  The #555 Ferrari's penalty is under review as the #911 Porsche serves it's penalty.  Both these cars passed the #73 Park Place Motorsports GT Daytona Porsche.  Dirk Muller resumes his battle with the #93 Viper that happened at Road America about two weeks ago.

Andy Priaulx slices through traffic.  Marc Goossens says the Viper is running well and that he's gotten good communication from Dominik Farnbacher, who is currently in the car.  Team manager Bill Riley said that the race will be a two stop race.  Look at 55 to 57 minutes.  But it will be tight in this two hour and 45 minute event.  Farnbacher passes the #73 GT Daytona Park Place Motorsports Porsche in the hands of Patrick Lindsey.

Tire management is also crucial.  Look for BMW to do really well with their tires as the race eases into long green flag runs.  Dirk Muller kicks up some dust through the esses.  The Viper's sonic restrictors kick in at 4800 RPM, while the BMW can rev a lot higher.  8.3 liter V10 vs. 5.5 liter V8.  A fun thing to do is stand by the track, but close your eyes, and listen, to find out what kind of car and engine combination is flying past you at 180 miles an hour.  The top four cars are at it.  Now, the lead between Farnbacher and Priaulx is coming down.

Farnbacher leads Priaulx, but the lead is being cut down.  Top four, separated by four seconds.  The #48 GT Daytona Audi R8 LMS is slow.  Meanwhile, the #93 Viper, approaching the esses, nearly does a wheelstand, and three of the four wheels are off the ground.  Bryce Miller was really having issues with his Audi, telling the crew to stay off the radio, as it seemed the car was going to fall apart at any moment.  They brought it in, and did a full service, sending Miller back out to do some exploratory laps.  Miller will be coming back to pit lane, as there could very well be something broken inside that car.

The GT Daytona class leading #58 Porsche is in.  Box, box, box.  This is an early, but scheduled stop.  They will do two driver changes today.  Jan Heylen hands over to Madison Snow.  Everything is going OK for the team even though they are concerned with tire wear.  Markus Palttala leads in GT Daytona.  Dempsey Racing and Snow Racing are working together.  Patrick Dempsey is sixth overall in GT Daytona in the #27 car.  The humidity level is huge this weekend.  Now, Patrick Dempsey doesn't race as much as the other drivers.  You have to get used to the heat.  Cooper MacNeil and Michael Lewis are in front of, and behind, Dempsey.

Correction.  That's the #23 Porsche of Mario Farnbacher, which is back on track, with new suspension, but is nine laps down.  Another long spin for the #45 Flying Lizard Audi R8 LMS.  Excuse me.  #35.  Dion von Moltke is at the wheel.  It looks like contact was made between von Moltke and the #93 SRT Viper.  The #55 BMW Z4 GTE is in pit lane.  Tires and fuel only on this stop.  Bill Auberlen stays behind the wheel.  The #4 Corvette pits as Oliver Gavin gets out, and Tommy Milner, gets in.

Race control is now reviewing that kerfuffle between the Viper and the Audi.  There are lots of marbles on the road right now... the small bits of rubber that come off the surface of the tires.  There's minor damage on the right front of the #93 SRT Viper.  The BMW was down and away before the Viper.  It could be the Viper team is having a small fuel pump problem right now.  John Edwards takes over the #56 BMW Z4 GTE from Dirk Muller and he'll do a double stint to the finish.

All these cars we speak of are in the top five in the championship as the #912 Porsche also pits.  Patrick Long takes over from Michael Christensen.  Christensen will finish the race driving the #911 sister car.  The #3 Corvette will pit soon as they are second in class and second overall.  Our overall leader in the #91 SRT Viper (Dominik Farnbacher), pits.  Marc Goossens will take over the car.  Team manager Bill Riley says everything is going according to plan.

The #3 Corvette pits, and Antonio Garcia takes over from Jordan Taylor, who put in a good stint.  Keep in mind, Taylor has not been in this car since the 24 Hours of Le Mans, back in June.  The #911 Porsche also pits.  Nick Tandy has been off the road a few times.  Tandy stays in the car.  Another car in pit lane is the #007 Aston Martin.  Al Carter and James Davison are running well, as the car arrived on Friday, and didn't make the first practice session before the event.  The #93 Viper will receive a drive through penalty for contact on the road.

Pierre Kaffer leads GT LM in the #62 Ferrari, but, he'll need to pit.  The team also needs a full course yellow to assist with track position.  Virginia International Raceway is a daunting track.  Fly around the track, and then, when you hit pit lane, you have to be at 60 kilometers an hour (37 miles an hour).  Giancarlo Fisichella will take over the car.  Lots of different tire rubber on the track, as Kaffer didn't think the car was handling well.  We are now under our first full course yellow flag.

We are under yellow for the first time.  Ben Keating has crashed his #33 SRT Viper in GT Daytona.  His crw chief asks, "Ben, are you OK?"  Keating says, "no!  I need the emergency crews here to pull me out."  "Copy", they say, to which Keating replies, "quickly!  I've got smoke in the cockpit, and I don't like it!"  The crew says "copy", again.  Keating, now frustrated says, "quickly!  I may be on fire.  I need out, now!"  He's been to the pits, and back out, losing laps.  He got off the road, into the tires.  He got into the tires and couldn't open the door.

But, he's back now.  He's got dive plane damage, but also has grass all over the radiators.  Now, some news from the Tudor Championship.  Oak Racing will debut their Ligier HPD chassis at the next race at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.  Corvette plans new DP bodywork for 2015.  ...And, Riley plans to build an LMP2 car for the new regulations coming in 2017.  Risi Competizione got the yellow they needed, and at the right time.

The #93 Viper still needs to serve a penalty.  Under yellow, the #18 Muehlner Motorsports America Porsche 911 RSR has had huge contact on the rear end, with something.  Pit lane is open for GT Daytona machines and Markus Palttala brings the #94 BMW Z4 GTE for Turner Motorsports, in.  Both Flying Lizard Audi's are in.  So is the #22 Weathertech Porsche.  Leh Keen takes over for Cooper MacNeil.  Their competition in the #555 Ferrari also pits.  A driver change takes place between Townsend Bell and Bill Sweedler.  Not sure who is in the car, though.

Townsend Bell has taken over that car.  We are back to green flag racing and Marc Goossens is in the lead at the moment.  On restarts, drivers can race side by side, unlike on the initial start of the race.  Two Viper's lead two Corvette's, two BMW's, and two Porsche's.  No Ferrari's.  Now, the #93 Viper still needs to serve a penalty.  The #62 Ferrari is seventh.  Kaffer ran a 1:44 flat.  He's 8/10ths of a second faster than everyone else.

The cars fly around the Oak Tree corner.  There used to be a gorgeous, ancient oak tree that stood there.  But, it became diseased, and was cut down in the last year.  Whoa!  Factory Porsche team mates are having a go at one another here.  Nick Tandy tries to make a move on Patrick Long!  Don't take each other out!  It didn't take long before a protest came over the radio of "tell him to back off!"  Now, at the other end of things, the #62 Ferrari has caught both of the factory yellow Corvette's.  Giancarlo Fisichella has Tommy Milner right in front of him.

The Porsche team mates (even before the battles was saw moments ago), were engaging in a round of dodge 'em cars.  Writer Ian Fleming said in his novels, "the first time, it's a coincidence.  The second time, it's enemy action."  Don't rough up your team mate.  Patrick Long did say on the radio, "this might end in tears."  The Viper team has been working on performance of the car in terms of restarts, and outlaps on new tires.  Ooh!  This isn't good.  The #93 Viper is off and on, kicking up a load of dust!

Jonathan Bomarito has plowed up the south 40, in a big way!  Bomarito says, "the car flew in the air when I hit the curb, and there's grass everywhere."  Bomarito does a wheelie, and then, plows through the grass!  That's a dirt shower.  The worst kind.  Once you lift the nose to a degree, the flat bottom of a sports car, takes off like a wing, providing lift, instead of downforce.  So, your race car, works more, like an airplane.  The #4 Corvette is also off the road, and has a flat left front tire.

The suspension and the front splitter could also be heavily damaged.  Patrick Long in the #912 Porsche clipped Oliver Gavin.  Just kissed the tire wall.  Well, well.  More bad news for Porsche, as the #912 now, absolutely shreds a right rear tire, and takes a lot of the bodywork with it, creating monster damage!  Patrick Long has lost his cool, driving way too fast.  All he'll do is destroy the Porsche at this rate.  New tires aren't all the Corvette needs.  The front left corner needs attention.

Marc Goossens leads at halfway.  One of the marshals holds a yellow and red striped debris flag.  There is likely to be a debris yellow.  Jonathan Bomarito and the #93 Viper are now eightoverall, fifth in class. Cosmetic damage, but damage, too, to the dive planes, which are very important.  The Viper almost flew.  But, race cars, make horrendous airplanes.

OK, chaps.  Lets return to GT Daytona and check out that lead battle.  Madison Snow in the Porsche, Dane Cameron in the BMW, and Townsend Bell in the Ferrari.  Whoops!  We have another full course yellow.  #73 Kevin Estre has clouted the tire wall.  In the inaugural Tudor Championship season, we tend to average four and a half full course yellows per race, which tells yours truly, that something has to be done about race officiating and getting the slower cars to drive more professionally.

Estre crunches the tire wall in turn four.  Watch out, because this track is fast, and the grass is wet.  Pit stop time now.  But, miscues at SRT Viper.  Marc Goossens was past the pit entry when he was called in, and will be doing another lap.  RLL BMW and Risi Ferrari both pitted.  Well, Ferrari won the race off pit lane.  Giancarlo Fisichella remains at the controls.  We're still waiting for Antonio Garcia in the Corvette.  Madison Snow hasn't gotten his 60 minutes in the car yet, in the #58 Porsche.

The latest round of pit stops, has been dedicated only, to changing tires.  We are waiting for this yellow flag period to come to an end, and for racing to resume, folks.  Some GT LM cars did not pit, and so, the #3 Corvette (being one that did not), will need to take a longer stop, before the end of this motor race.  We are back to green for the GT cars at VIR.  Marc Goossens is the race leader.  There's a battle between the #3 Corvette and the #911 Porsche.

Nick Tandy battles Antonio Garcia.  Tandy makes a clean pass to get by the yellow Corvette.  The #58 Porsche in GTD pits just as the green flag waves again.  Jan Heylen takes over from Madison Snow to finish this race.  Heylen has to overtake the entire field in GTD.  Battle for the race lead.  Viper vs. Porsche, and the Viper locks up the brakes!  These blokes are still on old tires.  Look out!  The Michelin's on the Viper might come off the car in the shape of cubes after that torture test.

Tandy's Porsche is coming alive and he's beginning to push.  Tandy is a real scrapper.  Virginia International Raceway opened in 1957 and had races run until 1974.  But, then, the track lay dormant for 25 years, and a businessman named Harvey Siegel brought it out of mothballs in 2000.  VIR was actually the first "country club" race track, because people can buy property and homes to live in, right at the race track.  Then, they can park their race car in the garage, and go out on the track to race or run hot laps when it is available.  Neat concept.

Giancarlo Fisichella passes the #4 Corvette.  It is currently shown four laps down, and has had a fraught race, with Tommy Milner at the controls.  Oh no!  Trouble for the Porsche.  Nick Tandy may be low on fuel and has to switch to the reserve pump.  Race control forces a penalty on Townsend Bell for leaving pit lane with equipment attached to the car.  Damien Faulkner in the #81 GB Motorsports Porsche takes the lead in GT Daytona.

They need fuel.  Their shops are just inside the grounds here at VIR.  That's GB Motorsports, with team boss, Cole Scrogham.  Third now is the #63 Scuderia Corse Ferrari with Alessandro Balzan at the wheel.  The #911 Porsche has a misfire.  Tandy radioed the team to let them know.  Fisichella is in the catbird seat as he is being chased by the RLL BMW Z4's of John Edwards and Bill Auberlen.  Tandy's radio transmission to the team at Porsche AG was that the engine quit running altogether.  It cut out, and wasn't even a misfire.

Watch out for wheel hopping.  Dane Cameron's chief mechanic said, "you've got your front wheels a foot off the ground."  Cameron asked, "did I look good doing it?"  Now, let's be honest.  The crew chief would reply, "hey, man.  Quit with the silly games, and just drive the race car!"  Charles Espenlaub takes the #46 Fall Line Audi R8 into the brush for a little autocross.  But, the car collected grass in the radiators, and is beginning to overheat.  Nick Tandy is back on the button, and is now pushing like you know what, to get by the Viper's.

This is war now, private.  He's trying to trick you, and play games with your mind.  You must stop at nothing to pass the red car.  Actually, it's a full on war between all four makes.  Porsche, Chevrolet, SRT Viper, and Ferrari.  Antonio Garcia brings the #3 Corvette to pit lane.  Viper beats Corvette out of pit lane.  Some guys are good on fuel with less than an hour left.  But, Fisichella, Auberlen, and Edwards, are three chaps who are NOT good to go on fuel.  Roll the dice.  Make one stop.  But, in this case, a yellow flag would hurt much more than it would help.

BMW has a split strategy.  It creates a domino effect, if you gamble.  That's because other teams will do the same thing.  Monkey see.  Monkey do.  We've got a fair old scrap for the GT Daytona lead.  Damien Faulkner has it.  Dane Cameron wants it.  Faulkner needs to do a splash and a dash for fuel.  But, there's more.  Alessandro Balzan in third, is chomping at the bit, and he could put the cat among the pigeons here.


The #911 Porsche pits from fifth in class and in the overall.  Michael Christensen takes over the #911 Porsche.  It took too long for the driver change while tires and fuel were being taken care of.  Now, more drama.  Spencer Pumpelly has a severely flat left rear tire on the #45 Flying Lizard Audi R8.  He'll make it to pit lane, but has to stay out of everyone's way.  We return to the Cameron, Faulkner, Balzan story.

Strategist Don Salama thinks they are about a minute short on fuel.  People are praying for a yellow.  But, it might not work.  Go for it.  If there's a yellow, you can save fuel.  You can't feather the throttle and save fuel.  Push, push, push.  Down the inside, Cameron passes Faulkner.  Andrew Davis is also in this scrap, or close to it.  Dane Cameron opens a gap over the Porsche.  Someone said fuel over their radio as Faulkner and Balzan play dodge 'em cars.  The BMW is minus one mirror now, too.  When Balzan passed Faulkner, he knocked the left side mirror off the Porsche.

Giancarlo Fisichella leads this race overall, along with team mate Pierre Kaffer, who put the car on pole.  After two huge wrecks to start the season, Risi Competizione is coming back into the picture.  Tire wear has been greater here at VIR because of the grip with the new pavement.  The GT Le Mans machines of course, have bigger wings and more aero help than the GT Daytona cars.  Split strategy for the factory BMW RLL Z4's as #55 pits for a splash and a dash.  Eight seconds worth of fuel is added to the tank/

Leh Keen passes Damien Faulkner for fourth in GT Daytona.  The #56 BMW pits.  So much for split strategy, as both may have come in at the same time.  Edwards beats Auberlen out of the pits.  Second in GT LM, and in the overall, is the #17 Falken Tires Porsche 911 of Bryan Sellers and Wolf Henzler.  But, the #17 car has a load of sod in the radiator inlet.  That's not good.  Just about a half hour left in this race.

Andrew Davis and Leh Keen continue to battle.  These two are looking for the last podium spot in GT Dayton, while the scrum rages between Cameron and Balzan for the race win.  Cameron needs to try to save fuel.  Each of these Porsche's is handling differently right now and they can help each others cause by working together.  It looks as if car #58 is also beginning to move up considerably in the GTD ranks.

The two Porsche's are being chased by two Audi's.  Dion von Moltke in one of the Flying Lizard machines, and Christopher Haase in the Paul Miller Racing R8 LMS.  Giancarlo Fisichella leads.  Will he roll the dice and make a pit stop before the end of this race?  Henzler has to coast to save fuel.  That can't be good for the Falken Tire squad.  Crew chief Phil Howard says that they'll run short by a few laps.  Another team praying for a yellow.

The good thing is, they aren't in the fight for the title.  So, they don't have to worry too much abotu strategy.  Coast.  Just tap the brakes and shift the car into neutral, without banging through all the gears which would harm the transmission and burn fuel.  Fisichella needs to pit.  It's a long pit lane delta at VIR.  So, if Fisichella takes more than six second of fuel, Edwards and BMW will pounce.  The #62 Ferrari pits from the race lead.

A seven second, splash and dash on fuel is all that's needed.  Fisichella is back in action.  Wolf Henzler takes the race lead for now.  Henzler, too, is a few laps short on fuel.  Fisichella is now second overall, ahead of the BMW's.  Meanwhile, Christopher Haase passes Dion von Moltke in the battle of the Audi's.  Dane Cameron continues to lead.  Team owner Will Turner tells Cameron on the radio, "hey, you passed a Porsche."  The field will stack up.  Alessandro Balzan did not take fresh tires.

Cameron hops the curbs.  Five drivers are within two points for the GT Daytona championship right now.  Townsend Bell is up to eighth in class.  Oh no.  The #911 Porsche is off the road.  But, this isn't a crash.  This is a mechanical failure.  The Porsche's and the Audi's are catching the BMW in GT Daytona.  The #17 Falken Tire Porsche is leading overall.  But, there's a full course yellow!  Oh boy!  Go the lean fuel map, and shut off the motor and coast if you need to.

Porsche helps a Porsche.  How cynical!  Michael Christensen is told to stay with the car as a tow vehicle comes to help.  IMSA passed a new rule, and that is (after the horrendous sprint car crash that killed young driver Kevin Ward Jr.), drivers must stay in the car until the safety crews arrive, unless there's an emergency, like a fire.  Thirteen minutes left in the race.

Pit lane is open.  The #17 is staying out.  Falken Tire will have to watch out for Giancarlo Fisichella.  Watch out, though.  Because, there could be another caution.  Yellows breed yellows.  Pit lane is open for GT Daytona cars.  Scrub the tires.  Lots of rubber, and lots of different types of rubber on the track.  Get ready to push like there's no tomorrow.

Here's some history.  In 1971, VIR hosted the first race of the International Motorsports Association (IMSA).  Peter Gregg and Hurley Haywood won that opening event, called the Danville 300.  The great Hurley Haywood was reunited with a couple of old Porsche's he drove here.  A Porsche 911 and a Porsche 914/6.  We're ready to go back to green.  It's going to be a wild finish.  Will one yellow breed another?  It's going to be about seven minutes to go.  Tug on your belts, take a deep breath, and hold on.  Let 'er go.

Wolf Henzler leads the field down.  Go!  Giancarlo Fisichella timed it perfectly and is going to get around Henzler.  Here come the RLL BMW's too.  Cameron wants by the factory Porsche in GT LM while Alessandro Balzan wants by him.  Shooting uphill through the esses.  Henzler is gapping the Ferrari immediately.  Fisichella runs wide.  Uh oh.  Fisichella should be fine, though, because he can book it, whereas the BMW will be running out of steam on the straight.  Henzler is Fisichella's next target.

Look here.  Henzler has to defend from Fisichella.  This could get ugly!  Fisichella looks to the inside.  No.  Close, but no cigar.  Oh no!  Henzler runs wide!  Henzler shuts the door!  Now, the two factory BMW's are breathing down these guys necks.  Ahhhh!  This is going to be a cracking finish!  Fisichella trips on the curbs.  Here's Oak Tree corner, sans the oak tree.  Now, this thing is a doubel right hander.  Henzler can't afford to drag the brake.  But, Fisichella does just that, into Oak Tree!

Does Wolf Henzler have enough fuel to make it?  It will be two laps to go.  Can Falken  Tire hold on?  Henzler is getting a bad sportsmanship flag.  This could open the door for the Ferrari.  The stewards don't like one driver reacting to the moves of another.  Auberlen in the BMW runs wide.  He's under pressure from the Viper.  This is the #93 car of Jonathan Bomarito.  White flag lap.  When you have a car in front, you can't see your turn in points.

Fisichella gets through the corner clean.  He's right on Henzler's gearbox.  Cameron and Balzan still battle in GT Daytona while Christopher Haase has pased Leh Keen.  Townsend Bell is eighth in class.  So, he may not retain the GT Daytona points lead.  One lap remains.  Side by side into turn one.  The Ferrari is all over Henzler like a rash.  Try the outside line.  Don't touch.  Hold your line.  Henzler moves ahead a bit.  Giancarlo Fisichella looks inside, and... taps Henzler, loosening him up.  Edwards is right there.

He's thinking, "boy, if these two clowns take each other out, I could win."  Edwards and Muller want their first win, too.  Last lap at VIR.  Don't spin the tires.  This is it.  Don't lock the brakes either.  Break the draft on the straight.  No weaving.  This is it!  Here comes the Ferrari making an inside move!  Fisichella got him!  Oh!  They play dodge 'em cars again.  No dice.  The Ferrari will win this race!

Can Henzler hold off the BMW?  Yes.  Pierre Kaffer and Giancarlo Fisichella win it!  In GT Daytona, it's the #94 Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 GTE of Dane Cameron and Markus Palttala who get the honors.  They take their fourth win of the season.

Overall/GT Le Mans: #62 Kaffer/Fisichella     Ferrari 458 Italia
             GT Daytona: #94 Cameron/Palttala     BMW Z4 GTE 

The next Tudor Championship event is coming up, soon.  It is the second to last event of the year... the Lone Star Le Mans at Circuit of The Americas, in Austin, Texas.  All four classes for Prototype and GT will feature in that race.  It will be run in conjunction with the Six Hours of COTA FIA World Endurance Championship event.  Both races can be seen on Fox Sports, and both will be blogged, here, on Endurance... The Sports Car Racing Blog.  Stay tuned for that, fans.

Fox Sports 2 to Broadcast COTA FIA WEC Race Live

The FIA World Endurance Championship race from Circuit of The Americas, will have a live broadcast.  Check this out.

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/fox-sports-2-to-broadcast-cota-fia-wec-race-live/

Barcelona 24 Hours

Ferrari has won the Barcelona 24 Hours.  Here are updates from each third of the race.  Yours truly doubts if there was any coverage online, and certainly, none on TV here in the U.S.  But, no worries.  These updates on what happened in the race, via Sportscar365, should cover everything.

Scuderia Praha Leads With Eight Hours Complete in Barcelona 24H
http://sportscar365.com/gt/scuderia-praha-leads-with-eight-hours-complete-in-barcelona-24h/

Ferrari 1-2 with Eight Hours to Go in Barcelona 24H
http://sportscar365.com/gt/ferrari-1-2-with-eight-hours-to-go-at-barcelona/

...and

Scuderia Praha Ferrari wins Barcelona 24H
http://sportscar365.com/gt/scuderia-praha-ferrari-wins-barcelona-24h/

Winning the race, was the #4 Scuderia Praha Ferrari 458 Italia shared by the driving team of endurance racing veteran Peter Kox, Tudor Championship and Ferrari GT driver Matteo Malucelli, Jiri Pisarik, and Jaromir Jirik (from the Czech Republic).

sports car racing news update

Lots of late breaking news in the world of sports cars to catch up on.  Here are some of the stories being followed.

IMSA Announces Competition Leadership Enhancements
http://www.imsa.com/articles/imsa-announces-competition-leadership-enhancements?invalidate-cache=1409449187

IMSA: ACO raises P2 cost cap price for 2015
http://www.racer.com/imsa/item/108274-imsa-aco-raises-p2-cost-cap-price-for-2015

28 Entries for FIA WEC at Fuji
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/28-entries-for-fia-wec-at-fuji/

Mowlem Lands BAR1 Ride for COTA, Petit Le Mans
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/mowlem-lands-bar1-ride-for-cota-petit-le-mans/

OAK Confirms Ligier-HPD for COTA debut
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/oak-confirms-ligier-hpd-for-cota-debut/

Barfield Becomes New IMSA Race Director
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/ctscc/barfield-set-to-become-new-imsa-race-director/

Atherton: "I See the Timing of the Changes as Being a Positive"
http://sportscar365.com/imsa/tusc/atherton-i-see-the-timing-of-the-changes-as-being-a-positive/

Malucelli on Pole for Barcelona 24H
http://sportscar365.com/gt/malucelli-on-pole-for-barcelona-24h/

First Photos: Cadillac ATS-V GT3 Car Revealed
http://sportscar365.com/gt/first-photos-cadillac-ats-v-gt3-car-revealed/

Enge Puts G-Drive Lambo on Pole at Portimao
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bss/enge-puts-g-drive-lambo-on-pole-at-portimao/

Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge: VIR

Here's the race broadcast of the IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge from Virginia International Raceway in Danville, Virginia.

http://www.imsa.com/video/virginia-international-raceway-race-broadcast?invalidate-cache=1409449187

Makowiecki, Christensen Set For Porsche 919 Hybrid Test

Porsche GT class drivers from Porsche Team Manthey and Porsche North America, (Frederic Makowiecki, and Michael Christensen, specifically), will have a chance to test the Porsche 919 Hybrid, soon.  Here are the details.

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/makowiecki-set-for-porsche-919-hybrid-test/

sports car racing news

More news in the world of sports car racing, including, some interesting developments with Subaru.  Subaru ruled the World Rally Championship for years and years.  But, could they be about to go sports car racing?

Subaru Confirms Interest In Prototype Program
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/subaru-confirms-interest-in-prototype-program/

Porsche Shuffles GTE-Pro Driver Lineup
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/porsche-shuffles-gte-pro-driver-lineup/

SARD Planning LMP1-L Project, Garage 56 Entry for 2015
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/sard-planning-lmp1-l-project-garage-56-entry-for-2015/

Buhk Back In Action After DMSB Dismisses Case
http://sportscar365.com/blancpain/bss/maximilian-buhk-back-in-action-after-dmsb-dismisses-case/

Nissan Executive Palmer Named CEO of Aston Martin
http://sportscar365.com/industry/nissan-executive-palmer-named-ceo-of-aston-martin/

2015 Fuji Date Confirmed
http://sportscar365.com/lemans/asian-lms/2015-fuji-date-confirmed/

IMSA: Corvette DP bodywork update possible for 2015

The Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype chassis will receive updated bodywork for next year, more closely resembling that of the new C7 chassis as opposed to the previous generation, C6.

http://www.racer.com/imsa/item/107606-imsa-corvette-dp-bodywork-update-possible-for-2015

Audi Sport Inaugurates Neuburg Headquarters

Audi Sport has moved their racing operations from the Audi factory in Ingolstadt, Germany, to a new facility, located in Neuburg.  Here's the story.

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/wec/audi-sport-inaugurates-new-neuburg-headquarters/