GTD Pro wasn't really all that exciting. When one team knows all they have to do is finish and they win...
In reply to Spearfishin :
Hey, so that hole in the driver's side window serves other functions, too. 
.
In reply to dean1484 :
I ended up sitting by Nicky Catsburg at the airport and he was (of course) disappointed by the result after his team had such a good showing through the race.
My son and I were sitting near turn 1 and saw the Corvette punt the BMW. As we were tired it was one of those "did i just see what I think i saw?" kind of moments.
Loweguy5 said:
In reply to dean1484 :
I ended up sitting by Nicky Catsburg at the airport and he was (of course) disappointed by the result after his team had such a good showing through the race.
My son and I were sitting near turn 1 and saw the Corvette punt the BMW. As we were tired it was one of those "did i just see what I think i saw?" kind of moments.
From my watching, it was definitely a tit-for-tat, but BMW started it much earlier...I side with the 'vette!
So, the weather. Not as bad as I expected, and I was fairly comfortable walking around Saturday night. I was a bit bundled up, though: thick socks, boots, long johns, jeans, long-sleeve T, crew sweatshirt, hoodie, jacket, gloves, knit cap.
Oh yeah, today’s high for Daytona Beach: 69 degrees.
wae
UltimaDork
1/27/25 9:59 a.m.
I see how it is, you're just keeping it all for yourselves! I'm almost home where it's not going to break 40 today.
In reply to wae :
It’s always–always!–cold/rainy/etc. for either the Roar or the Rolex. Pick one.
David S. Wallens said:
In reply to wae :
It’s always–always!–cold/rainy/etc. for either the Roar or the Rolex. Pick one.
This year - pick both, right? Rain at the Roar and cold at the Rolex!
Lots of discussion with friends and new friends in the grandstands about the new yellow flag rules, whereby the field is sorted by class under FCYs. It certainly made the racing for position closer in each of the classes, and make the last couple of hours pretty intense.
Some suggest that it makes the chance of an overall victory by anything other than the top class - GTP - much less likely. Remember when Viper and Corvette won overall 2 years in a row over the prototypes?
And many think that part of the charm of multi-class racing is using cars in other classes tactically to help attack or defend for position in class will be greatly reduced, as a FCY would eliminate that situation immediately.
An observation of my own is that I cannot recall a single situation where a local yellow flag employed every time there was a situation of some sort for any length of time. If a problem occurred for more than a minute or so, even if the problem was off track and the car in a safe location that allowed access to the pits without crossing the track, they went to a FCY, allowed pitstops, and then resorted the field, which added a significant length of time a yellow period.
- Bill C
Last Thursdays Off track with Hinch and Rossi podcast was interesting. It was between the roar and the 24, and they were talking about the "Energy" thing, and the torque sensor performance limiting, and the new curbs at the bus stop.
I'm looking forward to this weeks show. I think the Pfaff Lambo that Hinch was driving DNF'd, so we will get some stories there.
I will have to track down some highlights on youtube, so the explanations make more sense to me.
Wait till you see what Colin did with the photo of Tommy Milner....
David S. Wallens said:
Wait till you see what Colin did with the photo of Tommy Milner....
If I had a dollar for every moment of brilliance I had, I'd have like three dollars.
(Get your own mug here)
Does the mug cut add 10 HP?
BillCuttitta said:
Lots of discussion with friends and new friends in the grandstands about the new yellow flag rules, whereby the field is sorted by class under FCYs. It certainly made the racing for position closer in each of the classes, and make the last couple of hours pretty intense.
Some suggest that it makes the chance of an overall victory by anything other than the top class - GTP - much less likely. Remember when Viper and Corvette won overall 2 years in a row over the prototypes?
And many think that part of the charm of multi-class racing is using cars in other classes tactically to help attack or defend for position in class will be greatly reduced, as a FCY would eliminate that situation immediately.
An observation of my own is that I cannot recall a single situation where a local yellow flag employed every time there was a situation of some sort for any length of time. If a problem occurred for more than a minute or so, even if the problem was off track and the car in a safe location that allowed access to the pits without crossing the track, they went to a FCY, allowed pitstops, and then resorted the field, which added a significant length of time a yellow period.
- Bill C
Yep, not a fan of reorganizing the field and all the long FCY periods. A car rolls to a stop on the apron and that results in over twenty minutes of yellow, meanwhile the car has been rolled around to the pits in a few minutes. Other series (European ones) have solved this with Code 60 (I'd propose Code whatever the pitlane speed limit is) zones or virtual safety cars but there is no appetite for that in America. Got to have the close finish even if it's artificial and give NBC even more opportunities to cram in commercials (so I've heard, I watched the whole thing commercial free on youtube or I wouldn't bother).
It used to be said these were 24 hour sprint races, I think the reality with IMSA these days is unless you had some sort of issue to set you back and now you are catching up it's just a case of surviving the first 23:15 and then a full blown, elbows out 45 minute sprint to the finish. As fans we just cross our fingers for those last 45 minutes that there won't be some silly spin that kills the finish with yet another FCY.
Code 35's really stretch the margin of victory in Champcar. Some of the biggest margins of victory have come since implementing Code 35's.
Oh yeah, the cold.
A few days before the weekend, I gotta call from a friend at Classic Mazda in Orlando: Hey, I have some passes for Mazda’s infield corral, so are you interested?
Sure.
The reality: I keep the car parked in the garage with the top down.
Morning of the race, for the drive over, could I fully raise and latch the top? Or would that pop something?
So while getting ready that morning, I wheeled car out into the sun.
By the time I left, I could just barely latch the top. I could have driven over with the top down, but seeing as how I lost my voice Thursday night, I was being cautious.
Also, during the race I went back to the car once–just to put away my sunglasses and film camera. I need to order a sling bag or something.
It was pretty chilly Saturday night, but Thursday was the COLD day with that cold east wind making the wind chill into the 30's. By the end of the day I was worn out from being being cold and shivering. As I've gotten older, the cold affects me a lot more than it used to!
Compared to last year, it was a cold Rolex weekend, but I'd choose it every time over years in the past where it was monsoon rains, or the year that it only got up to the 40's.
johndej
UltraDork
1/29/25 1:54 p.m.
Blipshift getting in on the action too.
In reply to johndej :
Tommy Milner selling a shirt directly, using same artist, but profits support an eagle conservation charity:
"In collaboration with Abel Toth Art (https://www.abeltothart.com) and American Eagles Foundation (https://www.eagles.org) a product commemorating a moment from the 2025 opening race. All profits will go to a wonderful bird conservatory foundation, AEF."
I hope the whole BMW team shows up sporting those shirts at Sebring
