I Support Nothing About Delta Wing

Delta Wing finally got some good news as Nissan announced a partnership that will see Nissan branding and engines in the failed Indycar concept as it runs unclassified at Le Mans. This news is a positive development for a project that looked in danger of failing due to lack of money.  Delta Wing has some high profile and committed fans in the racing world, but I can honestly say I like and support NOTHING about this car, or rather, this trike. Support or lack there of for Delta Wing speaks to the most basic views on racing a person can hold.  People who support Delta Wing point to it’s inovation and potential relevance on production cars and may see it as a way back to the era when race cars and production cars were much closer to each other.  On the other hand Delta Wing haters like myself point out that a trike that looks like a sex toy is not the best way to represent a sport and that a 300HP engine in a premier auto racing  league is kind of lame.  I’m for innovation in some situations (Tyrell 6 wheeler) but I honestly can say that nothing about the Delta Wing excites me or interests me.  This, rather unsurprisingly, is a controversial opinion.

Delta Wing is ugly.  Whether or not looks should matter is controversial, as many “purists” feel that this is a very ignorant and uniformed view of racing.  In their view, form should follow function.  Yet I would counter by saying looks do matter.  Car companies spend a lot of money on styling.  Watch Top Gear and look at the most popular supercars.  Those are styled to look exciting and cool as well as be fast.  A Gumpert Apollo or Atom V8 may be faster (around a track) than a Bugatti Veyron or Lamborghini Reventon but which one would 99% of people rather own?  Which ones get more airtime and attention?  On the more practical level for a racing series the car is what fans will be looking at every time there’s a race for a majority of the time.  When a casual fan flips through the channels the first thing they’ll notice is the car.  The look of the car makes one of the first impressions on the viewer; first impressions matter and I’d hate to have a Delta Wing be that first impression.  Besides, on broadcast TV in the US Delta Wing could get the networks cause some major FCC fines.

Relevance is great but does it really increase the number of fans watching and even the automaker involvement?  After all, the 24 Hours of Le Mans only has 1 full factory effort in LPM1 (Audi), one growing effort (Toyota, will likely be bigger in the future), and Nissan with the D-wang non classified project.  Some argue Honda is also a semi-factory effort but this is not the place for that discussion. NASCAR, with no relevance at all, has 4 major automakers fully involved.  Fan wise relevance doesn’t matter to a majority of people.  Again, look at Top Gear, look at the TV ratings for NASCAR versus ALMS.  Speed records could potentially matter more but that’s a very different situation.  When people tune into Top Gear are they looking for relevant automotive information or are they looking for an exciting and entertaining show?  Further shows like Top Gear allow people to see cars they’re unlikely to ever get to drive or even see in person on the road. They’re showing off aspirational products.  I would argue much the same thing in racing.  There are plenty of 300 HP cars (and in America trucks) out on the road. When I watch racing I’m looking to see something a bit bigger and better than that.

Besides how much relevant road development really comes out of Delta Wing?  Delta Wing achieves high efficiency through low weight and aerodynamics.  Road cars certainly use those things to achieve better fuel economy, but will Delta Wing help develop that?  I don’t see how.  Carbon fiber is way too expensive to use in an everyday production car.  If you can afford a carbon fiber car then you can afford gas at just about any price it’s sold at.  Aerodynamics in a road car are dictated by style, as well as by functions of things like safety, passengers, luggage, and all the other things that go into a street car. Oh, and the front tires have to be very different on the D-wang from a normal car.  I’m not involved in the auto industry but I struggle to see what lessons from Delta Wing are applicable to a road car.  A super car could use it, but that’s a different situation.   On the engine front some relevant development might happen.  However a 300 HP engine in a premier racing series is lame and I don’t see it being a very appealing sell to fans.  Definitely not in the US.  Who’s going to want to watch racing when there are cars in the parking lot with more power than the cars on track?  Using a small production engine in a big league series risk damaging the wow factor of that series, it risks the prestige, excitement, and coolness factor of the racing series in question.

Is Delta Wing really the future of racing?  God, I hope not.  And truthfully I don’t think it will be the future of most major series.  Le Mans may head in that direction but I don’t believe overall that NASCAR will and F1 may move halfway there but high horsepower should remain.  Indycar… well, they’re too conventional to ever try something like that. It’ll be a sad day if Delta Wang’s take over  Le Mans. The last generation of open top Audi’s were some of the best looking racing cars I’ve ever seen and there still are a number of very interesting LMP1 cars out there.  Replacing them with Delta Wing would be a tragedy.  Adding the Delta Wing in as a separate class is an idea and I suppose better than LMPC but not be much.  I personally hope the D-wang dies a quick death and is never heard from again.  Nothing about it is good.  300 HP racing is not a good thing. Vibrator shaped cars are not a positive.  A car that reliant on aerodynamics could be a problem if it got even a tiny bit of damage during a race.  The car could dramatically slow down. I would also question the quality of racing a Delta Wing series might produce.  I dislike the current (new) Indycar a lot, but at least Indycar wasn’t stuck with Delta Wing.  I feel bad for any parents who have to have awkward conversations with their young children after seeing the Delta Wing in person or on track.  I imagine that Rick Santorum would try and ban the D-wang and not let video of it be shown in schools.  Indycar’s ICONIC panel failed miserably but at least they didn’t pick the Delta Wing.  We have that to be thankful for.

A Variety of Dangers Compared

Indycar oval racing is too dangerous.  Just ask Dario Franchitti, he’ll tell you.  It’s so dangerous that many drivers and some journalists/bloggers feel Texas Motor Speedway (a track without any prior open wheel fatalities) should be off the Indycar schedule.  Never mind that Indianapolis is the most dangerous track Indycar runs, with more deaths (2) than any other track since the split happened in 1995, including both CART and IRL.  Those deaths were during practice and testing so shouldn’t  practice and testing should be banned (especially as Dana’s death was also in practice)? Moving on, I decided to take a look at some other things that apparently should be stopped since they’re beyond an acceptable level of risk.  Someone might be killed!  Below is a list with links to sources of some examples.

ATV Fatalities: This ATV fatality information comes from ATVSafety.gov and runs through 2010.  Notice the fatalities from ATV’s are in the hundreds each year.  This is way beyond an “acceptable level” of risk.

High School Cheerleading: Cheerleading is often accused of being one of the most dangerous high school level sports in America.  There’s a variety of links in this article to demonstrate that point.  Hopefully enough for people to understand how dangerous cheerleading really is and how we need to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT NOW!!!

Skydiving: Considering what skydiving is (jumping out of an airplane and hoping a parachute saves you from hitting the ground too hard) it’s fairly safe.  Most of the time the risk is considered negligible.  Despite this deaths do happen.  That’s not acceptable. In this incident two people DIED at the same time! If the skydiving community doesn’t do something now the American public will not stand for this and will pressure Congress into banning skydiving, right?

Horseback Riding: Horses have provided people with transpiration long before the first automobile was invented.  There are a variety of ways to ride horses, from general trail riding to competitive jumping.  There are health benefits mental and physical to horseback riding as well.  But there is a dark side to this seemingly cute and harmless hobby.  Because spinal and head injuries and potentially deaths can occur.  There are those who say this so called sport is the most dangerous in the world. According to this Center for Disease Control article in the 1980′s horseback riding was more dangerous than auto racing!  That’s the 80′s we’re talking about!  Those who say horse racing is the most dangerous sport are currently arguing with those who say cheerleading is more dangerous and those convinced Texas Motor Speedway is in fact the most dangerous sports facility/event in the world.

Driving on the streets:  When I was younger and went to a summer camp one of the counselors said that when parents were concerned about dangers at camp from things like swimming, shooting guns, biking, snakes, ect. he would always respond the biggest danger of going to summer camp is the drive to and from the camp.  Just like the saying it’s safer to fly than drive.  The dangers of driving are well known.  I believe most of us know someone who’s died in a car crash.  I certainly do.  If you live in a place like Michigan with treacherous winter roads the danger is magnified hunderdfold. While accident fatalities are falling they are still in the thousands.  According to the AAA fatal accidents cost an average of 6 million dollars per accident and are the leading cause of deaths in people 5-35.  How that fits with the LA Times report that drug deaths outnumber auto deaths I do not know.  Still it’s way too much.  We need Ralph Nader to lead the charge and end the slaughter on the road.

Swimming: It’s true obesity is an issue in the United States of America and it’s true that swimming is a great way to exercise.  But activity on water is also very dangerous.  These statistics from the Centers of Disease Control show just how many people are being killed by these activities. According to this report ten people a day die from drowning.  There has to be a solution.  We cannot allow this to happen.  While it’s true swimming pools are traditionally part of hotels, schools, and YMCA facilities, and that swimming in lakes and rivers is traditionally part of enjoying summer at camps and at homes, tradition shouldn’t be allowed to get in the way of safety. EVER.  It’s a heartless person indeed who’d be willing sit back and do nothing to stop this horrible, horrible epidemic.

We’ve just looked at six horribly dangerous activities. Now let’s look at some racing.

Motorcycle Road Racing:  Motorcycle road racing is the second most popular form of racing in the world.  MotoGP is #2 to F1 in terms of overall viewership. It’s also dangerous.  Formula One has not seen a fatality since Aryton Senna died.  In the top level of MotoGP alone, there have been two fatalities since 2003, Daijiro Kato and Marco Simoncelli.  Then throw in Shoya Tomizawa and even worse 17 year old Peter Lenz and that’s 4 deaths, 3 of which where in MotoGP and it’s official development series and one of which was in a GP support race in under ten years!!!   How do motorcycle road racing fans sleep at night?

Indycar: Indycar has seen 7 deaths since the split occurred in 1996. While wikipedia is not a credible source and should always be viewed with some skeptisism this is a fairly easy area to fact check and the Wikipedia article helps visualize this information.  Two of those fatalities occurred at Indianapolis. Every other track has only had one fatality in this time period: Toronto, Fontana, Las Vegas, Homestead, and Laguna Seca. 3 of those fatalities (both at Indy, plus Homestead) occurred during practice or testing. 1 fatality occurred on a road course and 1 on a street course while another happened on a 2 mile oval.  Dan Wheldon’s death occurred on a 1.5 mile oval where some say the fence posts are not in the ideal location.  Only one death could even potentially be blamed on “pack racing” although things like speed, fence posts, ovals, luck, open cockpits, open wheels, lack of fenders, lack of bumpers, and racing could also be blamed.  But banning 1.5 mile ovals and pack racing is the obvious solution.  What’s not so obvious is the danger of Indianapolis. 2 of the 7 fatalities since 1996 have occurred at Indy.    Worse another fatality took place during the 1992 Month of May.  Not only have there been deaths but serious injuries have been a common sight during the 500.  Mike Conway and Vitor Meira broke their backs and Tony Kanaan broke his ribs.  Simona De Silvestro’s wreck last year was nothing to laugh at either. How can we possibly justify racing at Indianapolis anymore?  Honestly, how can we justify Indycar racing anymore? Will Power and Nelson Phillipe Jr. both broke their backs at Infineon.  Justin Wilson’s back was injured at Mid Ohio, Simona got a concussion from Milwaukee and Pippa Mann broke her back at Loudon.  No where is safe. Why can’t fans accept that Indycar is too dangerous to continue and go watch safe things like competitive jousting, NFL, and NASCAR???

Dangers exist all around us.  Why aren’t more people standing up and trying to change it?  Shouldn’t it be the responsibility of all of us who care about our lives and the lives of those we love to act?  Shouldn’t Indycar fans, journalists, and drivers pull together and fight to make sure that others don’t lose their idol’s or loved ones?  We know the after affects of a sudden death in a sport. Those of us involved in this sport shouldn’t just worry about the drivers in Indycar.  We need to expand our concern to things like off road vehicles, swimming, sky diving, and of course the worst of them all, driving on the street!  Don’t even get me started on the dangers of the X-Games and stunt jumping.  In fact last fall a stunt jumper was killed practicing before the Chase NASCAR race at Texas!  Where’s the outrage after that death and the death of Sarah Burke early this year?

If that sounded a little crazy that was half the point.  While this article drips with sarcasm and satire the facts cited are true.  Hopefully this is a little dose of perspective into the variety of dangers that exist in sports and recreational activities.  That’s the other half of the point.

Big Things Are Coming, I Promise

A few weeks ago I mentioned a podcast.  It took awhile but things are finally coming together.  If you don’t follow me on twitter or if you missed it I finally recorded the first podcast.  It’s in the editing phase and I’ll release it after Thanksgiving (RE: Monday).   It’s a big one and it’s a good one.   I was able to get John Hall from Live Fast Racing  out of “retirement” and back into a podcast.  For those of you who don’t know or weren’t around, the Live Fast Racing podcast was a multi-discipline motorsports podcast that always provided a unquie and funny take on the world of racing.   We discussed NASCAR, Indycar, AMA Pro Racing, ALMS, WSBK, and MotoGP in what turned out to be about a 2 hour long podcast.  It should be fun.  John was on his usual A game and even though it’s been awhile (like since before this site was born) since the last LiveFastRacing podcast he hasn’t missed a beat.  Me on the other hand?  Okay so there’s going to be a few rough spots.   Still I think it’ll be worth the listen.  I can’t thank John enough for taking the time to come out of “retirement” and take over two hours of his vacation time for this.  I think it’s the perfect way to kick of the Triple League Racing Podcast and am incredibly grateful.   In related podcasting news, episode 2 may get recorded later this week as everyone (but me, it seems) has this week off.  That will be a more open wheel focused show with Eric Hall, Ross, myself, and maybe some other regular TLR writers.

Big News on the Horizon

I have been incredibly busy and unable to do much (any) blogging in the last few weeks.  The double whammy of Dan Wheldon and Marco Simoncelli’s death didn’t help my motivation but for the last couple weeks it’s just been work and school together cutting out the amount of time I have to write.  However there is some big news coming.  If you follow me on twitter you’d have seen but in case you don’t we’re planning a Triple League Racing podcast!

The first recording will be held (hopefully) on tomorrow afternoon.  We’ll publish it whenever it gets edited which hopefully will be by Saturday.   I’ve always enjoyed racing podcasts and they were a major inspiration for me to start my own blog.  Unfortunetly my favorite podcasts (Live Fast Racing, My Name Is IRL, Fast Machines) have not been updated since 09.  I really enjoyed that mutli-series style of podcasts and outside of Mid Week Motorsports there’s nothing like that out there as far as I’ve seen.  So I decided it’s time to start my own!  I am not deluded enough to think we’ll be even close to those 4 aforementioned podcasts but we’ll try are best.  The podcast lineup will vary some but it should include me, Ross, Eric Hall of Another Indycar Blog, and possibly James and Ryan, both of whom sometimes write on here, in some combination.  We’ll also be looking for guests to invite on and expand the discussion.

The Triple League Racing Podcast will cover all types of racing.  For the first one we’re discussing Indycar, NASCAR, MotoGP, and potentially F1 and sports cars.  It should be fun so keep your eyes open and get your ipods and computers ready to download!

Lemans the movie: art imitating life……

Friday night, after picking up the kids for my weekend, I popped in the PS3 the BluRay copy of Lemans. After explaining to my oldest son that no I was not putting in ‘Cars’ for the umpteenth time. He finally sat and watched the movie. At times ditching the chicken nuggets I cooked him for dinner.

After the flashback intro of Steve McQueens character Michael Delaney reliving the years before crash. Charlie started to get really interested. When he saw the infamous #20 917, he looked at the poster I have of three 917s at Brands Hatch and exclaimed “they’re the same!”

Truly Lemans is a movie that never gets old, and really grasps all that surrounds the epic race in June. The Ferrari 512 vs Porsche 917 rivalry is as good if not better than the Audi vs Peugeot battles we see today.

The irony of both battles is Volkswagen being behind the scenes funding both entities so they can display air-cooled and Diesel engine technology respectivly.

What makes Lemans great is the lack of dialogue. They let the cars tell the story. Like John Hindhaugh of radio lemans fame said in another great Lemans film “Truth in 24″. You can tell the diffrence between the cars at Lemans. The Flat 12 917, the V12 Ferrari, the V8 Corvette, and the flat 6 911/914′s. The sound is incredible.

A couple things were evident. 1. The perfected Audi pit stop were still years down the road. 2. Jason Statham is right it really does always rain at Lemans. Haha

The movie is a must watch for any race fan. Or anyone who wants to show people that Days of Thunder and Talladega Nights were far from being the greatest racing films.

One part of the movie that reminds me of the tragic incident from yesterday. Was the scene where Steve McQueen is explaining why they race. With all the danger and all the risk. Accompanied by all the celebration and glory. I heard or saw a similar statement from almost every driver on twitter last night.

“A lot of people go through life doing things badly. Racing’s important to the men who do it. When you’re racing it….it’s life. Anything that happens before or after…..is just waiting”

A moment of silence for Dan Wheldon

A moment of silence for Dan Wheldon.  A massive crash at the Indycar season finale in Vegas killed the 2011 Indy 500 winner today.  His friends and family are in our thoughts.   Wheldon was a great driver and great supporter of Indycar and his fans.  There’s nothing more I can say right now.

Making the best of Motegi.

So who’s excited about this weekend’s but Indy Japan 300?!?!…. (insert crickets)… Look, we can all probably agree that Motegi isn’t going to be the greatest thing on the schedule, or probably even the top ten. It’s on late, on an obscure channel (which I’d probably not even known existed were it not for their race broadcasts) and it’s now a road course race which isn’t what some people want to see. The road course seems to be much more like a street course to me in the way that it’s flat with long straights, sharp turns and fairly narrow. At least that’s how it struck me when I saw it. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being in business it is that everything can be an opportunity, some better than others, but a chance to make something good happen regardless. Here’s how the race is being looked at and dealt with by me and my IndyCar peeps.

Saturday night, we are all meeting at Robbie’s pub at 9 to get the party started. We’ve called the bar and made sure the race will be on the big screen for everyone to enjoy starting at 11:30. Honestly we’d be out till 2 am on Saturday night anyway along with a bunch of people who wouldn’t normally watch an IndyCar race. I know there are better scenarios but trying to make the best of what we have is all there is to do at this point.

James

P.S. Keep in mind also that, to the best of my knowledge, the 75 or so of us watching the race Saturday is only 1 as far as the rating are concerned. Too bad.

The Obsession With The Star

As far back as I can remember I’ve had this love affair with the automobile. It was an obsession handed down from generation to generation. If I remember correctly my father wanted to name me Camaro. In my opinion that would entail me having a mullet and sounding like Early off of the Squidbillies “dunt touch tha trim!!” Thank goodness mom convinced him Ross was a better name.

When we would visit my grandfather he always had some odd car knick knack. Either a spark plug made to look like an older F1 car or a 1:18th scale model of whatever would keep me occupied, while dad and him would talk.

The one thing he had though, that I lusted for more than anything was his ’56 Mercedes-Benz 220S. When I was younger all I saw was it was old and cool looking.

It was a two tone blue, with grey interior. It had a straight 6 that wouldn’t quit. I’ve been told the car has been in the family since new. We found the shipping info from Germany in a box after he had passed away. We also found info on a black 220 that the family who were present in the house had no idea that two ’56s were bought. Word around the campfire is that, the motor has never been rebuilt.

Growing up around that car, it made me appreciate the German high standard of engineering. While American Auto companys were putting huge fins on thier cars, Mercedes stayed with the rounded style. Looking back fins looked like gimmick, and certainly not for function. The “Ponton” Mercedes were just fantastic pieces of art, the current E-Class Benz pays homage to the style of the mid-50′s Mercedes.

My grandfather used to haul his MG, Porsche 356, or his Bugeye Sprite race car behind the 220, when he would race at legendary Chicago Region tracks. Some forgotten legendary tracks like Meadowdale Raceway in Carpentersville, ILL. Wilmot Race Course at the base of the Wilmot ski resort. He would also haul the race car up to that 4 mile asphalt heaven in Wisconsin called Road America.

On vintage weekends up at Road America he would take the Benz to course marshal with. Theres a picture of him towing a 300SL, which seems very very fitting. In ’95 he got a picture in Vintage Motorsport of him towing a MG TC down to Canada Corner. It was always neat to see the crowd react as he’d pull a car through the paddock.

In 90 something, he acquired a ’59 300d Adenhauer, that car was beautiful. Built on an old truck chassis and powered by a slightly detuned 300SL motor this car was incredible. I first saw the car in a family friends garage, were grandpa had taken it to get it road worthy once again. For a couple weekends dad, grandpa and with what little assistance I could provide, brought the car back to life. Got to do my first brake bleed job on that car. It had a cool car name “the dutchess”. By far it became one of my favorites. It was long, and had body lines that were just unreal. It was like looking at an older Rolls-Royce or Duesenburg. 
From those memories to doing a road rally with him, I forged this belief and idea that I had to have a Mercedes. Didn’t matter the year or model I just had to have one. In 2005 the opportunity arose for me to get my uncles ’81 300D. It wasn’t the prettiest looking Benz, but I had big dreams for it. It started as a just look at the top end of the motor project. It quickly turned into a replace the motor project.

I had the usual built the car on a budget issues. Parts would fail here and there from misuse of a previous owner or age. Transmission was rebuilt once then another part in it went out a year later. For me the happiest day was getting to replace the hood star. You know the one every gangsta gangsta kid wants to wear on thier neck. That’s when it became a Mercedes-Benz to me the car was complete. Too look out over the hood and see that star meant a lot to me. It meant I finally made it, I finally had a Mercedes.

After an ill advised driving move on my part. I put myself next to a teen driver in a jacked up truck then proceeded to get the right front fender pancaked when he pulled into my lane on a bridged. Wheel was ripped to shreds but I popped the dent out with my hands. Thank you German steel! The mistress as I call her resides under my car port underneath a car cover. She awaits my newest project for her. I’m going to turn the Benz into a rat rod or 50′s hot rod of sorts. Matte black paint, white walls wrapped around steel red rims. Zarapes to cover the seat, and hopefully a ’61 “heckflosse” steering wheel.

I’ve been able to pass along the obsession with the Star to my youngest son this year with the purchase of a ’61 300SL power wheel. It’s freaking sweet! It has working headlights and radio. It is almost in proportion to the real 300SL unlike most power wheels. Now when him and I are out and about he points to the Mercedes’ and tells me “that’s a Mercedes daddy”

I have always wondered what my grandfather would say, if I got to tell him about my Benz. At his funeral, I told a story about my daughter slamming the door and telling her “THIS ISN’T YOUR MOMS FORD THIS IS A MERCEDES!!!!”. My grandfather would tell me the same when I’d slam the door on his. But it was replaced with “dads chevy”. Sadly this year the 220 was offered to me. I couldn’t make things financially work. So I lost my chance to buy his car. It’s upsetting but I hope it goes to a good owner. Who knows maybe I can buy the car back.

My Grandfather may not of been the greatest man out there. But that car he had was the greatest memory ill ever have of him.

I Must Be Going Now

If some of the readers haven’t heard I am cutting back on my writing on Triple League Racing because I created my own site called www.racingmania101.wordpress.com 

I am very gracious and lucky to be on Triple League Racing. I would like to take a major thanks to Dylan for having me as a co-blogger for so long, and never giving up on me in some rough times.

I still will be contributing in Pre Weekend Roundups and other group activities for this blog.  Also if you like Ross’ writing, he will be contributing to some writing pieces on racing mania 101.

Racing Mania is on Twitter also @RacingMania_101

Thank you,

Kent

History its not just that class you slept in!

History as this way of rearing up and repeating itself in some form or fashion. Some good some bad. But sooner or later it will repeat. My US History teacher reminded us of this fact on one occasion. He said to the class “we will have another ‘great Depression’, and it will be on par with the one from the the ’20s”. That was in ’99. And like clock work we spiraled into another.
When Allan Mcnishs Audi crashed into the the tire barrier and pieces toward the crowd, photogs and course marshals. It was an erie reminder of Carl Edwards Talladega wreck, the ’55 lemans crash that claimed 80+ people. It’s a memory that all motorsports fans and non-motorsports fans will remember forever.
Here at my job when we have an issue, we break it down to find reasons for its occurance. A root cause analysis. At first glance of McNish and Rockefellers wreck its easy to point the finger at the speed differential of the LMP1 and GT2 class. There was also discussion on twitter of the amateur class being inexperienced to handle the rigors of multi class racing. And another explanation was the über bright LED’s on Audi. Were the light lit up the cockpit of the car. I firmly beleave those are all correct. But, I also know their is one factor that I haven’t seen mentioned yet. It may of been written in another language but as I have seen I haven’t. It is the one thing that is a tie to the other two wrecks. The level of competitiveness.
When Pierre Levieghs Mercedes hit the MG he was trying to run faster and I beleave longer than the Jaguar of Mike Hawthorne. When Carl Edwards move down the tri oval on Brad Keselowski it was to block him from getting the all important side draft. With all that in mind, looking at replay upon replay of the Audi wrecks One thing is for certain the rivalry and closeness of speed to the Peugeot was another if not main cause of the wrecks.
Think back to 2010 when Anthony Davidson was hauling the mail to catch the Audis. Going through the Porsche Curves in the morning hours, Davidsons Peugeot hit a Corvette sending the ‘vette into the wall. Reason given? Trying to catch Audi. And as karma would have it the connecting rods on the Peugeot failed.
In the Audi wrecks yes Mcnish seemed over aggressive to get ahead. But with the speed of Peugeot he felt as if they had to make moves to stay ahead.
In hindsight, such competition provides for some great racing. It was the 4th closest finish in lemans 79 race history. And it made for a great story the next day 1 Audi fights off 3 Peugeot.
history revisited
On the same day we watched history be made at Lemans. I unveiled my sons Peter Revson ’69 shelby trans am tribute power wheels. Peter Revson was the heir to the Revlon cosmetics business and in the ’60s Peter set out to be a race driver. In 1969 he became part of Carroll Shelbys trans am team. Granted they weren’t as recognized as Bud Moores infamous Mustang team. I wanted to make a car that would teach the next generation about the history of motorsports. After a short debate I decided on using the paint scheme of Revsons Mustang. My reasoning was one Saleen did a Gurney tribute. And the Bud Moores iconic 70 yellow and the 69 red & black scheme are widely done. For me motorsports history is very important. It shows where we have been and why we have what we have today, like retro cars and safety equipment. To complete the package I made him a shirt to look like a vintage fire suit. Hopefully some day they will pass down the history of racing like I have.