2014 United Sports Car Championship

[cnd01]

This assumes Westbrook wouldn't have put him in the wall at some point.

This assumes Gus doesn't rearrange Valiante's gearbox...

 

[hawkeye122]

This assumes Gus doesn't rearrange Valiante's gearbox...

Gus wasn't in the car, nor was Valiante... It was Westbrook (Solid driver, somewhat aggressive) and Brundle (Quick driver, a bit young, but usually level-headed.)

 

[Müle]

I didn't see anything wrong when it was Yacajack on Valiante. Gus was being his usual, aggressive self (though he's really cleaned up since last year), and Valiante was defending cleanly.

Westy did throw a pretty nasty block on Brundle, though.

 

[cnd01]

Gus wasn't in the car, nor was Valiante... It was Westbrook (Solid driver, somewhat aggressive) and Brundle (Quick driver, a bit young, but usually level-headed.)

Let's go back to the beginning of this race and the beginning of Long Beach. Gus has ripped the undertray and parts of the diffusers off of the 90 car both rounds as well as the 10 car at Long beach. I get how SoD races Oak and especially Gus that way given his history in TUSCC and Rolex. I'm not saying Westy was right in hip checking Brundle in T5, but Brundle certainly is majorly at fault for Zanardi'ing about 5 prototypes in the corkscrew

 

[hawkeye122]

Let's go back to the beginning of this race and the beginning of Long Beach. Gus has ripped the undertray and parts of the diffusers off of the 90 car both rounds as well as the 10 car at Long beach. I get how SoD races Oak and especially Gus that way given his history in TUSCC and Rolex. I'm not saying Westy was right in hip checking Brundle in T5, but Brundle certainly is majorly at fault for Zanardi'ing about 5 prototypes in the corkscrew

Yacaman has made some screwy moves in the past. I don't think people should judge him based on last year. I also don't blame him for making minor contact (Something you loved about Grand-Am in the past) when you block absolutely everyone because you know you're off the pace.

Brundle made a risky inside move (after realizing he'd be blocked for the rest of the race). Westbrook then REACTED to his move, and gave him no room to finish the pass safely, because he knew the Morgan was better on the brakes. Brundle was effectively pushed into the dirt, where there is no grip, and then he gets blamed for it. Risky move? Oh yeah. But Westbrook didn't give him any room at all. Brundle likely would've run wide and Westbrook would've got back down the corkscrew ahead. No harm, no foul.


It's hard to take your argument seriously when you're very clearly biased...

 

[cnd01]

Yacaman has made some screwy moves in the past. I don't think people should judge him based on last year. I also don't blame him for making minor contact (Something you loved about Grand-Am in the past) when you block absolutely everyone because you know you're off the pace.

Brundle made a risky inside move (after realizing he'd be blocked for the rest of the race). Westbrook then REACTED to his move, and gave him no room to finish the pass safely, because he knew the Morgan was better on the brakes. Brundle was effectively pushed into the dirt, where there is no grip, and then he gets blamed for it. Risky move? Oh yeah. But Westbrook didn't give him any room at all. Brundle likely would've run wide and Westbrook would've got back down the corkscrew ahead. No harm, no foul.


It's hard to take your argument seriously when you're very clearly biased...

Given your avatar, you're in the same boat

I'm not putting fault at either side just remember that SoD was wrecked by Gus last year at Belle Isle. Teams remember that kind of stuff. If I was getting bumped at the apex of every corner by the same car for 2 rounds in a row, I'd block a little harder too regardless of who was in the car. I personally loved the close racing that was going on in the early stages there and throughout. Brundle tried the dive bomb all the way from forever back, and I think he would've taken the 90 out had Westy not ran him onto the dirt. The kid ran out of patience and tried a desperate move that took himself out, damaged the points leader, and caused another car to retire. Whether he was being blocked or not, that's not cool

 

[Furinkazen]

LMP racing is not a contact sport. This is not NASCAR. Oh wait....

 

[cnd01]

LMP racing is not a contact sport. This is not NASCAR. Oh wait....

Yea LMP racing is a handful of bored rich guys and factory teams with unlimited budgets. This is IMSA P racing. Much much better imo

 

[IforceV8]

The GTLM podium is still delayed pending Porsches next wire transfer clearing-er penalty review.

 

[Furinkazen]

Yea LMP racing is a handful of bored rich guys and factory teams with unlimited budgets. This is IMSA P racing. Much much better imo

 

[cnd01]

The GTLM podium is still delayed pending Porsches next wire transfer clearing-er penalty review.

I found the HPD sponsored DP nerf graphic showed during the race hilarious

 

[GregTheStig]

Official results

P1: Corvette
P2: BMW
P3: ... Ferrari?

edit: source

edit edit: Also, hi USCC fans! This is my first time in here I think. I'm a carry over from the ALMS days.

 

[IforceV8]

Stop +60 for 911,dropped to 9th place,62 up to 3rd.👍

 

[hawkeye122]

Given your avatar, you're in the same boat

I'm not putting fault at either side just remember that SoD was wrecked by Gus last year at Belle Isle. Teams remember that kind of stuff. If I was getting bumped at the apex of every corner by the same car for 2 rounds in a row, I'd block a little harder too regardless of who was in the car. I personally loved the close racing that was going on in the early stages there and throughout. Brundle tried the dive bomb all the way from forever back, and I think he would've taken the 90 out had Westy not ran him onto the dirt. The kid ran out of patience and tried a desperate move that took himself out, damaged the points leader, and caused another car to retire. Whether he was being blocked or not, that's not cool

Brundle wouldn't have punted him off, he was in an open lane.

Have you ever watched Alex Brundle race? Do you know how Nissan and Oak pick their drivers?

Brundle brought very little funding to each team he raced for in Open-Wheel, and got away with it because he is fast. You don't get through lower tiers if you write cars off left and right, especially if you have no money. Brundle has always been a safe and reliable pair of hands, whereas it seems Yacaman has only kept his drives by paying for his mistakes. The second either of them come across all Franck Montagny, Jaques Nicolet will drop them like a Highschool Girlfriend. You don't get onto Oak's good side with out money or massive skill, and Brundle has no money.

Brundle hasn't, and isn't going to run someone off-track on purpose. That's not his style. I can't say the same for Westbrook over the years though...

How else is anyone in a P2 supposed to make a pass? The only advantage they have is in the brake zone, so why can't they use it? There was plenty of room until Westbrook shut the door, and he shut it pretty late.

 

[cnd01]

Stop +60 for 23,dropped to 9th place,62 up to 3rd.👍

Fixed

 

[Falcon787B]

Wow - guess I take back my sarcastic post from earlier about a P2 not winning today! Great job ESM. With any luck we are moving in a good direction now, and P2 teams can be tempted back into the championship now that they know they won't get run over by DPs all race. And some spice brewing between the DP and P2 teams (well, OAK)? Even better. This is gonna be good

As for GTLM - I missed the finish, what exactly happened?

 

[cnd01]

Brundle wouldn't have punted him off, he was in an open lane.

Have you ever watched Alex Brundle race? Do you know how Nissan and Oak pick their drivers?

Brundle brought very little funding to each team he raced for in Open-Wheel, and got away with it because he is fast. You don't get through lower tiers if you write cars off left and right, especially if you have no money. Brundle has always been a safe and reliable pair of hands, whereas it seems Yacaman has only kept his drives by paying for his mistakes. The second either of them come across all Franck Montagny, Jaques Nicolet will drop them like a Highschool Girlfriend. You don't get onto Oak's good side with out money or massive skill, and Brundle has no money.

Brundle hasn't, and isn't going to run someone off-track on purpose. That's not his style. I can't say the same for Westbrook over the years though...

How else is anyone in a P2 supposed to make a pass? The only advantage they have is in the brake zone, so why can't they use it? There was plenty of room until Westbrook shut the door, and he shut it pretty late.

Not saying this is why Brundle has gotten rides, but his last name certainly doesn't hurt him any. That isn't a knock on his talent though. No doubts he can fly, and he's proven himself on the biggest of stages too.

Nissan picks drivers that are good at Grand Turismo

Brundle would've taken himself and Westbrook out in the corkscrew had he not been forced onto the dirt by the 90 in that instance. It was a late block to an even later dive by Brundle.

It didn't take Nostradamus to tell you that a LMP2 was going to try something like that and wreck car(s). I expected Yacaman to punt somebody, but it ended up being Brundle. Given the circumstances in that race, it was way too early for a Zanardi dive especially with a load of other cars right there in case it does end badly.

I guess Mike Shank was right all along with the "battle at the apex" statement...

 

[IforceV8]

Wow - guess I take back my sarcastic post from earlier about a P2 not winning today! Great job ESM. With any luck we are moving in a good direction now, and P2 teams can be tempted back into the championship now that they know they won't get run over by DPs all race. And some spice brewing between the DP and P2 teams (well, OAK)? Even better. This is gonna be good

As for GTLM - I missed the finish, what exactly happened?

Tandy turned in Nico Rosberg running guys off the track and Auberlen Dale Sr'd him at the last turn.

Edit: actually it was more like Hamilton/Rosberg except Rosberg fought back this time.

 

[Falcon787B]

It didn't take Nostradamus to tell you that a LMP2 was going to try something like that and wreck car(s).

Mainly because the DPs have known so far this year that they have an advantage, and have been keen to use it. Even in this race where the P2s were faster, they knew they could just hug the inside, use their extra weight to stay there, then the extra power to blast off the corner - the only way around was if a P2 got the inside line, didn't matter how slowly the DP took the corner. Hence why I'm not surprised Yacaman was getting frustrated, and Westbrook IMO swung a BTCC-style block on Brundle forcing him into the gravel. 50/50 at best that move, and you could see it was coming, with both Valiente and Westbrook being, er, free and easy with using the weightier DP to block the P2.

Tandy turned in Nico Rosberg running guys off the track and Auberlen Dale Sr'd him at the last turn.

And from what I've heard Tandy has been penalised? Not sure that makes sense, although having not seen the incidents I will reserve judgement. Surely they can't have penalised the wrong car for a third time this year?!

 

[cnd01]

Mainly because the DPs have known so far this year that they have an advantage, and have been keen to use it. Even in this race where the P2s were faster, they knew they could just hug the inside, use their extra weight to stay there, then the extra power to blast off the corner - the only way around was if a P2 got the inside line, didn't matter how slowly the DP took the corner. Hence why I'm not surprised Yacaman was getting frustrated, and Westbrook IMO swung a BTCC-style block on Brundle forcing him into the gravel. 50/50 at best that move, and you could see it was coming, with both Valiente and Westbrook being, er, free and easy with using the weightier DP to block the P2.

When you're the slower car by far in that case with BoP clearly being in favor of the LMP2, you gotta try whatever you can to stay ahead. The only instances of that were the 90 and the 42 because of the history between drivers from last season and this season.

JVO and Dalziel kept it nice and clean around everyone else as did Valiante and Westbrook

 

[Mac K]

Personally I think both Yacaman and Brundle were driving way to aggressively today.. All Valiante had to do was annoy Yacaman for a few laps, and sure enough he got hot under the collar and started over driving and getting way to aggressive. Way too easy. OAK has a slightly banged up car, and now driver changes happen. Westbrook was driving like an idiot, blocking and forcing Brundle off the track and ultimately having that incident at the corkscrew with the Mazda cost them both the race. Brundle in my opinion put himself in a few of those situations and he can take some of the blame, but most of that is on Westbrook. As for the Auberlen/Tandy incident, I see no reason to access a post race penalty, a warning for sure, but I don't feel a penalty was necessary. On a positive note nice to see ESM win, it was a great race in GTLM as always, and the officials didn't see so "trigger happy" with penalties and cautions this time. All and all I enjoyed both races, just wish they weren't split.

 

[GregTheStig]

And from what I've heard Tandy has been penalised? Not sure that makes sense, although having not seen the incidents I will reserve judgement. Surely they can't have penalised the wrong car for a third time this year?!

Tandy shut the door on Auberlen pretty aggressively a couple times and ran him off into the rumble strips at one point. It got crazier on the last corner when he did it again as Auberlen was trying to dive with fresher tires. I think that very last bit of contact drew the penalty.

 

[IforceV8]

Just watching the highlights from Detroit last year,I wonder if Westbrook thought that Yacaman was still in the Oak car and was looking for some payback.

 

[cnd01]

Personally I think both Yacaman and Brundle were driving way to aggressively today.. All Valiante had to do was annoy Yacaman for a few laps, and sure enough he got hot under the collar and started over driving and getting way to aggressive. Way too easy. OAK has a slightly banged up car, and now driver changes happen. Westbrook was driving like an idiot, blocking and forcing Brundle off the track and ultimately having that incident at the corkscrew with the Mazda cost them both the race. Brundle in my opinion put himself in a few of those situations and he can take some of the blame, but most of that is on Westbrook. As for the Auberlen/Tandy incident, I see no reason to access a post race penalty, a warning for sure, but I don't feel a penalty was necessary. On a positive note nice to see ESM win, it was a great race in GTLM as always, and the officials didn't see so "trigger happy" with penalties and cautions this time. All and all I enjoyed both races, just wish they weren't split.

I saw an Oak-SoD incident coming when Valiante shut the door in the corkscrew the first time and Gus dropped a wheel about lap 2. That was enough right there for me to get ready for a crash. It sucks for the 07 and 5 that got the raw end of it.

Tandy shut the door on Auberlen pretty aggressively a couple times and ran him off into the rumble strips at one point. It got crazier on the last corner when he did it again as Auberlen was trying to dive with fresher tires. I think that very last bit of contact drew the penalty.

I think the penalty on Tandy was him hitting the Ferrari, and for shoving Auberlin off onto the astro turf

 

[hawkeye122]

JVO and Dalziel kept it nice and clean around everyone else

That's because they weren't being blocked. Ryan would've made a similar move had the WTR car been blocking like the 90

as did Valiante and Westbrook

So you didn't see the 90 bash the 42 off-track then?

Brundle's move was far from late... Westbrook KNEW he would try it when he left the inside open AND he knows the P2's go deep on the brakes.

 

[cnd01]

That's because they weren't being blocked. Ryan would've made a similar move had the WTR car been blocking like the 90

So you didn't see the 90 bash the 42 off-track then?

Brundle's move was far from late... Westbrook KNEW he would try it when he left the inside open AND he knows the P2's go deep on the brakes.

What I'm saying is that the 90 only blocked the 42. The only argy bargy in P was between the 42 and 90 the entire race. The 90 never blocked another LMP2, and no other DPs blocked the 42. It's a personal issue between these teams.

I don't know why Brundle tried an outside pass in turn 5, but he paid the price, and Westy rightly paid the price for hip checking Brundle. Westy could've left more room, and Brundle could've been patient.

Gus had been diving in the corkscrew and then crossing over to the outside safely when Valiante blocked just like Westbrook was doing. Brundle for whatever reason didn't cross over and wrecked 3 cars

 

[PsuPepperoni]

So I was having dinner at Red Robin, and I noticed that one of the TV's was tuned into the second race at Laguna.
"No way!", I said, surprised to see something I could actually watch at a restaurant chain.
My date looked over to see what I was staring at.
"I don't like NASCAR."

 

[hawkeye122]

So I was having dinner at Red Robin, and I noticed that one of the TV's was tuned into the second race at Laguna.
"No way!", I said, surprised to something I can actually watch at a restaurant chain.
My date looked over to see what I was staring at.
"I don't like NASCAR."

Nope, no 2nd date. It's gotta end now.

Neither of those things happened because the 42 and the 90 were at the front by themselves, so we can't really be certain...

 

[Müle]

LMP racing is not a contact sport. This is not NASCAR. Oh wait....

You don't like the Argy Bargy?

 

[Falcon787B]

So I was having dinner at Red Robin, and I noticed that one of the TV's was tuned into the second race at Laguna.
"No way!", I said, surprised to something I can actually watch at a restaurant chain.
My date looked over to see what I was staring at.
"I don't like NASCAR."

Conversely, I put on the Daytona 24 Hours on just before my girlfriend was due over, and when she got there, I went to turn off the race, but she said 'no no it's okay, leave it on!'