Most liked posts in thread: United Sports Car Championship (USCC)

Steve · Feb 27, 2014

Stronger words about Level 5's withdrawal in this one.

Level 5 Confirms Withdrawal from TUSC (sportscar365.com)

John Dagys | February 25, 2014

Despite having come out on top in last monthâ€™s Rolex 24 at Daytona, Level 5 Motorsports has withdrawn from the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship with immediate effect.

The four-time American Le Mans Series class champions, which fielded a pair of Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 cars in the new-for-2014 GTD category, scored its first class victory at Daytona with drivers Bill Sweedler, Townsend Bell, Jeff Segal, Alessandro Pier Guidi and team owner Scott Tucker.

While having initially planned to continue through the 11-round TUDOR Championship with at least one Ferrari for Sweedler and Bell, team manager David Stone made the decision to pull the plug on the program Monday.

â€œThe decision was 100 percent my responsibility,â€ Stone told Sportscar365. â€œScott Tucker has placed all operational responsibilities and decisions squarely on my shoulders. Based on various reasons, itâ€™s my opinion that participation in the TUDOR Championship for 2014 is not in the best interest of Level 5.

â€œI want to be really clear that Iâ€™m not trying to be negative or disrespectful of the TUDOR Championship. I have no ill will or negativity against them. They need to do what they feel is right for them, just as I must do the same for Level 5.â€

Stone said there were a number of factors that went into his decision, including IMSAâ€™s ruling at the Rolex 24 that initially penalized the race-leading No. 555 Ferrari for avoidable contact.

The No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Audi R8 LMS crew celebrated as winners in victory lane, with IMSA reversing the penalty and awarding Level 5 the win nearly four hours after the checkered flag.

â€œIt was my opinion we should not have been [in the TUDOR Championship] in 2014 to begin with because of it being a development year for the series,â€ Stone said. â€œAs was apparent, the time fame it was taking for them to provide rules, driver rankings, etc led me to believe theyâ€™ve got their hands full and I do not envy the position they were and are still in.

â€œThe series needs time to sort itself out and I donâ€™t want to be one of the participants that has to suffer through that the first year. I feel that the series has focused more on quantity than quality. The reality is you can only properly support so many teams at any given track at one time.â€

Stone also attributed the seriesâ€™ permitted paddock space, which has been reduced for 2014 due to the capacity grid sizes, as just one factor into their decision to withdraw.

Level 5 had interest from three customers to run in Prototype Challenge this year, but Stone said IMSAâ€™s initial class capacity regulations released in October, along with a revision in the schedule, resulted in those prospective clients to pull out.

â€œI believe until racers have a voice to create a series that they want to race in, it is unlikely to change in any significant and meaningful way,â€ Stone said. â€œI feel like every team that has a full-season entry should have an elected representative from their team and there should be regular meetings with a certain list of topics to be debated, decided and voted on.

â€œThat way, you are creating a series thatâ€™s consistent with what racers want as opposed to a sanctioning body dictating the environment. After all, we are the customers. No pun intended, but in order to arrive to that position takes stones. As long as teams cave in to the way any sanctioning body dictates, there is no rational reason to expect meaningful changes.â€

While Stone said that Level 5 will unlikely return to the TUDOR Championship in any class this year, they are actively exploring customer programs for the Pirelli World Challenge, potentially with the same Ferraris that were raced at Daytona. The team will also continue to manage and support cars in Ferrari Challenge.

Additionally, Stone said they have also been approached by a few OEMs for a manufacturer-based prototype effort that would likely start off as an engine development program. He declined to disclose a possible time frame for such a project but said it could involve participation in the FIA World Endurance Championship, TUDOR Championship or European Le Mans Series.

â€œRight now, itâ€™s a reorganization and reshuffle of Level 5 to do what is sensible for the team,â€ he said. â€œIf the right opportunity presents itself to start another race-winning operation, then we would consider doing that. Our options are wide open.â€

As for the future of Sweedler and Bell, who currently lead the GTD driversâ€™ championship, itâ€™s understood the duo will continue in the class with a to-be-announced program.
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Steve · Feb 28, 2014

More bad news.

Sebring TV Schedule Announced (sportscar365.com)

February 28, 2014

FOX Sports 1 will carry live coverage of the first three hours of the 62nd running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida on Saturday, March 15, the second round of both the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and the Tequila PatrÃ³n North American Endurance Cup.

The remainder of the event will be streamed live on IMSA.com and through the FOX Sports Go mobile app. The FOX broadcast team will provide commentary to both streams. The IMSA.com stream will be available globally.

FOX Sports 1 also will televise a three-hour full race highlight show from Sebring beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET on Sunday, March 16.

The balance of the 2014 TUDOR Championship television schedule will be announced next week. The Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge event at Sebring International Raceway on Friday, March 14, will be streamed live in its entirety on IMSA.com beginning at 1 p.m. ET.

The two-hour broadcast will air March 19 on FOX Sports 1 at 1 p.m. ET and will re-air March 23 on FOX Sports 2 beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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Steve · Mar 1, 2014

AMR Withdraws, 66 Entries Now Expected for Sebring (sportscar365.com)

John Dagys | March 1, 2014

This monthâ€™s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is unlikely to feature a capacity grid, following at least two withdrawals from the event this week.

An updated entry list for the second round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship was released on Thursday, which confirmed the withdrawal of the No. 97 Aston Martin Racing Vantage in the GT Le Mans class.

The factory entry, which was driven by Darren Turner, Stefan Muecke, Pedro Lamy, Richie Stanaway and Paul Dalla Lana at the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona in January, appeared on the initial Sebring entry list with to-be-announced drivers but has since been pulled.

AMR team principal John Gaw told Sportscar365 last month they had yet to confirm their prospective program for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup and had been waiting on what Balance of Performance changes, if any, would be made to the V8-powered car.

IMSA later confirmed the GTE-spec Vantage would be given a 20kg weight break and 0.3mm increase in air restrictor size for Sebring.

AMRâ€™s withdrawal reduces the GTLM field to 11 entries.

A further entry change comes in the GT Daytona class, with the Rolex 24 class-winning Level 5 Motorsports squad confirming its exit from the series this week.

While both Level 5 Ferrari 458 Italia GT3s still remain on the official entry list, at least one is expected to be formally withdrawn, with another team understood to be in the stages of finalizing an entry with drivers Bill Sweedler and Townsend Bell for the remainder of the season.

Sweedler and Bell were part of Level 5′s class-winning effort at Daytona and would retain the driversâ€™ championship lead heading into Sebring.

Should a deal be done to keep one of the Ferraris on track, it would result in a reduced entry of 66 cars for the race, two fewer than the raceâ€™s maximum capacity.

Itâ€™s understood there are no teams remaining on the reserve list, which was published in December.
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minirab · Mar 8, 2014

Just saw on the IMSA site that the Kansas race won't be on the tube, can we

hope that it was cancelled?!

CHKMINI · Mar 8, 2014

minirab said: ↑

Just saw on the IMSA site that the Kansas race won't be on the tube, can we

hope that it was cancelled?!
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....and replaced with

CHKMINI · Mar 8, 2014

MID- OHIO ??????

Steve · Mar 8, 2014

Kansas is still on the schedule.

Mid-Ohio is still not...

IMSA | TUDOR United SportsCar Championship | Upcoming Events

mrntd · Mar 8, 2014

With good coverage there will less sponsorship. Less money. Fewer cars. Then it dies.

Steve · Mar 10, 2014

Yup, the Kansas race is PC only, now no coverage either. That's 3 strikes in my book.

No TV, Radio Coverage for Kansas PC Event (sportscar365.com)

John Dagys | March 10, 2014

When Prototype Challenge teams visit Kansas Speedway this June for its double-header TUDOR United SportsCar Championship event, it will be without mainstream media coverage.

IMSA has confirmed to Sportscar365 that the June 6-7 event on the 2.37-mile oval/road course will not feature television, online video streaming or MRN coverage for the weekend, which also includes a round of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.

According to IMSA VP of Marketing David Pettit, the decision to forgo FOX Sports 1/2 coverage came down to its TV rights contract that was carried over from last year, which permitted a set number of â€œpremier series racesâ€ that were allowed as part of the package.

â€œWhen we split out the PC class, specifically at Kansas, we had to make a decision, â€˜Do we carry that one class and pay incremental for that?â€™â€ Pettit told Sportscar365. â€œThere would have been an additional cost to that. Weâ€™d have to look at our partners to help make some of that happen.

â€œA lot of what we do from a TV standpoint, the revenue is generated by our official partners. If you look at the PC class, there are no automotive partners in that. When you look at our TV coverage as an example, thereâ€™s a lot of advertising done by OEM and official automotive partners right now.

â€œSo that commercial commitment drives a lot of that consideration. Not to slight PC by any means, itâ€™s extremely expensive and without some connections, itâ€™s hard to make that viable.â€

IMSA and FOX Sports announced last week the complete TV schedule for the TUDOR Championship, which features the majority of races live on FOX Sports 1, including premier events at Long Beach, Watkins Glen and the P/GTLM and PC/GTD double-header at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

For Kansas, Pettit confirmed that live timing and scoring will be made available on IMSA.com, while theyâ€™re exploring the option of streaming the track PA, which will be anchored by Greg Creamer. Creamer was recently announced as an addition to the IMSA/MRN Radio staff.
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Full article here.

Nathan · Mar 10, 2014

The swirling in the bowl is getting faster.

This whole thing is becoming a primer for how to ruin a race series.

minirab · Mar 10, 2014

They can spin it anyway they want.

Steve · Mar 10, 2014

Millennium withdraws Sebring prototype entry (racer.com)

Marshall Pruett | Monday, 10 March 2014

The 62nd Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is expected to take the green flag with 65 entries, down from 66 after the Millennium Racing team withdrew its ORECA 03-Nissan P2 from the event.

Partnered with Action Express Racing, Delta Motorsport and its Millennium-sponsored No. 9 Corvette DP (TOP) finished third in January's Rolex 24 at Daytona. The veteran WEC team had planned to run its own P2 car at Sebring, but after testing on the 3.7-mile circuit last week with tire manufacturer Dunlop, team principal Simon Dowson felt they lacked sufficient running time on the spec Continental rubber used in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship's Prototype class.

"We did two days with Dunlop and then were planning on running Continentals and [doing] chassis tuning on Day 3, but it was rained off and we are just not well enough prepared," Dowson told RACER.

With a two-car WEC P2 program to run under the Millennium Racing banner, Dowson said it's unlikely the team will return with one of its ORECA-Nissans this season, but did express an interest in fielding a Coyote Daytona Prototype with the custom body Delta has developed for the DP chassis constructor.
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Nathan · Mar 10, 2014

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY0WxgSXdEE]Queen - 'Another One Bites the Dust' - YouTube[/ame]

ScottinBend · Mar 10, 2014

I really hope they can get it together for next year, but if they can't let's hope the Pirelli World Challenge can accommodate the field.

Steve · Mar 10, 2014

PWC is already growing. I've seen quite a few entry announcements and the line-up is getting more impressive as the season approaches. But do they really do endurance racing? Haven't watched enough to know.

MCS02 · Mar 10, 2014

I know let's have a hundred stick and ball stations and no racing!! Maybe some reruns of curling would be exciting.

Steve · Mar 10, 2014

ScottinBend said: ↑

Not sure as I have never been able to find any full race broadcasts. But that is changing this year as the races will be covered live on the NBC Sports Network.

TV Schedule.....
Schedule | Pirelli World Challenge
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Re PWC, Wiki says "Each race has a maximum 50 minute time limit."

Given the typical American seems to have the attention span of a gnat (gnat, not Gnat) I assume that sort of 'endurance' appeals to U.S. broadcasters and advertisers. Sarcasm aside, I'm looking forward to the broadcasts. Thanks for the tip I didn't know.

ScottinBend · Mar 11, 2014

Checked schedule and indeed the races are only scheduled for a total of an hour.

Wish sports car racing was a better draw in the US.......

Nathan · Mar 12, 2014

Magnus Racing gets a bit weird in this video...

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXJwgC3iuKk]Magnus Racing: Rediscover SportsCar 2 - Sebring Edition - YouTube[/ame]

minirab · Mar 12, 2014

IMSA must have extra cash to spread around!

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