Tickets for Petit Le Mans will skyrocket if Peugeot confirm their suspected entry. (Photo: Marshall Pruett) » More Photos

Peugeot at Petit Le Mans?

Word on the street is that Peugeot will be heading stateside again to try and earn the inaugural ‘Green Challenge’ prize at Petit Le Mans. Making the trip to beat up on Audi would serve no purpose as the car is a lame duck—it won’t have any major updates for Petit as the R10 is headed for retirement.

For those that missed the 908’s at Sebring, Petit Le Mans is a must. The cars are the closest thing to the speed and spirit of the best the IMSA GTP series had to offer.

Penske out in 2009?

This topic is growing in intensity—I helped our friends at Wind Tunnel with some questions to ask Penske’s Tim Cindric when he was on the show last Sunday, and Tim’s response was the similar to what Porsche had given me. “Penske’s contracts are negotiated on an annual basis and 2009 will be discussed shortly.” Not exactly a reassuring reply.

Will 2008 go down as the last year Penske Racing will run factory Porsche RS Spyder's in the ALMS? Let's hope this rumors is false. (Photo: Porsche) » More Photos

The LMP2 RS Spyder program has always been about selling customer cars, not spending unnecessary money on a factory program once the cars became proven winners. Seven Spyders are currently active—4 in the ALMS and 3 in the LMS. More are expected to be sold for 2009 as the German car is the only proven P2 car capable of winning at every round.

No disrespect to Acura, but Porsche has taken four of six ALMS races this year, every LMS round, and simply owned their class at Le Mans. To win in P2, a Porsche is the obvious choice. So, does that mean Porsche pulls their dollars and support from Penske?

As much as they want their program to be solely customer driven, I don’t see Penske going away for ’09. I could be wrong (as if often the case,) but I don’t see the team, the cars, the drivers, and the infrastructure being axed.

Dario 3rd driver at Dyson for Petit Le Mans?

I’ve been hearing that we might have the brothers Franchitti driving together at Dyson for Petit Le Mans. He maintains an impressive ALMS batting average--.500 for his one win (Sebring ’07) from two starts (Long Beach ’07). He even sat on pole for Long Beach.

Dyson wants (and needs) a win badly after almost two years with the RS Spyder; with Dario as a 3rd driver for the #20 at Petit, I’d sat the combo of Franchitti/Franchitti/Leitzinger is more than a match for anything Penske or Acura will have.

Sal-o headed to Poo-joe?

If the Salo and Melo rumors are to be believed, Risi would be looking for two new drivers at the end of the season. (Photo: Marshall Pruett) » More Photos

I’ve asked myself on more than a few occasions how much longer Mika Salo will have to race in GT2 when he’s capable of going toe-to-toe with any LMP1 or P2 driver on the planet, and it appears my questions could soon be answered. Rumors are that the Finn’s contract with the Italian marque is up and he’s bolting for much faster pastures with Peugeot in LMP1.

‘The Lion’ has made both public and private overtures to being interested in modifying their driver lineup for 2009—some of those interests were from an interview I did with Peugeot in June. Villeneuve and Gene are the most obvious two for them to jettison.

Pairing Salo with Sarrazin, Minassian, or Lamy would be almost unfair to the competition. For the Monaco-based driver, a 2009 calendar the full LMS series, Le Mans, Sebring, and Petit Le Mans would keep him plenty busy while being close the factory in Velizy.

His GT2 battles have been epic, but Mika Salo isn’t meant to be fighting with production cars. He’d be a perfect fit for living on the knife-edge of performance that Peugeot’s 908’s can offer him. Of all the rumors I’ve heard, this is the one I hope comes true.

Melo’s Ultimate Driving Machine?

Will Bobby Rahal be installing 'Melo' stickers on the side of his new ALMS GT2 BMW M3 V8 for 2009? (Photo: ALMS) » More Photos

While we’re on the topic of Salo, a rumor of Risi losing their other driver is another biggie that’s cropped up. If the whispers are true, BMW made the rather brilliant call to sign one half of the 2007 GT2 championship duo to drive one of their two ’09 M3 V8 challengers.

For those that have seen Melo’s catapult impression at Sebring and Utah this year, it’s worth nothing that the (relatively) young Brazilian could stand a few more years of perfecting his racecraft, but his speed and development skills are well worth the risk of BMW’s efforts to sign him.

Who better to help BMW make their GT2 M3 a Ferrari-beater than the one of the two men responsible for turning the F430 into the class of the field?

Risi’s had a tough year in the ALMS, and while their Le Mans victory helped to boost the team's performance, we could see their primary car needing two new drivers for 2009. If one or two seats do open up, expect Giuseppe Risi to have some of the world’s finest GT drivers ringing him immediately.

Corsa's Zytek

I don’t get that many opportunities to watch regular TV, but when I do, Law and Order: Criminal Intent is a favorite. The 82 different CSI shows have never interested me, but the odd way the detective on ‘CI’ pull together facts and occurrences to form a case against a suspect is fascinating. Now that’s not to say my detective skills are anything like what the two imaginary detectives on ‘CI’ put on display each week, but I do tend to spot oddities and random statements in press releases from time to time.

My latest sluethery (I know, it’s not a real word) puts the announcement from Zytek regarding the sale of an LMP1 car to an American team together with the abrupt announcement from Corsa Motorsports that they’d pulled out of the Series just prior to Lime Rock, stating “An opportunity was presented at the 24 Hours of Le Mans which will require a transitioning of our program.”

Zytek's John Manchester confirmed the LMP1 sale during Le Mans while being interviewed on Radio Le Mans. Corsa said the opportunity was presented at Le Mans. Let’s hope my ‘CI’ sleuthery is correct. If not, maybe I need to switch over to watching CSI: Manitoba.

Cytosport a No Go for '08?

Rumors had Cytosport returning to the Series at Elkhart this weekend, but with the well documented sale of their P1 Lola to Intersport (a sale concluded prior to Le Mans!), the team is still in a ‘transition period.’ Without a car or a clear direction if team owner Greg Pickett wants to keep racing, the Benicia, CA team is in limbo.

Let’s hope for the sake of the ALMS Greg decides to return—the fans need an ‘everyman’ team to root for, and the privateer ranks in LMP1 are hotting up. Intersport’s two cars fighting with Corsa’s Zytek and a Cytosport entry would be a great unofficial ‘petrol P1’ championship to watch unfold. Start sending those letters—we need them back!

Pony Car Wars to be Rekindled at Laguna Seca?

Will Laguna Seca--a track with many classic Ford vs Chevy TransAm races in its history, have a new chapter to add in October? Only if Mike Davis decides to enter his fearsome SPEED GT Mustang. (Photo: Mark Weber) » More Photos

Another fairly credible rumor has World Challenge GT owner/entrant Mike Davis getting permission to run his extremely exotic Ford Mustang GT in the GT1 category at the Laguna ALMS finale in October. He and his son run two of the cars in SPEED GT, with son Brandon Davis scoring a win and two poles from five races this year.

Davis’ ACS-sponsored Pony Car—complete with a monster Huffaker-built 6.0L V8 engine, Ford GT-based engine, formula car-style pushrod rear suspension, and a Ford GT transaxle, would present a very real threat to Corvette, providing they had an air restrictor sized to compensate for the GT’s added weight.

The beast is already rumored to make over 650hp in World Challenge trim, and suggestions that it can make well over 700hp without air restrictors can be believed. Talk of Davis spending $1.5M to develop and built his cars sounds like an exaggeration, but one look at them up close and it's easy to see where the money was spent. It's too much car for SPEED GT and would make a natural competitor for Corvette Racing.

For the waning ALMS GT1 category, a new entry using a car other than a Corvette or Aston Martin would be a welcomed change of pace. For fans of the series and fans of the Mustang, this car needs to find its way onto the grid at Laguna Seca.




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