08 rumors

[HORNDAWG]

Well it seems that Jamie is more than likely out of the BK Lola/MZR-R.

Originally Posted by mazda1 @ 10/10ths

News from Mazda just in! About two hours ago, at a dealer in Orlando Florida (Classic Mazda) Bk Motorsports and Mazda announce their new driver for next weekend 12 hours of Sebring during a pre-race event. They announce that Jaime Bach is out and the 2007 IMSA lite champion Gerardo Bonilla is replacing him! Gerardo will join Ben Devlin and Rafa Matos (allowed to race with BK by AGR) at the endurance race next week. During the winter test at Sebring, Gerardo, on only his second run with the P2 car, was several seconds faster than Jaime. He also dominated the IMSA lite series last year. I think Mazda is feeling the pressure of having a big sponsor and this move is a big step forward!!!! GO MAZDA !!!!! ZOOM ZOOM!!!!

AND

I was there, I talked to Ben Devlin, Gerardo Bonilla, and John doonan. They said that jaime wanted to do other things. Him and his dad have a construction company back in wisconsin and he wanted to concentrate on not only that, but also other things he is working on, so HE IS OUT!!

In a situation such as this I would of hoped to see Guy back in the car but I guess maybe bad blood between them now? Nothing against Jamie but it is probably a good move for the team as regards performance possibilities.

[John Thawley]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

Well it seems that Jamie is more than likely out of the BK Lola/MZR-R.
In a situation such as this I would of hoped to see Guy back in the car but I guess maybe bad blood between them now? Nothing against Jamie but it is probably a good move for the team as regards performance possibilities.

No bad blood with Guy. Anyone who knows Guy will tell you, he's not the kind of guy that generates bad blood. It's simply a matter of both parties have moved on.

Jamie is very comfortable with Gerardo taking the spot. Jamie has been hitting the books hard and his own business interests... the arrangement was amicable with all involved.

JT

[WMUCarGuy]

I'd really love to see Guy get a great ride in the ALMS again.

[WMUCarGuy]

Here's a blurb from motorsport.com's "Paddock Chatter from Sebring"

"The Ford GT is running on European Dunlops, which is apparently a more aggressive program, with a wider range of tire compounds. Robertson also noted the car is 99 percent homologated, with a very few dimension issues that have to be worked out. He predicts it to be fully compliant by the end of the day.

Robertson said that five cars are likely to be built, with the second chassis going to Tim Pappas possibly in time for the next round at St. Petersburg."

So I guess that more or less confirms that Trans Sport will have a GT-R and it should be on track soon.

[apc_monk]

Just wanted to throw this out there but some pictures came up from the recent Mazda/BK event the car was running the Courage body work!



Any ideas on why they would do this?

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by apc_monk

Just wanted to throw this out there but some pictures came up from the recent Mazda/BK event the car was running the Courage body work!



Any ideas on why they would do this?

Its a showcar. Their old car with new livery going around and doing promo work.

[apc_monk]

The old courage was converted into the Furai show car I believe. Unless BK had two Courages like they have two Lola's?

[WMUCarGuy]

Originally Posted by apc_monk

The old courage was converted into the Furai show car I believe. Unless BK had two Courages like they have two Lola's?

Apparently they had two.

[Nick Koske]

They originally bought two Lolas, one for spares I believe.

Probably didn't want to run into the same issues they had when the Courage got f---ed up at Lime Rock in 2006?

[HORNDAWG]

Well it looks as if Risi will have Patrick Friesacher & Harrison Brix in the # 61 for the non Krohn rounds, or full season as the wording of the news to this point is rather ambiguous IMO.