08 rumors

[HORNDAWG]

Will Farnbacher Loles enter the ALMS full time as a 997 team or an F430 team? Greg Loles commented at MMP that they would be entering the ALMS full time in 08 with a 2 or 3 car team of either the Porsche 997's(most likely) or Ferrari 430's. Now it seems that Farnbacher has 3 Porshes up for sale including a 997, does this mean that they may be going the Italian Stallion route?

[Administrator]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

Will Farnbacher Loles enter the ALMS full time as a 997 team or an F430 team? Greg Loles commented at MMP that they would be entering the ALMS full time in 08 with a 2 or 3 car team of either the Porsche 997's(most likely) or Ferrari 430's. Now it seems that Farnbacher has 3 Porshes up for sale including a 997, does this mean that they may be going the Italian Stallion route?

Wow.... wouldn't that be interesting? On Sports Car Pros, Rick Dole seemed to indicate we'd be hearing quite a few announcements for '08 with the first bits coming as early as the SEMA show. Maybe once Rick learns how to use this site, he'll shed a bit more light on things.

JT

[The Sheriff]

Howdy Race Fans,

Rumors regarding SEMA seem to indicate at least 2 new tire companies announcing ALMS plans. My guess (and it is just a guess) is Falcon and Hancook are the two companies. I would hope that Bridgestone would come on board, but if they are that announcement is probably months (North American International Auto Show) away. I think Bridgestone's concern is having a team capable of winning races on their tires. I cannot see any of the current teams on Michelins willing to switch. However, if a couple of ChampCars make the move to sports car racing, then perhaps this would be reason for Bridgestone to join the party.

I heard at Laguna a European team or two is considering racing in the ALMS for 2008, but did not hear any specifics.

I think the other interesting area to watch will be driver movement and specifically at Audi. How many of the old guard - Biella, Pirro, etc will be back in 08 and especially for Le Mans. In addition, who will replace Seb Bourdais at Peugoet? Time will tell.

[HORNDAWG]

Steve Pruitt has said that Corsa Motorsport will be back in 08 for the full schedule with Hankook tires and that Gunnar Jeanette has already been testing them on the 430. link

[John Dagys]

I think the big question is: will there be a solid 30+ entries for the full season?

We saw the potential at Petit and Laguna with the handfull of European entrants coming over. And with some new teams announcing ALMS plans, I think we should have at least 30-35 full season entrants next year. But we were prediciting that same number one year ago (when looking to 2007).

It seems like when a few entries come, we lose a few others. Two steps forward, one step back.

[Nick Koske]

Would Farnbacher-Loles really move to Ferrari? I mean their whoe business is based on tuning Porsches. Would you want a business to tune your Porsche, if they decided to jump ship and race Ferraris??

I mean i can see Tafel and their switch...they just race. But Farnbacher-Loles' business is Porsches, just doesn't seem like it makes good business sense. Porsche fans/owners seem to be pretty loyal, seems like they might not take a jump to Ferrari so nicely.

[John Dagys]

Originally Posted by Nick Koske

Would Farnbacher-Loles really move to Ferrari? I mean their whoe business is based on tuning Porsches. Would you want a business to tune your Porsche, if they decided to jump ship and race Ferraris??

I mean i can see Tafel and their switch...they just race. But Farnbacher-Loles' business is Porsches, just doesn't seem like it makes good business sense. Porsche fans/owners seem to be pretty loyal, seems like they might not take a jump to Ferrari so nicely.

I doubt Farnbacher Loles would run Ferraris in ALMS and Porsches in Rolex Series (already confirmed). It would make a lot more sense for them to also run Porsches in ALMS..

[HORNDAWG]

Not really rumor but Robert Clarke is retiring from Honda/HPD/Acura.

Linkand link

[John Thawley]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

Not really rumor but Robert Clarke is retiring from Honda/HPD/Acura.

Linkand link

Kind of a drag... he's been a strong supporter for that program. You always have to worry about change in large corporate structures... the climate can change dramatically with movement in management.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by John Thawley

Kind of a drag... he's been a strong supporter for that program. You always have to worry about change in large corporate structures... the climate can change dramatically with movement in management.

Yes, it does give one pause for thought!