Opinion – Page 2 – Speed and Sport Journal

TUDOR United Sports Car Championship

January 25, 2015
by joel

Well, I have held out long enough, but I feel now is the time to give my take on the TUDOR United Sports Car Championship. It is now mid January. The start of the 2015 sports car racing season is upon us. The TUDOR Rolex 24 hours of Daytona has already taken place, and yet still nobody knows exactly what will happen this year. If last year was any indication it could be yet another tumultuous year.

First of all last year was full of ups and downs, hits and misses, elation then disappointment for a lot of teams. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any one series where at some point just about every participant was mad to the boiling point. Everybody from drivers to car owners, team members, mechanics, and even series officials. All at one point in time were very upset with the series in general. The constant changes in rules, balance of performance, and competition rules just seemed to be a bit daunting for a lot of them. Especially considering that a lot of them were introduced very close to race dates, not giving teams enough time to really prepare or adjust the cars for the pending changes.

Going forward in 2015 it’s hard to ignore the many changes that occurred in the off-season. Entire teams that have left to go on to other things or a series. No one is sure how many sponsors will still back the programs they currently do, or will discontinue the programs altogether. All of these issues have resulted in reduced car fields starting off this year, and a fair amount of uncertainty for some. While a lot of teams have been very politically correct about what exactly are their reasons for not competing in this year’s series, it’s hard to ignore what has already taken place.

Dodge wins the GTLM championship and then pulls the plug on the program. Stalwarts of the IMSA and American Le Mans series Flying Lizard after 10 years have decided to move to another series altogether, and participate in only a couple of races. Extreme Speed Motorsports who carried the series sponsorship for several years have decided only to compete in the World Endurance Championship races. With the now disbanded Pickett Racing, and Dyson racing having left last year, I can’t help but believe that balance of performance issues have made a lot of the teams (particularly the P2 teams) feel as if they’ve been a bit hamstrung in comparison to the Daytona prototype cars.

Weather they want to admit it or not, the powers that be at TUDOR are eventually going to have to address these, and whatever problems are causing teams and drivers who would just assume be in the series move on to others. We as sports car racing fans can only hope that decisions made going forward, will serve to solve current problems, bring back some who have left, create an environment that encourages new teams to feel they can compete, and help grow and the sport.

joel

The BMW M1

Since there have been cars, there have been discussions and arguments about which is best or coolest. All of us, myself included have our favorites. Weather it be affordable production cars or expensive exotics, any of us can go on for long periods about which we would or would not own.

bmwm1-01 — Henry Schmitt’s 1979 BMW M1 at The Hawk with Brian Redman.

Speaking for myself, I can think of car companies who make some models I would consider owning, and a couple who do not make anything I would spend money on. Among these are Volkswagon, Suburu, and BMW.

bmwm1-03 — Henry Schmitt’s 1979 BMW M1 at The Hawk with Brian Redman.

That brings us the subject of this article. While BMW does not make anything I would ever buy, they have made a couple of cars which I admire and respect. Both the BMW M3, and M5 make good looking cars in race form. Both are popular in various racing series from SCCA to Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, and have had a measure of success. The M5 in particular has a solid winning record in GT racing. Run in the American LeMans series by Rahal Letterman Lanigan, they recorded several wins in the M5 before moving to the Z4.

bmwm5-01 — The BMW M3 of Rahal Letterman Lanigan at Mid Ohio in 2012.

bmwm5-02 — The BMW M3 of Rahal Letterman Lanigan at Mid Ohio in 2012.

The one car made by BMW that I can honestly say I truly like was the M1. Manufactured between mid 1975 to 1980, the M1 is a sleek exotic sports car with stunning looks and performance. The total production run of this car was only 430 units. I can only remember ever seeing one on the streets. I was pleasantly surprised to see two of them running in “The Hawk with Brian Redman” at Road America this year. I can also say I like it as much now as I did then.

bmwm3-01 — Fall Line Motorsports BMW M3 at Blackhawk Farm Raceway.

bmwm3-02 — A pair of Fall Line Motorsports BMW M3’s at Blackhawk Farm Raceway.

The Coming Airshow Season

With sequestration being all the talk of the airshow industry, I believe some very important points are being overlooked. It would seem, judging by popular belief, that you can’t hold an airshow unless you have a military jet team. I guess we have been spoiled having had the Blue Angels, Thunderbirds, and ACC demos for so many years. Now might be the time to take a step back and give some thought to just what makes an airshow. Truth is airshows began and evolved long before the first jet aircraft was invented or flown.

Let’s go back in time. It is late 1918 early 1919. The first ever professional pilots are coming home from World War I. The military still not completely sold on the strategic value of aviation, is all too eager to get rid of many of the aircraft in their inventory. Many pilots are able to buy the planes they flew in combat for very little money. Now, with flying skills, an airplane, and no real market for either what are they to do?

Some find work as crop dusters, and some carrying mail. Air mail was still in it’s infancy (having just been started by the U.S. Post office), and there was only so much crop dusting work to be done. This left a lot of planes and pilots with no real marketable skill.

It was then that some took to barn storming just to earn gas and a little pocket money. They would often show up unannounced, land in a farm field near a town, and find a kid to go to town and announce their arrival. Informing the towns people, (many who had never seen a real airplane) they would be performing daring aerobatic feats for just a nickel. I can’t help but think that the excitement those people felt at the time, was the same we feel seeing the high speed jets of today.

While there may not be as many, or any jets at airshows this year, the airshow will still go on. The form may be a bit different, but the essence of what airshows began as will still be present. So think of this season as a chance to take a closer look at the aerobatic acts we kinda took for granted at previous shows. The level of performance and skill these men and women exhibit, has it’s roots in the original barnstorming days.

If we were to have no jet teams for 2013, what can we look forward to? Airshows to put it simply. Fewer of them, and most with more variety than they have had in past years. Great aerobatic performances, and a lot of very cool and rare warbirds.

Come to think of it taking a year off from shooting the same jets we have been shooting for years is probably a good thing. If you are just a fan of your local airshow, then Chicken Little is right, your sky is falling. However if you are a true lover of aviation and airshows, you will have no problem finding good things to shoot this year.

Joel Love

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