NASCAR is back and this year a week earlier than the year before. It is a changing time in NASCAR. Matt Kenseth and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. are gone. In comes William Byron and Alex Bowman while Darrell Wallace, Jr. is now full-time at Richard Petty Motorsports, which is now a Chevrolet team. Erik Jones moves to Joe Gibbs Racing and defending champions Furniture Row Racing downsizes to one car for Martin Truex, Jr. Team Penske is up to three cars with Ryan Blaney moving from Wood Brothers Racing.
Besides drivers on the move, Speedweeks sees the Clash move to after Daytona 500 qualifying on Sunday February 11th. Qualifying leads off the day at 12:30 p.m. ET with the Clash set for 3:00 p.m. ET. The 150-mile qualifying races will be run Thursday February 15th at 7:00 p.m. ET. The 60th Daytona 500 will be Sunday February 18th at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Below will breakdown the drivers into two sections. The first part will be drivers entered in the Clash while the second half will be drivers not competing in the Clash. Each driver will be listed with team, last year's championship finish, best result in the Clash for those drivers in the Clash, best result in the Daytona 500 and an outlook on the 2018 season.
Clash Entries
Jamie McMurray: #1 McDonald's/Cessna/DC Solar/GearWrench Chevrolet
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 12th
Best Clash Result: 2nd (2009, 2011)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 1st (2010)
2018 Outlook: McMurray made the Chase in what was a good but less than exciting season. He had 17 top ten finishes but only three top five finishes, only one that came in the second half of the season and he led 21 laps all season. He has a teammate that can compete for the championship but I think McMurray will be in the shadows for most of 2018.
Brad Keselowski: #2 Discount Tire/Miller Lite/Alliance Truck Part/Wurth/Horizon Global Corporation/Snap-On Ford
Team: Team Penske
2017 Championship Finish: 4th
Best Clash Result: 2nd (2014)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 3rd (2014)
2018 Outlook: Keselowski keeps pouting about the Fords being at a disadvantage this season. He might be right but it doesn't make him less insufferable. He will win a race or two and finish somewhere in the top ten in the championship.
Austin Dillon: #3 DOW/American Ethanol/AAA Chevrolet
Team: Richard Childress Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 11th
Best Clash Result: 8th (2016)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 9th (2014, 2016)
2018 Outlook: He won at Charlotte and had three top five finishes and four top ten finishes the entire season and somehow advanced from one round of the Chase and was on the cusp of a top ten finish in the championship. He ended the season with 11 consecutive finishes outside the top ten. I don't expect him to make the Chase for a second consecutive year.
Kevin Harvick: #4 Busch Beer/Jimmy John's/Mobil 1 Chevrolet
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 3rd
Best Clash Result: 1st (2009, 2010, 2013)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 1st (2007)
2018 Outlook: Harvick has been one of the most consistent drivers over the last decade. He has finished in the top five of the championship six of the last eight seasons and that includes eight consecutive years finishing in the top ten of the championship. Going back to 2006, Harvick has eight top five championship finishes and 11 top ten championship finishes. Despite driving one of the under-performing Fords that Keselowski is so worried about I expect Harvick to once again win multiple races and possibly be the top Ford driver in the championship for a second consecutive season.
Chase Elliott: #9 NAPA Auto Parts/SunEnergy1/Kelley Blue Book/Mountain Dew/Hooters Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
2017 Championship Finish: 5th
Best Clash Result: 7th (2017)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 14th (2017)
2018 Outlook: The young man was scratching on the door for victory but could not breakthrough. He did win a points-paying race last year since 10 points were awarded to the winners of the Daytona 500 qualifying races. At 22 years old, some are already casting him off because if you don't win by the age of 22 when are you going to win? While that is absurd, there is a feeling of when is it going to happen especially after how close he has come. I expect him to get that elusive first victory this year.
Denny Hamlin: #11 Fedex/Sport Clips Toyota
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 6th
Best Clash Result: 1st (2006, 2014, 2016)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 1st (2016)
2018 Outlook: Hamlin finished tied for the second-most top five finishes in 2017 on 15 with Keselowski and Larson and he was also tied for third-most top ten finishes with Kyle Busch on 22. On top of all that he completed the fifth-most laps behind Michael McDowell, Paul Menard, Ryan Blaney and Martin Truex, Jr. He will be a solid driver and make the semifinal round.
Ryan Blaney: #12 Menards/REV Group/Fitzgerald Glider Kits/PPG/Dex Imaging Ford
Team: Team Penske
2017 Championship Finish: 9th
Best Clash Result: This is his Clash debut.
Best Daytona 500 Result: 2nd (2017)
2018 Outlook: Blaney won at Pocono but that glosses over what was a slightly disappointing season. He would only get one more top five finish all season after that Pocono victory and that was Kansas in October. His 21 lead lap finishes was tied for second-fewest among the Chase drivers with Austin Dillon and Kasey Kahne had one fewer. Penske is a step up and crew chief Jeremy Bullins follows Blaney. I think he gets more lead lap finishes and will be the second-best Penske driver in the championship.
Ricky Stenhouse, Jr.: #17 Fastenal/Fifth Third Bank/SunnyD Ford
Team: Roush Fenway Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 13th
Best Clash Result: 6th (2016)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 7th (2014)
2018 Outlook: He won two restrictor plate races and then went 15 races between top ten finishes from July to October. Roush Fenway Racing is still far from where it was a decade ago and I don't expect this team to take a step forward.
Kyle Busch: #18 M&Ms/Interstate Batteries Toyota
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 2nd
Best Clash Result: 1st (2012)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 3rd (2016)
2018 Outlook: He is going to win a bunch, whine a bunch, piss off a bunch of people and once again find himself alive for the championship heading into Martinsville and the final four races. I would expect him to be the top championship finisher from Joe Gibbs Racing.
Erik Jones: #20 DeWalt/Circle K/Reser's/Sports Clip Toyota
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 19th
Best Clash Result: This is his Clash debut.
Best Daytona 500 Result: 39th (2017)
2018 Outlook: The first year was promising especially when taking in consideration the team he was driving for a new team in the form of a second entry for Furniture Row Racing. Jones qualified well in 2017 and I think the move to Joe Gibbs Racing could put himself in position to make the Chase based on points.
Joey Logano: #22 Shell/Pennzoil/AAA/Autotrader.com Ford
Team: Team Penske
2017 Championship Finish: 17th
Best Clash Result: 1st (2017)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 1st (2015)
2018 Outlook: In the oddity of 2017, Logano vanished after his Richmond victory was deemed invalid for having him make the Chase because his car had an illegal rear suspension. He had eight top ten finishes from the first nine races. He finished the year with nine top ten finishes from the final 27 races. I don't expect this run of form to continue but he might be a driver that is fighting for a spot in the semifinal round and either just makes it for falls short.
Ryan Newman: #31 Caterpillar/Grainger/Liberty National Life Insurance Chevrolet
Team: Richard Childress Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 16th
Best Clash Result: 2nd (2005)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 1st (2008)
2018 Outlook: Despite finishing behind his teammate Dillon, Newman had a better season. He won a race but had seven top five finishes, his most since 2011, and 13 top ten finishes. He has been consistent and has had only nine retirements over the past four seasons but he has had 38 lapped finishes in that time including over ten finishes a lap down the last two years. He is good and will be on the fringe of making the Chase on points.
Kurt Busch: #41 Monster Energy/Haas Automation Ford
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 14th
Best Clash Result: 1st (2011)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 1st (2017)
2018 Outlook: Busch appeared to be on his way out after 2017 but he has been brought back for one season. Despite winning last year's Daytona 500, Busch's season was off of his Harvick's and I don't think he will be contending for top honors within SHR. This could be another year where he appears to be on his way out in July.
Kyle Larson: #42 CreditOne/DC Solar Chevrolet
Team: Chip Ganassi Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 8th
Best Clash Result: 4th (2016)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 7th (2016)
2018 Outlook: He is one engine failure away from advancing to the semifinal round of the Chase. He followed that with three bad results when his season was done and dusted and ended the year with an impressive drive at Homestead. I expect him to contend for a shot at the championship at Homestead and he could win the most races this season.
Jimmie Johnson: #48 Lowe's Home Improvement/Kobalt Tools Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
2017 Championship Finish: 10th
Best Clash Result: 1st (2005)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 1st (2006, 2013)
2018 Outlook: Johnson won three races earlier in the season and then disappeared for most of the rest of the season. He went 15 races between top five finishes, which were his victory at Dover and a third at Dover. He made the final eight but after a quiet day at Martinsville it didn't appear he was a serious threat for an eighth championship. I think he will be more consistent for the entirety of the season and not have a lull over the summer.
Martin Truex, Jr.: #78 Bass Pro Shops/Five-Hour Energy/Auto-Owner Insurance Toyota
Team: Furniture Row Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 1st
Best Clash Result: 2nd (2015)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 2nd (2016)
2018 Outlook: It is tough to defend championship and the current format only makes it more difficult. It is hard to expect Truex to repeat his form on 1.5-mile ovals. He is bound to have a bad day but I think he will win multiple races on 1.5-mile ovals. Can his form on the other racetracks make up for the bad days he didn't have in 2017?
Kasey Kahne: #95 WRL General Contractors/Procore Chevrolet
Team: Levine Family Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 15th
Best Clash Result: 2nd (2010)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 7th (2007, 2008, 2017)
2018 Outlook: The Washingtonian moves from Hendrick Motorsports after an under-fulfilled stint with the team. Levine Family Racing has had some impressive results, especially at restrictor plate racetracks but Kahne has a terrible track record in restrictor plate races. In 56 restrictor plate races he has zero victories, six top five finishes and 16 top ten finishes with an average finish of 20.55. It seems hard to imagine this team cracking the top 20 in the championship.
Daytona 500 Entires
Jeffrey Earnhardt: #00 VRX Simulations Chevrolet
Team: StarCom Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 36th
Best Daytona 500 Result: 26th (2017)
2018 Outlook: He will get people excited every time they see the name Earnhardt on the ticker during races and people will quickly fall to earth when realize it is Jeffrey.
Trevor Bayne: #6 AdvoCare/Performance Plus Ford
Team: Roush Fenway Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 22nd
Best Daytona 500 Result: 1st (2011)
2018 Outlook: Bayne won his second career start, it just so happened to be the Daytona 500 and since then he has had four top five finishes in his last 164 starts. Don't expect him to crack the top twenty unless he repeats his 2011 achievement.
Danica Patrick: #7 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet
Team: Premium Motorsports
2017 Championship Finish: 28th
Best Daytona 500 Result: 8th (2013)
2018 Outlook: She is running the Daytona 500 and then riding off into the sunset with a yet-to-be-announced Indianapolis 500 ride. If she wins, she leaves in tears and NASCAR will get to promote having a woman finally win a Cup race. If she doesn't win, well the show will go on. Whoever replaces her in the Premium Motorsports seat won't do much.
Aric Almirola: #10 Smithfield Ford
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 29th
Best Daytona 500 Result: 4th (2017)
2018 Outlook: I think Almirola will have a competitive season and is in position to have a career-best season. He could be one of those drivers on the fringe of making the Chase on points and he could win a restrictor plate race.
Ty Dillon: #13 GEICO/Twisted Tea Chevrolet
Team: Germain Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 24th
Best Daytona 500 Result: 25th (2016)
2018 Outlook: He will continue to be mired in the middle.
Clint Bowyer: #14 Mobil 1/Rush Truck Centers/Haas Automation Ford
Team: Stewart-Haas Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 18th
Best Daytona 500 Result: 4th (2009, 2010)
2018 Outlook: Bowyer had a good start to 2017 but fell off and couldn't score enough points or win a race to make the Chase. I think he will have a few races where he is in the hunt for a victory. Whether he can breakthrough and get his first victory since 2012 will depend on if he can beat the likes of Larson, Elliott, Johnson, Busch and Truex, Jr.
Daniel Suárez: #19 ARRIS/Stanley/PEAK Toyota
Team: Joe Gibbs Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 20th
Best Daytona 500 Result: 29th (2017)
2018 Outlook: Suárez did a really good job of bringing the car home in 2017 and that consistency got him results. I think he will take a step forward but will definitely have to deal with the pressure of having fellow sophomore Erik Jones now as a teammate.
Paul Menard: #21 Menards/Motorcraft/Quick Lane Ford
Team: Wood Brothers Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 23rd
Best Daytona 500 Result: 5th (2017)
2018 Outlook: He completed the second-most laps last season. The Wood Brothers did well with Blaney but this is a new set up and I don't expect the team to repeat its 2017 form.
William Byron: #24 Quicken Loans/Mountain Dew/UniFirst/Axalta/Liberty University Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
2017 Championship Finish: Rookie (2017 NASCAR Grand National Series championship).
Best Daytona 500 Result: This is his debut
2018 Outlook: He is the latest rookie with all the sunshine being blown up his backside. After two decorated seasons in Trucks and the second division it will be put up or shut up in Cup. He is only 20 years old and I think he will face adversity this season and finish fourth of the four Hendrick Motorsports drivers.
Matt DiBenedetto: #32 Can-Am Ford
Team: Go Fas Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 32nd
Best Daytona 500 Result: 9th (2017)
2018 Outlook: He will be competing to crack the top 30.
Michael McDowell: #34 Love's Travel Stops/K-LOVE Ford
Team: Front Row Motorsports
2017 Championship Finish: 26th
Best Daytona 500 Result: 9th (2013)
2018 Outlook: McDowell had a few good seasons at Levine Family Racing but the switch to Front Row Motorsports could see him fall a few pegs back.
Chris Buescher: #37 Kroger ClickList/Scott Products/Kleenex/Cottonelle Mega/Kroger/Bush's Beans Chevrolet
Team: JTG Daugherty Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 25th
Best Daytona 500 Result: 25th (2017)
2018 Outlook: Buescher doubled his top ten finish total in 2017 as he picked up four top ten finishes. I think he could have another career year in terms of top ten finishes and still not crack the top 20 in the championship.
David Ragan: #38 1000Bulbs.com/Speedco/Shriners Hospital for Children Ford
Team: Front Row Motorsports
2017 Championship Finish: 30th
Best Daytona 500 Result: 5th (2007)
2018 Outlook: Ragan's best Daytona 500 finish was his first Daytona 500 start and he threw the 2011 race away when he very well could have won the whole damn thing. Front Row Motorsports has its days in restrictor plate races and Ragan has three consecutive top ten finishes in restrictor plate races. As for the whole season, it would be a surprise if he gets multiple top ten finishes on non-restrictor plate races.
Darrell Wallace, Jr.: #43 Click n' Close/Smithfield/ U.S. Air Force/STP Chevrolet
Team: Richard Petty Motorsports
2017 Championship Finish: Rookie (Made four starts as a championship ineligible driver)
Best Daytona 500 Result: This is his debut.
2018 Outlook: Wallace, Jr. has a lot of attention, as he becomes a full-time Cup driver. He was doing really well in the Grand National Series before the money ran drive and it kept him from a shot at the championship. RPM moves to Chevrolet at what appears to be the right time. I think he will give Byron a run for his money for rookie of the year.
A.J. Allmendinger: #47 Kroger ClickList/Kingsford Charcoal/Clorox/Scott Products/Bush's Beans/Louisiana Hot Sauce Chevrolet
Team: JTG Daugherty Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 27th
Best Daytona 500 Result: 3rd (2009, 2017)
2018 Outlook: His best hope is winning a road course. If he can't do that then he might have a shot at Martinsville or a restrictor plate race. Outside of those six races prior to the Chase, Allmendinger needs to be superb to have half a prayer at making the Chase.
Justin Marks: #51 Harry's Shavin Products Chevrolet
Team: Rick Ware Racing
2017 Championship Finish: N/A (Made one start as a championship ineligible driver)
Best Daytona 500 Result: This is his debut. He failed to qualified for the 2015 Daytona 500.
2018 Outlook: Marks is only onboard for Daytona and the remaining of the races in this car remains unknown. Originally, Ray Black, Jr. was supposed to be full-time in this car.
Brendan Gaughan: #62 Beard Oil/South Point Chevrolet
Team: Beard Motorsports
2017 Championship Finish: N/A (Made 4 starts as a championship ineligible driver)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 11th (2017)
2018 Outlook: Gaughan made his first Daytona 500 start in 13 years last year and like he did in all four of his starts last year, he hung out at the back and let the field take itself out. I expect the same strategy to be in place this year as he once again is slated to run the restrictor plate races.
Mark Thompson: #66 MBM Motorsports Chevrolet
Team: MBM Motorsports
2017 Championship Finish: N/A (Made one start as a championship ineligible driver)
Best Daytona 500 Result: This is his debut
2018 Outlook: Thompson is 61 years old and will likely make his Daytona 500 debut. I expect him to ride around, like Gaughan, and hope to get a top 20 because half the field was taken out in one accident. Thompson started the autumn race at Talladega, his first start in over 25 years. In his only two starts, Thompson has finished 39th in both races.
Corey LaJoie: #72 TriStar Motorsports Chevrolet
Team: TriStar Motorsports
2017 Championship Finish: N/A (Made 32 starts as a championship ineligible driver)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 24th (2017)
2018 Outlook: LaJoie moves over from the dying BK Racing and he will split this car with Cole Whitt. Whitt's best finish in 2017 was 12th at Indianapolis.
Alex Bowman: #88 Nationwide Insurance/Axalta Chevrolet
Team: Hendrick Motorsports
2017 Championship Finish: N/A (Ran the Clash and made two starts in the Grand National Series with a victory and an eighth place finish).
Best Daytona 500 Result: 23rd (2015)
2018 Outlook: I think Bowman enters prepared and motivated. He could be the stunner of the season and if he wins a race before Elliott it will likely break Elliott's career. He will be in contention for a Chase spot on points if he doesn't get a victory.
David Gilliland: #92 RBR Enterprises Ford
Team: RBR Enterprises
2017 Championship Finish: N/A (Did not run in 2017)
Best Daytona 500 Result: 3rd (2011)
2018 Outlook: He is only doing Daytona. If he wins, good for him and if he doesn't then we will move on.
D.J. Kennington: #96 Gaunt Brothers Racing Toyota
Team: Gaunt Brothers Racing
2017 Championship Finish: 39th
Best Daytona 500 Result: 36th (2017)
2018 Outlook: The Canadian made four starts last year and that was enough for him to crack the top 40 in the championship. Expect him to hang out at the back in the Daytona 500.
There is one other car on the entry list. BK Racing has entered the #23 Toyota without a driver. BK Racing is in a court battle over unpaid loans to Union Bank & Trust in Virginia.
A few notes about this Daytona 500 and first, this is the 60th Daytona 500, which kicks off the 70th NASCAR Cup season. Where has the time gone? The golden anniversary seemed like yesterday. One thing noticed while previewing this race is double-digit as have won seven consecutive Daytona 500s. That is the longest such stretch since double-digit cars won the first 26 Daytona 500s.
The team now known as Richard Petty Motorsports has the most Daytona 500 victories with nine and Hendrick Motorsports is second all-time with eight. Wood Brothers Racing is third on five victories. Richard Childress Racing, Roush Fenway Racing and Team Penske all have two Daytona 500 victories.
Chevrolet has won 23 Daytona 500s, the most all-time. Ford is second on 15 victories. Toyota's only Daytona 500 victory came two years ago with Denny Hamlin. It is the only Daytona 500 winning manufacture without multiple Daytona 500 victories.
Martin Truex, Jr. attempts to become the first defending Cup champion to win the Daytona 500 since Jeff Gordon did it in 1999. The most recent defending Cup champion to win the Clash was Dale Earnhardt in 1995. The pole-sitter has not won the Daytona 500 since Dale Jarrett in 2000. That was also the last time a driver won the Daytona 500 from the front row, although Dale Earnhardt, Jr. won the 2004 after moving up to the first spot of the grid when Greg Biffle had to go to the rear of the field for an engine change.
Chevrolet has won five consecutive Daytona 500 pole positions and nine of the last ten. The one outlier was Carl Edwards in a Roush Fenway Racing Ford in 2012. Chase Elliott could become the third driver to win three consecutive Daytona 500 pole positions joining his father Bill, who did it from 1985 to 1987, and Ken Schrader, who won the pole positions from 1988 to 1990. Elliott's crew chief Alan Gustafson has won three consecutive pole positions as he has been on Elliott's car the last two years and was Jeff Gordon's crew chief in 2015. Toyota has yet to win a Daytona 500 pole position.
Richard Childress Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing are tied for the most Clash victories on eight with Hendrick Motorsports on six. Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin are the only active drivers with multiple Clash victories and both have won the race three times.
In terms of the Daytona 500 qualifying races, Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin each have three victories in the event, the most among active drivers. Jimmie Johnson is the only other active driver to win in the event twice. Chase Elliott picked up his first victory last year in the event and in doing so Hendrick Motorsports now has 14 Daytona 500 qualifying races, one behind Richard Childress Racing for most all-time. Hendrick Motorsports has won four of six Daytona 500 qualifying races in the last three years. Hamlin's victory last year was Joe Gibbs Racing's tenth victory in the event. Ford has not won a 150-mile qualifier since Matt Kenseth in 2012.
The 60th Daytona 500 leads off what will be six consecutive weeks of racing before the Easter break. The series returns to action at Texas with nine consecutive weeks on track until off on Father's Day weekend. Sonoma will be the first race of summer on June 24th with the next off week not being until August 25th. After that off week in August, the season closes with 12 consecutive weeks of races and the season closes at Homestead on November 18th.
Covering All Motorsports. From Indianapolis to Le Mans, Daytona to Monaco.
Friday, February 9, 2018
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
2018 IndyCar Team Preview: Schmidt Peterson Motorsports
After taking a detour to look at two of the newer IndyCar teams, which will be participating on a limited basis in 2018, it is now time to get back to the full-time competitors and for the sixth team preview we will look at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. The team is coming off another difficult season after it failed to have a driver crack the top ten in the championship for a third consecutive year. The team attempts to rebound with an all-Canadian line-up.
2017 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Review:
Wins: 1 (Long Beach)
Poles: 0
Best Starting Position: 3rd (St. Petersburg, James Hinchcliffe)
Final Championship Positions: 13th (James Hinchcliffe), 19th (Mikhail Aleshin), 26th (Sebastián Saavedra), 28th (Jack Harvey), 32nd (Jay Howard).
2018 Drivers:
James Hinchcliffe - #5 Arrow Electronics Honda
Hinchcliffe started 2017 with a promising race at St. Petersburg, starting third and leading by lap four. He appeared set for at least a podium finish if not a victory to start the season but a caution shuffled him back. He managed a ninth-place finish. In the second race of the season at Long Beach, Hinchcliffe ran at the front the entire day and shuffle into the lead. With the retirements of Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi, Hinchcliffe found himself taking on Sébastien Bourdais for the victory and he held off the Frenchman. He would make it three top ten finishes from the first three races with a sixth place finish at Barber.
Results were harder to come by after Barber. He would not finish in the top ten for the next three races but he got back on the podium in the first Belle Isle race despite a spin on the opening lap in turn two. After that podium finish, Hinchcliffe had another stretch of three consecutive races outside the top ten before he finished tenth at Iowa, a race he spent much of in the top five and he finished third for the second consecutive year in his hometown of Toronto. However, his only top ten finish in the final five races was an eighth at Gateway and he ended the season with consecutive dead-last finishes at Watkins Glen and Sonoma.
Numbers to Remember:
4: Consecutive seasons finishing outside the top ten in the championship.
4: Finishes outside the top twenty in six Indianapolis 500 starts.
12.1: Average finish in 20 A1GP starts.
Predictions/Goals:
James Hinchcliffe has to perform this season. He is Russell Westbrook. He got the teammate he wanted and now it is time to put results on the board. It says a lot that his best qualifying performance in 2017 was the season opener and his best finish was the second race of the season. Too often Hinchcliffe has had bipolar results and his personality has gotten him a pass from the fan base. For the fan fare he has received it can only hide the fact his best championship finish is eighth for so long. Take into considerations the only other full-time drivers not to finish in the top eight of the championship (excluding rookies) are Charlie Kimball, Max Chilton, Ed Jones, Spencer Pigot and Gabby Chaves. Of those drivers, Jones was a rookie last year, Pigot has yet to run a full season, Chaves has had only one full season and Chilton is entering his third season.
Hinchcliffe has struggled to put up consistent results in his career. The most top five finishes he has had in a season is six. Excluding the 2015 season, where Hinchcliffe's season prematurely came to an end because of injuries suffered practicing for the Indianapolis 500, Hinchcliffe has had at least one finish outside the top twenty each season with the Canadian averaging three finishes outside the top twenty a season. For perspective, Simon Pagenaud has only had four finishes outside the top twenty in his entire career and the Frenchman has made 12 more starts than the Canadian. Scott Dixon has had 16 finishes outside the top twenty in a 17-year career.
The bar should be set high for Hinchcliffe. No worse than the top ten of the championship and at least ten top ten finishes with at least half of those being top five finishes not to mention fewer finishes outside the top twenty.
Robert Wickens - #6 Lucas Oil Honda
A familiar name returns to North America in 2018. Robert Wickens was a heralded driver in his youth driving in the Atlantic Championship and finished third in the championship in 2007, one position and 31 points ahead of Hinchcliffe. Wickens crossed the Atlantic and won races in the FIA Formula Two championship, the GP3 Series and Formula Renault 3.5 Series with championship finishes of second, second and first in those three series respectively.
Despite the success, the closest Wickens got to Formula One was a test driver role for Marussia Virgin Racing and he participated in first practice at the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He did catch the eye of Mercedes-Benz and found himself in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for the 2012 season. He picked up 14 points and finished 16th in his rookie season but his sophomore season featured three podium finishes, including his first career victory in a wet race at the Nürburgring on his way to finishing fifth in the championship. In the next four seasons Wickens would win two races at the Norisring, one at Zandvoort and Moscow Raceway and another at Nürburgring with his best championship finish being fourth in 2016
Numbers to Remember:
3: Wickens is one of three regular IndyCar drivers to have won at Portland (Sébastien Bourdais, James Hinchcliffe). Wickens won the 2007 Atlantic Championship race at Portland. It is his most recent victory in North America.
9.5: Average finish in 14 A1GP starts.
1,980: Days between Wickens' most recent single-seater start, the 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 finale at Barcelona and the St. Petersburg season opener.
2,750: Days between Wickens' most recent single-seater start in North American (Atlantic Championship at Mosport in 2009) and the St. Petersburg season opener.
Predictions/Goals:
Part of me thinks this switch back to single-seaters is coming about four years too late for Wickens. He has been in a touring car, albeit one based on a single-seater chassis, for six years and last year's test with SPM and practice session at Road America was his first taste of a forgotten fruit. He did well but he was a significant way off the top of the field.
His goal should be to beat Matheus Leist in the championship and finish ahead of Zachary Claman DeMelo and Pietro Fittipaldi, the two drivers splitting the #19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, on a regular basis. Wickens needs to prove SPM did the right thing by taking a Mercedes-Benz backed touring car driver over say Santiago Urrutia. If Wickens finishes behind Leist and is being beat on track by DeMelo it should make everyone wonder why he was selected over the driver who finished runner-up in both his Indy Lights seasons.
The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will take place on Sunday March 11th at 12:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
2017 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Review:
Wins: 1 (Long Beach)
Poles: 0
Best Starting Position: 3rd (St. Petersburg, James Hinchcliffe)
Final Championship Positions: 13th (James Hinchcliffe), 19th (Mikhail Aleshin), 26th (Sebastián Saavedra), 28th (Jack Harvey), 32nd (Jay Howard).
2018 Drivers:
James Hinchcliffe - #5 Arrow Electronics Honda
Hinchcliffe started 2017 with a promising race at St. Petersburg, starting third and leading by lap four. He appeared set for at least a podium finish if not a victory to start the season but a caution shuffled him back. He managed a ninth-place finish. In the second race of the season at Long Beach, Hinchcliffe ran at the front the entire day and shuffle into the lead. With the retirements of Ryan Hunter-Reay and Alexander Rossi, Hinchcliffe found himself taking on Sébastien Bourdais for the victory and he held off the Frenchman. He would make it three top ten finishes from the first three races with a sixth place finish at Barber.
Results were harder to come by after Barber. He would not finish in the top ten for the next three races but he got back on the podium in the first Belle Isle race despite a spin on the opening lap in turn two. After that podium finish, Hinchcliffe had another stretch of three consecutive races outside the top ten before he finished tenth at Iowa, a race he spent much of in the top five and he finished third for the second consecutive year in his hometown of Toronto. However, his only top ten finish in the final five races was an eighth at Gateway and he ended the season with consecutive dead-last finishes at Watkins Glen and Sonoma.
Numbers to Remember:
4: Consecutive seasons finishing outside the top ten in the championship.
4: Finishes outside the top twenty in six Indianapolis 500 starts.
12.1: Average finish in 20 A1GP starts.
Predictions/Goals:
James Hinchcliffe has to perform this season. He is Russell Westbrook. He got the teammate he wanted and now it is time to put results on the board. It says a lot that his best qualifying performance in 2017 was the season opener and his best finish was the second race of the season. Too often Hinchcliffe has had bipolar results and his personality has gotten him a pass from the fan base. For the fan fare he has received it can only hide the fact his best championship finish is eighth for so long. Take into considerations the only other full-time drivers not to finish in the top eight of the championship (excluding rookies) are Charlie Kimball, Max Chilton, Ed Jones, Spencer Pigot and Gabby Chaves. Of those drivers, Jones was a rookie last year, Pigot has yet to run a full season, Chaves has had only one full season and Chilton is entering his third season.
Hinchcliffe has struggled to put up consistent results in his career. The most top five finishes he has had in a season is six. Excluding the 2015 season, where Hinchcliffe's season prematurely came to an end because of injuries suffered practicing for the Indianapolis 500, Hinchcliffe has had at least one finish outside the top twenty each season with the Canadian averaging three finishes outside the top twenty a season. For perspective, Simon Pagenaud has only had four finishes outside the top twenty in his entire career and the Frenchman has made 12 more starts than the Canadian. Scott Dixon has had 16 finishes outside the top twenty in a 17-year career.
The bar should be set high for Hinchcliffe. No worse than the top ten of the championship and at least ten top ten finishes with at least half of those being top five finishes not to mention fewer finishes outside the top twenty.
Robert Wickens - #6 Lucas Oil Honda
A familiar name returns to North America in 2018. Robert Wickens was a heralded driver in his youth driving in the Atlantic Championship and finished third in the championship in 2007, one position and 31 points ahead of Hinchcliffe. Wickens crossed the Atlantic and won races in the FIA Formula Two championship, the GP3 Series and Formula Renault 3.5 Series with championship finishes of second, second and first in those three series respectively.
Despite the success, the closest Wickens got to Formula One was a test driver role for Marussia Virgin Racing and he participated in first practice at the 2011 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He did catch the eye of Mercedes-Benz and found himself in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters for the 2012 season. He picked up 14 points and finished 16th in his rookie season but his sophomore season featured three podium finishes, including his first career victory in a wet race at the Nürburgring on his way to finishing fifth in the championship. In the next four seasons Wickens would win two races at the Norisring, one at Zandvoort and Moscow Raceway and another at Nürburgring with his best championship finish being fourth in 2016
Numbers to Remember:
3: Wickens is one of three regular IndyCar drivers to have won at Portland (Sébastien Bourdais, James Hinchcliffe). Wickens won the 2007 Atlantic Championship race at Portland. It is his most recent victory in North America.
9.5: Average finish in 14 A1GP starts.
1,980: Days between Wickens' most recent single-seater start, the 2011 Formula Renault 3.5 finale at Barcelona and the St. Petersburg season opener.
2,750: Days between Wickens' most recent single-seater start in North American (Atlantic Championship at Mosport in 2009) and the St. Petersburg season opener.
Predictions/Goals:
Part of me thinks this switch back to single-seaters is coming about four years too late for Wickens. He has been in a touring car, albeit one based on a single-seater chassis, for six years and last year's test with SPM and practice session at Road America was his first taste of a forgotten fruit. He did well but he was a significant way off the top of the field.
His goal should be to beat Matheus Leist in the championship and finish ahead of Zachary Claman DeMelo and Pietro Fittipaldi, the two drivers splitting the #19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, on a regular basis. Wickens needs to prove SPM did the right thing by taking a Mercedes-Benz backed touring car driver over say Santiago Urrutia. If Wickens finishes behind Leist and is being beat on track by DeMelo it should make everyone wonder why he was selected over the driver who finished runner-up in both his Indy Lights seasons.
The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will take place on Sunday March 11th at 12:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
2018 IndyCar Team Preview: The Part-Timers
We are nearing the halfway point of the IndyCar team previews but this one will be a bit different. IndyCar's offseason has been promising. Not only will two new full-time teams participate but also two teams are expanding operations, though still remaining part-time entries. This preview looks at both those teams and drivers.
2017 Michael Shank Racing Review:
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 30th (Indianapolis 500)
Poles: 0
Best Starting Position: 27th (Indianapolis 500)
2018 Drivers:
Jack Harvey - #60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda
Harvey made his IndyCar debut in 2017 with Michael Shank Racing. The Ohio-based team made the step up in partnership with Andretti Autosport to run the #50 Honda. Harvey's season started with a rough rookie orientation that saw a steering column fail while on the warm-up lane in turn two, sending him across the racetrack into the turn two wall. The car was repaired but while Andretti Autosport put five cars in the top ten Harvey started 27th. In the race, Harvey's day ended prematurely when he spun to miss debris from the Conor Daly accident and he was classified 30th completing 65 laps.
His season didn't end there. Harvey ran the final two races of the season with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in the #7 Honda. Harvey was the top Schmidt Peterson Motorsports finisher in both races with a 14th at Watkins Glen and 18th at Sonoma. Hinchcliffe finished 21st and 22nd in those races respectively.
Michael Shank Racing will run this 2018 effort in partnership with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Harvey's schedule will be St. Petersburg, Long Beach, the Indianapolis 500, Mid-Ohio, Portland and Sonoma.
Numbers to Remember:
1: Track on Harvey's schedule he has yet to race at. That would be Portland.
4: Harvey's average championship finish in seven full seasons of competition across Formula BMW Europe, British Formula Three, GP3 Series and Indy Lights.
6: Top five finishes in six Indy Lights oval starts.
Predictions/Goals:
Shank is interested in IndyCar and a full-time effort might not be far off. It seems 2018 will be a trial year and it seems Shank has his driver if he decides to go full-time. Harvey is an under-appreciated talent in IndyCar. He was unfortunate to finish runner-up in consecutive Indy Lights seasons, including losing one on tiebreaker. He will have testing time in the car, which will be beneficial.
It is a new team in terms of IndyCar but this team has won the big races in sports cars. The procedures will be different and take time to adjust to but I don't think the team will languish behind. There may be a few races where Harvey tops the two SPM cars and I would not rule Harvey out of advancing to the second round of qualifying on one or two occasions.
2017 Juncos Racing Review:
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 15th (Indianapolis 500, Sebastián Saavedra)
Poles: 0
Best Starting Position: 29th (Indianapolis 500, Spencer Pigot)
2018 Drivers:
Kyle Kaiser - #32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet
Kaiser entered his third Indy Lights season in 2017 coming off a third-place finish in the championship where he won twice. The season started with a solid weekend at St. Petersburg with finishes of sixth and fourth. He followed it up with a pair of runner-up finishes at Barber Motorsports Park. He finished third in race one on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and followed it up with a victory in race two. He would finish a disappointing ninth in the Freedom 100.
He would pick up two more podium finishes at Road America by coming home in third and second before taking a fifth place finish at Iowa. Kaiser dominated race one from Toronto, leading all 35 laps from pole position. He caught a break in race two when Colton Herta suffered a suspension failure while leading and Kaiser went on to sweep the weekend. A disastrous weekend followed at Mid-Ohio where all Kaiser could manage was a pair of 12th-place finishes but he lost only nine points in his championship lead. A fourth-place finish at Gateway all but clinched the championship for Kaiser and the title was his once he started the race at Watkins Glen. His season closed with a seventh-place finish in the wet at the famed road course.
Kaiser is scheduled to make his IndyCar debut at Phoenix before heading to Long Beach. The final two races on his schedule are the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis 500.
Numbers to Remember:
13: Starts across Mazda Road to Indy series on the four tracks on Kaiser's tentative schedule.
7.076: Average finish in those 13 starts including two victories, four podium finishes, six top five finishes and four finishes outside the top ten.
14: Kaiser will be the first reigning Indy Lights champion to make an IndyCar debut at an oval other than Indianapolis in 14 seasons. Mark Taylor won the 2003 then-Infiniti Pro Series championship and made his debut in 2004 at Homestead.
Predictions/Goals:
It took Kaiser three years to win the Indy Lights championship but he only turns 22 years old on March 5th. I think it was smart of Juncos Racing to condense Kaiser's races into one part of the schedule. It will get him consistent seat team heading into the Indianapolis 500 and he will get one oval race under his belt at a track he won at in Phoenix.
I don't want to rule out a full season but the goal for Kaiser is to expand his schedule beyond the four races already scheduled. The good news for Kaiser, like Shank, it appears Juncos Racing has found its driver should the team expand to a full-time operation in 2019. He has spent four years with the team. He has climbed the ladder with Juncos and I don't see him being kicked to the curb.
Because the team will be getting its legs in 2018, I think Kaiser could suffer from growing pains. Each race could be a baby step forward and not provide the most reassuring results. The hope is each race gets him prepared for Indianapolis, a place where he struggled in Indy Lights.
René Binder - #32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet
The Austrian is a name that is familiar to those who have followed the Formula One support series. Binder made his GP2 Series debut at Spa-Francorchamps in 2012 with Venezuela GP Lazarus and he ran the following two rounds at Monza and Singapore. In 2013, he remained with the team and he scored points in the first sprint race of the season with an eighth place finish at Sepang, one spot behind Conor Daly. His only other points finishes that season came at Monaco where he finished seventh in the feature race and sixth in the sprint race.
For 2014, Binder moved to Arden International and finished ninth and eighth in the season opening weekend at Bahrain. However, he would not score points the rest of the season. He moved to Trident Racing for the 2015 season but did not score a point in the first six rounds. He missed Spa-Francorchamps and returned for the Monza round with MP Motorsport. He finished 10th and eighth in the first two races with the team but would not score in the final five races.
Binder made a move to the Formula V8 3.5 Series in 2016 and he drove for the Lotus team. He had two runner-up finishes, five total podium finishes and scored points in 14 of 18 races but he finished seventh in the championship, three spots and 28 points behind teammate Roy Nissany. During 2016 he made four GP2 starts, two with ART Grand Prix at Austria and two for Carlin at Hockenheim, scoring points in none of the races. He returned to the Formula V8 3.5 Series with Lotus in 2017 and picked up four victories, including at Circuit of the Americas, and finished fourth in the championship but his teammate Pietro Fittipaldi won the title. He also made two Formula Two starts with Rapax at Jerez and scored zero points.
Binder will run the season opener at St. Petersburg and Barber before sitting out of the car for three months and returning for Toronto and Mid-Ohio in July.
Numbers to Remember:
7: Finishes in the points in 74 GP2/Formula Two starts.
12: Retirements in 74 GP2/Formula Two starts.
16: Points scored in his GP2/Formula Two career with his best finish being sixth.
Predictions/Goals:
The first goal should be not to hit any walls. Binder is already under scrutiny from outsiders because he doesn't have the most glamorous résumé. If he does that, he will at least have one thing he can hold over critics. It is easy to say Binder will bring up the rear but I think there is middle ground between winning races and being an undeserving driver who is only there for money. He won races against small grids in the Formula V8 3.5 Series but those grid sizes weren't much different from the grid sizes during the 2011 Indy Lights season where Josef Newgarden took the championship. I don't expect Binder to turn heads but I think he will do better than many think he will.
The addition of Binder was a surprise and with the announcement that he and Kaiser will split the car it makes you wonder if Juncos Racing is opened to having additional drivers in the #32 Chevrolet for the other nine races on the schedule and if a full season is possible but only with four or five drivers bringing funding. Last year, Juncos Racing ran two cars at the Indianapolis 500 and I expect the same this year. The driver likely won't be Binder but I think the team could bring in a competent veteran to help groom Kaiser and help the team. J.R. Hildebrand is a veteran who runs at the front at Indianapolis. Conor Daly, who won the 2010 Star Mazda championship with Juncos Racing, is an available free agent. After what he did last year as an 11th-hour substitute it would be a mistake if James Davison weren't given a call.
The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will take place on Sunday March 11th at 12:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
2017 Michael Shank Racing Review:
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 30th (Indianapolis 500)
Poles: 0
Best Starting Position: 27th (Indianapolis 500)
2018 Drivers:
Jack Harvey - #60 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda
Harvey made his IndyCar debut in 2017 with Michael Shank Racing. The Ohio-based team made the step up in partnership with Andretti Autosport to run the #50 Honda. Harvey's season started with a rough rookie orientation that saw a steering column fail while on the warm-up lane in turn two, sending him across the racetrack into the turn two wall. The car was repaired but while Andretti Autosport put five cars in the top ten Harvey started 27th. In the race, Harvey's day ended prematurely when he spun to miss debris from the Conor Daly accident and he was classified 30th completing 65 laps.
His season didn't end there. Harvey ran the final two races of the season with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports in the #7 Honda. Harvey was the top Schmidt Peterson Motorsports finisher in both races with a 14th at Watkins Glen and 18th at Sonoma. Hinchcliffe finished 21st and 22nd in those races respectively.
Michael Shank Racing will run this 2018 effort in partnership with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. Harvey's schedule will be St. Petersburg, Long Beach, the Indianapolis 500, Mid-Ohio, Portland and Sonoma.
Numbers to Remember:
1: Track on Harvey's schedule he has yet to race at. That would be Portland.
4: Harvey's average championship finish in seven full seasons of competition across Formula BMW Europe, British Formula Three, GP3 Series and Indy Lights.
6: Top five finishes in six Indy Lights oval starts.
Predictions/Goals:
Shank is interested in IndyCar and a full-time effort might not be far off. It seems 2018 will be a trial year and it seems Shank has his driver if he decides to go full-time. Harvey is an under-appreciated talent in IndyCar. He was unfortunate to finish runner-up in consecutive Indy Lights seasons, including losing one on tiebreaker. He will have testing time in the car, which will be beneficial.
It is a new team in terms of IndyCar but this team has won the big races in sports cars. The procedures will be different and take time to adjust to but I don't think the team will languish behind. There may be a few races where Harvey tops the two SPM cars and I would not rule Harvey out of advancing to the second round of qualifying on one or two occasions.
2017 Juncos Racing Review:
Wins: 0
Best Finish: 15th (Indianapolis 500, Sebastián Saavedra)
Poles: 0
Best Starting Position: 29th (Indianapolis 500, Spencer Pigot)
2018 Drivers:
Kyle Kaiser - #32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet
Kaiser entered his third Indy Lights season in 2017 coming off a third-place finish in the championship where he won twice. The season started with a solid weekend at St. Petersburg with finishes of sixth and fourth. He followed it up with a pair of runner-up finishes at Barber Motorsports Park. He finished third in race one on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and followed it up with a victory in race two. He would finish a disappointing ninth in the Freedom 100.
He would pick up two more podium finishes at Road America by coming home in third and second before taking a fifth place finish at Iowa. Kaiser dominated race one from Toronto, leading all 35 laps from pole position. He caught a break in race two when Colton Herta suffered a suspension failure while leading and Kaiser went on to sweep the weekend. A disastrous weekend followed at Mid-Ohio where all Kaiser could manage was a pair of 12th-place finishes but he lost only nine points in his championship lead. A fourth-place finish at Gateway all but clinched the championship for Kaiser and the title was his once he started the race at Watkins Glen. His season closed with a seventh-place finish in the wet at the famed road course.
Kaiser is scheduled to make his IndyCar debut at Phoenix before heading to Long Beach. The final two races on his schedule are the Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis 500.
Numbers to Remember:
13: Starts across Mazda Road to Indy series on the four tracks on Kaiser's tentative schedule.
7.076: Average finish in those 13 starts including two victories, four podium finishes, six top five finishes and four finishes outside the top ten.
14: Kaiser will be the first reigning Indy Lights champion to make an IndyCar debut at an oval other than Indianapolis in 14 seasons. Mark Taylor won the 2003 then-Infiniti Pro Series championship and made his debut in 2004 at Homestead.
Predictions/Goals:
It took Kaiser three years to win the Indy Lights championship but he only turns 22 years old on March 5th. I think it was smart of Juncos Racing to condense Kaiser's races into one part of the schedule. It will get him consistent seat team heading into the Indianapolis 500 and he will get one oval race under his belt at a track he won at in Phoenix.
I don't want to rule out a full season but the goal for Kaiser is to expand his schedule beyond the four races already scheduled. The good news for Kaiser, like Shank, it appears Juncos Racing has found its driver should the team expand to a full-time operation in 2019. He has spent four years with the team. He has climbed the ladder with Juncos and I don't see him being kicked to the curb.
Because the team will be getting its legs in 2018, I think Kaiser could suffer from growing pains. Each race could be a baby step forward and not provide the most reassuring results. The hope is each race gets him prepared for Indianapolis, a place where he struggled in Indy Lights.
René Binder - #32 Juncos Racing Chevrolet
The Austrian is a name that is familiar to those who have followed the Formula One support series. Binder made his GP2 Series debut at Spa-Francorchamps in 2012 with Venezuela GP Lazarus and he ran the following two rounds at Monza and Singapore. In 2013, he remained with the team and he scored points in the first sprint race of the season with an eighth place finish at Sepang, one spot behind Conor Daly. His only other points finishes that season came at Monaco where he finished seventh in the feature race and sixth in the sprint race.
For 2014, Binder moved to Arden International and finished ninth and eighth in the season opening weekend at Bahrain. However, he would not score points the rest of the season. He moved to Trident Racing for the 2015 season but did not score a point in the first six rounds. He missed Spa-Francorchamps and returned for the Monza round with MP Motorsport. He finished 10th and eighth in the first two races with the team but would not score in the final five races.
Binder made a move to the Formula V8 3.5 Series in 2016 and he drove for the Lotus team. He had two runner-up finishes, five total podium finishes and scored points in 14 of 18 races but he finished seventh in the championship, three spots and 28 points behind teammate Roy Nissany. During 2016 he made four GP2 starts, two with ART Grand Prix at Austria and two for Carlin at Hockenheim, scoring points in none of the races. He returned to the Formula V8 3.5 Series with Lotus in 2017 and picked up four victories, including at Circuit of the Americas, and finished fourth in the championship but his teammate Pietro Fittipaldi won the title. He also made two Formula Two starts with Rapax at Jerez and scored zero points.
Binder will run the season opener at St. Petersburg and Barber before sitting out of the car for three months and returning for Toronto and Mid-Ohio in July.
Numbers to Remember:
7: Finishes in the points in 74 GP2/Formula Two starts.
12: Retirements in 74 GP2/Formula Two starts.
16: Points scored in his GP2/Formula Two career with his best finish being sixth.
Predictions/Goals:
The first goal should be not to hit any walls. Binder is already under scrutiny from outsiders because he doesn't have the most glamorous résumé. If he does that, he will at least have one thing he can hold over critics. It is easy to say Binder will bring up the rear but I think there is middle ground between winning races and being an undeserving driver who is only there for money. He won races against small grids in the Formula V8 3.5 Series but those grid sizes weren't much different from the grid sizes during the 2011 Indy Lights season where Josef Newgarden took the championship. I don't expect Binder to turn heads but I think he will do better than many think he will.
The addition of Binder was a surprise and with the announcement that he and Kaiser will split the car it makes you wonder if Juncos Racing is opened to having additional drivers in the #32 Chevrolet for the other nine races on the schedule and if a full season is possible but only with four or five drivers bringing funding. Last year, Juncos Racing ran two cars at the Indianapolis 500 and I expect the same this year. The driver likely won't be Binder but I think the team could bring in a competent veteran to help groom Kaiser and help the team. J.R. Hildebrand is a veteran who runs at the front at Indianapolis. Conor Daly, who won the 2010 Star Mazda championship with Juncos Racing, is an available free agent. After what he did last year as an 11th-hour substitute it would be a mistake if James Davison weren't given a call.
The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series season opener, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will take place on Sunday March 11th at 12:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
Monday, February 5, 2018
Musings From the Weekend: Let's Treat It Like the Super Bowl
The Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl. In racing news, Race of Champions Nations' Cup is quite simple. Twenty-two drivers tool around a racetrack for close to three hours and in the end the Germans win. Timo Bernhard and René Rast picked up right where Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher left over. In other news from Saudi Arabia, David Coulthard is once again the best race car driver in the world. Let that sink in for a minute. A red flag ended the Bathurst 12 Hours early and saved a handful of teams from what would have been a certain final pit stop and kept a victory out of reach. Supercross had two great races in Oakland. Nick Heidfeld has made 223 single-seater starts since his most recent single-seater victory. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
Let's Treat It Like the Super Bowl
Another Super Bowl is behind and for the first time in 26 years the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota hosted the most-watched sporting event in the United States. Next year, the event returns to Atlanta for the first time in 19 years. Super Bowl LV will be in Miami, the first time the city has hosted the Super Bowl in ten years. The game returns to Tampa in 2021 for the first time since 2009 and Los Angeles hosts the game in 2022, the first time the city of angels has hosted the Super Bowl in 29 years.
Unlike the Super Bowl, motorsports season finales have been in rather consistent locations. Formula One has ended its season at Abu Dhabi since 2014 and six of nine Abu Dhabi Grands Prix have been the season finale. Prior to that Brazil hosted four of the previous five finales. Japan hosted six of eight finales from 1996-2003 and prior to that Adelaide, Australia hosted the finale from 1985-1995. Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas has hosted all but one Supercross season finale since 1993. Valencia has been the home of MotoGP's season finale since 2002 and Homestead-Miami Speedway has also hosted the NASCAR Cup Series finale since 2002.
Since NASCAR has been trying its best to imitate football for the last decade, Kevin Harvick threw out the idea that the NASCAR season finale should be like the Super Bowl and rotate between venues. Joey Logano seconded the idea on Twitter. I don't think it as simple as those two think it is but if that is what Harvick and Logano want, how can we make it possible?
There are a couple of issues with having the venue rotate. First off, Homestead would still need to have a race. A track wouldn't be picking up an additional race. It would rather slot into the place of the finale in late-November. It would be one thing if Phoenix wanted to host the finale and those two races could swap dates or if Texas wanted to host the finale and Phoenix and Homestead could each move up a weekend. However, what if Fontana wanted to hosted the finale and Fontana's only race is in March. Would Homestead have to jump from November to March or would the entire schedule shift up a week? Shifting the schedule up a week could be a headache since there are a few events tied to certain dates. The Coca-Cola 600 wouldn't move up a week, same as the 400-mile race at Daytona and the Southern 500.
The other thing to consider is how many venues could host the NASCAR finale? It is quite chilly in November and the same way the NFL likes to keep the Super Bowl in warmer climates unless it is a dome or that one time in New Jersey I bet NASCAR would want to do the same. Loudon hosted the finale in 2001 but that was because of extraordinary circumstances. As much as some would love to see Bristol closing out the season, it likely would not happen and I bet Bristol wants to keep the August date. The same goes with Martinsville and you could argue late-October is too late already for that race.
There are seven current tracks as I see suitable climate-wise for hosting the NASCAR finale: Homestead, Daytona, Phoenix, Texas, Fontana, Las Vegas and Sonoma. I can't see the season ending at a restrictor plate race, even if it is Daytona and I don't think Daytona would sacrifice its tradition of hosting a race July 4th weekend either. That narrows the list down to six. The good news is three of those are already at the backend of the schedule. Las Vegas has a second date and it is closer to the end of the schedule with it in the middle of September. We already went over Fontana but then there is Sonoma. Riverside hosted the NASCAR finale previously so ending at a road course would not be revolutionary. Sonoma's current date is June, quite a distance from November.
Here is an idea though:
What if NASCAR moved Sonoma to the backend of the schedule and put it in a group with Texas, Phoenix and Homestead. Those four races would then rotate every year as the finale. When a race isn't in the finale, it is in the semifinal round. No race would have to move that great a distance in the schedule. At worst, a race would go from late-October to mid-November. It would also provide balance with two International Speedway Corporation tracks in Phoenix and Homestead getting a shot at the finale while Speedway Motorsports, Inc. would also have two representatives in Texas and Sonoma.
If anything, it is more similar to what college football does for the College Football Playoffs. Six bowl games rotate as semifinals but the difference is the College Football Playoff National Championship Game goes to the highest bidder.
NASCAR has had a problem with letting things play out. It has been too damn handsy and hasn't given anything a chance to live or die on its own. The Chase has been around since 2004 but the original Chase format that took the top ten or any drivers within 400 points after the 26th race lasted three years. Then it became the top twelve for four seasons followed by three seasons of the top ten automatically making it with two "wild cards" for two drivers with the most victories that finished 11th to 20th. The current four-round elimination format enters its fifth season in 2018 but how long before that gets tweaked? How long before something changes again whether the field gets larger or top five in points are locked in and the rest are "wild card" spots? When it comes to NASCAR we have come to expect change.
If NASCAR were to do this four-track rotation for the finale it would have to give it time. As stubborn, dimwitted and corrupt as college football has been the one nod it should get is it sticks with something. This College Football Playoff format started in 2014-15 and is set through 2025-26 with each pair of bowl games getting to be semifinals four times. NASCAR would have to commit to this four track rotation for 12 years or 16 years so each track gets three shots at hosting the finale or four shots and the tracks would have to remain the same with no swap outs in the middle. We can't go through two cycles of each track hosting the finale twice and then have Texas dropped for Las Vegas or Richmond replacing Homestead. NASCAR would have to stick to its guns and let it play out as hard as that may be for Brian France to do.
I don't think NASCAR could have an open rotation of tracks for the season finale but there could be a consolidated group of tracks that could host the finale as well as the races leading up to the final race. It could especially work if the collection of racetracks were different and gave fans something new to look forward to the following year. Sonoma, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead would be a road course, a short track and two 1.5-mile ovals and while mule-headed fans scoff anytime 1.5-mile oval is said and would throw a temper-tantrum if two were included in that group it should be noted that Texas and Homestead race entirely different. Anyone who saw last year's Homestead race can clearly see that.
It might not be what is done for the Super Bowl but it would allow the championship to be crowned in different markets, in front of different segments of the fan base, on different track disciplines and be something different for fans to look forward to at the end of each season.
Champions From the Weekend
You know about the Philadelphia Eagles but did you know...
The #8 Jackie Chan DC Racing x Jota Oreca-Nissan of Thomas Laurent, Harrison Newey and Stéphane Richelmi clinched the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 championship with a victory in the 4 Hours of Sepang.
The #6 Jackie Chan DC Racing x Jota Ligier-Nissan of Guy Cosmo and Patrick Byrne clinched the Asian Le Mans Series LMP3 championship victory at Sepang with third driver Gabriel Aubry.
The #91 FIST-Team AAI BMW of Jesse Krohn and Jun-San Chen clinched the Asian Le Mans Series GT championship with a victory at Sepang with third driver Markus Palttala.
Jean-Baptiste Dubourg won the 2017-2018 Andros Trophy championship.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about the Race of Champions and what happened at Sepang but did you know...
The #37 Audi Sport Team WRT of Robin Frijns, Stuart Leonard and Dries Vanthoor won the Bathurst 12 Hour. The #540 Black Swan Racing Mercedes-AMG of Jeroen Bleekemolen, Tim Pappas, Luca Stolz and Marc Lieb won in Class A PRO-AM. The #69 Superbarn Supermarkets Audi of James Koundouris, Theo Koundouris, Duvashen Padayachee and Ashley Walsh won in Class A AM.
Other Bathurst 12 Hour winners:
Class B: The #4 Grove Motorsport Porsche of Stephen Grove, Brenton Grove, Daniel Gaunt and Ben Barker.
Class I: The #91 MARC Cars Australia MARC II V8 of Keith Kassulke, Rod Salmon and Will Brown.
Class C: The #30 Boat Works Racing BMW of Tony Longhurst, Aaron Seton and Matthew Brabham.
Juan Manuel Correa, Brendon Leitch and Robert Shwartzman split the Toyota Racing Series races from Taupo.
Jean-Éric Vergne won the Santiago ePrix and led the first ever 1-2 finish in Formula E history with Techeetah teammate André Lotterer finishing second and Sébastien Buemi rounding out the podium. With his victory Vergne took the championship lead.
Benjamin Rivière won the Andros Trophy race from Super Besse.
Jason Anderson won the Supercross race from Oakland.
Coming Up This Weekend
Besides the Winter Olympics beginning...
The Toyota Racing Series concludes the 2018 season from Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon
San Diego hosts the sixth round of the Supercross season.
NASCAR will set the front row for the Daytona 500 and will run an exhibition race known as the Clash.
Let's Treat It Like the Super Bowl
Another Super Bowl is behind and for the first time in 26 years the city of Minneapolis, Minnesota hosted the most-watched sporting event in the United States. Next year, the event returns to Atlanta for the first time in 19 years. Super Bowl LV will be in Miami, the first time the city has hosted the Super Bowl in ten years. The game returns to Tampa in 2021 for the first time since 2009 and Los Angeles hosts the game in 2022, the first time the city of angels has hosted the Super Bowl in 29 years.
Unlike the Super Bowl, motorsports season finales have been in rather consistent locations. Formula One has ended its season at Abu Dhabi since 2014 and six of nine Abu Dhabi Grands Prix have been the season finale. Prior to that Brazil hosted four of the previous five finales. Japan hosted six of eight finales from 1996-2003 and prior to that Adelaide, Australia hosted the finale from 1985-1995. Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas has hosted all but one Supercross season finale since 1993. Valencia has been the home of MotoGP's season finale since 2002 and Homestead-Miami Speedway has also hosted the NASCAR Cup Series finale since 2002.
Since NASCAR has been trying its best to imitate football for the last decade, Kevin Harvick threw out the idea that the NASCAR season finale should be like the Super Bowl and rotate between venues. Joey Logano seconded the idea on Twitter. I don't think it as simple as those two think it is but if that is what Harvick and Logano want, how can we make it possible?
There are a couple of issues with having the venue rotate. First off, Homestead would still need to have a race. A track wouldn't be picking up an additional race. It would rather slot into the place of the finale in late-November. It would be one thing if Phoenix wanted to host the finale and those two races could swap dates or if Texas wanted to host the finale and Phoenix and Homestead could each move up a weekend. However, what if Fontana wanted to hosted the finale and Fontana's only race is in March. Would Homestead have to jump from November to March or would the entire schedule shift up a week? Shifting the schedule up a week could be a headache since there are a few events tied to certain dates. The Coca-Cola 600 wouldn't move up a week, same as the 400-mile race at Daytona and the Southern 500.
The other thing to consider is how many venues could host the NASCAR finale? It is quite chilly in November and the same way the NFL likes to keep the Super Bowl in warmer climates unless it is a dome or that one time in New Jersey I bet NASCAR would want to do the same. Loudon hosted the finale in 2001 but that was because of extraordinary circumstances. As much as some would love to see Bristol closing out the season, it likely would not happen and I bet Bristol wants to keep the August date. The same goes with Martinsville and you could argue late-October is too late already for that race.
There are seven current tracks as I see suitable climate-wise for hosting the NASCAR finale: Homestead, Daytona, Phoenix, Texas, Fontana, Las Vegas and Sonoma. I can't see the season ending at a restrictor plate race, even if it is Daytona and I don't think Daytona would sacrifice its tradition of hosting a race July 4th weekend either. That narrows the list down to six. The good news is three of those are already at the backend of the schedule. Las Vegas has a second date and it is closer to the end of the schedule with it in the middle of September. We already went over Fontana but then there is Sonoma. Riverside hosted the NASCAR finale previously so ending at a road course would not be revolutionary. Sonoma's current date is June, quite a distance from November.
Here is an idea though:
What if NASCAR moved Sonoma to the backend of the schedule and put it in a group with Texas, Phoenix and Homestead. Those four races would then rotate every year as the finale. When a race isn't in the finale, it is in the semifinal round. No race would have to move that great a distance in the schedule. At worst, a race would go from late-October to mid-November. It would also provide balance with two International Speedway Corporation tracks in Phoenix and Homestead getting a shot at the finale while Speedway Motorsports, Inc. would also have two representatives in Texas and Sonoma.
If anything, it is more similar to what college football does for the College Football Playoffs. Six bowl games rotate as semifinals but the difference is the College Football Playoff National Championship Game goes to the highest bidder.
NASCAR has had a problem with letting things play out. It has been too damn handsy and hasn't given anything a chance to live or die on its own. The Chase has been around since 2004 but the original Chase format that took the top ten or any drivers within 400 points after the 26th race lasted three years. Then it became the top twelve for four seasons followed by three seasons of the top ten automatically making it with two "wild cards" for two drivers with the most victories that finished 11th to 20th. The current four-round elimination format enters its fifth season in 2018 but how long before that gets tweaked? How long before something changes again whether the field gets larger or top five in points are locked in and the rest are "wild card" spots? When it comes to NASCAR we have come to expect change.
If NASCAR were to do this four-track rotation for the finale it would have to give it time. As stubborn, dimwitted and corrupt as college football has been the one nod it should get is it sticks with something. This College Football Playoff format started in 2014-15 and is set through 2025-26 with each pair of bowl games getting to be semifinals four times. NASCAR would have to commit to this four track rotation for 12 years or 16 years so each track gets three shots at hosting the finale or four shots and the tracks would have to remain the same with no swap outs in the middle. We can't go through two cycles of each track hosting the finale twice and then have Texas dropped for Las Vegas or Richmond replacing Homestead. NASCAR would have to stick to its guns and let it play out as hard as that may be for Brian France to do.
I don't think NASCAR could have an open rotation of tracks for the season finale but there could be a consolidated group of tracks that could host the finale as well as the races leading up to the final race. It could especially work if the collection of racetracks were different and gave fans something new to look forward to the following year. Sonoma, Texas, Phoenix and Homestead would be a road course, a short track and two 1.5-mile ovals and while mule-headed fans scoff anytime 1.5-mile oval is said and would throw a temper-tantrum if two were included in that group it should be noted that Texas and Homestead race entirely different. Anyone who saw last year's Homestead race can clearly see that.
It might not be what is done for the Super Bowl but it would allow the championship to be crowned in different markets, in front of different segments of the fan base, on different track disciplines and be something different for fans to look forward to at the end of each season.
Champions From the Weekend
You know about the Philadelphia Eagles but did you know...
The #8 Jackie Chan DC Racing x Jota Oreca-Nissan of Thomas Laurent, Harrison Newey and Stéphane Richelmi clinched the Asian Le Mans Series LMP2 championship with a victory in the 4 Hours of Sepang.
The #6 Jackie Chan DC Racing x Jota Ligier-Nissan of Guy Cosmo and Patrick Byrne clinched the Asian Le Mans Series LMP3 championship victory at Sepang with third driver Gabriel Aubry.
The #91 FIST-Team AAI BMW of Jesse Krohn and Jun-San Chen clinched the Asian Le Mans Series GT championship with a victory at Sepang with third driver Markus Palttala.
Jean-Baptiste Dubourg won the 2017-2018 Andros Trophy championship.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about the Race of Champions and what happened at Sepang but did you know...
The #37 Audi Sport Team WRT of Robin Frijns, Stuart Leonard and Dries Vanthoor won the Bathurst 12 Hour. The #540 Black Swan Racing Mercedes-AMG of Jeroen Bleekemolen, Tim Pappas, Luca Stolz and Marc Lieb won in Class A PRO-AM. The #69 Superbarn Supermarkets Audi of James Koundouris, Theo Koundouris, Duvashen Padayachee and Ashley Walsh won in Class A AM.
Other Bathurst 12 Hour winners:
Class B: The #4 Grove Motorsport Porsche of Stephen Grove, Brenton Grove, Daniel Gaunt and Ben Barker.
Class I: The #91 MARC Cars Australia MARC II V8 of Keith Kassulke, Rod Salmon and Will Brown.
Class C: The #30 Boat Works Racing BMW of Tony Longhurst, Aaron Seton and Matthew Brabham.
Juan Manuel Correa, Brendon Leitch and Robert Shwartzman split the Toyota Racing Series races from Taupo.
Jean-Éric Vergne won the Santiago ePrix and led the first ever 1-2 finish in Formula E history with Techeetah teammate André Lotterer finishing second and Sébastien Buemi rounding out the podium. With his victory Vergne took the championship lead.
Benjamin Rivière won the Andros Trophy race from Super Besse.
Jason Anderson won the Supercross race from Oakland.
Coming Up This Weekend
Besides the Winter Olympics beginning...
The Toyota Racing Series concludes the 2018 season from Manfeild: Circuit Chris Amon
San Diego hosts the sixth round of the Supercross season.
NASCAR will set the front row for the Daytona 500 and will run an exhibition race known as the Clash.
Thursday, February 1, 2018
2018 Race of Champions Preview
The 29th edition of the Race of Champions take place this Friday February 2nd and Saturday February 3rd from King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and a total of 22 drivers will take part in the two-day event.
Included in the driver line-ups are the reigning champions from IndyCar, FIA World Endurance Championship, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, European Le Mans Series, World Rallycross Championship, NASCAR Mexico Series and the European Formula 3 Championship.
Besides all those defending champions there are past three Indianapolis 500 winners, a past 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, a World Rally Champion and a past Champion of Champions winner. Besides these champions, the event features the top drivers from three Middle East nations as well as two people really good at video games.
While having all these great drivers, this year's competition marks the first without an active Formula One driver since 1998. Since the Race of Champions moved to stadium venues in 2004, a European team has won every Nations' Cup and only twice has non-European teams won the Nations' Cup. That would be the United States in 2002 and an All-Star team featuring Spaniard Fonsi Nieto, Brazilian Cristiano da Matta and Frenchman Gilles Panizzi. No driver has won the Nations' Cup and Champion of Champions in the same Race of Champions.
Nations' Cup
We will start with the Nations' Cup. Included below will be a breakdown of the draw and look at each team and how those teams have faired in the past. At the end of each group will be a prediction of what could happen. The top two teams from Group A and Group B will advance to the knockout round while only the group winner from Group C will advance.
Group A
Germany
Best Result: 1st (2007-12, 2018)
Drivers:
Timo Bernhard: 2017 World Endurance Drivers' Champion and 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans winner
René Rast: 2017 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champion
Latin America
Best Result: Group Stage (2017)
Drivers:
Juan Pablo Montoya: 2017 Champion of Champions, finished sixth in the Indianapolis 500
Hélio Castroneves: 4th in the IndyCar Series championship, second in the Indianapolis 500
Mexico
Best Result: Debuting this year
Drivers:
Memo Rojas: 2017 European Le Mans Series LMP2 Drivers' champion
Abraham Calderón: 2017 NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series champion
United States of America
Best Result: 1st (2002)
Drivers:
Josef Newgarden: 2017 IndyCar Series champion
Ryan Hunter-Reay: 9th in the IndyCar Series championship
Group A Prediction: This is a tough group to predict. Germany has been dominant but that has been with Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher as its representatives and Vettel won the Nations' Cup all by himself last year after Pascal Wehrlein was hurt in the individual competition. Montoya and Castroneves both did well in 2017's competition while Newgarden is a rookie and Hunter-Reay has been wishy-washy in his Race of Champions appearances. Mexico is the ultimate underdog and Calderón could swing this group especially if he gets to race the Euro NASCAR. I think Germany and, going with my heart, the United States advance.
Group B
Team Nordic
Best Result: 1st (2005, 2014)
Drivers:
Tom Kristensen: 2017 Champion of Champions runner-up
Petter Solberg: 3rd in the 2017 World Rallycross Championship
Great Britain
Best Result: 2nd (2009, 2010, 2014)*
Drivers:
David Coulthard: 2017 Champion of Champions semifinalist
Lando Norris: 2017 Formula Three European champion
* - England won in 2015 with Jason Plato and Andy Priaulx.
Sweden
Best Result: Semifinals (2003)
Drivers:
Johann Kristoffersson: 2017 World Rallycross champion
Joel Eriksson: 2017 Formula Three European vice-champion
Sim Racing All-Stars
Best Result: Debuting this year
Drivers:
Rudy van Buren: 2017 McLaren World's Fastest Gamer
eROC winner*
* - eROC contest takes place Friday at 7:45 a.m. ET between the first ever Formula One eSports champion Brendon Leigh of the United Kingdom, three-time Project CARS World Champion Kevin Leaune of France, iRacing Blancpain GT3 Sprint champion Enzo Bonito of Italy and 2017 eWTCC champion Alexander Dornieden of Germany. (Update: Bonito was the eROC winner).
Group B Prediction: Kristensen and Solberg won the Nations' Cup in 2014 and I think they will be the pairing to beat in Group B. Despite being retired from full-time competition for close to six years Coulthard always is competitive in this competition. Norris and Eriksson are both teenagers and they kind of cancel each other out as while they finished 1-2 in Formula Three last year, both lack experience in many other forms of motorsports. It is hard to see the Sim Racing All-Stars finishing second in this group. Give me Team Nordic and Great Britain. If Team Nordic wins the Nations' Cup, Kristensen would join Vettel and Schumacher as the only drivers to win the Nations' Cup at least three times.
Group C
Saudi Arabia
Best Result: Debuting this year
Drivers:
Yazeed Al-Rajhi: Ran two World Rally Championship events, best finish was 13th at Rally Italia Sardegna
Ahmed Bin Khanen: 2014 Nissan GT Academy Middle East winner.
United Arab Emirates
Best Result: Debuting this year
Drivers:
Khalid Al Qubaisi: Two-time Dubai 24 Hour winner
Khalid Al Qassimi: Ran four World Rally Championship events, best finish was 16th at Rally Finland
Lebanon
Best Result: Debuting this year
Drivers:
Karl Masaad: 8th in the F4 British Championship
Mansour Chebli: Lebanese hillclimbing
Group C Prediction: This group is wide open. All these drivers are making debuts. My gut says take the United Arab Emirates because it has two successful drivers in their fields and those drivers have been more successful on an international stage. I feel that will give them the advantage to take Group C. Should any of these teams win the Nations' Cup it would be the first time a Middle East nation won the Nations' Cup. Saudi Arabia could become the sixth host nation to win the Nations' Cup. It occurred in 2001 with Spain, 2004 with France, 2010 and 2011 with Germany and 2015 with England.
The Nations' Cup will be on Friday February 2nd at 12:00 p.m. ET.
The Champion of Champions
Each group has three competitors already decided while the fourth and final spot will be decided by a playoff between two drivers in the first round of this competition. The top two drivers from each group will advance to the quarterfinals with the Grand Final being a best-of-three.
Below will be a breakdown of each group with the playoff to decide the final spot in each group included as well.
Group A
Juan Pablo Montoya
Best Result: 1st (2017).
Hélio Castroneves
Best Result: Quarterfinals (2017)
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Best Result: Quarterfinals (2014)
Memo Rojas/Abraham Calderón
Best Result: Both drivers are making debuts.
Group A Prediction: This is an IndyCar-heavy group and all three of those drivers along with Rojas have all had success in American sports car racing. Montoya won on debut last year at 41 years old. I don't think he is going to be topped by two drivers. Montoya is attempting to join Stig Blomqvist, Didier Auriol and Mattias Ekström as back-to-back winners. Last year, Montoya became the first non-European driver to make the Champion of Champions final. As for the second spot, Hunter-Reay's only good year in the Race of Champions was 2014, where he won all three races in his group but was bounced in the quarterfinals. Castroneves did respectable, including beating Sebastian Vettel to advance from the group round last year. Both Castroneves and Hunter-Reay looked good at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Montoya and Castroneves advance.
Group B
Tom Kristensen
Best Result: Runner-up (2005, 2011-12, 2015, 2017)
David Coulthard
Best Result: 1st (2014)
Timo Bernhard
Best Result: This is his debut.
Rudy Van Buren/Enzo Bonito
Best Result: Both drivers are making debuts.
Group B Prediction: If there is one thing we have learned the last few years is age wins in Race of Champions. Kristensen has finished runner-up in four of the last five Race of Champions and he is 50 years old. Coulthard won at 43 years old in 2014. Kristensen has made five Champion of Champions finals, tied with Didier Auriol for second-most all-time. Sébastien Loeb made six Champion of Champions finals.
Throw in the defending World Endurance Drivers' champion and two-time Le Mans winner Timo Bernhard at only 36 years of age and this is a tight group. Only one German driver has won the Champion of Champions competition and that was Vettel in 2015. Germany has had five different drivers make the Champion of Champions final. The only country with more Champion of Champions final representatives is Finland with six. France has also had five Champion of Champions final participants.
I think Kristensen and Bernhard advance.
Group C
Johan Kristoffersson
Best Result: This is his debut.
René Rast
Best Result: This is his debut.
Lando Norris
Best Result: This is his debut.
Joel Eriksson/Mansour Chebli
Best Result: Eriksson makes his debut as well as Chebli.
Group C Prediction: This is the most wide open-group and it is a fairly young group. Rast is the oldest driver at 31 years old and there could be two teenagers if 19-year-old Eriksson wins in round one and joins 18-year-old Norris. Rast is the most experienced circuit racer in this group but Kristoffersson had a good circuit career, which included winning the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship and the International Superstars Series championships in 2012 and he won six of ten races he started in the STCC last year. Norris is young and that inexperience could be a disadvantage Sweden has had a driver win the Champion of Champions competition five times behind only France, which has won it ten times and Finland, which has won it six times.
I think Rast and Kristoffersson move onto the knockout round.
Group D
Josef Newgarden
Best Result: This is his debut.
Petter Solberg
Best Result: Quarterfinals (2014)
Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Best Result: This is his debut.
Karl Masaad/Ahmed Bin Khanen
Best Result: Both drivers are making debuts.
Group D Prediction: If there is a group Newgarden has to advance from and prove he has talent outside an IndyCar and could run other series this is it. What could be in his way is the fact that rally drivers have done well in the Race of Champions even since it moved to the stadium format in 2004. No American has ever won the Champions of Champions competition and the only time an American has made the semifinal was Carl Edwards in 2008. Al-Rajhi could become the third driver to win the Champion of Champions competition on home soil. Carlos Sainz did it in 1997 on the Gran Canaria course and Sébastien Loeb won in 2005 in Stade de France in Paris.
I think Newgarden will advance with Solberg.
The Champion of Champions competition will be held Saturday February 3rd at 8:00 a.m. ET.
Included in the driver line-ups are the reigning champions from IndyCar, FIA World Endurance Championship, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, European Le Mans Series, World Rallycross Championship, NASCAR Mexico Series and the European Formula 3 Championship.
Besides all those defending champions there are past three Indianapolis 500 winners, a past 24 Hours of Le Mans winner, a World Rally Champion and a past Champion of Champions winner. Besides these champions, the event features the top drivers from three Middle East nations as well as two people really good at video games.
While having all these great drivers, this year's competition marks the first without an active Formula One driver since 1998. Since the Race of Champions moved to stadium venues in 2004, a European team has won every Nations' Cup and only twice has non-European teams won the Nations' Cup. That would be the United States in 2002 and an All-Star team featuring Spaniard Fonsi Nieto, Brazilian Cristiano da Matta and Frenchman Gilles Panizzi. No driver has won the Nations' Cup and Champion of Champions in the same Race of Champions.
Nations' Cup
We will start with the Nations' Cup. Included below will be a breakdown of the draw and look at each team and how those teams have faired in the past. At the end of each group will be a prediction of what could happen. The top two teams from Group A and Group B will advance to the knockout round while only the group winner from Group C will advance.
Group A
Germany
Best Result: 1st (2007-12, 2018)
Drivers:
Timo Bernhard: 2017 World Endurance Drivers' Champion and 2017 24 Hours of Le Mans winner
René Rast: 2017 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters champion
Latin America
Best Result: Group Stage (2017)
Drivers:
Juan Pablo Montoya: 2017 Champion of Champions, finished sixth in the Indianapolis 500
Hélio Castroneves: 4th in the IndyCar Series championship, second in the Indianapolis 500
Mexico
Best Result: Debuting this year
Drivers:
Memo Rojas: 2017 European Le Mans Series LMP2 Drivers' champion
Abraham Calderón: 2017 NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series champion
United States of America
Best Result: 1st (2002)
Drivers:
Josef Newgarden: 2017 IndyCar Series champion
Ryan Hunter-Reay: 9th in the IndyCar Series championship
Group A Prediction: This is a tough group to predict. Germany has been dominant but that has been with Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher as its representatives and Vettel won the Nations' Cup all by himself last year after Pascal Wehrlein was hurt in the individual competition. Montoya and Castroneves both did well in 2017's competition while Newgarden is a rookie and Hunter-Reay has been wishy-washy in his Race of Champions appearances. Mexico is the ultimate underdog and Calderón could swing this group especially if he gets to race the Euro NASCAR. I think Germany and, going with my heart, the United States advance.
Group B
Team Nordic
Best Result: 1st (2005, 2014)
Drivers:
Tom Kristensen: 2017 Champion of Champions runner-up
Petter Solberg: 3rd in the 2017 World Rallycross Championship
Great Britain
Best Result: 2nd (2009, 2010, 2014)*
Drivers:
David Coulthard: 2017 Champion of Champions semifinalist
Lando Norris: 2017 Formula Three European champion
* - England won in 2015 with Jason Plato and Andy Priaulx.
Sweden
Best Result: Semifinals (2003)
Drivers:
Johann Kristoffersson: 2017 World Rallycross champion
Joel Eriksson: 2017 Formula Three European vice-champion
Sim Racing All-Stars
Best Result: Debuting this year
Drivers:
Rudy van Buren: 2017 McLaren World's Fastest Gamer
eROC winner*
* - eROC contest takes place Friday at 7:45 a.m. ET between the first ever Formula One eSports champion Brendon Leigh of the United Kingdom, three-time Project CARS World Champion Kevin Leaune of France, iRacing Blancpain GT3 Sprint champion Enzo Bonito of Italy and 2017 eWTCC champion Alexander Dornieden of Germany. (Update: Bonito was the eROC winner).
Group B Prediction: Kristensen and Solberg won the Nations' Cup in 2014 and I think they will be the pairing to beat in Group B. Despite being retired from full-time competition for close to six years Coulthard always is competitive in this competition. Norris and Eriksson are both teenagers and they kind of cancel each other out as while they finished 1-2 in Formula Three last year, both lack experience in many other forms of motorsports. It is hard to see the Sim Racing All-Stars finishing second in this group. Give me Team Nordic and Great Britain. If Team Nordic wins the Nations' Cup, Kristensen would join Vettel and Schumacher as the only drivers to win the Nations' Cup at least three times.
Group C
Saudi Arabia
Best Result: Debuting this year
Drivers:
Yazeed Al-Rajhi: Ran two World Rally Championship events, best finish was 13th at Rally Italia Sardegna
Ahmed Bin Khanen: 2014 Nissan GT Academy Middle East winner.
United Arab Emirates
Best Result: Debuting this year
Drivers:
Khalid Al Qubaisi: Two-time Dubai 24 Hour winner
Khalid Al Qassimi: Ran four World Rally Championship events, best finish was 16th at Rally Finland
Lebanon
Best Result: Debuting this year
Drivers:
Karl Masaad: 8th in the F4 British Championship
Mansour Chebli: Lebanese hillclimbing
Group C Prediction: This group is wide open. All these drivers are making debuts. My gut says take the United Arab Emirates because it has two successful drivers in their fields and those drivers have been more successful on an international stage. I feel that will give them the advantage to take Group C. Should any of these teams win the Nations' Cup it would be the first time a Middle East nation won the Nations' Cup. Saudi Arabia could become the sixth host nation to win the Nations' Cup. It occurred in 2001 with Spain, 2004 with France, 2010 and 2011 with Germany and 2015 with England.
The Nations' Cup will be on Friday February 2nd at 12:00 p.m. ET.
The Champion of Champions
Each group has three competitors already decided while the fourth and final spot will be decided by a playoff between two drivers in the first round of this competition. The top two drivers from each group will advance to the quarterfinals with the Grand Final being a best-of-three.
Below will be a breakdown of each group with the playoff to decide the final spot in each group included as well.
Group A
Juan Pablo Montoya
Best Result: 1st (2017).
Hélio Castroneves
Best Result: Quarterfinals (2017)
Ryan Hunter-Reay
Best Result: Quarterfinals (2014)
Memo Rojas/Abraham Calderón
Best Result: Both drivers are making debuts.
Group A Prediction: This is an IndyCar-heavy group and all three of those drivers along with Rojas have all had success in American sports car racing. Montoya won on debut last year at 41 years old. I don't think he is going to be topped by two drivers. Montoya is attempting to join Stig Blomqvist, Didier Auriol and Mattias Ekström as back-to-back winners. Last year, Montoya became the first non-European driver to make the Champion of Champions final. As for the second spot, Hunter-Reay's only good year in the Race of Champions was 2014, where he won all three races in his group but was bounced in the quarterfinals. Castroneves did respectable, including beating Sebastian Vettel to advance from the group round last year. Both Castroneves and Hunter-Reay looked good at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Montoya and Castroneves advance.
Group B
Tom Kristensen
Best Result: Runner-up (2005, 2011-12, 2015, 2017)
David Coulthard
Best Result: 1st (2014)
Timo Bernhard
Best Result: This is his debut.
Rudy Van Buren/Enzo Bonito
Best Result: Both drivers are making debuts.
Group B Prediction: If there is one thing we have learned the last few years is age wins in Race of Champions. Kristensen has finished runner-up in four of the last five Race of Champions and he is 50 years old. Coulthard won at 43 years old in 2014. Kristensen has made five Champion of Champions finals, tied with Didier Auriol for second-most all-time. Sébastien Loeb made six Champion of Champions finals.
Throw in the defending World Endurance Drivers' champion and two-time Le Mans winner Timo Bernhard at only 36 years of age and this is a tight group. Only one German driver has won the Champion of Champions competition and that was Vettel in 2015. Germany has had five different drivers make the Champion of Champions final. The only country with more Champion of Champions final representatives is Finland with six. France has also had five Champion of Champions final participants.
I think Kristensen and Bernhard advance.
Group C
Johan Kristoffersson
Best Result: This is his debut.
René Rast
Best Result: This is his debut.
Lando Norris
Best Result: This is his debut.
Joel Eriksson/Mansour Chebli
Best Result: Eriksson makes his debut as well as Chebli.
Group C Prediction: This is the most wide open-group and it is a fairly young group. Rast is the oldest driver at 31 years old and there could be two teenagers if 19-year-old Eriksson wins in round one and joins 18-year-old Norris. Rast is the most experienced circuit racer in this group but Kristoffersson had a good circuit career, which included winning the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship and the International Superstars Series championships in 2012 and he won six of ten races he started in the STCC last year. Norris is young and that inexperience could be a disadvantage Sweden has had a driver win the Champion of Champions competition five times behind only France, which has won it ten times and Finland, which has won it six times.
I think Rast and Kristoffersson move onto the knockout round.
Group D
Josef Newgarden
Best Result: This is his debut.
Petter Solberg
Best Result: Quarterfinals (2014)
Yazeed Al-Rajhi
Best Result: This is his debut.
Karl Masaad/Ahmed Bin Khanen
Best Result: Both drivers are making debuts.
Group D Prediction: If there is a group Newgarden has to advance from and prove he has talent outside an IndyCar and could run other series this is it. What could be in his way is the fact that rally drivers have done well in the Race of Champions even since it moved to the stadium format in 2004. No American has ever won the Champions of Champions competition and the only time an American has made the semifinal was Carl Edwards in 2008. Al-Rajhi could become the third driver to win the Champion of Champions competition on home soil. Carlos Sainz did it in 1997 on the Gran Canaria course and Sébastien Loeb won in 2005 in Stade de France in Paris.
I think Newgarden will advance with Solberg.
The Champion of Champions competition will be held Saturday February 3rd at 8:00 a.m. ET.
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
2018 Bathurst 12 Hour Preview
Another week, another endurance race and another legendary circuit. For the 16th-time the Mount Panorama Circuit hosts the Bathurst 12 Hour and it once again leads off the four-race Intercontinental GT Challenge series. The remaining three rounds will be the Spa 24 Hours on July 28-29, the Suzuka 10 Hours on August 26th and the California 8 Hours from Laguna Seca on October 28th.
Fifty-two cars are on the entry list across the five classes. The GT3 class is divided into the PRO, PRO-AM and AM divisions. Class B is made up of GT3 Cup cars and Class C is made up of GT4 cars. Class I is for invitational entries and features 10 cars, seven of which are from MARC Car Australia.
As has become accustomed with these previews, we will look at each entry from the three GT3 divisions, Class B and Class C. Each entry will list the drivers, a reason why that entry will win its class and why it will not take victory.
PRO
#17 Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3
Drivers: Steven Kane, Guy Smith, Jules Gounon
Why this entry will win: Kane and Smith have had a lot of success together in the Bentley. Kane and Smith finished third overall in this race last year. Gounon won last year's Spa 24 Hours and Gounon is the reigning ADAC GT Masters championship. Team M-Sport won the Blancpain Endurance Series Teams' championship.
Why this entry will not win: Bentley has never won the Bathurst 12 Hour and a British driver has never won this race and neither has a French driver.
#18 Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3
Drivers: Andy Soucek, Maxime Soulet, Vincent Abril
Why this entry will win: This trio finished second in the Blancpain Endurance Series drivers' championship last year and won at Circuit Paul Ricard as well as finishing second in the Spa 24 Hours.
Why this entry will not win: Some of the reasons are the same as its sister car and these three finished 12th last year, seven laps down.
#22 Audi Sport Customer Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Garth Tander, Kelvin van der Linde, Frédéric Vervisch
Why this entry will win: Tander is a three-time Bathurst 1000 winner and won this race when it was a 24-hour race in 2002 and he finished second the following year. Van der Linde has made some impressive drives, including last year in the 24 Hours Nürburgring and arguably had a 24 Hours of Daytona victory stolen from his last week. Vervisch is a competent GT driver.
Why this entry will not win: Audi has not won this race since 2012. Vervisch is a Bathurst rookie, as is van der Linde and Tander's experience will not be enough.
#37 Audi Sport Team WRT Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Robin Frijns, Stuart Leonard, Dries Vanthoor
Why this entry will win: Frijns and Leonard are defending Blancpain Sprint Series champions and Frijns has been promoted to Audi's DTM team. Vanthoor has the capability to win GT races.
Why this entry will not win: A sprint race is not an endurance race and I am not sure this group will have what it takes.
#43 BMW Team Schnitzer BMW M6 GT3
Drivers: Augusto Farfus, Chaz Mostert, Marco Wittmann
Why this entry will win: Two DTM drivers paired with a Bathurst 1000 winner, plus Mostert has been getting extra time in the M6 GT3 as he has been competing in the Asian Le Mans Series. Wittmann finished 14th in this race last year driving with Steven Richards and Mark Winterbottom.
Why this entry will not win: BMW has not won this race since it became a GT3-spec race and the German manufacture has only one top ten finished since the introduction of the GT3 class. Wittmann was in the best finishing BMW last year.
#56 Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Maximilian Buhk, Maximilian Götz, Álvaro Parente
Why this entry will win: Buhk and Götz were a formidable pair when at HTP Motorsport. Parente won this race in 2016 with Shane van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb and Parente has been one of the top drivers in the United States since he moved to Pirelli World Challenge and he is coming off a good showing at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Why this entry will not win: This is Team Strakka Racing's first trip to Bathurst with the Merecdes-AMGs. On top of that, Mercedes has not won at Bathurst since 2013.
#58 YNA Autosport McLaren 650S GT3
Drivers: Shane van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, Côme Ledogar
Why this entry will win: Lowndes picked up his second victory in this event to go along with his six Bathurst 1000 victories and van Gisbergen won this race two years ago. Ledogar and van Gisbergen were Blancpain Endurance Series champions in 2016.
Why this entry will not win: Lowndes is on the backend of his career and repeating is hard to do.
#74 Audi Sport Customer Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Christopher Mies, Christopher Haase, Markus Winkelhock
Why this entry will win: Mies is a two-time Bathurst 12 Hours winner and he won last year in the 24 Hours Nürburgring. Winkelhock is the defending Intercontinental GT Challenge champion after he won at Spa-Francorchamps and Laguna Seca. Haase was also a part of that Spa 24 Hours winning team and Haase finished second in the Intercontinental GT Challenge championship with Mies coming in third.
Why this entry will not win: It is hard to come up with a reason why this car won't win.
#75 Mercedes-AMG Team SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Kenny Habul, Tristan Vautier, Jamie Whincup, Raffaele Marciello
Why this entry will win: Whincup is one of the greatest Australian drivers and won this race last year. He is also a four-time Bathurst 1000 winner. Marciello is a GP2 race winner and is a past European Formula 3 champion making the transition to sports cars. Vautier is coming off a promising race in Daytona and Habul did well in the GT Daytona class.
Why this entry will not win: Half of these drivers are Bathurst rookies and Marciello is still getting his feet wet in GT cars.
#100 BMW Team SRM BMW M6 GT3
Drivers: Steven Richards, Timo Glock, Philipp Eng
Why this entry will win: Richards won this race in 2002 when it was a 24-hour race and he is a four-time Bathurst 1000 winner. Glock has been a consistent race winner in DTM. Eng is a past Porsche Supercup champion and finished fourth in ADAC GT Masters last year.
Why this entry will not win: See the reasons why the #43 BMW will not win and add to that Richards has not finished in the top ten in his last four Bathurst 12 Hour starts.
#911 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R
Drivers: Romain Dumas, Frédéric Makowiecki, Dirk Werner
Why this entry will win: This is basically a GTE-Pro caliber line-up. Dumas finished second in the 24 Hours of Daytona last week and besides Daytona, the only other endurance race he is missing from his mantle is Bathurst (and Dubai, I guess). Makowiecki has won races in the FIA WEC, GT1 World Championship and he won the Suzuka 1000 KM in 2013.
Why this entry will not win: Surprisingly, Porsche has never won the Bathurst 12 Hour and these are three Bathurst rookies.
#991 Craft-Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3 R
Drivers: Earl Bamber, Kevin Éstre, Laurens Vanthoor
Why this entry will win: This is another GTE-Pro caliber line-up. Bamber is the defending World Endurance Drivers' Champion and a two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner. He also has two Class B victories in the Bathurst 12 Hour. Vanthoor had a rough first season with Porsche and he is ready to rebound. Éstre is one of the underrated GT drivers.
Why this entry will not win: This is another entry where it is hard to come up with a reason why it will not win. Other than Porsche has yet to win at Bathurst is all I got.
PRO-AM
#8 Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Max Twigg, Craig Baird, Tony D'Alberto
Why this entry will win: D'Alberto is coming off his best finish in the Bathurst 1000 after he finished third last year with Fabian Coulthard. Baird won the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2007 and picked up a class victory in the race the following year. Twigg finished sixth in Australian GT Championship.
Why this entry will not win: Baird has retired from the last four Bathurst 12 Hours.
#9 Audi Sport Customer Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Marc Cini, Lee Holdsworth, Dean Fiore
Why this entry will win: Holdsworth has been a full-time Supercars driver for over a decade. Fiore has plenty of experience on Mount Panorama.
Why this entry will not win: For the overall victory, it has a lot of tough Audis to beat let alone the other cars in the PRO-AM division.
#11 Objective Racing McLaren 650S GT3
Drivers: Tony Walls, Warren Luff, Tim Slade, Jaxon Evans
Why this entry will win: Slade and Luff both have been regulars in the Bathurst 1000. Evans finished second in the Australian Endurance Championship and fifth in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship last year.
Why this entry will not win: Evans is a younger driver and this is a big chance for him.
#12 Competition Motorsports Porsche 991 GT3 R
Drivers: David Calvert-Jones, Patrick Long, Matt Campbell, Alex Davison
Why this entry will win: The first three drivers finished second overall in this race last year and won the PRO-AM division. Long is the reigning Pirelli World Challenge champion and Campbell has won at Bathurst in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia. Davison has had a lot of experience at Mount Panorama.
Why this entry will not win: It is tough to see how this car will not win in PRO-AM but this entry could win overall.
#19 Nineteen Corp R/L Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: David Reynolds, John Martin, Liam Talbot, Mark Griffith
Why this entry will win: Reynolds won last year's Bathurst 1000 with Luke Youlden and he is coming off a seventh place finish in the Supercars championship. Martin has had success in sports cars and has won in the LMP2 class in the FIA WEC. Talbot finished second last year in the Australian GT Championship and Talbot and Martin finished third in the Australian Endurance Championship.
Why this entry will not win: In class, the #12 Porsche will be tough competition.
#29 Trofeo Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3
Drivers: Jim Manolios, Ryan Miller, Ivan Capelli, Dean Canto
Why this entry will win: Canto has made 19 Bathurst 1000 starts. Capelli is a former Formula One driver who has raced at Mount Panorama before.
Why this entry will not win: Canto finished second in the Bathurst 1000 in 2012 but he had retired from 11 of those starts and Capelli is 54 years old.
#32 Lago Racing Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX GT3
Drivers: Roger Lago, David Russell, Steve Owen
Why this entry will win: Owen has twice finished runner-up in the Bathurst 1000. Russell has experience in this car driving in the Australian GT Championship and ADAC GT Masters.
Why this entry will not win: It is an older Lamborghini and the line-up might not be good enough.
#39 Audi Sport Team WRT Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Pedro Lamy, Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda, Will Davison
Why this entry will win: Once again, the famed FIA WEC GTE-Am line-up is competitive wherever it seems to go and these drivers had a good day going at Daytona before an accident. Davison is a two-time Bathurst 1000 winner.
Why this entry will not win: I wonder if the wear of a trip from Florida to Australia will get to Lamy, Dalla Lana and Lauda.
#47 YNA Autosport McLaren 650S GT3
Drivers: Scott McLaughlin, Fraser Ross, Andrew Watson, Alexander West
Why this entry will win: McLaughlin is one of the best drivers in Supercars and he has had good runs at Mount Panorama. Watson has had some success in the British GT Championship.
Why this entry will not win: McLaughlin and Watson are good but I am not sure they could carry the load.
#55 Mercedes-AMG Team Srakka Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Nick Leventis, Lewis Williamson, Cameron Waters, David Fumanelli
Why this entry will win: Mercedes-AMG has had success in the Bathurst 12 Hour. Leventis and Williamson have experience racing with one another. Waters has a top five finish in the Bathurst 1000 and finished seventh in the Supercars championship last season. Fumanelli has had success in the Blancpain Sprint Series Silver Cup.
Why this entry will not win: This line-up is inexperienced at Bathurst outside of Waters and the team is still getting up to speed with the Mercedes.
#82 International Motorsport Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Andrew Bagnall, Matthew Halliday, Johnny Reid
Why this entry will win: Bagnall and Halliday raced together in the Australian GT Championship. Reid has been all over the place and was very successful in A1GP a decade ago.
Why this entry will not win: Bagnall is an older driver and I am not sure if this car can keep up.
#540 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R
Drivers: Tim Pappas, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Luca Stolz, Marc Lieb
Why this entry will win: Lieb finished second last year with Calvert-Jones, Long and Campbell. Bleekemolen had a good run at Daytona and Stolz was his teammate as the team finished fourth in the GT Daytona class. Stolz has been getting his fair share of endurance race experience in the early part of 2018. Bleekemolen has Bathurst experience; he was van Gisbergen's Bathurst 1000 co-driver in 2013.
Why this entry will not win: It is asking a lot for an American team to go to Australia and be successful. The team could struggle from jet lag.
#777 Buik Motorwork Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX GT3
Drivers: Yasser Shahin, Luke Youlden, Tomáš Enge
Why this entry will win: Youlden won last year's Bathurst 1000 with David Reynolds. Enge has won his fair share of GT races.
Why this entry will not win: This isn't even the most current Lamborghini that could be raced in this event. Youlden and Enge are both over 40 years of age.
AM
#3 Audi Sport Customer Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Ash Samadi, Daniel Gaunt, Dylan O'Keefe
Why this entry will win: Samadi and Gaunt finished seventh in last year's race with Matt Halliday, good enough for second in the PRO-AM division. O'Keefe won last year in Class B.
Why this entry will not win: It has two stiff competitors in the AM division.
#6 Safe-T-Stop Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 GT3
Drivers: Richard Gartner, Hadrian Morrall, David Wall, John Bowe
Why this entry will win: Bowe is the all-time leader in Bathurst 12 Hour victories with three and he won the Bathurst 1000 twice. Wall has been a regular competitor in the Bathurst 1000 for the last decade and is the defending Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion.
Why this entry will not win: It is an older Lamborghini.
#69 Audi Sport Customer Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: James Koundoris, Theo Koundoris, Ash Walsh, Duvashen Padayachee
Why this entry will win: This is a line-up that knows Mount Panorama Circuit. Padayachee won the AM division last year. Walsh finished third in the Australian GT Championship.
Why this entry will not win: The two Koundorises (is that the right plural?) have had their ups and downs in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Class B
#4 Grove Motorsport Pty Ltd. Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Drivers: Stephen Grove, Brenton Grove, Ben Barker
Why this entry will win: Since 2013, in class Grove Motorsport has finished second, first, second, first and unfortunately retired after 32 laps last year but it has been a competitive car.
Why this entry will not win: Stephen Grove and Barker have been strong but there have been stronger third drivers in this car.
#21 JFC-Carter Grange Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Drivers: Daniel Stutterd, Sam Fillmore
Why this entry will win: Stutterd and Fillmore take a step down after being in the Class A AM class last year so they have competed in quicker cars around Mount Panorama.
Why this entry will not win: At time of writing, it only has two drivers listed and it will need to find a third.
#23 Team Carrera Cup Asia Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Drivers: Paul Tresidder, Chris Van der Drift, Andrew Tang, Chen Yi-Fan
Why this entry will win: Van der Drift is a two-time and reigning Porsche Carrera Cup Asia winner. Tang finished fourth in the championship and Chen was the Pro-Am champion.
Why this entry will not win: Tresidder is the weakest link in this car.
#42 On Track Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
Drivers: Garry Mennell, Kean Booker, Aaron Zerefos, Mark Caine
Why this entry will win: Zerefos finished fourth in Class B last year.
Why this entry will not win: It is the entry I know the least about. Not a good reason to give but I think there are three stronger Class B entries than this one.
#85 Wall Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Drivers: Charles Espenlaub, Charles Putman, Joe Foster
Why this entry will win: These three have been very successful in the 24H Series and unfortunately they did not start last year's race.
Why this entry will not win: It is a good line-up but I feel it is missing something needed to win the class.
Class C
#13 RHC-Lawrence/Storm (MarcGT) BMW M4 GT4
Drivers: Daren Jorgensen, Cameron Lawrence, Brett Strom, Kuno Wittmer
Why this entry will win: This team is made up of two top North American drivers in Cameron Lawrence and Kuno Wittmer.
Why this entry will not win: It is an inexperienced line-up at Bathurst.
#15 Baigent Motorsport BMW M4 GT3
Drivers: Kent Baigent, Neil Allport, Matt Wilding-Spratt, Ash Blewett
Why this entry will win: A New Zealand team with an all-New Zealander driver line-up and if there is one thing we have learned it is New Zealanders make damn fine drivers.
Why this entry will not win: It is a good line-up but I am not sure it will be strong enough to win this class.
#30 Boat Works Racing BMW M4 GT4
Drivers: Aaron Seton, Matt Brabham, Anthony Longhurst
Why this entry will win: Brabham is a young driver that unfortunately has been left behind but he has a chance to get everyone's attention. Seton has raced this race prior in Class I. Longhurst might be 60 years old but he is a two-time Bathurst 1000 winner and won the 2009 Bathurst 12 Hour and he competed last year in the PRO class.
Why this entry will not win: It is a collection of drivers with not much experience in the car.
#44 BMW Team SRM BMW GT4
Drivers: Dean Grant, Xaiver West, Cameron Hill
Why this entry will win: Grant has made three Bathurst 12 Hour starts and all in GT3 cars. West won in Class B last year. Hill competed in the Toyota Finance 86 Championship in New Zealander.
Why this entry will not win: I think Hill could be a weak link.
#46 Prosport Performance GABH Porsche Cayman PRO4
Drivers: Jörg Viebahn, Max Braam, Marco Schelp, Nico Verdonck
Why this entry will win: This team won in Class C last year with Viebann and Braam.
Why this entry will not win: Repeating is hard to do and it has a lot of BMWs to contend with.
#48 M Motorsports P/L KTM X-Bow GT4
Drivers: Justin McMillan, David Crampton, Tim Macrow, Caitlin Wood
Why this entry will win: McMillan just ran the Dubai 24 Hour. Macrow is a two-time Australian Drivers' Champions. Wood raced in Europe in the GT4 European Series.
Why this entry will not win: There are a couple strong cars in class, most notably the #46 Porsche and a few of the BMWs.
#49 KTM / M Motorsport KTM X-Bow GT4
Drivers: Glen Wood, Trent Harrison, Cody Hill
Why this entry will win: Wood won a race in the Australian GT Championship last year. Hill has done some lower-level racing in Australia.
Why this entry will not win: Harrison has been out of racing since 2013.
#77 Ginetta Australia Ginetta G55 GT4
Drivers: Coleby Cowham, Lindsay Kearns, Charlie Robinson
Why this entry will win: Cowham and Kearns finished third in Class C last year driving a Porsche.
Why this entry will not win: It isn't even the best Ginetta in class.
#88 Ginetta Australia Ginetta G55 GT4
Drivers: Jaie Robson, William Tregurtha, Ben Walsh
Why this entry will win: Tregurtha won the British GT GT4 championship with recent 24 Hours of Daytona runner-up Stuart Middleton last year. Robson finished fourth in the Aussie Racing Cars series last year.
Why this entry will not win: I am not sure the Ginettas can keep up with the Porsche and BMWs.
The Bathurst 12 Hour will start at 1:45 p.m. ET on Saturday February 3rd.
Fifty-two cars are on the entry list across the five classes. The GT3 class is divided into the PRO, PRO-AM and AM divisions. Class B is made up of GT3 Cup cars and Class C is made up of GT4 cars. Class I is for invitational entries and features 10 cars, seven of which are from MARC Car Australia.
As has become accustomed with these previews, we will look at each entry from the three GT3 divisions, Class B and Class C. Each entry will list the drivers, a reason why that entry will win its class and why it will not take victory.
PRO
#17 Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3
Drivers: Steven Kane, Guy Smith, Jules Gounon
Why this entry will win: Kane and Smith have had a lot of success together in the Bentley. Kane and Smith finished third overall in this race last year. Gounon won last year's Spa 24 Hours and Gounon is the reigning ADAC GT Masters championship. Team M-Sport won the Blancpain Endurance Series Teams' championship.
Why this entry will not win: Bentley has never won the Bathurst 12 Hour and a British driver has never won this race and neither has a French driver.
#18 Bentley Team M-Sport Bentley Continental GT3
Drivers: Andy Soucek, Maxime Soulet, Vincent Abril
Why this entry will win: This trio finished second in the Blancpain Endurance Series drivers' championship last year and won at Circuit Paul Ricard as well as finishing second in the Spa 24 Hours.
Why this entry will not win: Some of the reasons are the same as its sister car and these three finished 12th last year, seven laps down.
#22 Audi Sport Customer Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Garth Tander, Kelvin van der Linde, Frédéric Vervisch
Why this entry will win: Tander is a three-time Bathurst 1000 winner and won this race when it was a 24-hour race in 2002 and he finished second the following year. Van der Linde has made some impressive drives, including last year in the 24 Hours Nürburgring and arguably had a 24 Hours of Daytona victory stolen from his last week. Vervisch is a competent GT driver.
Why this entry will not win: Audi has not won this race since 2012. Vervisch is a Bathurst rookie, as is van der Linde and Tander's experience will not be enough.
#37 Audi Sport Team WRT Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Robin Frijns, Stuart Leonard, Dries Vanthoor
Why this entry will win: Frijns and Leonard are defending Blancpain Sprint Series champions and Frijns has been promoted to Audi's DTM team. Vanthoor has the capability to win GT races.
Why this entry will not win: A sprint race is not an endurance race and I am not sure this group will have what it takes.
#43 BMW Team Schnitzer BMW M6 GT3
Drivers: Augusto Farfus, Chaz Mostert, Marco Wittmann
Why this entry will win: Two DTM drivers paired with a Bathurst 1000 winner, plus Mostert has been getting extra time in the M6 GT3 as he has been competing in the Asian Le Mans Series. Wittmann finished 14th in this race last year driving with Steven Richards and Mark Winterbottom.
Why this entry will not win: BMW has not won this race since it became a GT3-spec race and the German manufacture has only one top ten finished since the introduction of the GT3 class. Wittmann was in the best finishing BMW last year.
#56 Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Maximilian Buhk, Maximilian Götz, Álvaro Parente
Why this entry will win: Buhk and Götz were a formidable pair when at HTP Motorsport. Parente won this race in 2016 with Shane van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb and Parente has been one of the top drivers in the United States since he moved to Pirelli World Challenge and he is coming off a good showing at the 24 Hours of Daytona.
Why this entry will not win: This is Team Strakka Racing's first trip to Bathurst with the Merecdes-AMGs. On top of that, Mercedes has not won at Bathurst since 2013.
#58 YNA Autosport McLaren 650S GT3
Drivers: Shane van Gisbergen, Craig Lowndes, Côme Ledogar
Why this entry will win: Lowndes picked up his second victory in this event to go along with his six Bathurst 1000 victories and van Gisbergen won this race two years ago. Ledogar and van Gisbergen were Blancpain Endurance Series champions in 2016.
Why this entry will not win: Lowndes is on the backend of his career and repeating is hard to do.
#74 Audi Sport Customer Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Christopher Mies, Christopher Haase, Markus Winkelhock
Why this entry will win: Mies is a two-time Bathurst 12 Hours winner and he won last year in the 24 Hours Nürburgring. Winkelhock is the defending Intercontinental GT Challenge champion after he won at Spa-Francorchamps and Laguna Seca. Haase was also a part of that Spa 24 Hours winning team and Haase finished second in the Intercontinental GT Challenge championship with Mies coming in third.
Why this entry will not win: It is hard to come up with a reason why this car won't win.
#75 Mercedes-AMG Team SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Kenny Habul, Tristan Vautier, Jamie Whincup, Raffaele Marciello
Why this entry will win: Whincup is one of the greatest Australian drivers and won this race last year. He is also a four-time Bathurst 1000 winner. Marciello is a GP2 race winner and is a past European Formula 3 champion making the transition to sports cars. Vautier is coming off a promising race in Daytona and Habul did well in the GT Daytona class.
Why this entry will not win: Half of these drivers are Bathurst rookies and Marciello is still getting his feet wet in GT cars.
#100 BMW Team SRM BMW M6 GT3
Drivers: Steven Richards, Timo Glock, Philipp Eng
Why this entry will win: Richards won this race in 2002 when it was a 24-hour race and he is a four-time Bathurst 1000 winner. Glock has been a consistent race winner in DTM. Eng is a past Porsche Supercup champion and finished fourth in ADAC GT Masters last year.
Why this entry will not win: See the reasons why the #43 BMW will not win and add to that Richards has not finished in the top ten in his last four Bathurst 12 Hour starts.
#911 Manthey Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R
Drivers: Romain Dumas, Frédéric Makowiecki, Dirk Werner
Why this entry will win: This is basically a GTE-Pro caliber line-up. Dumas finished second in the 24 Hours of Daytona last week and besides Daytona, the only other endurance race he is missing from his mantle is Bathurst (and Dubai, I guess). Makowiecki has won races in the FIA WEC, GT1 World Championship and he won the Suzuka 1000 KM in 2013.
Why this entry will not win: Surprisingly, Porsche has never won the Bathurst 12 Hour and these are three Bathurst rookies.
#991 Craft-Bamboo Racing Porsche GT3 R
Drivers: Earl Bamber, Kevin Éstre, Laurens Vanthoor
Why this entry will win: This is another GTE-Pro caliber line-up. Bamber is the defending World Endurance Drivers' Champion and a two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner. He also has two Class B victories in the Bathurst 12 Hour. Vanthoor had a rough first season with Porsche and he is ready to rebound. Éstre is one of the underrated GT drivers.
Why this entry will not win: This is another entry where it is hard to come up with a reason why it will not win. Other than Porsche has yet to win at Bathurst is all I got.
PRO-AM
#8 Scott Taylor Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Max Twigg, Craig Baird, Tony D'Alberto
Why this entry will win: D'Alberto is coming off his best finish in the Bathurst 1000 after he finished third last year with Fabian Coulthard. Baird won the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2007 and picked up a class victory in the race the following year. Twigg finished sixth in Australian GT Championship.
Why this entry will not win: Baird has retired from the last four Bathurst 12 Hours.
#9 Audi Sport Customer Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Marc Cini, Lee Holdsworth, Dean Fiore
Why this entry will win: Holdsworth has been a full-time Supercars driver for over a decade. Fiore has plenty of experience on Mount Panorama.
Why this entry will not win: For the overall victory, it has a lot of tough Audis to beat let alone the other cars in the PRO-AM division.
#11 Objective Racing McLaren 650S GT3
Drivers: Tony Walls, Warren Luff, Tim Slade, Jaxon Evans
Why this entry will win: Slade and Luff both have been regulars in the Bathurst 1000. Evans finished second in the Australian Endurance Championship and fifth in the Porsche Carrera Cup Australia championship last year.
Why this entry will not win: Evans is a younger driver and this is a big chance for him.
#12 Competition Motorsports Porsche 991 GT3 R
Drivers: David Calvert-Jones, Patrick Long, Matt Campbell, Alex Davison
Why this entry will win: The first three drivers finished second overall in this race last year and won the PRO-AM division. Long is the reigning Pirelli World Challenge champion and Campbell has won at Bathurst in Porsche Carrera Cup Australia. Davison has had a lot of experience at Mount Panorama.
Why this entry will not win: It is tough to see how this car will not win in PRO-AM but this entry could win overall.
#19 Nineteen Corp R/L Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: David Reynolds, John Martin, Liam Talbot, Mark Griffith
Why this entry will win: Reynolds won last year's Bathurst 1000 with Luke Youlden and he is coming off a seventh place finish in the Supercars championship. Martin has had success in sports cars and has won in the LMP2 class in the FIA WEC. Talbot finished second last year in the Australian GT Championship and Talbot and Martin finished third in the Australian Endurance Championship.
Why this entry will not win: In class, the #12 Porsche will be tough competition.
#29 Trofeo Motorsport Lamborghini Huracán GT3
Drivers: Jim Manolios, Ryan Miller, Ivan Capelli, Dean Canto
Why this entry will win: Canto has made 19 Bathurst 1000 starts. Capelli is a former Formula One driver who has raced at Mount Panorama before.
Why this entry will not win: Canto finished second in the Bathurst 1000 in 2012 but he had retired from 11 of those starts and Capelli is 54 years old.
#32 Lago Racing Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX GT3
Drivers: Roger Lago, David Russell, Steve Owen
Why this entry will win: Owen has twice finished runner-up in the Bathurst 1000. Russell has experience in this car driving in the Australian GT Championship and ADAC GT Masters.
Why this entry will not win: It is an older Lamborghini and the line-up might not be good enough.
#39 Audi Sport Team WRT Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Pedro Lamy, Paul Dalla Lana, Mathias Lauda, Will Davison
Why this entry will win: Once again, the famed FIA WEC GTE-Am line-up is competitive wherever it seems to go and these drivers had a good day going at Daytona before an accident. Davison is a two-time Bathurst 1000 winner.
Why this entry will not win: I wonder if the wear of a trip from Florida to Australia will get to Lamy, Dalla Lana and Lauda.
#47 YNA Autosport McLaren 650S GT3
Drivers: Scott McLaughlin, Fraser Ross, Andrew Watson, Alexander West
Why this entry will win: McLaughlin is one of the best drivers in Supercars and he has had good runs at Mount Panorama. Watson has had some success in the British GT Championship.
Why this entry will not win: McLaughlin and Watson are good but I am not sure they could carry the load.
#55 Mercedes-AMG Team Srakka Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
Drivers: Nick Leventis, Lewis Williamson, Cameron Waters, David Fumanelli
Why this entry will win: Mercedes-AMG has had success in the Bathurst 12 Hour. Leventis and Williamson have experience racing with one another. Waters has a top five finish in the Bathurst 1000 and finished seventh in the Supercars championship last season. Fumanelli has had success in the Blancpain Sprint Series Silver Cup.
Why this entry will not win: This line-up is inexperienced at Bathurst outside of Waters and the team is still getting up to speed with the Mercedes.
#82 International Motorsport Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Andrew Bagnall, Matthew Halliday, Johnny Reid
Why this entry will win: Bagnall and Halliday raced together in the Australian GT Championship. Reid has been all over the place and was very successful in A1GP a decade ago.
Why this entry will not win: Bagnall is an older driver and I am not sure if this car can keep up.
#540 Black Swan Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R
Drivers: Tim Pappas, Jeroen Bleekemolen, Luca Stolz, Marc Lieb
Why this entry will win: Lieb finished second last year with Calvert-Jones, Long and Campbell. Bleekemolen had a good run at Daytona and Stolz was his teammate as the team finished fourth in the GT Daytona class. Stolz has been getting his fair share of endurance race experience in the early part of 2018. Bleekemolen has Bathurst experience; he was van Gisbergen's Bathurst 1000 co-driver in 2013.
Why this entry will not win: It is asking a lot for an American team to go to Australia and be successful. The team could struggle from jet lag.
#777 Buik Motorwork Lamborghini Gallardo R-EX GT3
Drivers: Yasser Shahin, Luke Youlden, Tomáš Enge
Why this entry will win: Youlden won last year's Bathurst 1000 with David Reynolds. Enge has won his fair share of GT races.
Why this entry will not win: This isn't even the most current Lamborghini that could be raced in this event. Youlden and Enge are both over 40 years of age.
AM
#3 Audi Sport Customer Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: Ash Samadi, Daniel Gaunt, Dylan O'Keefe
Why this entry will win: Samadi and Gaunt finished seventh in last year's race with Matt Halliday, good enough for second in the PRO-AM division. O'Keefe won last year in Class B.
Why this entry will not win: It has two stiff competitors in the AM division.
#6 Safe-T-Stop Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 GT3
Drivers: Richard Gartner, Hadrian Morrall, David Wall, John Bowe
Why this entry will win: Bowe is the all-time leader in Bathurst 12 Hour victories with three and he won the Bathurst 1000 twice. Wall has been a regular competitor in the Bathurst 1000 for the last decade and is the defending Porsche Carrera Cup Asia champion.
Why this entry will not win: It is an older Lamborghini.
#69 Audi Sport Customer Racing Audi R8 LMS
Drivers: James Koundoris, Theo Koundoris, Ash Walsh, Duvashen Padayachee
Why this entry will win: This is a line-up that knows Mount Panorama Circuit. Padayachee won the AM division last year. Walsh finished third in the Australian GT Championship.
Why this entry will not win: The two Koundorises (is that the right plural?) have had their ups and downs in the Bathurst 12 Hour.
Class B
#4 Grove Motorsport Pty Ltd. Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Drivers: Stephen Grove, Brenton Grove, Ben Barker
Why this entry will win: Since 2013, in class Grove Motorsport has finished second, first, second, first and unfortunately retired after 32 laps last year but it has been a competitive car.
Why this entry will not win: Stephen Grove and Barker have been strong but there have been stronger third drivers in this car.
#21 JFC-Carter Grange Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Drivers: Daniel Stutterd, Sam Fillmore
Why this entry will win: Stutterd and Fillmore take a step down after being in the Class A AM class last year so they have competed in quicker cars around Mount Panorama.
Why this entry will not win: At time of writing, it only has two drivers listed and it will need to find a third.
#23 Team Carrera Cup Asia Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Drivers: Paul Tresidder, Chris Van der Drift, Andrew Tang, Chen Yi-Fan
Why this entry will win: Van der Drift is a two-time and reigning Porsche Carrera Cup Asia winner. Tang finished fourth in the championship and Chen was the Pro-Am champion.
Why this entry will not win: Tresidder is the weakest link in this car.
#42 On Track Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
Drivers: Garry Mennell, Kean Booker, Aaron Zerefos, Mark Caine
Why this entry will win: Zerefos finished fourth in Class B last year.
Why this entry will not win: It is the entry I know the least about. Not a good reason to give but I think there are three stronger Class B entries than this one.
#85 Wall Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
Drivers: Charles Espenlaub, Charles Putman, Joe Foster
Why this entry will win: These three have been very successful in the 24H Series and unfortunately they did not start last year's race.
Why this entry will not win: It is a good line-up but I feel it is missing something needed to win the class.
Class C
#13 RHC-Lawrence/Storm (MarcGT) BMW M4 GT4
Drivers: Daren Jorgensen, Cameron Lawrence, Brett Strom, Kuno Wittmer
Why this entry will win: This team is made up of two top North American drivers in Cameron Lawrence and Kuno Wittmer.
Why this entry will not win: It is an inexperienced line-up at Bathurst.
#15 Baigent Motorsport BMW M4 GT3
Drivers: Kent Baigent, Neil Allport, Matt Wilding-Spratt, Ash Blewett
Why this entry will win: A New Zealand team with an all-New Zealander driver line-up and if there is one thing we have learned it is New Zealanders make damn fine drivers.
Why this entry will not win: It is a good line-up but I am not sure it will be strong enough to win this class.
#30 Boat Works Racing BMW M4 GT4
Drivers: Aaron Seton, Matt Brabham, Anthony Longhurst
Why this entry will win: Brabham is a young driver that unfortunately has been left behind but he has a chance to get everyone's attention. Seton has raced this race prior in Class I. Longhurst might be 60 years old but he is a two-time Bathurst 1000 winner and won the 2009 Bathurst 12 Hour and he competed last year in the PRO class.
Why this entry will not win: It is a collection of drivers with not much experience in the car.
#44 BMW Team SRM BMW GT4
Drivers: Dean Grant, Xaiver West, Cameron Hill
Why this entry will win: Grant has made three Bathurst 12 Hour starts and all in GT3 cars. West won in Class B last year. Hill competed in the Toyota Finance 86 Championship in New Zealander.
Why this entry will not win: I think Hill could be a weak link.
#46 Prosport Performance GABH Porsche Cayman PRO4
Drivers: Jörg Viebahn, Max Braam, Marco Schelp, Nico Verdonck
Why this entry will win: This team won in Class C last year with Viebann and Braam.
Why this entry will not win: Repeating is hard to do and it has a lot of BMWs to contend with.
#48 M Motorsports P/L KTM X-Bow GT4
Drivers: Justin McMillan, David Crampton, Tim Macrow, Caitlin Wood
Why this entry will win: McMillan just ran the Dubai 24 Hour. Macrow is a two-time Australian Drivers' Champions. Wood raced in Europe in the GT4 European Series.
Why this entry will not win: There are a couple strong cars in class, most notably the #46 Porsche and a few of the BMWs.
#49 KTM / M Motorsport KTM X-Bow GT4
Drivers: Glen Wood, Trent Harrison, Cody Hill
Why this entry will win: Wood won a race in the Australian GT Championship last year. Hill has done some lower-level racing in Australia.
Why this entry will not win: Harrison has been out of racing since 2013.
#77 Ginetta Australia Ginetta G55 GT4
Drivers: Coleby Cowham, Lindsay Kearns, Charlie Robinson
Why this entry will win: Cowham and Kearns finished third in Class C last year driving a Porsche.
Why this entry will not win: It isn't even the best Ginetta in class.
#88 Ginetta Australia Ginetta G55 GT4
Drivers: Jaie Robson, William Tregurtha, Ben Walsh
Why this entry will win: Tregurtha won the British GT GT4 championship with recent 24 Hours of Daytona runner-up Stuart Middleton last year. Robson finished fourth in the Aussie Racing Cars series last year.
Why this entry will not win: I am not sure the Ginettas can keep up with the Porsche and BMWs.
The Bathurst 12 Hour will start at 1:45 p.m. ET on Saturday February 3rd.
Monday, January 29, 2018
Musings From the Weekend: The Speed Fallacy
Filipe Albuquerque erased the heartache of 2017 with an overall victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona with Christian Fittipaldi and João Barbosa in the #5 Cadillac. Chip Ganassi Racing got its 200th victory with the #67 Ford GT of Ryan Briscoe, Richard Westbrook and Scott Dixon taking top honors in GT Le Mans. GRT Grasser Racing Team came to Daytona and won with the #11 Lamborghini of Mirko Bortolotti, Rolf Ineichen, Frank Perera and Rik Breukers. People had their panties in a wad over Fernando Alonso being in Daytona. Tires were an issue in Daytona. I learned that James Hinchcliffe has a dog. We are still three weeks away from the first NASCAR race of the season and Kyle Busch is already upset about something. Surprise! That didn't take long. Here is a run down of what got me thinking.
The Speed Fallacy
Marshall Pruett has been killing it with his "Week in IndyCar" podcasts during the offseason. You would have thought for a series that hasn't raced since the final Sunday of summer 2017 that by the final weekend of January 2018 there would be nothing to talk about but boredom. There is the new aero kit but that is a torturous tease. We want races. Pruett has found the way to fill the time. He also has given Robin Miller a bit of a break as Miller battles cancer and I hope Miller and Pruett reunite when the season starts because, while this all-star interview series has been great, Miller and Pruett's playful banter has been missed.
Back to the all-star line-up, Pruett has put together a collection of marathon interviews and each one is as great as the next. It started with Bob Varsha and was followed by Townsend Bell, Derek Daly, J.R. Hildebrand, Mike Hull not once, not twice but three times, Mike Shank, Bryan Herta, Lyn St. James, Pippa Mann, Ben Bretzman, Zach Veach, Conor Daly, John Andretti and most recently Scott Dixon.
Of those 16 podcasts, eight have exceeded two hours in length and Mike Hull was 23 seconds away from having a hat trick of two-hour interviews. Sometimes it seems it will be impossible to get through all these but between dead moments working, early morning work outs and weekends without much motorsports, you chip away at them. While living up to each episodes' name and covering each week in IndyCar news, the podcasts provide enlightening stories and gives you backstories you otherwise would not know.
One thing that has stood out from all these episodes is something Townsend Bell said way back in October, back when we didn't know who was going to drive for A.J. Foyt Racing, the Fittipaldi name was not in the same breath as IndyCar and IndyCar thought it would be racing in Mexico.
It seemed certain IndyCar would make a trip south of the border and likely to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez but, in typical IndyCar fashion, another international fell to pieces like newspaper left out in the rain.
Before IndyCar announced the end of its pursuit to a race in Mexico, Bell was not a fan of sharing a circuit with Formula One. His biggest issue was the disparity in lap time between the two cars and inevitably fans would use speed to compare the two series. IndyCar would be a second fiddle in terms of speed in Mexico City compared to Formula One. The 2017 aero regulations increased speeds dramatically in Formula One. Using Mexico City as the measuring stick, Sebastian Vettel's pole position in 2017 was 2.216 seconds faster than Lewis Hamilton's pole position the year prior and Vettel's fastest lap was 2.349 seconds faster than Daniel Ricciardo's fastest lap in 2016.
With IndyCar moving away from the manufacture aero kits, laps times are expected to be slower than the last three seasons as the cars will not have the same downforce levels. Formula One cars were already faster than IndyCars but with the two series going in oppositions in terms of downforce the gap would only grow in 2018.
Why would fans choose to follow a series with slower cars? The problem is that speed isn't the only reason why people watch.
If speed exclusively determined what people watch and attend than the NHRA should have 300,000 people at each race weekend and have an average of 45 million tuning in on television. If speed was the deciding factor than IndyCar would top NASCAR with the open-wheel series being 40 mph faster at Pocono, almost 45 mph faster at Indianapolis and almost 57 mph faster at Phoenix. In his podcast, Bell even points out the difference in speed between IndyCar and the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Truck Series at Iowa, where IndyCar was 49-55 mph faster than NASCAR's bottom two national touring series. And we haven't even looked at how much faster IndyCar is on road courses compared to stock cars.
There is more than speed to factor in. Formula One might run circles around IndyCar but it doesn't mean better racing and that is what you hope people would notice. The Mexican Grand Prix has been quite a sight with close to a quarter-million people attending the race each year. It is an atmosphere you want to be a part of but the racing on track has had its moments. Mexico had the Vettel vs. Max Verstappen battle in 2016 that ended in controversial fashion. Last year featured the Hamilton-Vettel collision that put both to the back and had each carve up back markers but Verstappen ran away with it at the front and was never challenged for the lead, leading all 71 laps. IndyCar has had a good few seasons on road courses and with a front straightway almost three-quarters of a mile in length and another pair of quality passing areas in turn four and turn 12 there would be a fair amount of passing in an IndyCar race at Mexico City.
You hope people would notice the difference in the number of passes and battles for the lead but if people don't notice the difference in terms of on-track action and speed isn't the sole reason people watch than it has to be something else and that is the profile that comes with a series. People want to see Formula One because it sounds sexy. It is the pinnacle. It is top shelf liquor. The same goes for NASCAR, as the series has a cultural advantage over IndyCar in the United States. It found a way to become what people think about when they see a race car, regardless if it is a stock car or not. The top drivers aren't unknowns on the national stage. You could tell someone how much faster an IndyCar is than NASCAR on a given track and it won't make a damn difference. NASCAR represents something to people. It provides an identity for the working-class rebel who wants to unwind watching race cars and having a few dozen beverages. The drivers are more than competitors but spokespeople to an unheard and forgotten community.
IndyCar isn't going to ascend to the throne on speed alone. Speed is a factor in why people watch what they watch but it isn't the end all be all. It has long been IndyCar's problem that it doesn't know what it is and nor does it give a reason for people to watch. People need a reason to care about these drivers and IndyCar has to connect with the public. It needs to be something that turns heads and casts a spell on people, forcing people to follow and see what happens. That isn't going to happen overnight even if it became the fastest series in the world.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about what happened in Daytona but did you know...
Eli Tomac won the Supercross race from Phoenix, his second consecutive victory of the season.
Richard Vanschoor is undefeated in first races of Toyota Racing Series weekend, as he took race one from Hampton Downs. Vanschoor also won race three with Clement Novalak taking the second race of the weekend.
Benjamin Rivière and Benoît Tréluyer split the Andros Trophy races from Lans-en-Vercors.
Coming Up This Weekend:
The Bathurst 12 Hour.
The Race of Champions will be held in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking of champions, the Asian Le Mans Series will crown champions at its season finale in Sepang.
The Toyota Racing Series will be at Taupo.
Supercross heads to Oakland.
Formula E returns to South America and a new venue in Santiago, Chile.
The Speed Fallacy
Marshall Pruett has been killing it with his "Week in IndyCar" podcasts during the offseason. You would have thought for a series that hasn't raced since the final Sunday of summer 2017 that by the final weekend of January 2018 there would be nothing to talk about but boredom. There is the new aero kit but that is a torturous tease. We want races. Pruett has found the way to fill the time. He also has given Robin Miller a bit of a break as Miller battles cancer and I hope Miller and Pruett reunite when the season starts because, while this all-star interview series has been great, Miller and Pruett's playful banter has been missed.
Back to the all-star line-up, Pruett has put together a collection of marathon interviews and each one is as great as the next. It started with Bob Varsha and was followed by Townsend Bell, Derek Daly, J.R. Hildebrand, Mike Hull not once, not twice but three times, Mike Shank, Bryan Herta, Lyn St. James, Pippa Mann, Ben Bretzman, Zach Veach, Conor Daly, John Andretti and most recently Scott Dixon.
Of those 16 podcasts, eight have exceeded two hours in length and Mike Hull was 23 seconds away from having a hat trick of two-hour interviews. Sometimes it seems it will be impossible to get through all these but between dead moments working, early morning work outs and weekends without much motorsports, you chip away at them. While living up to each episodes' name and covering each week in IndyCar news, the podcasts provide enlightening stories and gives you backstories you otherwise would not know.
One thing that has stood out from all these episodes is something Townsend Bell said way back in October, back when we didn't know who was going to drive for A.J. Foyt Racing, the Fittipaldi name was not in the same breath as IndyCar and IndyCar thought it would be racing in Mexico.
It seemed certain IndyCar would make a trip south of the border and likely to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez but, in typical IndyCar fashion, another international fell to pieces like newspaper left out in the rain.
Before IndyCar announced the end of its pursuit to a race in Mexico, Bell was not a fan of sharing a circuit with Formula One. His biggest issue was the disparity in lap time between the two cars and inevitably fans would use speed to compare the two series. IndyCar would be a second fiddle in terms of speed in Mexico City compared to Formula One. The 2017 aero regulations increased speeds dramatically in Formula One. Using Mexico City as the measuring stick, Sebastian Vettel's pole position in 2017 was 2.216 seconds faster than Lewis Hamilton's pole position the year prior and Vettel's fastest lap was 2.349 seconds faster than Daniel Ricciardo's fastest lap in 2016.
With IndyCar moving away from the manufacture aero kits, laps times are expected to be slower than the last three seasons as the cars will not have the same downforce levels. Formula One cars were already faster than IndyCars but with the two series going in oppositions in terms of downforce the gap would only grow in 2018.
Why would fans choose to follow a series with slower cars? The problem is that speed isn't the only reason why people watch.
If speed exclusively determined what people watch and attend than the NHRA should have 300,000 people at each race weekend and have an average of 45 million tuning in on television. If speed was the deciding factor than IndyCar would top NASCAR with the open-wheel series being 40 mph faster at Pocono, almost 45 mph faster at Indianapolis and almost 57 mph faster at Phoenix. In his podcast, Bell even points out the difference in speed between IndyCar and the NASCAR Xfinity Series and Truck Series at Iowa, where IndyCar was 49-55 mph faster than NASCAR's bottom two national touring series. And we haven't even looked at how much faster IndyCar is on road courses compared to stock cars.
There is more than speed to factor in. Formula One might run circles around IndyCar but it doesn't mean better racing and that is what you hope people would notice. The Mexican Grand Prix has been quite a sight with close to a quarter-million people attending the race each year. It is an atmosphere you want to be a part of but the racing on track has had its moments. Mexico had the Vettel vs. Max Verstappen battle in 2016 that ended in controversial fashion. Last year featured the Hamilton-Vettel collision that put both to the back and had each carve up back markers but Verstappen ran away with it at the front and was never challenged for the lead, leading all 71 laps. IndyCar has had a good few seasons on road courses and with a front straightway almost three-quarters of a mile in length and another pair of quality passing areas in turn four and turn 12 there would be a fair amount of passing in an IndyCar race at Mexico City.
You hope people would notice the difference in the number of passes and battles for the lead but if people don't notice the difference in terms of on-track action and speed isn't the sole reason people watch than it has to be something else and that is the profile that comes with a series. People want to see Formula One because it sounds sexy. It is the pinnacle. It is top shelf liquor. The same goes for NASCAR, as the series has a cultural advantage over IndyCar in the United States. It found a way to become what people think about when they see a race car, regardless if it is a stock car or not. The top drivers aren't unknowns on the national stage. You could tell someone how much faster an IndyCar is than NASCAR on a given track and it won't make a damn difference. NASCAR represents something to people. It provides an identity for the working-class rebel who wants to unwind watching race cars and having a few dozen beverages. The drivers are more than competitors but spokespeople to an unheard and forgotten community.
IndyCar isn't going to ascend to the throne on speed alone. Speed is a factor in why people watch what they watch but it isn't the end all be all. It has long been IndyCar's problem that it doesn't know what it is and nor does it give a reason for people to watch. People need a reason to care about these drivers and IndyCar has to connect with the public. It needs to be something that turns heads and casts a spell on people, forcing people to follow and see what happens. That isn't going to happen overnight even if it became the fastest series in the world.
Winners From the Weekend
You know about what happened in Daytona but did you know...
Eli Tomac won the Supercross race from Phoenix, his second consecutive victory of the season.
Richard Vanschoor is undefeated in first races of Toyota Racing Series weekend, as he took race one from Hampton Downs. Vanschoor also won race three with Clement Novalak taking the second race of the weekend.
Benjamin Rivière and Benoît Tréluyer split the Andros Trophy races from Lans-en-Vercors.
Coming Up This Weekend:
The Bathurst 12 Hour.
The Race of Champions will be held in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking of champions, the Asian Le Mans Series will crown champions at its season finale in Sepang.
The Toyota Racing Series will be at Taupo.
Supercross heads to Oakland.
Formula E returns to South America and a new venue in Santiago, Chile.
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