LRP Memorial Day Weekend

[cdh]

Historic Grand Prix cars will be part of weekend races, may have to run up on Monday after WGI. Anyone planning on being there? You racing Koni Lugnuts?

Weekend schedule

[wbs]

Very cool! Does anyone know which cars, from which years will be racing?

[cdh]

Originally Posted by wbs

Very cool! Does anyone know which cars, from which years will be racing?

from LRP website:
Kicking off the season, Memorial Day weekend is packed with high-horsepower and a passion for performance as four completely
different race groups take turns vying for your attention.
• The KONI Challenge - a Grand-Am series of multi-driver endurance racing split between ST and GS classes.
• Historic Grand Prix - a collection of notable, authentic Formula One racing cars from the 1960s-80s.
• F2000 Championship Series – intense, competitive open-wheel racing with a mix of seasoned vets and young upcoming talent.
There’s no caution period here! These razor-tuned race cars will be thundering down in a blur of color all weekend long.

you can also look thru HGP site to get some idea of cars - their galleries have a ton of photos

[oldredracer]

HGP was at Indy a couple of years ago. Pet Lovely maintains a bunch of them I have a pic of my son standing next to the Brabham I watched Sir Jack race in '67 at the Glen.
Seeing them at our favorite bullring is not to be missed.

[ML Peter Ludwig]

Originally Posted by cdh

You racing Koni Lugnuts?

Hey Doug!!
Yes I'll be there in the #18 Porsche 997...
Just got back from Laguna and had our first bad luck of the year (ok maybe second after Homestead). Our Porsche ran well throughout practices and kept us in the top 5 during the Koni race (up to lap 41). A Mustang driver with more mass/horsepower then talent ended our run in SPECTACULAR fashion coming out of T11 right at the 1/2 way point. I can tell you none of these Mustang drivers went to school at Skip Barber and it shows. You need to see it to believe it, watch the race May 23 @ noon EST. on SPEED. See you at Lime Rock buddy.

http://www.motorsporttechnologygroup.com/galleries/2009%20Motorsport%20Technology%20Group%20at%20Lagu na%20Seca/index.html

[dalyduo]

Congrats on a great run and sorry for your bad luck with the ham fisted pony car driver. We'll track you down and say hi on Monday. Give 'em hell!

[cdh]

Originally Posted by ML Peter Ludwig

Hey Doug!! Yes I'll be there in the #18 Porsche 997...
Just got back from Laguna and had our first bad luck of the year (ok maybe second after Homestead).

I hope I can get to LRP Mon to see you. You probably read the opening and closing paragraphs in Patterson's Saturday Laguna race report...

Laguna Seca Saturday
After a wonderful dinner at Tarpy's last night after yesterday's strong results, where Peter Ludwig managed to butt his way onto the table after sharing some of his Columbus Salame sponsor's fabulous salami and sausage with us, we all dived deep under the Embassy Suites' covers and emerged to a hotter, clearer Saturday than forecast. Temperatures climbed quickly and made the track slippery, challenging the engineers to tame these beasts so the drivers could maintain their times....

...So I ended up qualifying right where Peter Ludwig qualified for the Koni race - P7. Columbus Salame really works. However, his race backfired for the sponsor when a broad shouldered Mustang tangled with Peter's Porsche twice early in the race, the second time terminally. Peter's radiator was done for the race and no amount of salami was going to fix that. Let's hope emulating Ludwig's qualifier is the last of any similarities for the rest of our race weekend.

Tough break bud, sounds like you have a great car / team. Those Porsche radiators are so vulnerable next to a mishandled Mustang.

LRP is your turf, go get 'em

[oldredracer]

Originally Posted by cdh

Historic Grand Prix cars will be part of weekend races, may have to run up on Monday after WGI. Anyone planning on being there? You racing Koni Lugnuts?

Weekend schedule

Looks like Saturday and Monday for me. Wanna see how the Lotus 79 ground effects do in the uphill. Not to mention listening to the song of the angry Cosworth one more time.

[Juicyfan]

On a semi-related note, anyone know of on board footage of the NEW Lime Rock (ALMS config)?

[cheekychica]

I was at the track yesterday, and Phil Lombardi will be racing in the F2000 series, while Divi will be in the Historic F1s this weekend.

Friday, May 22

10:00 AM 10:45 AM Practice – KONI Challenge ST
10:55 AM 11:40 AM Practice – KONI Challenge GS
11:50 AM 12:20 PM Practice – F2000
12:20 PM 1:20 PM Lunch
1:20 PM 1:50 PM Practice – Historic Grand Prix
2:00 PM 2:45 PM Practice – KONI Challenge ST
2:55 PM 3:35 PM Practice – KONI Challenge GS

3:45 PM 4:15 PM Practice – F2000
4:25 PM 4:55 PM Qualifying – Historic Grand Prix

Saturday, May 23

9:00 AM 9:30 AM Practice – KONI Challenge ST
9:40 AM 10:10 AM Practice – KONI Challenge GS
10:20 AM 10:50 AM Practice – F2000
11:00 AM 11:15 AM Qualifying – Historic Grand Prix
11:25 AM 11:40 AM Qualifying – KONI Challenge ST

11:50 AM 12:05 PM Qualifying – KONI Challenge GS

12:05 PM 12:55 PM Lunch
12:55 PM 1:25 PM Qualifying – F2000 Race #1
1:30 PM 2:00 PM Race #1 – Historic Grand Prix
2:00 PM Pre-Race – KONI Challenge ST
2:30 PM START – KONI Challenge ST Race
(2 ½-hour time limit)

5:15 PM 5:45 PM Race #1 – F2000

Monday, May 25

9:00 AM 9:40 AM Qualifying – F2000 Race #2
9:50 AM 10:05 AM Warm-Up – Historic Grand Prix
10:15 AM 10:45 AM Final Practice – KONI GS
11:00 AM 11:40 AM Race #2 – F2000
11:40 AM 12:40 PM Lunch
12:45 PM 1:30 PM Race #2 – Historic Grand Prix
1:30 PM Pre-Race – KONI Challenge GS
2:00 PM START – KONI Challenge GS Race

(2 ½ hour time limit)

[oldredracer]

Originally Posted by cdh

Historic Grand Prix cars will be part of weekend races, may have to run up on Monday after WGI. Anyone planning on being there? You racing Koni Lugnuts?

Weekend schedule

It just got worse. I'll be there Sat and Mon but I'll be working at the Skippy tent. Meaning I'll be there but I won't see very much. Tell Doug to take lots of video of Phil and the F1 cars, ok?

[cdh]

Originally Posted by oldredracer

It just got worse. I'll be there Sat and Mon but I'll be working at the Skippy tent. Meaning I'll be there but I won't see very much. Tell Doug to take lots of video of Phil and the F1 cars, ok?

no worries, I'll get good video of you working the tent I heard Phil's motor blew and no replacement...?

see ya in a little while

[wbs]

Just got back to the city from LRP. Sorry to say Peter had more bad luck today, but was nice seeing him let all the children on pit road get behind the wheel of a real racing Porsche! I was also able to say hi to MHP on pit lane.

Gotta say, it was amazing watching the '80 Williams and '79 Lotus coming around West Bend!

[cdh]

What an amazing Memorial Day at Lime Rock. I have been lurking around LRP since I was a student up the road in the early '70s, but the historic GP cars yesterday may top the list for the finest sights and (esp.) sounds I have ever experienced there. Add a perfect May day, seeing Divi, not only saying hi but watching her slug it out on track in a "somewhat frightening" Brabham was awesome.

Big thanks to oldredracer Paul B. for a last minute free pass, great seeing him work the SB tent like the pro he is (every time I passed by he was signing up another new customer), saw Doppler Dave, Ashlei, MHP, pulling into the track at the same moment as Pat and enjoying the fun with him and Julia, seeing Todd and Peter before their Koni race, getting together with Bob Oldman Manzella and watching the incredible GP cars, just great...but the sounds...those classic Cosworth GP engines resonating out of the natural bowl LRP sits in...chills daddio.

Here is some video

Part One - - 2:42 - 21 MB

I was using my baby Sony cam and it has never been quite right since it spent 24 hours strapped into a 997 at the Daytona 24 a couple years ago. The iris flutters, the image is fair but fortunately the mic works just fine. The images are raw but they are secondary....TURN IT UP Part 2 - 6:28 - 51 MB

[OLDMAN]

The last time I saw Peter's Porsche it was going down the escape road backward at about a million. How bad was the damage? What caused the spin?

OLDMAN

[dalyduo]

Spoke with Peter after the incident. He said he heard something grinding through the downhill and when he went to the brakes at big bend there were no brakes. The car then pitched itself into the guard rail along the escape road pinwheeling multiple times off the guardrail before stopping. The car was so badly damaged it wasn't worth extricating during the race. They thought maybe a brake rotor had exploded but there was no certainty what had happened at that point and I haven't heard any follow-up.

Peter was physically fine except for a sore wrist but looked like he'd seen a ghost. Has to be a special moment going into big bend at full song with no clue how you're going to stop the thing. Glad he's OK

[ML Peter Ludwig]

Hey guys!!
Up at the Glen running in the Rolex GT entry #30 " Dietz & Watson" Mazda RX-8 this weekend. Regarding the Lime Rock crash I have a 7mb film from a local TV station showing the crash from start to finish. If someone can upload tell me how to do...

Regarding Watkin Glen this week, we qualified 6th so were pretty happy. If your not coming up please watch live on SPEED from 2-8 pm, should be great fun with lots of freinds running in DP's and GT's:
John Pew
Michael Valiante
Ricky/Jordan Taylor
Ian James
Oz Negri
Marko Patterson
Spencer Pumpelly
Andy Lally
Duncan Ende
Jose Manual G.
Scott Schroder
Nick Longhi
Jeff Segal
Dirk Werner
and more...

[dalyduo]

Hey Peter,
If you click on "Racing Video Library" from the top heading line and choose "Upload a Video" from the pull down menu you'll get a page that will allow you to upload your video file to the library. Just follow the instructions on the page or ask Doug Harrison who's up there shooting video, for assistance. One way or the other it shouldn't be too difficult.

Congrats on 6th place qually and Good Luck in the RX-8! Got your noise cancelling headphones on? At least they'll hear you coming!

Originally Posted by ML Peter Ludwig

Hey guys!!
Up at the Glen running in the Rolex GT entry #30 " Dietz & Watson" Mazda RX-8 this weekend. Regarding the Lime Rock crash I have a 7mb film from a local TV station showing the crash from start to finish. If someone can upload tell me how to do...

[WatertownNewbie]

Originally Posted by dalyduo

Has to be a special moment going into big bend at full song with no clue how you're going to stop the thing.

In a van-around once, Wally happened to mention that if you ever find yourself without any brakes, snap off the pedal and turn the wheel hard and throw the car into as big a spin as you can to scrub as much speed as possible. Hope I never have to put that bit of advice into action. Glad to hear that Peter's okay.

[oldredracer]

Originally Posted by cdh

...the mic works just fine. The images are raw but they are secondary....TURN IT UP

You know I was trapped on the midway all day but these vids make up for it. THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU.

Who knew an F1 pit cart could sound so lovely just idling down the road toward A paddock?

[cdh]

Originally Posted by oldredracer

You know I was trapped on the midway all day but these vids make up for it. THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU.

Who knew an F1 pit cart could sound so lovely just idling down the road toward A paddock?

glad to help - BTW, anyone else think that engine sound I dubbed for the pit cart (audio from the last F1 car going down to paddocks) sounds a lot like a Formula Skip ? No kidding, the gear whine especially...

[cdh]

Originally Posted by OLDMAN

The last time I saw Peter's Porsche it was going down the escape road backward at about a million. How bad was the damage? What caused the spin? OLDMAN

Front brake exploded - Video of crash posted, thanks for sending Peter, glad you were ok.

Great seeing you and the family at the 6 Hour

[PFS]

Originally Posted by cdh

Front brake exploded - Video of crash posted, thanks for sending Peter, glad you were ok.

More proof that "in a spin, both feet in" works. After the initial impact, it took off so much energy while he was on pavement that the contact with the tire wall was a brush instead of a much heavier impact. Nice job.

[dalyduo]

Now that's a harrowing moment. Peter's astonished look afterward was well earned after seeing that mix master ride. Hard to calculate how many rotations even in slow motion. 4-5-6?! Yipes. The moment ended as well as it possibly could have given the circumstances and very glad for that.

It sounds like after the initial failure the brake pedal may have gone to the floor. Once the car starts to rotate around to the left we see the brake lights fully lit up and hear the throttle start bouncing off the rev limiter which would indicate Peter was doing the right thing with his right foot, but with no pressure in the system the pedal would have dropped and because he would have also been blipping at that moment the throttle went to the floor as well.

That's my theory... Care to enlighten us further on what really happened Peter?

Thanks for sharing the video and again, glad it ended safely.

[ML Peter Ludwig]

Originally Posted by dalyduo

Now that's a harrowing moment. Peter's astonished look afterward was well earned after seeing that mix master ride. Hard to calculate how many rotations even in slow motion. 4-5-6?! Yipes. The moment ended as well as it possibly could have given the circumstances and very glad for that.

It sounds like after the initial failure the brake pedal may have gone to the floor. Once the car starts to rotate around to the left we see the brake lights fully lit up and hear the throttle start bouncing off the rev limiter which would indicate Peter was doing the right thing with his right foot, but with no pressure in the system the pedal would have dropped and because he would have also been blipping at that moment the throttle went to the floor as well.

That's my theory... Care to enlighten us further on what really happened Peter?

Thanks for sharing the video and again, glad it ended safely.

When in doubt never lift...

Actually the front left brake caliper assembly tore off the upright and swung back and down, still connected but basically no function. Apparently the two bolts pulled out of the aluminium upright and that was the end of brakes as I knew them.

I assume the pedal went to the floor due to the pads not being positioned right or not pressing against the rotor anymore, either way the stroke of the pedal was not sufficient to pressurize and engage the braking system. When they finally did have sufficient pressure from "pumping", the ABS went into lock-up/holy shit mode, probably due to the left front sensor being torn off. At that time you see the car dart right for a mille-second since only the right front brake had capability, that gave me a moment to turn left and start the spin. I pushed the clutch in quickly after the brake pedal disappeared. The throttle bouncing off the rev-limiter is likely from me pumping vigorously, finally ending with full down pressure on both pedals and probably catching the gas inadvertently.


It felt much more dramatic than it looks on video and all happen in a blick of an eye. Now I realize how pilots can get the job done in crisis situations, I believe it is all second nature (at least those who successfully land it).

[dalyduo]

Thanks for the clarification Peter... Scary and highly unusual failure.

Got your hearing back after driving the Mazda yet? Looks like your day at the Glen was also less than perfect. The racing gods have really been giving you a hard time recently. Didn't hear what happened but looks like a short day?

[ML Peter Ludwig]

Originally Posted by dalyduo

Thanks for the clarification Peter... Scary and highly unusual failure.

Got your hearing back after driving the Mazda yet? Looks like your day at the Glen was also less than perfect. The racing gods have really been giving you a hard time recently. Didn't hear what happened but looks like a short day?

- 6 Hr. Rolex started great with a P6 in qualifying
- Dane ran up to P4 and handed off to me for Stint #1
- I mantiained P4 even with a bad set of scrubs (really bad), full soft on bars and still unbearable understeer (not good thru the Esses at 140)
- Bryce got in and dropped a few spots, had no radio contact right from the beginning of his stint
- The car died on track and got schlepped back to the paddock, found a broken alternator wire
- Bryce back on track to finish his stint
- Peter in for Stint #2, new tires and new problem, total over-steer and BIG tire slip mid-corner
- Rear full soft front full hard and still over-steer, Car was dangerous, told them something must be broke and would come in to pits.
- Hood up and found broken drop-link pin, new pin
- Car was perfect and competitive lap times but Gezillion laps down
- 30 minutes later low voltage light is on, Pit in
- Found another electrical problem, I had enough and went to pack.
- Dane in and ran his stint, car died again on track
- Bryce in ran his stint and got hit 10 minutes before the end.

Going to pack was a good idea on a day like this.... The car is FAST and the team is GREAT, just one of those bad weekends. 3 in a row man.