TBK-Light.com

It's not exactly much of a spectator track either? I thought it was a drivers retreat type thing?

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3x TBKL rFactor Hillclimb champion

Yeah, it has no real grand-stands (but neither do street circuits, so you could just throw up some temps), but it does have local hotels, villas and facilities and stuff. Lime Rock is actually fairly wide, it's just really short, so ALMS does kinda work there, there's just a lot of traffic. But VIR is pretty thing, and a lot of it is single file.

I'll love watching it, but it seems a bit mental to me.

VIR is the Laguna Seca of the east side of the United States.

Toyota will unveil the car 24 Jan at Paul Ricard.

http://translate.google.com/translate?s ... no%3D38247

Audi's been testing a revised R18. Spot the differences!

New hole in front of the P1 decal? Squarer front fenders?
It might be a hybrid, but of course we wouldn't be able to see that...

That picture doesn't really show the differences.



Much more obnoxiously angled windshield, redesigned front fenders, "bladed" front crash structure. Suspension redesign suspected as well. Your classic, brilliant analysis is available here from Mulsanne's Corner: http://www.mulsannescorner.com/newsnov11.html

Knight Rider theme started playing in my head.

In the front of the car you can see that the headlights are not a smooth curve in the new model, there's an angle unlike last year. They actually do look surprisingly similar though. I'm sure that last year was the big year to redesign all the aero parts and this years it's probably more time to redesign the engine and more technical parts...

Early iterations of the R18 also had the angled headlights:

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It's been confirmed (more or less) as the hybrid version of the R18, potentially dubbed the R18H, thanks to the EXIF data from the Audi-provided photos. A full gallery is available here: http://www.quattroworld.com/audi-r18-hy ... t-sebring/

Strange they haven't cut the big honking holes in it yet. I assumed they'd go full spec as soon as possible.

One would have thought...

That said, perhaps they're looking for a baseline in terms of performance and then will go from there? No doubt Audi has money to throw at this thing, especially given their most recent revisions.

In other news, OAK Racing has released a render of their new LMP2 challenger for next year:



It'll run in the ALMS with Conquest Endurance and in the ELMS with Onroak Automotive. Onroak, according to a bit of research, is the combination of OAK's constructor department and their racing team, it appears. Additionally:



Wonder if we might finally see the Ford ECO-Boost V6 Turbo...

I remember reading somewhere (maybe on Speed) that one of the new OAK teams (can't remember which one) is going to test every available engine, including the Roush-Ford turbo. So there's definitely a chance.

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Conquest also got a deal to be the American importer of OAK-Pescarolo cars. LMP2 is shaping up to be a good class in 2012 for ALMS.

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Muskle Milk has confirmed HPD (P1): http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/ ... -for-2012/

Finally some news, and it's big.

JRM has stepped up from GT1 to the WEC for 2012 with an ARX-03a... It's actually rather interesting, being that JRM has long been a Nissan partner in GT1 and is still developing the GT3 Nissan GTR... Got to have a careful balance there.

Anyway, no driver lineup has been announced yet, but they've had drivers like Lucas Luhr, David Brabham, and Jamie Campbell-Walter driving for them in the past, which would by all means make a stunning driver lineup.



Finally, Mulsanne's Corner reports that the Toyota rollout/shakedown is expected next week at Paul Ricard. Not sure if this will be the media rollout but I am sure someone will somehow pick up some pictures/video.

Nice livery. Serious privateers are exactly what is needed (and sounds like they intend to become the top one: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/96894).


That is supposed to be 24th Jan.

I understand Lucas Luhr is already signed to Muscle Milk for a full season in ALMS. Maybe we'll see him with JRM as a third driver at LM if MM isn't going (but I think they're planning a Le Mans entry).

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"IT'S CHAOS! ABSOLUTE CHAOS!"

Muscle Milk have a guaranteed entry as a result of their second place in the ALMS P1 championship, if they want to take it up. I can't really see a reason for them not to go, honestly. They've said their focus is on the ALMS championship, but they've also said they want to go back to Le Mans. Honda will be itching to have a big presence against Toyota and they know the ARX-03a is something special. Three shots against Audi and Peugeot's three each would be huge for them, and I see no reason Honda won't back Muscle Milk, especially now that they've shifted to an all-pro lineup and kicked Pickett out.

Drivers from JRM's GT1 efforts of late have included Campbell-Walter, Brabham, Dumbreck, Bernoldi, Catsburg, and Warren Hughes. Krumm is a Nissan factory man so he's out... Of the above list, I think JCW, Brabs, and Dumbreck would be likely to take the seats, although perhaps Bernoldi's South American marketability is a good thing for a season that includes Interlagos...

Should have been exactly my point, just bad phrasing on my part.



Well, Brabham drove Acuras until 2009 and is an ex-LM winner, so he seems a likely choice. JCW and Dumbreck are very experienced sportscar drivers so that would be a pretty solid package for a debut season.

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"IT'S CHAOS! ABSOLUTE CHAOS!"

Tweet from Matteo Bobbi appears to have accidentally broken the news (although no one's picked it up officially) that the JRM lineup for next year will be David Brabham, Peter Dumbreck... And Karun Chandhok!

Brabs and Dumbreck are obviously great drivers, Brabs is a mega addition to the squad. As for Karun, he seems a great guy, fun to be around, and frankly he's a pretty good driver too - just stuck in a terrible car in F1. Should be a great lineup, I'd expect them to be right up on the pace at Sebring (assuming they make it there).