TybeeRX-8

The results are in and the RX-8 of Sylvan Tremblay won the ST class at Mid-Ohio over the vaunted 330i and the IS300 teams. This is two wins now in the first year of racing the car and after only five races I think. :D :D :D

ZoomZoomH

iTrader: (1)

... and here comes the sanctions to 'level the playing field'

goddamn racing politics

Blake

Yup. I was there, crewing for my team's GS-class BMW M3. Nice to see Sylvain and company taking the ST-class win. Second one in six races, FWIW.

I rather doubt that. The RX-8s are not in any way, shape or form dominating. The two wins were hard fought and came down more to strategy/luck/driving than having more power or even better handling compared to the competition. I haven't looked at the race results yet (we had a plane to catch in Columbus, three hours after the chekered flag), but I recall there were five different makes in the top five qualifying positions for ST! Of the five or six RX-8s in the field, only Sylvain's (and David Haskel's...they are co-drivers) RX-8 is consistently finishing at or near the top. What is cool is that this is just the first year, so there is plenty of room for improvement. Also, it's nice to see RX-8s outnumbering the competition! With these good results, it's likely there will be even more RX-8s in the field next year.

Grand Am Cup racing is really wild, BTW. We had 64 cars in two classes start the race at Mid Ohio. That is a HUGE field. Lots of wrecks, starting on lap one. These are all production cars with limited modifications, so the results are fairly representative to the competitiveness of the cars off the showroom floor. Obviously, they all have serious roll cages, safety eqipment, and massively upgraded suspensions, but the engines are basically stock. Every make and model is eligible. This is also endurance racing, with the typical race being 3 hours long. Unlike, say, the Speed World Challenge, in Grand Am Cup we have to do "hot" pitstops with tire changing (my job), refueling and mandatory driver changes.

If anyone wants to see the race, I believe it will be broadcast on Speed next Sunday, the 15th. There are two broadcasts, as there are two series in Grand Am: Rolex (prototypes and GTs) and Cup (productions cars). RX-8s are in the Cup series, so be sure to catch that one.

paulyg

Damn. I have to see that. Have autoX on sunday however. Must set VCR.

Labop

tivo set to record

great job man!

David Haskell

That was great race. Be sure to catch it if you can. I don't think Grand-Am will do anything with the rules right now everything is preety even.

Dave

wakeech

aren't the RX-8's already heavier??

BOOSTD 7

Wha? Is that the REAL David Haskell posting on my dinky little website? I'm honored ... Congrats to Sylvain, David, and the whole SpeedSource crew. I too was there :D

http://www.rxtuner.com/submissions/C...o/DSC_0059.jpg

BOOSTD 7

Hey Dave, is this you or Sylvain? And shouldn't you be watching the road, not some chump taking pictures

http://www.rxtuner.com/submissions/C...o/DSC_0145.jpg

gwoody27

I attended the Mt. tremblant race and must say that both drivers of the #70 were committed. Corner 1 is awesome and so were they. It is great to see another win at Mid Ohio. I just wish the other 8 teams could keep up.

Tony Orlando

Don't get me started on handicapping. I work for Cadillac. Talk about handicapping.....

Blake

Juat a reminder: the Grand Am Cup race at Mid Ohio will be broadcast on Speed at Noon Eastern/9am Pacific on Sunday (Aug 15th).

red_rx8_red_int

TIVO is set. I'll also be racing at that time but they don't telecast Autox events.

Rotary787

TIVO is set. Thanks for the reminder.

Labop

Just finished watching, VERY GOOD JOB!

legokcen

I watched too! Great to see that they are still winning!

BOOSTD 7

Haha, I was on TV a couple times. You could see me, clear as day, on that first lap wreck when the Mustang flipped over. I got soaked with water when the car hit the tires, then when the camera panned over you could see me standing there. They showed the replay at least 3 times

CERAMICSEAL

Does anyone know if it will be replayed at any time?

CERAMICSEAL

I'm glad you're okay Ryan. We need you. The world needs you.

BOOSTD 7

Haha, I hope that's not sarcasim ...

That was pretty traumatic though. You can't see anything when you're looking through a viewfinder, then BAM, 10 feet away there's a car on it's roof.

CERAMICSEAL

No sarcasm. Meant in all sincerity with a touch of humor.

Blake

I know what you mean, but if you really want a wake up call, try photographing pro rally! I recently shot the Rim of the World Pro Rally in Lancanster, CA for Driving Sports. I knew I was in over my head when a car litterally flew over my head in a Super Special stage. I was composing the shot, timing the shutter release and...no car...then CRASH, I heard/saw the thing land ten feet past me out of the corner of my eye! I backed up about twenty feet, slapped on the wide angle lens, then figured out how to pan with the motor drive clicking away. Here is a sequence of a Ford Ranger flying. On the previous "shot" (of nothing but the car shadow), I was knealing where the red arrow indicates...waaaaay too close. It's also pretty frightening on the mountain stages where you are perched on the side of the road with no bariers between you and the cars, which pass perhaps 5-10 feet away, and your only "escape" is to leap off the side of the hill. Not sure I will be doing that again any time soon! At least with road racing, you have tire walls and catch fences...

As for the Mid Ohio race, I was rather dissapointed with the coverage. After three years of crewing in Grand Am Cup, this is the first time I've managed to catch the Speed Channel broadcast. It sucks that they condense it from three hours to just one, they didn't show much of the pit stops, and it was so biased towards the GS cars. At least it's on TV, so I suppose I shouldn't complain too much.

RX-Hachi

Just watched it yesterday on Speed. Geez, they didn't show the #70 RX-8's battle with the BMW until the very last part of the last lap! That looked way more exciting than the 350Z/Mustang battle.

Watched a three hour race condensed into one hour to see about 3 minutes worth of various RX-8s getting lapped by the the GS cars. But it's great that the RX-8 is now the only car to have won twice in the ST division.

BOOSTD 7

AND they didn't show what happened to the 2 RX-8's there were chewed up from accidents. The Winning Blue #67 had to retire from a frontal impact, and I think it was the silver #65 that had a big chunk out of the right rear but continued the race.