Support NeoGAF

[Dead Man]

Alright, Rolex 24 is this weekend, it is time for the 2013 thread. Bare bones at the moment, I will add some stuff about the leagues I am familiar with, and if anyone wants to make a section for the part they are familiar with PM me and I'll add it to the OP.

Silly Australian Series that will be coming to the US for the first time this year when they race at Austin.

Sort of a control series, the cars are tested for parity and use some control parts, but they are still very closely based on the road cars, visually. New manufacturers this year join what has been a local fight for decades, Ford vs Holden. A Nissan factory effort and a private Mercedes will join the field, a move which has upset some fans.

All qualifying and races will be broadcast free on Youtube for this season: http://www.youtube.com/user/DTMinternational Very cool.

 

[Big Takeover]

Nice. 2013, let's go!

This year I'm coming out as a closet NASCAR fan. I watch all the other main series of course, but I want to add a voice to the small group of NASCAR fans here.

 

[Dave_6]

The new NASCARs look great IMO, especially the Fords.

I'm excited to watch the Rolex 24 this weekend!

 

[Kup]

No Casey Stoner this season in MotoGP. Should make for some interesting races I hope. Can't wait.

 

[moojito]

Not to mention the doctor back on a decent bike.

 

[Dave Long]

Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona this weekend. Will Ganassi win a fifth?

http://www.daytonainternationalspee.../Rolex-24-At-Daytona/Rolex-24-At-Daytona.aspx

 

[Valkyr Junkie]

Subbing for the new year.

 

[Jezbollah]

Subbed. Looking forward to MotoGP, BSB, WSB and Le Mans

 

[ANDY_098]

Hopefully I will be able to keep up with much more Motorsport this year, last year started well but trailed off quickly as uni work built up.

What races are people planning to attend this year? Last year I was pretty lucky to get a free trip to the Isle of Man TT (during which I spent most of the time working between a few hours sleep here and there! I'd love to return as a spectator one day), I was also at Le Mans which was amazing as usual. Spa for F1 was also great (and much better value than Silverstone), shame about the weather though!

I plan to miss Le Mans this year and return in 2014, which is a shame, but will hopefully free up funds for a few F1 races (Spa, Silverstone, Monza, Germany, Spain all possibilities, problem will be narrowing down which 2 to choose. I'm leaning towards Spa and Monza at the moment, but that depends on how busy I'll be at work.) Other than that I'll probably play it by ear and see what's going on nearby, which will likely be a fair amount considering I live about 20mins from Silverstone, so everything from club racing (surprisingly good if you get the chance, usually good racing for a very low price) to F1 is up for consideration. I do want to make an effort and get to a few BTCC races this year as well, plenty within easy reach and not ridiculously expensive. The only other thing I definitely plan to do is go to Brands Hatch for the DTM again. It is an amazing venue to watch, you can see the entire track from the grandstands and the undulation of the track is incredible. Plus, you know, the cars are nice!

My entry into following NASCAR (and IndyCar to a lesser extent) didn't last very long last year so I may give it another go.

 

[Foxtastical]

Anyone follow AMA Superbike here?

 

[Dave_6]

Hopefully I will be able to keep up with much more Motorsport this year, last year started well but trailed off quickly as uni work built up.

What races are people planning to attend this year? Last year I was pretty lucky to get a free trip to the Isle of Man TT (during which I spent most of the time working between a few hours sleep here and there! I'd love to return as a spectator one day), I was also at Le Mans which was amazing as usual. Spa for F1 was also great (and much better value than Silverstone), shame about the weather though!

I plan to miss Le Mans this year and return in 2014, which is a shame, but will hopefully free up funds for a few F1 races (Spa, Silverstone, Monza, Germany, Spain all possibilities, problem will be narrowing down which 2 to choose. I'm leaning towards Spa and Monza at the moment, but that depends on how busy I'll be at work.) Other than that I'll probably play it by ear and see what's going on nearby, which will likely be a fair amount considering I live about 20mins from Silverstone, so everything from club racing (surprisingly good if you get the chance, usually good racing for a very low price) to F1 is up for consideration. I do want to make an effort and get to a few BTCC races this year as well, plenty within easy reach and not ridiculously expensive. The only other thing I definitely plan to do is go to Brands Hatch for the DTM again. It is an amazing venue to watch, you can see the entire track from the grandstands and the undulation of the track is incredible. Plus, you know, the cars are nice!

My entry into following NASCAR (and IndyCar to a lesser extent) didn't last very long last year so I may give it another go.

The only race I will make it to is the Grand Am/IndyCar race that is at Barber Motorsports Park. It and Talladega are the only tracks close to me (Barber is only ~20 mins away) but I haven't cared to brave Talladega in years. I wish I had the money to travel to some BIG races (USGP, Sebring, Daytona etc) but it isn't viable for me. Fortunately Barber is one of the nicest facilities in the country so I am grateful for that.

Anyone follow AMA Superbike here?

I used to before the series seem like it went downhill. I pretty much lost interest in motorcycle racing except for AMA supercross.

 

[Seanspeed]

No Casey Stoner this season in MotoGP. Should make for some interesting races I hope. Can't wait.

lol

I wont miss his salty ass personality, thats for sure. Good luck in Junior V8's Casey. I'm sure you've got a bright career there.....

Anyone follow AMA Superbike here?

Eh. Not much anymore. I DVR races when I see them on, but I'm not ever looking forward to race weekends anymore. Josh Hayes is just better than everyone else. Martin Cardenes will be on a Yoshimura Suzuki this year though, so maybe there's more competition than just Blake Young for once?

The racing has often been good, though. Cant take that away from the series. The Mladin vs Spies days were a little boring sometimes.

 

[Foxtastical]

lol

I wont miss his salty ass personality, thats for sure. Good luck in Junior V8's Casey. I'm sure you've got a bright career there.....


Eh. Not much anymore. I DVR races when I see them on, but I'm not ever looking forward to race weekends anymore. Josh Hayes is just better than everyone else. Martin Cardenes will be on a Yoshimura Suzuki this year though, so maybe there's more competition than just Blake Young for once?

The racing has often been good, though. Cant take that away from the series. The Mladin vs Spies days were a little boring sometimes.

Josh And Young are brilliant drivers, but they had brilliant technical teams behind them working on electronics (traction control, whatever, I don't know specifics). Those bikes were above and beyond anything else in the competition last year. I don't want to diminish their abilities, but their bikes were rather expensive. I mean, Blake tried out for EBR for the upcoming season. He didn't make it.

There was word that electronics could've been on the way out, but it doesn't seem like that's happening now. However, I've heard more bikes are including electronic packages on their bikes this year.

Anyways, hopefully this year we get more of this: http://youtu.be/qetWxMAHVqU

Because yeah, I agree. This past year was really boring to watch when it came to podium spots. But I think it's more due to the financial situations of the teams rather than the talent.

 

[Dave_6]

The two Ganassi cars sweep the front row for the 24.

 

[NihonTiger90]

Subbed for future chat times

 

[caramac]

Subbed

Looking forward to the new MotoGP season.

Repsol Honda Team presentation Honda RC213V

 

[Chris R]

Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona this weekend. Will Ganassi win a fifth?

http://www.daytonainternationalspee.../Rolex-24-At-Daytona/Rolex-24-At-Daytona.aspx

I had no idea this was soooooo soon.

Spoiler

One of these years they should get one of the Nascar Series to run their Summer race on the international circuit

 

[Chris R]

Rolex 24 just about to start if anyone else cares to watch, opening laps are always great.

 

[Arcticfox]

Tamer start than in previous years. It seems the drivers finally realized that this is an endurance race.

 

[Chris R]

Tamer start than in previous years. It seems the drivers finally realized that this is an endurance race.

Yep, still some cars already with issues. Thing I really like about this is how early it is in the year causing a bunch of the racing to occur in the dark vs Le Mans.

 

[Chris R]

Sea Bass in the car!

 

[dubc35]

Any live video streams of the 24 of Daytona? I found an audio feed but no video.

http://www.motorracingnetwork.com/stream.html

 

[Arcticfox]

SpeedTV has several in car camera streams here. I assume it works in the US only. The site also does not appear to like Chrome too much but it works fine in IE.

 

[RayStorm]

SpeedTV has several in car camera streams here. I assume it works in the US only. The site also does not appear to like Chrome too much but it works fine in IE.

Onboard streams also work outside US.

 

[caramac]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/motogp/21220542

Casey Stoner hits out at MotoGP fans after V8 Supercars move

Casey Stoner has accused a section of MotoGP fans of a "lack of respect" following his move to V8 Supercars.

Two-time MotoGP champion Stoner, 27, has confirmed his deal with Red Bull Racing Australia.

Stoner suffered a broken ankle last year but insists his decision has nothing to do with injuries.

"We got spat at [by fans], they tried to knock us off scooters going from the motor homes to the pits," he told the Telegraph.

"We had a lack of respect from a lot of people around the sport and I didn't like the direction it was taking.

"Unfortunately they didn't like my honesty in the paddock.

"That was part of it, but more it was the direction of the sport."

The Australian, who revealed his intention to retire from MotoGP in May, tweeted confirmation of his switch to Red Bull.

He said: "Very happy to have a chance to race with @redbullracingAU in the Dunlop Series this year. Looking forward to getting on track at Clipsal!"

Stoner will race for the first time in the curtain-raiser to Adelaide's Clipsal 500 next month.

He was MotoGP world champion in 2007 and 2011.

The former Repsol Honda rider was frustrated by technical changes to MotoGP that have increased engine sizes to 1000cc from 800cc and preceded the departure of manufacturers such as Kawasaki and Suzuki from the sport.

Stoner criticised the nature of the sport following the death of rider Marco Simoncelli at the Malaysian MotoGP in Sepang in 2011.

He added: "We lost a rider a couple of years ago, and within a month it was like it never happened. They want to see biff and barge and they don't realise our lives are on the line.

"We became puppets in that world and it had nothing to do with racing."

 

[Chris R]

Can't believe how close the various classes are after so long.

 

[B.K.]

Damn. The Truck race at Eldora is already sold out. I wanted to go to that race. I didn't even know they were selling tickets yet.

 

[Tekniqs]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/motogp/21220542

his complaint of Simoncelli passing away being forgotten after a month is pretty dumb

although he might be talking about Tomizawa

 

[Dead Man]

Added the calendars for the leagues in the OP, let me know if you want any other series in the OP.

 

[caramac]

his complaint of Simoncelli passing away being forgotten after a month is pretty dumb

although he might be talking about Tomizawa

Yeah I think he was maybe referring to the loss of Tomizawa. That Moto2 field can get pretty crazy at times, although that might improve now Marquez has moved on.

 

[Wax Free Vanilla]

1st Sepang Moto GP test:

Pos Rider                 Bike                   Time               Laps
 1. Dani Pedrosa          Honda                  2m01.157s           49
 2. Jorge Lorenzo         Yamaha                 2m01.165s + 0.008s  58
 3. Marc Marquez          Honda                  2m01.201s + 0.044s  62
 4. Valentino Rossi       Yamaha                 2m01.584s + 0.427s  56
 5. Stefan Bradl          LCR Honda              2m01.789s + 0.632s  59
 6. Cal Crutchlow         Tech 3 Yamaha          2m01.881s + 0.724s  64
 7. Alvaro Bautista       Gresini Honda          2m01.981s + 0.824s  59
 8. Katsayuki Nakasuga    Yamaha                 2m02.968s + 1.811s  58
 9. Kosuke Akiyoshi       Honda                  2m02.972s + 1.815s  69
10. Nicky Hayden          Ducati                 2m03.336s + 2.179s  62
11. Wataru Yoshikawa      Yamaha                 2m03.456s + 2.299s  46
12. Bradley Smith         Tech 3 Yamaha          2m03.460s + 2.303s  56
13. Andrea Dovizioso      Ducati                 2m03.535s + 2.378s  48
14. Aleix Espargaro       Aspar Aprilia          2m03.782s + 2.625s  58
15. Randy De Puniet       Aspar Aprilia          2m04.283s + 3.126s  56
16. Andrea Iannone        Pramac Ducati          2m04.500s + 3.343s  57
17. Ben Spies             Pramac Ducati          2m05.086s + 3.929s  21
18. Takumi Takahashi      Avintia FTR-Kawasaki   2m05.154s + 3.997s  70
19. Hector Barbera        Avintia FTR-Kawasaki   2m05.469s + 4.312s  41
20. Yonny Hernandez       Paul Bird Aprilia      2m05.656s + 4.499s  50
21. Karel Abraham         Cardion Aprilia        2m05.694s + 4.537s  54
22. Danilo Petrucci       Ioda Suter-BMW         2m05.753s + 4.596s  29
23. Hiroshi Aoyama        Avintia FTR-Kawasaki   2m05.919s + 4.762s  48
24. Claudio Corti         Forward FTR-Kawasaki   2m06.426s + 5.269s  38
25. Michael Laverty       Paul Bird Aprilia      2m06.507s + 5.350s  43
26. Lukas Pesek           Ioda Suter-BMW         2m07.015s + 5.858s  46
27. Bryan Staring         Gresini Honda          2m07.044s + 5.887s  41
28. Colin Edwards         Forward FTR-Kawasaki   2m08.206s + 7.049s  25

Yeah, Marquez will be in the championship hunt for sure

Not bad from Rossi, he'll definitely win races this season

Ducati - lol

Smith will be a complete disaster

 

[inHallways]

Man, I have been so out of the MotoGP loop that I had not even realised that Rossi is back with Yamaha.

And no Stoner? Awesome. I think this season is going to be the one where I get back into following the sport in a big way. Subbed.

EDIT: Holy crap at those Ducati times, are they going through some (relatively) tough times right now? I mean I am a fan of Dovizioso but have never been all that convinced by Hayden...

EDIT #2: And who the hell is Marc Marquez? Only 19 years old... damn I have a lot of catching up to do :0

 

[Dave Long]

Man, Ben Spies got jobbed. It looks like he won't have a chance.

 

[modulaire]

New documentary [the first part aired yesterday on ITV4]:

TT Legends - Ordinary Men Doing Extraordinary Things

TT Legends is a new eight-part documentary, to be broadcast on ITV4, following a team of legendary motorcycle racers. Throughout the 2012 season Gaucho Productions was granted exclusive access to the Honda TT Legends team as they took on some of the world's toughest bike races. From Japan to Germany and from Le Mans to the Isle of Man, the documentary follows these ordinary men doing extraordinary things.
John McGuinness, nicknamed the 'The Morecambe Missile', is an ex-bricklayer and mussel picker from the north of England who has won the legendary Isle of Man TT nineteen times. He is joined in the TT Legends team by Cameron Donald and Simon Andrews. Donald is Australia's fastest plumber and a two-time winner of the Isle of man TT. Andrews is a fearless young gun who was the fastest newcomer at the TT in 2011. Together they are the TT Legends.

on Youtube:

1. http://youtu.be/kW7IOYcIBEE
2. http://youtu.be/XVosIlheSsg

Great footage obviously, the first part is more of a long trailer and a nice build up to the series.

 

[JetBlackPanda]

woot! NASGAF!

gen 6 cars look like real stock cars again.

can't wait for the season.

 

[thefro]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nascar/story/Allmendinger-gets-second-chance-with-Penske-in-IndyCar-020613

AJ Allmendinger’s career is coming full circle – albeit making left and right turns.

Allmendinger, 31, will test an IndyCar for Penske Racing at Sebring International Raceway on Feb. 18 and 19. If the test is successful, Allmendinger will make his open-wheel debut for Penske Racing at Barber Motorsports Park on April 7.

Sources told FOXSports.com that if everything goes according to plan and sponsorship can be acquired, Allmendinger will also run at Long Beach in preparation for the Indianapolis 500.

“The first test is just to see how things go at Sebring,” Allmendinger said late Wednesday by phone. “It’s been seven years since I’ve been in one of those cars – and they’ve changed quite a bit. I know it won’t be easy. But I know I’ll be in the best possible equipment and I’ll have Will Power there – one of the fastest guys in the sport – to help me get up to speed. I’m really looking forward to it. At least Sebring is a track I know.

I'm pretty excited to see what he can do in IndyCar... he was a beast in Champ Car.

 

[Jezbollah]

1st Sepang Moto GP test:

Pos Rider                 Bike                   Time               Laps
 1. Dani Pedrosa          Honda                  2m01.157s           49
 2. Jorge Lorenzo         Yamaha                 2m01.165s + 0.008s  58
 3. Marc Marquez          Honda                  2m01.201s + 0.044s  62
 4. Valentino Rossi       Yamaha                 2m01.584s + 0.427s  56
 5. Stefan Bradl          LCR Honda              2m01.789s + 0.632s  59
 6. Cal Crutchlow         Tech 3 Yamaha          2m01.881s + 0.724s  64
 7. Alvaro Bautista       Gresini Honda          2m01.981s + 0.824s  59
 8. Katsayuki Nakasuga    Yamaha                 2m02.968s + 1.811s  58
 9. Kosuke Akiyoshi       Honda                  2m02.972s + 1.815s  69
10. Nicky Hayden          Ducati                 2m03.336s + 2.179s  62
11. Wataru Yoshikawa      Yamaha                 2m03.456s + 2.299s  46
12. Bradley Smith         Tech 3 Yamaha          2m03.460s + 2.303s  56
13. Andrea Dovizioso      Ducati                 2m03.535s + 2.378s  48
14. Aleix Espargaro       Aspar Aprilia          2m03.782s + 2.625s  58
15. Randy De Puniet       Aspar Aprilia          2m04.283s + 3.126s  56
16. Andrea Iannone        Pramac Ducati          2m04.500s + 3.343s  57
17. Ben Spies             Pramac Ducati          2m05.086s + 3.929s  21
18. Takumi Takahashi      Avintia FTR-Kawasaki   2m05.154s + 3.997s  70
19. Hector Barbera        Avintia FTR-Kawasaki   2m05.469s + 4.312s  41
20. Yonny Hernandez       Paul Bird Aprilia      2m05.656s + 4.499s  50
21. Karel Abraham         Cardion Aprilia        2m05.694s + 4.537s  54
22. Danilo Petrucci       Ioda Suter-BMW         2m05.753s + 4.596s  29
23. Hiroshi Aoyama        Avintia FTR-Kawasaki   2m05.919s + 4.762s  48
24. Claudio Corti         Forward FTR-Kawasaki   2m06.426s + 5.269s  38
25. Michael Laverty       Paul Bird Aprilia      2m06.507s + 5.350s  43
26. Lukas Pesek           Ioda Suter-BMW         2m07.015s + 5.858s  46
27. Bryan Staring         Gresini Honda          2m07.044s + 5.887s  41
28. Colin Edwards         Forward FTR-Kawasaki   2m08.206s + 7.049s  25

Yeah, Marquez will be in the championship hunt for sure

Not bad from Rossi, he'll definitely win races this season

Ducati - lol

Smith will be a complete disaster

Smith finished the test in p8, 1.4 down on Pedrosa.

 

[Big Takeover]

I knew Duc would be in trouble a few months ago, when talking about this years bike, starting mentioning retaining that "Ducati feel" that makes it different and special, like they're building road bikes or something.

Audi need to wipe that place clean, and get people who want to build fast bikes, and win championships.

 

[twinturbo2]

And here we go. Sucks that Dodge isn't in NASCAR anymore, but they at least went out on top.

 

[caramac]

I feel all the ingredients are there for Pedrosa to take the MotoGP title this season if he stays away from serious injury.

 

[Seanspeed]

Ducati is a mess. I feel bad for Dovizioso after having one of his better seasons in 2012. And Spies, well, he would have been much better off going back to WSBK than on a privateer Duke.

As for the guys at the front, today finally saw some race simulations, which is a better indicator of potential than fastest times. Lorenzo looked quickest by a good margin. Marquez wasn't bad, but was only slightly faster than Crutchlow, but will have more room for improvement.

Pedrosa and Rossi didn't do any long stints, but of what they have done, I think Pedrosa looks to be about on Lorenzo's level, while Rossi is still a step behind his teammate.

I think it'll be a Lorenzo vs Pedrosa battle for the title with Marquez and Rossi mixing it up once in a while.

 

[Jezbollah]

Ducati is a mess. I feel bad for Dovizioso after having one of his better seasons in 2012. And Spies, well, he would have been much better off going back to WSBK than on a privateer Duke.

As for the guys at the front, today finally saw some race simulations, which is a better indicator of potential than fastest times. Lorenzo looked quickest by a good margin. Marquez wasn't bad, but was only slightly faster than Crutchlow, but will have more room for improvement.

Pedrosa and Rossi didn't do any long stints, but of what they have done, I think Pedrosa looks to be about on Lorenzo's level, while Rossi is still a step behind his teammate.

I think it'll be a Lorenzo vs Pedrosa battle for the title with Marquez and Rossi mixing it up once in a while.

I think Marquez has a fantastic chance to win the title in his first year. He's that good.

 

[Big Takeover]

I think Marquez has a fantastic chance to win the title in his first year. He's that good.

He's incredibly good, but history has shown rookies spend an awful lot of time in the gravel. I really hope so though, because with Stoner gone, the field is really thin with top tier talent. There's Lorenzo, and then there's everyone else.

 

[Jezbollah]

He's incredibly good, but history has shown rookies spend an awful lot of time in the gravel. I really hope so though, because with Stoner gone, the field is really thin with top tier talent. There's Lorenzo, and then there's everyone else.

I think it's less the top tier talent, but the lack of elite level bikes out there.

You only have to look back a few years to the 990 days with the likes of Toni Elias winning on his day, and Biaggi, Rossi, Capirossi, Giberna etc all competing. Fuck, look at the latter days of 500s, where the front pack would include six riders week in, week out.

The MotoGP "show" is broken, due to continued messing around of the regulations and mainly due to the global economical crisis. This is why Dorna are trying to force CRT down our throats, and that's why Stoner left.

 

[Seanspeed]

I think Marquez has a fantastic chance to win the title in his first year. He's that good.

I know he's definitely good. Been watching him since his 125 days.

But he's still a rookie. If he cant win the Moto2 championship as a rookie, I'm not sure its right to expect him to win the big-daddy championship his first go-around against other elite riders with equal machinery and support.

I expect some crashes and I expect Pedrosa to generally outpace him most of the year(Dani is on top of his game right now), but I do think he's got a good chance to win races(plural) and generally show he's the new alien on the block.

 

[Big Takeover]

I think it's less the top tier talent, but the lack of elite level bikes out there.

You only have to look back a few years to the 990 days with the likes of Toni Elias winning on his day, and Biaggi, Rossi, Capirossi, Giberna etc all competing. Fuck, look at the latter days of 500s, where the front pack would include six riders week in, week out.

The MotoGP "show" is broken, due to continued messing around of the regulations and mainly due to the global economical crisis. This is why Dorna are trying to force CRT down our throats, and that's why Stoner left.

Completely. Those years were the most entertaining of any racing I've ever seen. Made even better because so many of them didn't get along. Those days are long gone unfortunately.

My top tier talent comment was mostly a dig at Pedrosa, who if he won the championship this year, I'd just see as outlasting the competition. It's not that I dislike him, but he's got the fastest bike, and somebody has to win... so yeah I'm hoping Marquez, and of course Jorge do well.

 

[nny]

Ogier is a stage away from winning Rally Sweden (he's got 35s over Loeb). I'm very happy to see Ogier back to the top, I really liked what he did with Citröen. But what I feel is more important is that a new car from a new manufacturer is close to winning a rally. I think its good for the sport, to see the risk of entering WRC being rewarded so soon. We need more manufacturers.

 

[Dead Man]

Ogier is a stage away from winning Rally Sweden (he's got 35s over Loeb). I'm very happy to see Ogier back to the top, I really liked what he did with Citröen. But what I feel is more important is that a new car from a new manufacturer is close to winning a rally. I think its good for the sport, to see the risk of entering WRC being rewarded so soon. We need more manufacturers.

Agree completely. WRC has become way too stale over the last 10 years.

 

[Shaneus]

Ogier is a stage away from winning Rally Sweden (he's got 35s over Loeb). I'm very happy to see Ogier back to the top, I really liked what he did with Citröen. But what I feel is more important is that a new car from a new manufacturer is close to winning a rally. I think its good for the sport, to see the risk of entering WRC being rewarded so soon. We need more manufacturers.

What car is he driving?

 

[dubc35]

What car is he driving?

VW Polo R