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Phoenix

Sun Automotive 200

21/04/2001

Race Preview

Stuck in Neutral?

The Phoenix 200 Miles represents the third Grand-Am race of the season, but since the Daytona 24 is such a unique event, the sprint events really set the course in which the sports car championship is heading. Last year, the desert night race was quite thrilling and represented an upward spiral of close dicing and considerable variety among the top class. Some of that luster seems to have worn off. The glamour of Ferrari is gone and the whimsical and rapid Doran “Fudd” is retired.

In their stead comes the third appearance of the Crawford-Judd, with Kevin Doran’s minions tenaciously working out the bugs. This is definitely not the problematic Reynard of 2000, but is also not yet on the pace of the two clear leaders in SRP, the Dyson Riley & Scott-Ford and the Intersport Lola-Judd. James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger were usually a half-to-full second quicker during practice in the V-8 than were Jon Field and Oliver Gavin in the V-10. That is an eternity on this very short infield “roval” and bodes ominously for the hope of a close contest. But then the same situation prevailed at Homestead where Gavin did give Weaver a good run.

The Doran team’s ability to chase the leaders is hampered greatly by their driving arrangement. While Didier Theys should be able to keep pace during his stints, the more gentlemanly Fredy Lienhard can’t be expected to do the same. Too bad Mauro Baldi is back at home, trying to bolster a meager entry at the Monza 1000 Kms.

The Robinson R & S-Judd has been strangely off the pace in Phoenix, but can’t be counted out as this is the scene of their first win last year. But then comes the problem of depth in the class. Miracle Motorsports is a newly constituted team built on the ashes of a destroyed SRPII car at Daytona. It was replaced by an older upper-division Riley & Scott. Although the team has Trans-Am and Showroom Cup class experience, this is a new endeavor for them. Any miracle from Miracle Motorsports will come from the fact that they are managed by the eminently experienced Mike Gue.

The other two-thirds of the Field family, Joel and Clint, are having a sporting go in the their own version of an R & S. Their role in Grand-Am seems to be similar to that of the Dyson team, a second car just for fun. Speaking of which, the Dyson squad is beginning to scale back their participation in this series, witness the withdrawal of the team owner’s car. They have the new ALMS Mk III C to work with. The Norma is strictly a field filler, but at least they finished at Homestead. SRP badly needs new blood, and more than merely a single Crawford. ALMS LMP may have its own problems, but that series at least looks like what sports car racing should be, while Grand-Am is becoming a bit more like a club meeting.

SRPII was once touted as the class of the future, and is still being considered as such. It risks forever being the class of the future. Its first year saw some modest growth, almost solely in the form of a production and sales run of the Lola B2K/40. But that seems to have leveled off. This seems to be partly the result of extensive damage to several cars at Daytona, as well as the Catch-22 problem wherein people hesitate to buy in because the class hasn’t taken off. This shouldn’t take away from the three cars that are here. Last year’s dominant Archangel squad is off to another good start. Their expansion to two cars has not hurt in the least, nor has the loss of last year’s lead drivers, Larry Oberto going to the FIA SCC. Andy Lally and Paul Macey have taken over this mantle well and are quicker than some SRPs. Although the Montreal based entry of Bruno St. Jacques / Robert Julien is slower, they were able to lead at several stages during the Homestead race, held on a similar course and for a like distance as Phoenix.

GTS has the same curses and blessings as the class has in the ALMS; too few cars, but damn interesting ones. Nominally there are four in the class here, but two can quickly be discounted. The G & W turbo Porsche is out for another fun romp while occasional Grand-Amer Erik Messley brings back his fairly stock Viper. This car did perform well last year in Ohio and won the class at the 4th of July weekend in Daytona.

The Saleen vs. Corvette battle of Sebring is replaced here by a Saleen vs. Porsche contest. But the Porsche in question is the five-year old and still breathtaking 911 GT1. The Larry Schumacher / Martin Snow / John Wright consortium has restored an ex-Roock and Rohr car. Now handicapped almost out of existence, they will have a tough time keeping up with the truly exciting new Gregg Fordahl run Saleen of Chris Bingham. At least the GTS contest will look like the GTP / Group C days of yore, even if it features a mere two-horse event between an aging uncle and a spritely nephew.

Gregg Fordahl is a busy man this weekend, running not only the Saleen squad, but also the new 911 GT3RS of Kim Hiskey. Co-driving is one of the crew from the Daytona class winning car, Randy Pobst. This makes for an all-around formidable cast that will do battle with perennial Grand-Am GT leaders, Darren Law / Matt Drendel. The G & W Porsche is the same with which they won the series GT championship in 2000. The V-8 BMW could be expected to be in the midst of this, but lead driver Terry Borcheller is somewhat pre-occupied with the birth of his son the other day (mom is even busier).

The GT class at least has considerable depth. In addition to the above favorites are water-cooled Porsches from the fleet German team of Peter Seikel with an Italian and American driving squad (Buttiero / Collin), another GT3R from Grand-Am regular Pumpelly Racing, and a new and untested team of Case-It. There is one last air-cooled 911 in the mix, as well as Genesis Racing’s trusty straight-six BMW. Last but not least there is a GT class Corvette. This is Joe Aquilante’s car that more typically runs in support series such as the Motorola and Speedvision events. An unfortunate no-show is the GB Mustang. GB is a custom re-manufacturer of the Ford based car. The result is a cross between the old Saleen and a Porsche Boxster. This would have been their first major racing appearance.

The four-car AGT class has two regulars and two new faces. Unless the Conway / Goad Corvette breaks (and AGT cars do break regularly), they should face little opposition. The only other competitive one is the Camaro of Bupp / Leavy, who have been a yawning 1.5 seconds behind through much of practice. Sometime Trans-Am drivers Jay Leeman / Tom Miller are new to Grand-Am with a Mustang. Phoenix patent attorney Steve Lisa and co-driver Bill Beilharz are in an Oldsmobile Aurora that in a previous incarnation was a non-starter at the 2000 Daytona 24 Hours. AGT has often been a parade of Camaros, but at least we have the sight of four different marques among the four different cars—that is, if you can tell the difference between these NASCAR like taxis.

The Phoenix race may unfold a little like the early days of the Bush presidency — lots of ridicule and very low expectations that then lead to some surprisingly competent results from unexpected sources. I am a patriot of sports car racing similar to my view as an American. I may criticize and cajole most Republicrats and Demicans, but I dearly want them all to succeed. Each of the sanctioning groups, their respective classes, and participants have their foibles, but I love to watch them put on a show. Let Phoenix be a good one!

Janos Wimpffen