Audi R15 TDI vs Peugeot HDiFAP

A truly great rivalry in sports car racing has developed between Audi and Peugeot. It is carried on today in the Petit LeMans at Road Atlanta between the Audi R15 TDI and Peugeot HDiFAP. When Audi and Peugeot first met Audi had the advantage with its R10 TDI. Audi could see down the road that Peugeot would improve and they retaliated with the radical R15 TDI. In the last couple of years the Peugeot has found both speed and reliability. In their first meeting this year, at Sebring, the Peugeot was faster but Audi was victorious owing to superior race strategy. Peugeot was superior in every way at LeMans and won. Tonight the Peugeot was victorious in the Petit LeMans by being fast and lucky. The value of luck in racing can never be discounted.

The Ferrari 512M

That's a Ferrrari 512M above. It is one of my favorite Ferrari racing cars. The 512 series of sports cars was built to the FIA's Group 5 specification in the early 1970s. Its principal adversary was the Porsche 917.

Beginning in 1970 a series of 25 512S models were built in both spyder and coupe configurations. In 1970 a 512S driven by Ignazio Giunti and Mario Andretti won the Sebring race. For the majority of 1970 the Porsche 917 dominated the 512s. Late in the year Ferrari retaliated with an upgrade called 512M (for modificata) which won a non-championship event at Kyalami. In 1971, with a significant rule change pending for 1972, Ferrari had lost interest in Group 5 and the remaining 512S and new 512M would be campaigned by privateer teams.

This 512M was purchased by Chris Cord and Steve Earle, prepared by Roger Penske with sponsorship of Sunoco and Kirk F. White. It was entered in the 1971 endurance races at Daytona, Sebring, LeMans and Watkins Glen. At the Daytona and Sebring races, where it captured pole position with the fastest qualification times, it was driven by Mark Donohue and David Hobbs.

The FIA's new rules for 1972 made the 917s and 512s obsolete as sport racing cars. Porsche didn't have a car suited to the new rules and Ferrari devoted its resources to the 312P(B) prototypes which would win a World Championship for them. Porsche's 917 engine would get turbochargers and went to the CanAm series, which it would eventually dominate.

The Admiral's Ferrari 500 Mondial

The 500 Mondial, above, is a really special Ferrari. Built in 1955, it was raced 28 times in Europe, South and North America. In 1960, Navy Lieutenant Junior Grade Robert Phillips, an avid amateur racer, found it abandoned in the back of a Rambler dealership in Richmond, California.

In RADM Phillip's words from the article he wrote for Cavallino magazine, "It was in sad shape. It sat on jack stands with no wheels in sight. Under the rear end was a large wooden box full of strange looking gears and pieces of metal that were twisted and scored with streaks of blue shading from obvious overheating. There were no seats or windscreen, and the hood and metal tonneau were stacked in the cockpit. The rear body work was crushed in, with slabs of broken white bondo nearly two inches thick in places showing under the mud covered blue paint. The sides showed the evidence of random paint gun spray pattern testing in at least three colors. The open engine compartment was filled with an oil, mud and grime covered assemblage resembling a V-8. My only mistake that day was to grab a rag and wipe across one of the valve covers which revealed those hypnotic letters FERRARI! That did it, I was hooked and I would have to find a way to give this forlorn pile of junk a more proper home..."

He did. Within three weeks he had found the owner, the wheels the seats, agreed on a purchase price and arranged for a loan equal to nearly two thirds an his annual salary. He was a Ferrari owner and has owned S/N 0556(0446) continuously since then. He restored and maintained this car throughout his naval career.

You must pick up the June/July issue of Cavallino magazine and read the rest of the wonderful story of this lovely 500 Mondial which, in August 2008, was awarded First-in-Class and the Enzo Ferrari trophy for best Ferrari on the field at Pebble Beach. In 2009 it was awarded the Scuderia Ferrari Cup for Best of Show, the La Coppa Per Quattro Cilindri for Outstanding Four Cylinder Ferrari and a Platinum Award for the Racing Class at the Cavallino Classic Concours d'Eleganza at the Breakers in Palm Beach.

Another Excellent Sports Car Website

If you are a fan of sports car racing, especially the American and European LeMans series may I suggest a website for your enjoyment.

Some of the best journalists and photographers of sports car racing have banded together to create a wonderful showcase and repository of their work here: http://www.sportscarpros.com/.

Take the time to browse around the site where you will find work of American photographers Richard Dole and Regis Lefebure as well as one of the site's founders Englishman John Brooks. Writers include Andrew and Michael Cotton, Bill Ourseler and Kerry Morse.

The site is frequently updated as these guys are some of the sport's hardest working professionals. Check it out. I am almost certain you'll find something to like there.

A Wonderful Place in the Blogosphere

I invite you to view a friend's blog.

If you have any interest in the history of Porsche you must visit the blog here: http://www.kevinshands.blogspot.com/

Kevin Jeanette of Gunnar Racing, in West Palm Beach, is a leading Porsche restorer and historian. At his blog you can review older posts and follow the restoration of some of Porsche's most important racing cars. Currently he is restoring one of the fabled 917s.

When you have finished perusing the blog jump over to his company's web site, here: http://gunnarracing.com/ where you can view some previous projects and photos from some of Kevin's prodigeous accomplishments.

Give Us a Break, Please!

Please give me a break!

I've heard enough about Michael Jackson.

I understand that some people are feeling a terrible loss. Mr. Jackson was a talented performer. Evidently he was a tortured individual, as well.

There are more important things happening in the world.

We've heard more than a week's worth of MJ minutia.

What about the brave men and women making sacrifices in Iraq and Afganistan, defending our way of life and trying to make the world a better place?

We won't hear three minutes about them.