final drive - Mundo Motorizado

Photos: lat archive, Boyd, eBrey, lePage, ethan, dole/lat, illustration: jim BamBer Vipers
Vipers returned
in 2012 ALMS
Le mAnS
primed for return to Le Mans
CHrysLEr’s ViPEr wiLL rEtUrn
to the le mans 24 hours this year for
the first time since 2003.
the us manufacturer’s street &
racing technology brand, which
badges the latest-generation viper,
has admitted that it has lodged two
entries for the French enduro in june.
autosPort understands that key
personnel involved in the riley
technologies-masterminded project
will be present at tomorrow’s [Friday]
announcement in Paris of the entry
lists for le mans and the World
endurance championship, which
WeC
Starworks to
defend titles
tHE Us-BasED starwOrks tEaM
will defend its le mans 24 hours and
World endurance championship lmP2
titles this year.
team boss Peter Baron confirmed
that starworks, which has split with
its 2012 backer and driver enzo
Potolicchio, has made an entry for the
full Wec. But he admitted that the plan,
including the choice of chassis-engine
combination, has yet to be decided.
ryan dalziel and alex Popow, who
race for starworks in grand-am, will
race with an undisclosed third driver.
Potolicchio, who has set up 8star
motorsports, will step down from P2
this season to compete in gte am
in conjunction with aF corse. the
venezuelan will share a Ferrari 458
italia with marco cioci and rui aguas.
Starworks sticks around
confirms that it has been successful.
srt director Beth Paretta, whose
remit covers motorsport, said: “We
hope to be there; we sent the letter
away, we’re hoping for the best and
we have our passports ready.
“if we get the nod, we will be both
humbled and excited. le mans is really
why we are doing this programme.”
Paretta played down expectations
for the srt viper gts-r, which will
take on the chevrolet corvette, the
Porsche 911 and the Ferrari 458 in
the gte class.
“First we want to be involved, then
‘Rocky’ in Corvette
DP racer at Daytona
we want to show well and then we want
to win,” she explained. “We know we
are entering a lofty atmosphere in this
class, so we have realistic ambitions
for the first year.”
Paretta explained that the srt
motorsports squad run by riley was
unlikely to make significant changes
to the driver line-up from the viper’s
part-season in the american le mans
series in 2012, which included dominik
Farnbacher, marc goossens and tommy
Kendall. the exception will be ryan
hunter-reay, because le mans clashes
with the iowa indycar round.
WeC/dTm
rockenfeller in DtM focus
MikE rOCkEnfELLEr ExPECts
to be part of Audi’s sportscar
squad in the future, despite
standing down from its Le Mans
24 Hours line-up this year.
Rockenfeller, whose Daytona
24 Hours drive with the Action
Express team last weekend was
his only scheduled sportscar
appearance of the season, is
concentrating on his bid to win
the DTM this year. He explained
that he wants and expects to
return to sportscars in the future.
“I would love to do sportscar
racing again,” said the 29-yearold
German. “It could happen
next year, but it depends on
what Audi wants and where I
decide my focus will be.
“Definitely at some point in the
future sportscars will be my focus.
I’m not happy with what I have
achieved so far in the DTM and I
want to keep going there.”
Rockenfeller explained that a
decision had been made ahead of
the 2012 season for him to focus
on the DTM for a minimum of two
seasons. He joined the Le Mans
squad last year when Audi opted
to run four cars.
l Rockenfeller’s DTM team-mate
Jamie Green had his first Audi test
at Valencia last week. The Briton
was joined by manufacturer
veterans Mattias Ekstrom and
Timo Scheider.
news
Pit & Paddock
AUTOSPORT SAYS…
gary watkins
sPECiaL
COntriBUtOr
@gazzasportscars
et I’m not the only one who never
B envisaged Audi entering the Daytona
Prototype arena. It would seem entirely out
of character for a manufacturer that has set
its stall on showcasing new technologies
in the prototype ranks on the other side of
sportscar racing’s disappearing divide, but
it might be a case of needs-must.
Remember, motorsport is a marketing
tool these days, even if you are playing the
technology card, and Audi needs something
it can shout about in North America. That’s
not the R8 GRAND-AM project and it’s
not going to be a US-based DTM any time
soon (or anytime at all), so why not a
Daytona Prototype programme in some
shape or form?
It could work for
Audi and it would
surely work for the
unified US sportscar
championship. The
series is going to need
more overt factory
involvement if it is
to scale the same
heights as the
American Le Mans
Series in its pomp.
It is also worth
noting the key role that
Audi dominated
the ALMS for years
European brands played in the ALMS in
the early noughties and again later on in
the decade, and I’m thinking Audi, BMW
and Porsche here.
There’s a long way to go before Audi
commits to a DP programme, but if it
happens it will be proof that US sportscar
racing is headed for another golden era.
RememBeR WHen…
JUne 17-18, 2000
…Vipers took on Corvettes at Le Mans?
It only happened once, in 2000, and Viper
came out on top – winning the GTS class
thanks to its line-up of Olivier Beretta,
Karl Wendlinger and Dominique Dupuy.
January 31 2013 autosport.com 19