Put some time aside for this week's MMR Newsletter. Last weekend gave us three consecutive days of excellent races. Fridays 1000 mile WEC (World Endurance Championship)race was the European spec version of our North American IMSA - North American Sportscar Championship) series races an to have an opportunity to see both races on one weekend was fabulous.

Thi is personal of course, but as I think of major motorsports events in North America, The Indy 500, The Daytona 500, and the 12 Hours of Sebring probably stand out as races I most enjoy watching. Add the WEC 1000 mile, which Sebring did last weekend and it vaults to the top of the list.

This week we are blessed with two wonderful writers telling two wonderful stories of two wonderful races. The Friday WEC 1000 mile event followed by the 12 Hours of Sebring was a feast of top sports cars and F1's first race of the year in Bahrain was superb! Thank you Messrs. Hurst and Barnett! Read on McDuff!

Sebring: We are thrilled that Harry Hurst, famed motorsports photographer/writer, author of best selling The Glory Days of Racing, was there and he shares his thoughts and images. Our lead image, taken on the Saturday morning of the race is the Ganassi Acura that won. Don't you love that image?

At some point in the late sixties a friend and I drove from Montreal to attend an event at Sebring. Our first visit. With the help of my employer, Champion Spark Plug Co., we had pit passes and the company of the Champion race personnel who were working the event.They graciously took us under their wing and introduced us to all he places where the people who "worked" the races ate and drank. We met “real” race people and truly enjoyed ourselves. At some point back at the track, my friend and I noticed a somewhat rowdy group in the general viewing area brandishing beer bottles and laughing a lot. We inquired and were told that these were Sebring regulars, likely college kids, who arrived early for every race, staked out their little areas with their trucks, tents and campers and proceeded to party noisily the whole weekend. This wasn’t a toally new phenomena to us. We had seen groups like this at Watkins Glen and Mosport for years. Hell, we were them! What differentiated the Sebring crowd was that they were far more visible during the day than we ever were. My friend and I wandered over, introduced ourselves and were offered beer which we happily accepted. They were real race fans and told us that they came here for The Twelve Hours, and always had a great time. And they were both unquestionably funny and loud.

Le Mans - I am not certain why, because I love the race and rarely miss it on TV, yet I have never been to Le Mans. I particularly enjoyed it when, in the day, Tommy Kendall and Justin Bell were part of the broadcast crew. I learned from them that there was an area of the Le Mans infield where the crowd was particularly rowdy and either Tommy of Justin would visit with them "on camera" during the nighttime hours and engage them in 'fun" conversation. I loved that.

NB - Steve Austin (https://www.steveaustinsautomobiliaandtravel.com/lemans-classic-2022.html) is one of our favorite people. He offers a brilliant and popular program entitled Le Mans Classic and Normandy Beaches tour. We spoke with him this week and due to a recent cancellation he has space on the June 27 – July 4, 2022 Tour. Check it out.

F1 – The season launched in 2022 in Bahrain. Tremendously entertaining! Ferrari had a good car and Red Bull and Mercedes did not! A pleasant change. And, yes, very entertaining! Chris Barnett shares his observations. Welcome back Chris!

We have never mixed racing with politics. However F1 ownership, a US company, obviously doesn’t have that problem. The Saudi’s have chosen to publicly support Russia. NB. Saudi has always been supportive of F1 and for years a major shareholder in McLaren cars.

There is something ironic, perhaps even stupid, about Big Oil gouging its customer base to the benefit of its shareholders and company executives. This at a time when major auto companies are responding to market demand for electric cars to defray the high operating costs of gas-only cars. Recently, friends, true “gas” car guys, have switched to Teslas or hybrids and are not at all unhappy. Food for thought.

Have a great weekend!

Sebring 12 Hours - 2022 - Harry Hurst Coverage and Photo Gallery

Sebring 2022: the Best of Both Worlds

In the 1950s and 60s, Sebring was THE international road racing event in the US. It was the only place where you could see the great cars and drivers from Europe. But over the years Sebring has become just another race on the schedule, despite its great history.

But for its fans, Sebring remains a very special place. Looking in the infield, you would imagine these fans to be more at home at a NASCAR event than endurance racing. But signs on their compounds state “Our 35th Sebring” and the like – the race is an annual ritual for friends to gather for a weekend of racing, food, and, yes, drink. (continued next)

HyperCar Winner - Alpine Elf - Andre Negrao/ Nicolas Lapierre / Matthieu Vaxiviere

My trip to Sebring this year was a result of friends. First, my friends Peter Bourassa and Dom Miliano, were able to secure photo credentials for me, something that was not easy considering over 400 media were going to be attending the race. A friend I had met through my Glory Days of Racing Facebook group, Stephen Bennett, invited me and my fellow Simeone Museum alum Darryl Northington, to be his guest in a spacious RV the entire weekend, including VIP passes at the Seven Hotel that sits right at the Hairpin.

For the first time since 2019, Sebring hosted two major events – a 1000-mile event for World Endurance Championship (WEC) cars on Friday and the 70th iteration of the famous 12-hour race on Saturday for IMSA cars. This also marked the return to normalcy at Sebring after two years of COVID-related disruptions.

As a result, the paddock area, which is an enormous expanse of concrete runway between the Ulmann back straight and the pit straight, was completely covered with the trailers and tents of the teams from the two different series. A total of almost 90 cars were entered for the weekend, each one supported by a host of mechanics, engineers, and PR reps. The entire line of paddock garage tents stretched almost the entire length of the back Ulmann straight, a length of over half a mile. (continued next)

Michelin’s John Love told me that they had brought 16,000 tires for the weekend and had a 24,000-square foot tent on the opposite side of the paddock road from the WEC team tents. They were set to mount and balance a tire every 45 seconds, for the entire weekend! And then realize that this entire WEC traveling circus is packed up into containers and shipped around the world to six different venues.

This was the first time I had been back at Sebring in almost two decades and the changes were striking. In some ways, the differences were even more than between the track in 2001 compared to the days when I shot there in the late 1960s. Obviously, the cars are vastly different, reminding me of a swarm of scarabs (no, not Scarabs) when they scamper through the turns. The major difference is in the complexity – of both the cars and the rules.

The tradition of endurance racing has been to have “production” based cars competing to show which manufacturer makes the fastest and most reliable product. Over the years this philosophy has been diluted and the cars at Sebring – from both series – were as state-of-the-art as any in Formula One or IndyCar. This is the case, especially with the Toyota Hybrid WEC cars, whose cost is incalculable. (continued next)

LMP2 Winner - United Autosports USA - Paul Di Resta / Oliver Jarvis / Matthieu Vaxiviere

As in years past there are multiple classes of cars, mostly based on engine size, modifications allowed, etc., in much the same spirit as the classes for MGs and Triumphs that allowed them to race alongside Ferraris and Porsches in the glory days.

However, there was a wrinkle I did not understand. It was the addition of a “Pro” class to what appeared to be the same cars that ran in the GTD class. I sought out endurance racing historian Janos Wimpffin in the Media Center who patiently explained that the Pro class was for professional drivers while the GTD class had a mix of drivers with varying “grades” of FIA licenses. He then proceeded to delve into the complexities of these levels of licenses – Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze – and why in some cases it would be better for a driver to have a lesser license. When I started to appear confused, he realized he needed to simplify it for me. “It’s all because of money.”

At this point, I realized I was in over my head and probably should just stick to shooting photos – one area that hasn’t changed that much since the 60s. Shooting at Sebring is unique in many ways. It’s usually very hot, even in March. It’s a long way around, even with the track reduced from 5.2 miles in the first decades to 3.7 today. (I did 21k steps on Friday, 23k on Saturday!)

And, it is unpredictable. On Friday evening, towards the end of the WEC 1000-miler, the race was red-flagged for an approaching storm. This was not because the cars can’t run in the rain but for the safety of the corner workers and support staff, since central Florida is the lightning capital of the world. (Of course, I got caught out at the Hairpin as the rain began.)

But what was very different is the speed of today’s cars. Even shooting on burst, it is difficult to get good panning shots of the cars; the speed they travel at is a quantum leap above the 917s and 512s I shot at Sebring years ago. It reminded me of when I went to the inaugural F1 race at Indy in 2000. I shot a dozen rolls of film and only a handful had the car in the frame – the rest were noses and rear wings. (continued next)

By now I’m sure, as a devout reader of MMR, that you know the results and details of both races, certainly far better than I did as it was happening. In Friday’s WEC, the lead Toyota had a major mishap midway through, handing the win to the hybrid Alpine, with the other team Toyota in second. The Glickenhaus 007 LMH came in a heroic third. The sole Corvette came in second in GTE Pro to a Porsche, but Corvette Racing photog Richard Prince assured me, there are better things to come next year.

The 12-hour on Saturday was more exciting by far with the Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac barely winning over the JDC-Miller Motorsport Cadillac, with another Cadillac coming in third. The Acura that finished in fourth was a strong early leader but was assessed a penalty for exiting the pits on the wrong side of the pylons, a mistake that, to this observer, was very easy to make.

The real news, though, was the outstanding performance of the lone Corvette Racing C8-R that vindicated itself after a disappointing performance at Daytona. Helped by a change in the Balance of Performance after practice, they edged out the equally surprising Lamborghini Huracan to win the GTD PRO class.

This brings up the last major difference between racing today and 50 years ago. When I photographed the iconic 1970 Sebring, Mario won by a scant 23 seconds after racing for 12 hours. This year the overall winner won by 6.4 seconds and the Corvette by just over 4 seconds – after 12 hours of racing! Today there is no strategy of setting a reasonable pace to ensure the car lasts. It’s flat-out racing the entire time. And, for us racing fans, that is a very good thing.

On Thursday night, a friend, Doug Morton, invited us to the Hall of Fame cocktail party where I was able to talk to legendary driver Jacky Ickx. When I told him I had photographed him when he won here back in 1969, he said, “Sebring is so amazing! It has survived for 70 years and keeps reinventing itself. But as much as things change, the spirit of Sebring - and its fans - stays the same.

This place is immortal!” ... Harry Hurst 2022

Bahrain Grand Prix - 2022 - Chris Barnett

Welcome back to the pearl of Arabia and the Start of the Formula One season. Have any other races ever had this much expectation?

Rumors abound: Seb Vettel Aston Martin has contracted COVID 19 or gone on a visit to see his barber.? Last seen sporting a beard that would be the envy of ROBINSON CRUSOE, while all eyes were on Sir Lewis Hamilton (MAN FRIDAY) recently deposed seven times world champion seen dressed to impress in matching cargo shorts and tunic of blasting fluorescent red strolling

carefree amid the sheltering palms of YAS MARINA.

And there was more excitement - the RETURN of two reserve drivers: the German favorite “the HULK“ Hulkenberg and Swedish ace Magnussen. Add to the DEPARTURE from the fold, the Russian Masipin (Nikita, The Terrible) on whose career the British press lavished understatement - calling him “ineffective” AKA “Marzipan” found Formula One experience- akin a to blind man trying to determine the nature of an elephant. Clearly Comrade Nikita never proceeded beyond the tail.

PRACTICE

Time is come for a new generation of grand prix cars to strut their stuff. BBC. Guru, the admirable Benson had focused on Adhesion and Traction as primary concerns of all the teams. Which way to look? There were marvels of engineering. Interpretations of extreme aerodynamics (some of the rear wing mounts and driver's mirror settings looked plucked from an organic Alexander Calder mobile).

What of the new 18 inch tires? Who got the package right? At last! The track is declared open…20 drivers and their mounts gingerly proceed to seek truth. And boy! Were there some surprises! Let the shake down laps begin...

There are multiplex revelations: Helmet cameras reveal the direct vista of the track -the outward point of view- from the cockpit. First the initial shock - the steering wheel all blinking lights multiple buttons/gizmos/mini screens. Add the further visual constrictions that align themselves to the front tires and their glass fiber “eyebrows". The safety halo divides vision into halves, consider the mandatory neck harness protection worn by the driver. Constriction of sight is a new element of the hour, along with porpoising of the chassis due to the various demands imposed on the aerodynamics of the vehicle.

First impressions underline the quality at play. Scuderia Ferrari are not here to make up numbers.

Mercedes seem to have over designed their entry. Red Bull exude championship power and promise. Of McLaren, the contender spirit has vanished. l’Equipe Alpine uncomfortable in Force India pink. Alfa Romeo Squadra handsome in their smart heraldry. Team Williams deserves a change of luck. And what is this! HAAS comes to life! The midfield never looked better! Missing Kimi though.

Qualification increased anticipation. A whole new driving style is evolving along with technique in getting the best out of the moment. Ferrari throws down the gauntlet! Leclerc and Sainz look the business. The newly anointed Red Bull World champion- Max Verstappen walks the walk and drives with swagger. Artful Perez guarding his back.

Somewhere back there is a Mercedes Silver Arrow with a very thoughtful Sir Lewis at the helm. The Race that follows is an absolute cracker from start to finish. Startling thrills! Multiple pitstops! Fabulous cut and thrust, concluding in a podium that will cause church bells to ring in Modena. All to be annotated next week at Saudi.

GP Jeddah. The only certainty is the grinding teeth of Dr. Dredd, Red Bull’s sinister strategist.

Be there!

Paul Chenard - A Tribute ...

Saudi GP Schedule 2022

Michael Furman Photographer

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Allan Rosenberg - Motorsports Master

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After finding notable success as aircraft engine manufacturers, in the late 1920s BMW shifted their attention to the growing automobile industry. Initially operating under license manufacturing a variant of the Austin Seven, early BMWs were merely a faint glimpse of what would evolve to become a premier luxury-performance brand. And while many remarkable sports cars like the Mille Miglia winning 328 would soon follow, none would capture the imagination more than the incomparable BMW 507. Read More

Bahrain 2022 - Ferrari 1-2 - Pole and Fastest Lap ... Ferrari media image

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