Dean Martin's GT4 Mustang

[Mountain376]

Don't know who will be driving / engineering the Camaro but if it is a competent team I expect that they will be faster than the Ford with the current specifications. Look at what Black dog was doing before PWC gave the second half of the season to Sin / Panoz.. Its gotten so bad Pro drivers in PWC are mocking it now.

Audi squeaked out the championship due to a last minute wreck. When Safronas and Auschenbach cant even hope to catch Gottsacker you know your BOP is laughable.

AMG this week only adds 10 kilos but gets power bump. I Expect it to walk the Porsche in the right hands. Audi and McLaren will be continue to be super fast on pace. If they dont shit themselves, they can win, but its a big if as they are all snake-bit this year.

The Ford will need a clean race, perfect strategy, and some luck to compete for a podium.

5 cars had race lap times in the 2:20s. 2 fords, both McLarens, and the Audi. So Ford was screwed because Kyle and Trent are fast drivers.

Qualifying is a better sense of outright pace, only two Fords cracked the top 10.

Its amazing the regularity in which the Ford is not the fastest car on the track, but has the heaviest BOP applied. The added weight over the last two races can also factor in reliability.

Its funny though, look at the volume of promo shots that feature the Ford. Its clearly a fan favorite. When the 60 took the lead at Mid Ohio the crowd went off. I love these races but I wont watch if they keep this up.

Hold on, you mentioned a BUNCH of non Ford cars. Please leave....

Mustang has always seemed to get the shaft in professional motorsports. It happened to the Boss 302R/302S, you saw it the first season of the GT350R-C (to help give Chevy their Z/28.R championship) and you’re seeing it now. I was so happy to see Billy Johnson and Scott Maxwell grab a season in the GT350R-C after trying so hard in the Boss 302R’s. Yeah, they were highly backed by Ford/Multimatic, but they deserved it and Mustang deserved it.

About the current media, I say thank KOHR and Nate Stacy. Ever since Rehagen went to KHOR and brought Nate back, their social media presence went up in volume and quality.

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[superman07]

GT4 ripping up high end porsches, zo6, viper ACR, and gt350R.

 

[Austinj427]

That's Ben, the bad ass.

Love that guy.

 

[Mountain376]

Mustangs looking good in Practice 1 this morning!

 

[Epiphany]

Good to hear. On our way there now!

 

[Epiphany]

Got to the track late but qualifying was after 7PM so all was good. Muggy as hell! Lots of things going on with both Kohr cars and Dean seemed as relaxed as ever. Crew was working hard to be ready.

Nate was in good spirits and I had a great conversation with Kyle about things that have happened this season. These two are ready to get it done.

 

[Mjc1241]

Interested in going to the race at Braselton in October. When do they run the Continental Tires Sports Car race? I would assume the Friday before the Petit Lemans race on Saturday. Any Georgia GT350 owners going to that race?

 

[Epiphany]

Friday, October 12th from 1:25pm to 3:25pm.
https://sportscarchallenge.imsa.com/events/2018-motul-petit-le-mans

VIR was a tough one. Hot/muggy as hell with intermittent rain. Don't want to spoil it for those waiting to watch. Race results are here if you'd like to see...
https://sportscarchallenge.imsa.com/schedule-results/current-results

We rolled into VIR after about a 5 hour drive from Augusta on Friday night. Qualifying was late in the evening and I had hoped it would cool down - it didn't. Anyway, it was a fairly laid back atmosphere with Dean, the drivers and crew seemingly relaxed and ready to go. Bothe the Scudo and Kadima car ran, with the Scudo car being an all new "tub" from Multimatic after the crash at a previous event.

Here's a few clips including Dean checking lug torque while simultaneously dealing with everything else in the first one.





Some shots from qualifying. Right click and "view image" for full resolution.

Saturday was when the race took place and the two Kohr cars, drivers, and team were ready to hit this one hard. Heck, everybody out there wanted it badly.

It rained before the cars went out into pit lane for the public to see. I ran up to one of the garages Kohr had and hung out the window for a clear overhead view...


Cars all started on slicks and when the heavy rain hit some pitted for tires with tread and some did not. Regardless, the race went on.

Plenty more in a gallery I uploaded here...https://tg1.smugmug.com/VIR-IMSA-races-2018/i-FKjNQrk

All in all a great weekend. Two races left and the Kohr Scudo car looks to be in 2nd place. Can't wait for the next one.

 

[Grimace427]

Stunning photos!!!!

 

[Mountain376]

Great pictures! Thanks!

Lots of cool liveries in CTSC, especially this race. That #72 M4 looks sweet and I like the #80 Mustang's slight change to their livery. The Rebel Rock Camaro looks cool, too!

Dean really knows Mustangs and getting them to run quick. He and Kohr did a great job with the Frankenstein in Road America and it looks like they were able to get the car rebuilt and tuned-in very well with a new BIW for VIR.

I missed the first 15 minutes of the race... so did everyone just gamble and decide to run slicks, in hopes of the track drying out soon? Did any of the teams go out in rains? Man, it was a mess for the first 30-40 minutes...

 

[Epiphany]

It was a mess. Everybody went out on slicks. Wasn't long and when it started to come down hard a number of cars spun. Three quarters of the cars came in for rain tires. This is when the Camaro got good position and held onto it. It got crazy as everone went back to slicks and then it looked like more rain at the end.

Dean got the new tub on Tuesday I believe and had it ready to go for qualifying on Friday. That is nuts!

 

[Mountain376]

If Daytona went a bit different for the #60 and the #8... I wonder what the CTSC Top 5 would look like today? Pos 1 and 2 could be switched , or at least basically tied, and Pos 4 and 5 would be about tied.

Two more races left. The #60 has a chance to grab Pos 1, but the #8 likely will have to settle for Pos 5.

 

[Mountain376]

Not one of Dean’s cars, but a Mustang GT4, nonetheless:

 

[Epiphany]

A closer look...

"https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https://www.facebook.com/Kyle.Marcelli/videos/422151024858368/&show_text=0&width=560"

It was muggy as can be at VIR.

 

[Epiphany]

I didn't make it to Laguna Seca (and it is killing me!). Watch this one if you can on IMSA TV today at 6:05 ET. Scudo car is second in points and the strategy is to drive to win as opposed to "prevent mode." Only one race left after this one, Road Atlanta, and I'll be there.

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