FUMES

Monday

Dec132010

Monday, December 13, 2010 at 03:59PM

December 15, 2010

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Enjoy our year-end issue, and we'll see you back here on January 5, 2011!

The most significant development of the racing year.

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. I thought it would be good to follow up my last Fumes column with an assessment of the most significant development of the year in racing. As I've said before in this column, I believe racing has reached a critical juncture, and what this industry does from here on out will either propel it toward a bright future, or send it spiraling downward into a sea of irrelevance, becoming a glorified nostalgia exercise with no purpose and devoid of its raison d'etre.

In my dealings with the various manufacturers over the course of the last few years - and particularly in the last eighteen months - it's clear that racing in a vacuum, or racing "just because" a few honchos at the top of of a corporation are enthusiasts is no longer going to be enough of a reason for global automotive empires to commit to spending hundreds of millions of dollars on a racing program. It just isn't going to happen that way anymore.

Automobile corporations and their suppliers need to see a direct correlation between the kinds of motorsport they compete in, and the kind of advanced technological development they're involved in before they commit to the kind of financial level it takes to win. You only need to look as far as Audi to see how it's done, and how it should be done to understand what I'm talking about.

Ten years ago Audi, tired of being the perennial also-ran to Mercedes-Benz and BMW, set a course to change the prevailing perception that they were a "Tier 2" German luxury automaker. And an integral part of its strategy, besides elevating their production vehicles to a highly competitive level equal to or in a growing number of cases better than their arch rivals was to use motorsport - particularly the 24 Hours of Le Mans - to prove their mettle in the most prestigious sports car race in the world and transform their image from "also-ran" to "champion."

In the course of this directional shift Audi engineers perfected such technologies as Direct Fuel-Injection - the now ubiquitous form of high-performance electronic fuel-injection used throughout the world - and later, advancements in their diesel and LED lighting technologies, which wowed the automotive world. And I'd say the rest is history except that Audi has just designed an all-new world beater - the R18 (check out this week's "The Line") - which pushes the envelop even further, this time in a closed coupe. Audi is not finished with Le Mans, by any stretch of the imagination, which is a good thing for racing fans everywhere.

The point being this: Over the last decade Audi set a course for an image transformation based on technological superiority and achievement on the racetrack. But this wasn't racing in a vacuum - though make no mistake, Audi is brimming with enthusiasts throughout its organization - it was using racing to prove out advanced technological concepts and technologies that would ultimately be relevant to and incorporated into their future production vehicles. The result? Audi has transitioned from being a traditional second choice to BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the market to now being on the same level with its German rivals. And for many enthusiasts, Audi has now become the most desirable brand.

So this to me then is the significant development in racing this year. The whole idea of relevance in racing is now the single most important factor for manufacturers considering involvement in a major racing program. I've heard the same questions repeatedly from both product and marketing executives in my travels at the automobile companies: "Does it make sense for us?" "Will this racing program be relevant to both our ongoing and future research & development programs?" And most important, "Will this racing program allow us to improve what we deliver to our customers in our production vehicles in a meaningful, tangible way?"

This is why you're hearing about a growing impatience among the manufacturers with the NASCAR model, and why there are definitive signs that big changes are on the horizon, unexpectedly welcomed and endorsed by the powers that be in Daytona Beach. Conversely, it's why you see GM - which is developing a 2.4-liter Twin-Turbo V6 engine for future production applications - committing "all-in" to running a 2.4-liter, Twin-Turbo V6 in the IndyCar Series for 2012. And it's why Ford is very much interested in running its Focus and Fiesta production cars in production-based racing series, racing that's relevant to their future product development programs.

It's no secret - especially among the Detroit automobile manufacturers - that the latest economic downturn has chastened auto companies around the world for good. And for this reason racing in particular has come under the microscope inside these corporations, with the justification for involvement coming under intense scrutiny as well.

But rather than go the full-out "doom & gloom" route, I am optimistic that this renewed interest in relevance when it comes to racing will ultimately prove to be a fantastic boon for the sport, as long as the sanctioning bodies and racing series come to understand that they must take decisive steps in order to not only accommodate this new interest in relevant racing by the manufacturers, but to embrace it.

That means racing series that promote high-performance with high-efficiency - like the American Le Mans Series - while allowing the manufacturer to prove future concepts in propulsion, aerodynamics, electronics, materials and fuels, will win out in the end.

Here's to that happening at a dramatically increased rate in 2011, because we certainly need it for the future health of the sport.

And here's to a Happy and Healthy New Year for all of you.

I'll see you back here on the 5th of January.

Publisher's Note: As part of our continuing series celebrating the "Glory Days" of racing, we're proud to present another noteworthy image from the Ford Racing Archives. - PMD

(Courtesy of the Ford Racing Archives)
Hampton, Georgia, April 11,1965. Glen Wood, Marvin Panch and Leonard Wood after "Pancho" took his No. 21 Wood Brothers-prepared Ford from the pole to victory in the Atlanta 500. The famed "No. 21" of the Wood Brothers saw 20 of NASCAR’S Greatest Drivers take the wheel over the years, including Curtis Turner, Tiny Lund, Fireball Roberts, Bob Welborn, Dale Jarrett, A.J. Foyt, Glen Wood, Buddy Baker, Marvin Panch, Junior Johnson, Cale Yarborough, Ned Jarrett, Fred Lorenzen, Joe Weatherly, Ralph Earnhardt, Neil Bonnett, Ricky Rudd, Mark Martin, Bill Elliott, and of course the incomparable David Pearson. The Wood Brothers also famously crewed Jim Clark's Indianapolis 500-winning Lotus-Ford in 1965. Today, Wood Brothers Racing is the oldest continuously operating team in the NASCAR Cup Series, celebrating an incredible 60 years - and 97 total wins - in the sport this year. Wood Brothers Racing is now owned equally by Glen and his children Eddie, Len and Kim, and has always raced Ford products.

Publisher's Note: Like these Ford racing photos? Check out ford.artehouse.com. Be forewarned, however, because you won't be able to go there and not order something. - PMD

See another live episode of "Autoline After Hours" with hosts John McElroy, from Autoline Detroit, and Peter De Lorenzo, The Autoextremist, and guests this Thursday evening, at 7:00PM EDT at www.autolinedetroit.tv.