GRAND-AM: COTA Notebook

John Dagys breaks down the storylines ahead of Saturday’s inaugural GRAND-AM of The Americas...

John Dagys | Posted March 02, 2013 Austin, TX

Audi has a reduced presence this weekend at COTA, with only a single R8 entered by APR Motorsport. (Photo: John Dagys)

WHERE DID THE AUDIS GO? — Having made a splash with an impressive 1-2 sweep at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Audi’s presence in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series has been dramatically reduced, going from four de facto factory entries at Daytona to a single customer-based R8 this weekend at COTA.

APR Motorsport, which finished second in the season-opener, is the only returning Audi squad, making a last-minute decision to field an R8 GRAND-AM for drivers Matt Bell and Ian Baas. The Alabama-based team ran two R8s at Daytona but like Alex Job Racing and Rum Bum Racing, elected not to purchase their factory crewed car from Audi Sport customer racing following the race.

Instead, APR has re-numbered its own No. 51 car, the only R8 to contest every race last year, to No. 52, in order to preserve its lead in the teams championship. For now, APR’s singleton Audi is confirmed through the fourth round of the season at Road Atlanta, according to team owner Stephen Hooks.

"It's a great honor to be in a position that we are in, and we're going to do our best,” Hooks told SPEED.com. “If things go well, we’ll want to string a championship [run] together.”

While nobody else managed to strike a deal for this weekend, it doesn’t necessarily rule out other R8s making an appearance later in the year. Rolex 24 winner Dion von Moltke, who landed a one-off drive in a Muehlner Motorsports Porsche for COTA, is hopeful of returning to the wheel of an Audi, potentially even with Alex Job.

"We're not giving up,” said von Moltke, who leads the GT drivers' championship. “I'm here and enjoying my time and just trying to piece together a season right now... I definitely will expect to see more Audis throughout the season. It's just too good [of a car] not to be racing it.

“The car is definitely capable of winning the championship here in GRAND-AM. I really hope to see more because they're very competitive cars. They're well built, reliable and quick.”

As for prospects of von Moltke’s former team, APR Motorsport, returning to a two-car squad, team owner Hooks isn’t as optimistic as he once was.

"Circumstances will have to change,” he said. “If you asked me that question three weeks ago, I would have been far more positive and excited about it. But until things change, I would say that's something that's not happening right now.

"Decisions are still being sorted out at a far higher pay grade from mine. But we're committed and happy with our relationship with Audi and wouldn't want to be with any other brand here.”

NEW BMW DP ENGINE UPDATE — BMW-powered teams Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Sahlen will have to wait a bit longer for the new-generation Daytona Prototype powerplant, as the Dinan-tuned 4.5-liter V8 has faced further delays and will now likely not be race-ready until June, according to Ganassi team manager Tim Keene.

"I wouldn't expect us to be running that before Detroit,” Keene told SPEED.com. “Dinan is certainly putting a lot of effort into trying to make that happen. Their biggest challenge is that they've been doing some endurance testing with it and it's not quite met the expectation that we need right now.

“Then getting it approved by GRAND-AM and doing some track testing before we actually race it. We need to know that the package is going to be exactly what we want so we actually move forward. Reliability is the No. 1 key for us. You can be as fast as you want but if it's not reliable then you really gain nothing."

Keene anticipates the new BMW M3-based poweplant could begin on-track testing in late April or early May.

BoP UPDATE — Following last month’s Technical Committee meeting, GRAND-AM has issued a raft of Balance of Performance adjustments that go into effect this weekend. Among the key changes in DP is the elimination the air restrictor imposed on the Chevrolet powerplants, while the BMW engine must revert to OEM intake trumpets. No changes have been made to the Ford.

In GT, both the Audi R8 and Ferrari 458 Italia receive a 200-rpm reduction, while RPM limiters have been added to the Corvette, Camaro and Porsches after running unrestricted at Daytona. Additionally, the fuel capacity has been reduced class-wide following a larger allocation for the twice-around-the-clock endurance classic.

NOTES FROM THE PADDOCK

** The No. 69 AIM Autosport Team FXDD Ferrari 458 did not qualify following a heavy crash by Emil Assentato in Trueman/Akin practice this afternoon. While the defending class co-champion was uninjured, the Canadian squad has a long night ahead of themselves in repairing the Prancing Horse, which spun and made contact with the wall.

** John Edwards overcame a 103-degree fever to qualify the Rolex Series GT and CTSCC GS-class Camaros from Stevenson Motorsports. More impressively, he put both cars fourth on their respective grids, despite having virtually no track time this weekend.

** DP pole sitter Jon Fogarty has developed a knack for top qualifying efforts at debuting race circuits. In addition to taking the top qualifying spot today at COTA, Fogarty also won the pole at 2012’s debut races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Detroit Belle Isle.

** Jade Buford (GS) and Chad McCumbee (ST) took their respective poles for Saturday’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race from COTA. Watch the race Live! on SPEED2, beginning at 11 a.m. ET.

John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at

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John Dagys

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