“Epic.” Quite possibly the most abused term of the last few
years, thanks in no small part to various forums on the Internet. These days,
even the talking heads on TV (most of whom no longer deserve the title
“anchor,”) have fallen prey to over-using a term of supreme magnitude, to
describe the slightest deviation from the norm. When the act of finding a $10
bill in the pocket of one’s jeans is described as “epic win,” and pretty much
everything else that ever happens in the world earns the term “epic fail” by
the internet fanboy intelligentsia, it becomes clear that an example – a true
to life definition of the word – is needed.
This past weekend’s 14th running of the Petit Le
Mans, the final round of the American Le Mans Series 2011 season, was the very
essence of the four-letter word mentioned above. The season-ender started an
event-record 52 cars (53 were qualified, but a Risi Competizione Ferrari was
damaged beyond repair during the morning warm-up), and of those, 38 were scored
as “running” by the time the checkered flag waved and Team Peugeot TOTAL
claimed victory. The race itself featured as much fantastic display of driving
skill and engineering prowess as can be seen in any form of racing today,
though it remains a bit unclear just how many people – in the US and abroad –
were able to watch the race.
The series’ “webcast/delayed broadcast” experiment, begun at
the season-opener in Sebring, has been a mixed success. Neither “epic win” or
“epic fail,” the experience many fans have had streaming the races via the
Internet on ESPN3.com in the US (or via Americanlemans.com overseas) has
largely been… lukewarm “WTF?” We knew at the beginning of the ’11 season that
the series leaving behind live TV broadcasting would be a huge gamble, and at
season’s end, the result looks like a push. Next year will see the return of
live broadcast on ABC and ESPN2 (ABC and the ESPN networks are owned by Disney)
for four events, with the live streaming on ESPN3.com to continue unchanged.
Conspicuously absent from the big picture is Radio Le Mans, the web-radio
network headed by John Hindhaugh, which had previously carried live coverage of
all ALMS events prior to this year. I can’t think of any other group that has
the mixture of dedication, proven talent, and sheer insight shown week after
week by Radio Le Mans, and the edited-to-pieces and delayed TV broadcasts on
ABC/ESPN2 have drawn criticism for everything from miserable editing to dull
commentary, so something else must be at work there.
Petit Le Mans is no longer just the American sports car Fall
Classic, either. As part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) – which is
soon to give way to the new FIA-sanctioned World Endurance Championship – it’s
gone from being a quaint little day-long event with a respectable fan turnout…
to being a downright huge week-long festival with fan turnout so huge, even
three years into economic times that are lackluster at best, the infield is
packed full and overflow parking off-site is loaded. The running joke on the
paddock is that there’s nothing much “petit” about the race anymore – and it’s
genuinely arrived at a level where it rivals the 12 Hours of Sebring among
great American sports car races, in must-see action and prestige, if not
decades of heritage.
At Autoextremist.com, Peter DeLorenzo has talked about the need for sports
car racing in this country to get its act together in a hurry, and force an end
to the “split” between ALMS and the France Family’s Grand Am circus. When the
crowd at Sebring or Petit on Wednesday practice is exponentially larger than
the raceday crowd for the 24 Hours of Daytona, it’s pretty clear that the fans
are voting loudly at the ticket booth. The fact is, when you put on a great
race at a good circuit, featuring the world’s most fantastic-looking cars,
people will want to see them run. Not just on TV, but up close.
At this year’s Petit Le Mans, the grandstands on the front
stretch were either at or near full capacity for the duration of the entire
race. Even NASCAR can’t get that together, these days. Seen the Brickyard 400
lately?
So, why the urgent need for the teams to organize and
determine a singular direction for themselves? In a word, politics – and the
coming wave that is the World Endurance Championship.
The WEC, as it’s set to be next year, will replace the
current ILMC, with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (the French governing body
overseeing Le Mans) working with the FIA (that’s the other group of French
rule-makers) to create a uniform global sportscar championship series. To
borrow a quote from ALMS’ Scott Atherton from just a few years ago, those teams
and sanctioning bodies not at the table, will be on the menu.
Will the frequently-repeated rumor of WEC’s stated desire
for a date in South America mean stripping its sanction from Petit Le Mans? Not
if the ACO and FIA have half a clue to work with. Still, this is racing on an
enormous international scale, and stranger (and dumber) things have happened.
And leaving ‘Petit’ off the WEC schedule would be – no exaggeration here – a
screw-up of epic proportions.
That’s it for now; I’ll see you at the next pit stop.
