Press Clippings: Simply terrific profile of the master of Late Night: Johnny Carson. This documentary is from the American Masters series from PBS and is an exceptional look at the very private man who was one of the most public figures in the history of modern media who, it is said without hyperbole, created late night television as a format and a cultural event. Before watching this film, it is recommended that you check out the previous post on Johnny Carson on this blog, which featured the now-legendary profile of Carson written by English critic Kenneth Tynan for The New Yorker. Together, the written profile and the documentary provide an unprecedented examination of a legendary figure that everyone recognized but nobody really knew.
The Fine Print: Embed Courtesy of our friends at YouTube. Documentary produced for the American Masters series, and first aired on PBS. All rights belong to their respective artists. We thank all for sharing.
Quote on puppies
“Unattended children will be given a puppy and a cup of espresso….”
The Big Burn
Paying Attention: The West has been burning…all through the summer and into the fall. It’s a combination of things: malicious people, capricious nature, an historical drought. Nature has its’ own way of setting the record straight and right now nature is mad. Presented today–for your enlightenment and education–is a terrific documentary on forrest fires. Watch this, and then read Young Men and Fire by Norman McLean, the brilliant University of Chicago professor who wrote A River Runs Through It (“Too many words and sentences…clean it up”) and you will have an understanding of the tender balance of nature in our world.
2015 PETIT LE MANS ROAD ATLANTA POST-RACE REPORT
RISI COMPETIZIONE – 2015 PETIT LE MANS ROAD ATLANTA
POST-RACE REPORT
Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia GT No. 62:
Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA)
Pierre Kaffer (DEU)
Toni Vilander (FIN)
Braselton, Georgia (October3, 2015)…The 17th annual Petit Le Mans IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship finale at Road Atlanta was one for the history books. The race, which was rain-shortened to seven hours and 51 minutes, instead of the scheduled 10 hours, featured 10 caution flags and a red flag stoppage for one hour and five minutes.
The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia started the unique race from the third class position and finished fifth in class and ninth overall with hardly a scratch on the Rosso Corsa (racing red) Ferrari.
The overall race winner of the 199-lap race was the No. 911 GTLM class Porsche, who also captured the 2015 GTLM Team and Driver Championship with driver Patrick Pilet. Attrition was certainly a factor in the overall race finishing positions, as many of the 37 starting cars hydroplaned off into the rain soaked grass and slid into early retirement or lengthy pit stops.
Team owner Giuseppe Risi credited the superior skills of his professional drivers, Giancarlo Fisichella, Pierre Kaffer and Toni Vilander, with the fact that the Risi Competizione team had an unscathed Ferrari at race end to take home to the team shop in Houston, Texas. Hydroplaning was an issue for everyone, with all cars struggling to stay on track. Once again, fast and accurate pit stops were performed by the Risi crew and positions were gained during the green flag laps.
Fisichella was the starting driver and rotated to Kaffer, who then rotated to Vilander, all posting single stints for the first round each. On Lap 148, nearly five hours into the race, Fisichella, who was on his second driving stint, reported the inability to see out the front windscreen. He and the No. 63 GTD Ferrari touched wheel-to-door briefly as Fisichella had to nearly drive blind to the pits. Removing a tear-off on the windscreen solved the viewing issue after oil had hindered his ability to see out. A small wheel mark on the right door was the only blemish on the 458, quite an accomplishment after the extensive damage suffered by many teams.
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) race officials red flagged the race at approximately 4:30 p.m. EDT, five hours and 20 minutes into the race. All race cars were parked on the front straight for over an hour. Racing was then resumed for nearly 90 minutes, with two caution flag periods. After 14 lead changes and more rain falling, IMSA finally showed the checkered flag at 7:01 p.m., prior to nightfall.
Today’s Petit Le Mans race concluded the 2015 IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship series season. The No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari team finished fourth in both the Team and Driver’s Championship.
PIERRE KAFFER, No. 62 Ferrari 458 Italia, Risi Competizione Driver:
“I think that this was a real old school race. It was really hard and we had a lot of rain to keep the car on the track for Giancarlo, Toni, and myself. Even to drive it on the straight, especially at the end, I was really worried. Thanks to my team for the great season and to Giuseppe (Risi). I think we put a lot of effort in this season and it only makes us stronger for next year. We deserve an even better position in the championship for how we worked and have done so far. I really appreciate Giancarlo; we are a great team and we stick together and when we hand the car over we fight for the victory. I am really happy for Ferrari and Giuseppe. Even here we scored fifth and we could even beat other manufacturers. Now I am really looking forward to the next season and hopefully with Risi again.”
TONI VILANDER, No. 62 Ferrari 458 Italia, Risi Competizione Driver:
“I am really happy. I have never been so happy to finish fifth in my career. This was one of the most difficult races I have driven. Just the amount of water and the conditions out there and the visibility made it really tough. It was difficult to just jump in the race and race rhythm and not to have a single test with a team whatsoever. Road Atlanta is one of the most demanding tracks in the race calendar. There is no margin for error and today we saw there were a lot of crashes. The pure performance was probably not the best for us but we showed our experience and kept the car clean.
“I want to thank Mr. Risi for the opportunity and it is always a pleasure to come in to the races in the U.S. It was a great job from the whole team. I have found a team with a great spirit and really efficient all of the time. It was difficult all week with no real practice track time. Coming in beside Pierre and Giancarlo, I had a certain responsibility to perform, but also to not make a mistake. One lap here and you could end up in the wall and look stupid. I am happy for the work we have done. For IMSA it is the last race of the season, but our championship is still on in FIA WEC and we still have three races to go. I am really happy for the team and we will see what happens in 2016. You never know. I always love the U.S., so we will see what happens.”
GIANCARLO FISICHELLA, No. 62 Ferrari 458 Italia, Risi Competizione Driver:
“When there was standing water we had aquaplaning. It was important to just keep the car on the ground. Today the condition of the race was dangerous and it was undrivable. I am disappointed a little at the decision of IMSA. We ran for seven hours for nothing. It was so dangerous for everybody and it was risky for everybody. I think it was much better to stop the race much earlier than they did. We did our best and everybody did a good job so let’s see what happens next season.”
RICK MAYER, No. 62 Ferrari 458 Italia Risi Competizione Race Engineer:
“I have never had any race where it was so treacherous out there. It was just horrendous. The drivers were aquaplaning all over the place out there. The fact that we had no damage to the car was pretty impressive considering a lot of other people weren’t as lucky. Of course we had three of the best pros in the world in the car and they managed to keep the car on the track and not harm anything. At no time were they taking excessive risk to gain positions, as we had nothing to gain in the big picture relative to the championship hunt. We were just hoping our pit stops, with some consistency, would give us a decent finish. We knew we weren’t going to be particularly competitive here, wet or dry, just because of how the BoP (Balance of Performance) is.
“We had no major off-track excursions as other competitors had. We had one situation where Giancarlo couldn’t see and had to come in to the pits to remove a windscreen tear-off due to oil from a competitor. The boys gained time in the stops and that is what we count on when racing these kind of races. But we had a respectable finish here today with the horrible weather and the car in one piece.”
Risi Competizione competition plans for 2016 have not yet been announced.
For more information, please go to www.risicompetizione.com and follow us on Facebook/RisiCompetizione and Twitter @RisiComp.
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The Weekend Concert Series: Jaime Cullum
The Hunt for New Music: We need new music. All the time. And for too long, we have not postyed a new Installment in the Weekend Concert Series. Enough. Here’s one to get things moving in the right direction: it’s the brilliant English musician, Jaime Cullum, featured Live at the Java Jazz Festival, Jakarta. He’s a very good artist, with excellent technical skills and a great sense of music. You will enjoy this concert….so do the drill: run it through your stereo system, bump it to the flat screen, turn it up, and enjoy.
The Fine Print: Embed via YouTube. All rights belong to their respective artists. Thank you–to YouTube and Jaime–for sharing.
Patrick Dempsey: Off The Marquee. Onto the Starting Line.
This piece was written by Taylor Wiseman, one of the participants in the 2015 Risi Competizione sponsored Young Journalist Program at COTA.
Father, actor, racecar driver…Patrick Dempsey is a busy man!
Earlier this year Dempsey was killed off of the ever-popular TV show, Grey’s Anatomy. Fans were not particularly happy about the death of McDreamy.
Though fans were not happy Dempsey seems to be. He now has more time to focus on his racing career. His team, Dempsey-Proton Racing, has done well in the 2015 season taking second place on the podium at the 24 hours of Le Mans in the GTE-Am class.
Dempsey is not only focused on his race career. He is also looking forward to spending more time with his kids. Being apart of Grey’s Anatomy, a show with 24 episodes a season, took up a lot of Dempsey’s time.
Now that Dempsey is not on such a strict time schedule he has more free time. Many have quoted Dempsey saying that racing has become much more than just a hobby. He wants to work on racing just as much as he worked on acting.
Dempsey created Dempsey Racing in 2009. His team took third place in the American Le Mans Series (LMP2 class). Dempsey has recently partnered with Proton Racing. They have competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and FIA WEC.
Dempsey recently competed in the Lone Star Le Mans at COTA where his team finished fourth. The next race for Dempsey-Proton Racing is 6 Hours of Fuji in Japan.
If you liked seeing Dempsey on your TV screen you’ll probably enjoy seeing him on the track. Check out FIA WEC for more information on the type of racing and upcoming events that Dempsey is participating in.
The History: Risi Competizione at Petit Le Mans
Risi Competizione has a long history at Petit Le Mans and it stretches back to the very beginning of the race, in 1998. Here, in abbreviated form, is how Risi Competizione has performed at the Petit Le Mans over the years.
1998.
Risi Comp’s history at Petit started in 1998, the very first year of the Petit Le Mans‘, a 10 hours or 1000 miles endurance race (whichever came first). Risi Competizione won the race in a Ferrari 333SP, driven by Collard/Taylor/van de Poele. The car qualified fourth and finished first. The race was, at that time, a part of the IMSA GT Championship.
1999
For the second running of The Petit, Risi brought two 333SPs, one with Caffi/Montermini/Taylor and the other with Angelelli/de Radigues/Pompidou driving. The cars qualified 9th and 10th but did not finish. Both went out with alternator problems.
2000
Risi Comp did not enter.
2001
Risi Comp did not enter
2002
The first year of the Ferrari 360 Modena GT, a car that signaled Ferrari’s return to international racing in the GT category. Driven by Risi Comp favorites Lazzaro/Kelleners, the team qualified 4th and finished 3rd.
2003
Lazzaro/Kelleners were paired again in a Ferrari 360 for 2003. Qualifying was not held and the team finished 3rd, for the second podium in a row. If you’re keeping score, at this point, Risi Comp had one win, and two podiums in four entries at Petit.
2004
The last year of the 360GT, with Lazzaro/Kelleners/de Simone aboard. The car qualified 6th and finished 4th.
2005.
Risi Competizione brings the Maserati MC12GT—a beautiful, quick race car with a mechanical design that closely paralleled that of the Ferrari ENZO, to Petit. The car was slowed throughout the 2005 season by technical restrictions placed on it by the ALMS. It was not slowed in the European FIA GT series where it won 5 straight championships. At Petit, the Risi Competizione managed MC12 qualified 6th and finished 4th, with Bertolini/Babini/de Simone driving. Has Risi ever received the benefit of a BoP ruling? Nope.
2006
The beginning of the Ferrari F430 Era. Risi Comp brought a pair of the 430GTs, cars which were to become Ferrari’s all-time GT racing winners. One 430GT went to Kelleners/Ortelli/Palttala and the other to Mediani/Lazzaro/Franchitti. Kelleners put his car into the pole position; the other 430GT was third on the grid. The pole sitting Ferrari went out due to an accident, and the remaining Risi Comp car finished 2nd.
2007
Risi Comp came back to Petit in 2007 with two cars, one for the driving tandem of Melo/Salo (who had already locked up the 2007 Championship for Risi Comp), aided by Johnny Mowlem, and other for Jonsson/Krohn/Turner. Melo put his 430 on the pole, but went down with electrical problems, having covered enough territory to be classified 6th. The second Ferrari qualified 10th and DNF’d (oil pump).
2008
Back again with Melo/Salo (no Mowlem this year), who qualified first and finished first, completing an end-to-end run. Jonsson/Krohn/van de Poele, the second car in the two car Risi Comp entry, qualified 6th and finished fourth.
2009
One 430GT for drivers Pierre Kaffer, Jaimie Melo, and Mika Salo. The car qualified 10th and finished first. It was the third win for Risi Competizione at Petit in 10 years.
2010.
Two cars entered, one for Bruni/Vilander (Racing this weekend, again, with Risi Comp) and the other for Fisichella/Melo/Salo (Fisi is also back this weekend). The first Ferrari 430 GT qualified 2nd and finished 3rd; the second car qualified 1st and finished 7th. This was the last year for the legendary F430GT.
2011
Risi returns to Petit, this year with the new Ferrari 458. Melo/Vilander/Matos were handed the driving chores. The car qualified 4th but did not start, due to an accident.
2012
Risi Competizione did not enter.
2013
Back to Petit, again with the Ferrari 458, with Drivers Beretta/Malucelli/Liddell. The Ferrari qualified 1st and finished 3rd.
2014
The 2014 edition of the Petit will always be remembered for the pit-lane incident that took the No. 62 Ferrari 458 out of the race. The driving team of Fisichella/Kaffer/Beretta had qualified the F458 Ferrari in second position and the team was leading when it was hit when stopped by a red light at the pit lane exit. But the results are interesting: Only the Ferrari could not continue and no penalty was assessed against the offending Porsche.
How to Set up the Ferrari 458 for Petit Le Mans
Hard to believe: the last race of the season–the Petit Le Mans–is this weekend. For Risi Comp, the race season and the 458 era will end at Petit Le Mans. Petit has always been a good race for us…we won the first Petit Le Mans with a 333SP and have enjoyed success there ever since. As always, the inside look at what Risi Comp faces this weekend comes from Rick Mayer, Team Engineer, who provides engineering and tactical insight into the last endurance of 2015 for the Risi Competizione team, Ferrari 458, and drivers. Well worth your time to read.
The Petit Le Mans 2015-GTLM Overview.
by Rick Mayer.
The Track: Road Atlanta is one of the favorite tracks for Risi Competizione and most of our drivers. Favorites tend to be the ones you’ve had success at, and this is no exception. It’s a fast track layout with a variety of different types of corners, it’s technically challenging for both drivers and engineers, and very satisfying when you get it right.
The requirements to go fast at Road Atlanta are always the same. You need a good platform for the high-speed corners – Turn 1, the Esses and Turn 12. You can gain a significant amount of time using the apex curbs effectively at Turn 3 and the exit curbs of Turn 5. There’s some real curb jumping at Turn 3; it’s a good corner for photos. The curbs at both Turns 7 and 10 also yield lap time. However, as much as you need the curbs for a quick lap time, you have to exercise caution as using them repeatedly here can lead to failed drivetrain components. It’s a long 10 hour race and you need to be somewhat kind to the car; you have to finish to win. Top speed is very important as there are few places to pass.
Setup: Stiffer (springs and anti-roll bars) is better for platform support but curbing is so important here, it’s a compromise. A stiff setup also makes cleaning the pick-up off the tires easier as you can load the tires harder. With such a big field, the number of times that a GT car may have to go off the racing line, and therefore experience pick-up, will be increased. Dampers that give support, but blow-off on the curbs, can make a big difference here, not just in lap time but longevity of the drivetrain components.
Top speed and downforce level will be based on peer group straight speeds. Greater overall downforce is the quicker way around the track and better for tire life, but you can’t let the competition drive around you on the straight. Passing will be difficult, especially in GTLM with the 8 super-competitive cars from 4 different manufacturers. The best passing spot will be braking into Turn 10. However, if you can’t keep up on the straight you won’t be in a position to out-brake someone into Turn 10. The track isn’t particularly hard on brakes, but you need the brakes to last the 390+ laps that the GTLM cars will run during the race.
Keeping the car low to the ground (low running ride heights) is a challenge at Road Atlanta. Your options are to run very high ride heights (Sebring track levels) or stiff springs or bump rubbers to hold the car up in the large compression areas. The main issues where the car will contact the track are the bumps in the middle of Turn 1 (left rear) and the curb in Turn 3 (right side), either the curb itself or the landing from launching from it. Your ability to setup around these features will ultimately determine how low you can run the car.
The Race: Traffic will play a large role as always at Petit with a 37 car field. Keeping out of trouble will be crucial for success. With a 10 hour race pit strategy is easier as you’re not forecasting the leaders lap count or time to finish.
Pit work needs to be only fuel, tires and driver changes, with the occasional addition of engine oil. Anything extra or slow pit work will put you at the back of the field quickly.
Qualifying is less important at these long races as our usual 2h 40 minute events, but keeping up in the lead pack will always be vital due to the level of competition and how difficult it is to pass at Road Atlanta. The current caution rules should keep the GTLM front-runners on the same lap. The current BoP (balance of performance) has the Porsches and BMWs with an overall advantage and Corvette with a top speed advantage.
But don’t count us out. A red Risi Ferrari has fared well at Petit in years past, it’s one of the team’s more successful venues. Let’s just hope our luck continues and we can end the season on a high note.
Yogi
Transitions : Yogi Berra (1925-201). I grew up playing baseball in small towns in the south. In organized leagues and on sandlots. All through the year. For schools and with friends. Pickup and travel squads. It was important to me and to my friends because, well, baseball is important in small towns in the South, just like football (I played that too…there weren’t a lot of choices in the small towns I grew up in: football, basketball, baseball..most of us played all three). Like all kids who played baseball, we all had favorites, guys we followed, whose baseball cards we had to get. Those days were arguably baseball’s “Golden Era”. At a time when Mickey Mantle or Whitey Ford or Duke Snider were everyone’s favorite players, back when baseball was THE national pastime, I was a Yogi Berra fan.
The reasons why were pretty simple: I was a catcher. Yogi was a catcher. I was a Yankee fan. Yogi was a Yankee. I was aspirational. Yogi was aspirational (although he never knew it). I was a grinder. Yogi was the ultimate grinder. In those days, only catchers wore their baseball hats backwards. Yogi did that. I did too. Yogi was everything that was right about baseball as far as I was concerned.
When I moved out of the small towns I was raised in, and went off to college, my appreciation for Yogi changed. It was no longer based on what he did on the field, but his manner, his innate humility, the lack of showboating. Yogi was a character, one so rich and unique, that you just couldn’t make someone like him up. A true original. He had a way of speaking that was unique, a point of view that was wonderfully simple and, in a way, very sweet. But no one should ever mistake lack of swagger for softness, because he was amazingly competitive and played the most punishing single position on the field. Yogi Berra was on 10 World Series winning teams, when the World Series was the most important sports game of the year, every year. Yogi left the field as a player, became a manager and a coach and he was successful there as well. He was, to me at least, Mr. Baseball, just like Gordie Howe was, to me and others, Mr. Hockey.
When Yogi Berra died last week, at the age of 90, all the great old feelings about him and the game came back. It was a welcome reprise, for a time long since gone, and a man who defined the very best of that time. Yogi lived a very long and amazing life, and over the last week, we’ve had a chance to realize–once again–just how special he was. Below please find a ClickPak of some of the best stories about Yogi Berra. And, might as well start it off right, with a great collection of his quotes. To Yogi’s family, we send our prayers and thanks for sharing him with so many for so long.
The Great Quote of Yogi Berra (Source; Newsday)
The American Life of Yogi Berra (Source: Sports Illustrated)
Yogi and the 1956 World Series (Source: cheatsheet.com)
The Yankees Honor Yogi Before A Game (Source: SportsIllustrated.com)
The Mayor of Montclair (Source: New York Daily Post)
Yogi Berra: An American Story (Source: The Missoulian)
Yogi Berra’s Greatest Legacy (Source: The Wall Street Journal)
Yogi Berra Tribute from The New York Times (Source: The New York Times)
Yogi by the numbers. He was much, much better than you ever thought . (Source: fivethirtyeight.com)
The Fine Print: Baseball Card photo of Yogi Berra from Baseball Collection, via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons License. The photo has not been altered. It has been sized to fit in the available space. We thank the Baseball Collection for sharing the photo.
How To Be Italian
Paying Attention: The Ferrari IPO is coming. Milan Fashion Week is crushing it. You like Italian food and Italian wines. The Pope just visited and everyone feels better. Might as well go all in and learn How to Be Italian,
in under five minutes with this nice little film from the New York Times.
The Fine Print: Video courtesy of The New York Times.