Brands in Racing - SHAKEDOWN - 2/26/2010

Jaguar ??????

All vehicle manufacturers should be in some form of racing. Not all can afford the likes of F1, but I think Mazda  is a great example of a manufacturer getting into grassroots racing.

The only issue I see is when these manufacturers fail to bring racing-derived technology to the street and miss out on the race on Sunday, sell on Monday idea. I find it very frustrating when a car is sold as a sport model, but doesn't actually have what it takes to live up to its' name.

Corvette:  2010 marks the 50th Anniversary of the first Corvette at Le Mans.  6 LeMans wins in the recent years of the Pratt & Miller cars as well as 9 ALMS championships and great success in FIA GT1/GT3, LMS, and others

I do wish for Lancia to be there.. but they have lost the plot exactly right after they got out of rallying and these days their cars are absolutely hideous.

Don't forget last year when Toyota also put that magnet under their pedal in NASCAR, and when they got caught stealing from Ferrari!

* WAZUP? Peugeot is great. We used to have a 505 and it was the best compromise between comfort & handling of any car I ever came across. They were also one of the first few to include heated seats as standard{among many other firsts}. However today they make incredible prototypes, amazing race cars, but their production cars are more bland & boring than your chrome toaster in the kitchen. Why don't they transfer some of that high technology & sexiness from racing to their production cars? Please??

Great show. 
Honda should have been in there.

What about ACURA brand in the ALMS.

Honda

Ok so I realise this won't be popular being a us based show and all, but surely Mercedes should get a mention. They have been racing almost as long as they have been making cars. And in series where they don't race they often provide the engines.

Leo good show, since you asked how about Toyota? you can put a monkey behind a Toyota and that car will accelerate itself hahahahahahahaha.......

Fuck that shit corvett can suck ma balls

Corvette isn't the only one Leo missed... and he missed ones to get a reaction from the idiots like us.  The 908 may not seem important to some but the point of racing is to push the envelope of technology and kick start the development of cars 5 or 10 years away... in that respect the Corvette is a Dinosaur.  However the same could have been said of Porsche's GT3 before they announced the hybrid prototype.
Other that Corvette... Brands that were missed:
Chevy???  Corvette might be a brand on its own to some but what about the others?... they are kinda doing squat
Dodge...  nope... don't race, they shouldn't ... the viper was a beast but not good for racing.  Maybe start a series of fiat 500s
Mercedes:  Boooo... they should have a silver hair series for their old folks and auto trannies.  McLaren is their F1, not Merc.
BMW:  Being unsuccessful as of recent in F1 they should get back to racing smaller affordable cars like back in the E30 days... They should race... race the 1 series.
Lambo:  The fact that they don't race much just makes them that much more of a flashy playboys car and not a drivers car... stick to what you know, edgy looks and cars that are easy to drive fast.
Bentley:  Not the same brand as back in W.O.'s day and the bentley boys are long gone... as much as I want to see them race again... they shouldn't.
Maybach: Now these guys have potential... I think a stripped down version of their 57 could take the next 24 hour race.  I would expect the comfy seats would translate into a happy driver and a faster lap time.

And Corvette wins the "People's Choice" vote!  Thought hard about Vette.  It's rich history...Coming up on 50th year @ LeMans [not EVERY yr, but many, many].  But, also thought currency [tough to ignore those Greenwoods and Penske GranSports, though] and currency.  And although CR has won many ALMS championships and Le Mans, the past few yrs saw little competition and @ LM24, didn't Aston Martin beat them [2007, 08] in the last few?  So, US icon? [You betcha, America!]. Global Icon or Best in Racing?  IMO, on the list for consideration.....but, behind the others I mentioned.  Just looking @ the body of work vs comp.  GT2 could change my mind quickly.  Rumors say the results will.  So, I am still a 'Go, Jake" fan guy.

Make fastlane an hour long, you could have a "Top***" like show, with Derick D,Alex,Leo,and some hot woman.

my personal favorites are ford, mazda, subaru & mitsubishi - they are readily available and affordable to average joe

Corvette should be included. Whenever you go to a track day or an scca event, you see a bunch off them. People race them hard and if they do break, it's a chevy. In ALMS it has dominated but it has gone to the street as well. The Ls7 in the Z06 is directly related to the engine in the GT1 C6R and makes one of the best noises in racing today. Corvette racing still wants to be competative, after GT1 is starting to wined down. They moved to GT2 to compete and still how American race car technology compares to ferrari, porsche, aston martin, who are corvettes competetion on the street in terms of performance numbers. They even built a Z06 to honor the team.

I had been skeptical about Leo's take on some of my favorite venues, to include ALMS and Rolex Grand-AM, of weeks past. But today Leo nailed it, I couldn't agree more with his take on who's who of modern motor sports!

America needs a real stock car racing league. And I mean stock, stock. Only mods should be for driver safety (read roll-bars), allow plenty of body roll, and no LeMons does not count.

I think the problem with Corvette being recognized is the fact they have been running in as the lone manufacturer against a few privateer entries for the past decade in the ALMS GT1 class.  This year should be much better running in GT2 with Porsche, Aston-Martin etc.

Great list, great show! However, NISMO!

i agree that the corvette should have been mentioned but it had only been recently that they have come about as a power house in the racing scene. I believe that Leo is taking into account the history of racing, not just the past 15 years of racing.

chevy with corvette, subaru in WRC world, audi in LM and first 4wd in rallye... what about BMW, now no more in F1 but still one of the best cars to own... 

PS. great show.

What about Lambos, they are supercar producers who     just don't race,  or do they? They should be...

Bentley would be good to watch and

Great show. Why no mention of Corvette though?

DAMM that’s a very good question! I think I would go with Ford. They almost do everything & are good at whatever they do with strong names backing them up like Shelby, Force & Roush But they need to get there ass back in IZOD Indaycar & F1

dick sucking, ball licking, dude fucking, ass munching..... what leo does for fun? what leo does to the harry potter looking mofo on this show? today leo is just jerking away on the subway..

seriously...leo.....die!

Good show as usual Leo.  I also think Chevy's contribution of the Corvette indeed should have been mentioned and i don't even really like Chevy. Here's a question though, what manufacturers/organizations do you think are the worst for the sport?

You completely skipped Corvette Racing. Leo, you are dead to me.

You've talked in the past about how relevance is key to racing. I suppose Citroen and Peugeot's cars are relevant to their production models? Yep the 908 is very close to what you'd find in a Peugeot dealership ;-)

corvette?  i hate them but c'mon.  they deserve some credit too.