TORA Pro GT Road America 1,000 (FM5)

The TORA Pro GT series recent wrapped up, but they are launching a one-off race called the TORA Pro GT Road America 1,000.  The same cars are being used, with options between the #92 BMW M3 GT2, #4 Corvette Racing ZR1, #62 Ferrari F458 Italia, and #91 SRT Viper GTSR.

Spoiler:

The event will be broken into four stints, starting at 4:00 PM GMT on Saturday, March 28.  There are more rules and regs on the TORA forum.

I was interested in participating in this event and was curious to see if any other Ax4x members might be available to form a team.  I am located in the central time zone in the US, but since this is a weekend I should be flexible on the stint I could drive.  I would also like to get an informal practice on March 14, but that will depend on the people available to race and their particular time zones.

Regarding my driver skill, in the past I've tended to qualify/finish right on the bubble of the top third, so if there are 100 drivers I will likely run around 33 or so.  To be honest, the higher level cars like these are a bit of a weak spot for me.  I tend to do a little better in lower classes, but I'm hoping to give this one a shot.  I have some experience racing on TORA and VM in the past, so I'm not a complete novice, but the endurance racing would be brand new for me.

Qualification dates and times are currently posted:

Q1 - (UK Time)Tuesday 3/24 8PM GMT - Host: TBD
Q2 - (US Time)Tuesday 3/24 9PM EST - Host: TBD
Q3 - (UK Time)Thursday 3/26 8PM GMT - Host: TBD
Q4 - (US Time)Thursday 3/26 9PM EST - Host: TBD

Thefollowing stints are available in this event (times GMT).

Stint 1: 4PM - 6PM - itzz darkside
Stint 2: 6PM - 8PM - Dominic Mako
Stint 3: 8PM - 10PM - Paul299
Stint 4: 10PM - 12AM - Speed Dem0n 64

You got me brotha

Dom and darkside, it seems everyone is still checking their availability for the event before committing.

Also, seems that favored cars by the team are BMW and Ferrari.

As you can tell by my avatar, I'm one of the ardent Ferrari tifosi. I think the Ax4x association with Maranallo Motorsport is pretty cool. The 458 all day, every day for me.

As mentioned in the post above, these high class race cars aren't my forte, so I was hoping to get a car picked to practice and tune as soon as I can. Bobbo (aka itzz darkside) is actually pretty decent in these, so that could help. While his entrance to the Ax4x forum may not have been the most elegant, we can still perform this as a MSM/Ax4x partnership. My little club, MSM, doesn't really have any presence on TORA, so I don't mind flying this under the Ax4x flag for the event.

If we get two more volunteers we can sort out who picks up which stint and maybe agree on some sort of livery. I'll try to post up some lap times here over the weekend as well in that Ferrari.

I got no problem running the Ferrari, it's actually becoming my preferred GT car over the Corvette, so the Ferrari is good with me

The 458, from what I hear, is grippy as hell... but the BMW is a rocket on the straights. And this is Road america, where straights are key. I think that is why the BMW is rather favored over the Maranello Ferrari.

And, since this is a one off event, the team orders are "use the best weapon for this fight and beat the big teams at their own game",

I don't mind driving either car, I prefer the Ferrari because I think Grip, even at Road America is the most important key factor to get the drive out of the corners for the momentum, but we can test for each car and just see how it goes

I don't mind driving either car, I prefer the Ferrari because I think Grip, even at Road America is the most important key factor to get the drive out of the corners for the momentum, but we can test for each car and just see how it goes

Hmm. then I guess there will be an Ax4x maranello Ferrari entered after all... even if its staffed by MSM drivers?

I don't know that we'll beat any "big teams" in this event, but getting the Ax4x name a notch or two higher would be neat.

Apparently, LMR are fielding at least one Viper and one Vette. I must confess, the Vette is a non-starter for me. In my experience, the Viper is one of the easiest to drive w/o TCS, but I honestly don't know how any of them perform on this particular track. I hadn't even given a thought about the BMW. All try to give them a whirl and see what happens.

the BMW comes heavily recommended by the team's resident Stig: HaydieT

I don't wanna drive the Vette again so can we please rule that one out(I know Dom hates Vettes so I'm sure he won't mind to much)

I'd like to Narrow it down to either the Ferrari or BMW, lets just see which one is best

On our first test laps tonight I only managed 2:07.3 in the Ferrari, and slightly slower in the BMW. Bobbo was running about 2:07 flat in the Ferrari and just slightly slower in the BMW. We haven't tuned them much, but to be honest these times are pretty ugly.

I noticed IRT TekQ posted he was running mid 2:04s and XPR Moontower has a time of 2:05 on my FL. Both of them have their fastest times in the Viper. While the BMW has the best power/weight ratio, the Viper has oodles of torque to pull it out of the low speed turns.

Dominic and Darkside, if you guys prefer the 458, go ahead as a driver pair in that. We've got paint and a stockpile of tunes for it, and would love to see someone represent Maranello Motorsports for the event.

Paint Search Ax4x or my GT If you go with the Ferrari you have to go #88 when you register

IF we do drive the Ferrari, we are gonna need more drivers, I most likely will have to work on that day and it'll most likely be 2-9 or something like that, which means I can only do 1 stint.

To further the statement. We have NOT settled on the Ferrari...

Hayden is sourcing some tunes for the Ferrari don't give up on it yet. I may be able to cover a Stint or 2 at the moment I don't have a drive yet still trying to organize who is available Gordon and Adam Can't make it and Paul needs a team mate I'll keep you guy's informed

Well, I made a few changes and managed to get down to 2:06.7, but should have had one a little quicker than that before I goofed the final turn. I don't feel like I'm going to hit 2:05s before raceday.

Also, the team has to be registered with a TORA number from one of the drivers. Unless one of the is 88, we can't use that. You can share each side of the car as a separate vinyl and leave the number box empty so we can add our own to the car.

Do we still have ANY idea on whose gonna run in this thing with Dom and myself?

Possibly Paul. But there's a bit of a hiccup right now.

The team overall is in a bit of disarray, as we've lost three members over one week, all of which are FM5 GT/endurance drivers.

Yeah it'll probably be me, I can cover any stint you need me to.

Paul... I've sold you well mate.

I let them know that you are quick and dependable, one of the best codrivers I have ever had.

I hope you haven't oversold me
I'll definitely turn up but I have struggled a little with the transition from FM4 to FM5 in the GTs.
If someone could let me know what car we'll be running I'll start practicing ASAP so I don't let you guys down.

Please forgive Bobbo for his anxiety. He and I were a bit confused regarding communication here, but I think Mikey has explained things satisfactorily and we're happy to hear from the other Ax4x members that might be interested. Feel free to shoot me a FR as well.

Apparently, qually takes place Mar 21, the week before the event. Would anyone be open to a practice/tune session on March 14 (ie this weekend)? I know with time zones all over the place that can be a little tricky, but I'll be online after 5pm GMT (1pm US Eastern)

I think we're okay with the Ferrari or the BMW. We can use the Maranello Motorsports livery on the Ferrari of course, but as mentioned above, the number on the car must be the TORA number of one of the drivers on that team. Mine is 428 and Bobbo is 444.

No worries, it's always best to get the teams sorted a few weeks ahead so everyone is accommodated and we can all get our heads down and work on lap times
Like Mikey said there's been some drivers leave in recent days, we're usually much more organised.