ALMS + Grand AM merging?

[REX-RACER]

Don't know of there are a lot of sports car racing fans here but I've been following this American Le Mans Series and Grand AM merger this morning and it looks like it's being almost universally panned by the fans. From what I've seen on FaceBook and Twitter so far it's looking like the ALMS fans in particular are pissed that essentially NASCAR will be getting it's hooks into the "true sports car racing" series so many of them loved.

It'll be interesting to see how the two series get merged as far as the classes go, especially the LMP & DP classes? It'll also be interesting to see if this series continues to have ties w/ the European sports car racing scene?

American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón 2012
Grand-AM

 

[98_Undertaker]

I've followed the ALMS for a few years now and they had to do something. I just hope they can keep ties to the FIA, ACO and Le Mans.

As for car classes it would be fun to see P1 P2 and DP then GTE and GAGT or even combine the GTC and GA GT into a new GT3 spec class.

Now the first 2 races in 2014 will be fun 24 at Daytona followed by 12 at Sebring and hopefully still a long enduro at Road Atlanta

 

[Ry_Trapp0]

here are the bullet points i took from the live announcement...

• 2013 will continue as planned, combined championship starts in 2014
• the 2014 combined season will start with the 24hrs of daytona
• the relationship with le mans and the ACO will remain connected to the series
• scott atherton will be vice chairman of the series
• no series name as of yet
• class structure is yet to be determined(sounds like the rumors were rumors)
• 12 race schedule
• ALMS GT will remain largely unchanged

not a whole lot of breaking news yet.

 

[98_Undertaker]

Wonder if Scott Atherton will stick to his "groundbreaking internet viewing package" :rollseyes

 

[Ry_Trapp0]

yea, i was surprised that he's getting such a high position in this. the ALMS TV coverage is a joke, and i think was the nail in the coffin for the series. make note that while this is a merger of the two series, the NASCAR organization(which owns grand-am) is buying IMSA, ALMS, and all of their assets.

 

[98_Undertaker]

Yeah thats what scares me the most lol

ALMS was on the way out so this was their desperation move, it has a lot of potential but I want to see a car class structure. I would love to see GTC and GA GT merge and go to a GT3 spec since most of the cars in there already have a GT3 version except the RX8's if I'm not mistaken. Plus Ford has already shown interest in jumping in hopefully with a GT car to go to battle with the Corvettes and Vipers.

 

[REX-RACER]

It would be nice to see a Ford in GT competition but I'm actually more curious about the top of the ticket as it were. My guess is either LMP2 or DP is going away and if I would forced to wager I'd say that LMP2 will get the ax and DP will morph over and get the 2nd tier spot . . . hopefully. It will be cool to see the LMP cars at Daytona again.

Of course one of the other big questions will be the rules package and how closely the new organizations rules package will be to the European/OCA rules so teams can move back and forth primarily between Daytona and Le Mans. I'm also wondering about the schedule and if they might possibly bring the series to the new F1 track that's finishing up construction near Austin, TX?

 

[White608]

I enjoy watching the Grand Am series and have been to several races. I hope they don't screw it up.


I can't see how there going to make a race day happen unless they make it an entire day and have several races.

 

[Ry_Trapp0]

It would be nice to see a Ford in GT competition but I'm actually more curious about the top of the ticket as it were. My guess is either LMP2 or DP is going away and if I would forced to wager I'd say that LMP2 will get the ax and DP will morph over and get the 2nd tier spot . . . hopefully. It will be cool to see the LMP cars at Daytona again.

Of course one of the other big questions will be the rules package and how closely the new organizations rules package will be to the European/OCA rules so teams can move back and forth primarily between Daytona and Le Mans. I'm also wondering about the schedule and if they might possibly bring the series to the new F1 track that's finishing up construction near Austin, TX?

nope, LMP1 is going away because it's an absolutely worthless class. the manufacturers have all pulled out and it's simply too expensive for privateers who don't want to run in a class with 2 or 3 cars on the grid anyways.
LMP2 is at near collapse too for that matter. that's why ALMS has been bought out after all, between the joke of a media package, the poor attendence, and the shrinking prototype fields(2 P1s and 3 P2s at the last race, that's utterly pathetic), the only thing ALMS was left with was a fantastic GT class and two spec classes that no one gives a shit about.

right now the rumor is that there will be some performance balancing to equal up LMP2 and DP, but half the rumors about this have already been proven false so don't read into it. whatever they do, neither P2 nor DP are going away(especially DP, they're still showing up in double digit fields).

I enjoy watching the Grand Am series and have been to several races. I hope they don't screw it up.


I can't see how there going to make a race day happen unless they make it an entire day and have several races.

the LMPc class is being axed and LMP1 is being axed. GTc is likely being folded into grand-am GT, ALMS GTE will remain unchanged, and LMP2 are either being merged or separate classes. so that is either 3 or 4 classes on the track at once, depending on what happens to DP and LMP2 - no different than ALMS right now(but with larger fields).

 

[98_Undertaker]

Yeah P1 and P2 have been a joke, the Ford GT's wont be back, according to ACO rules this is the last year of eligibility for them and Robertson Racing gave a good effort with them with zero backing from Ford and still got a 3rd place at Le Mans.

I agree GTC will merge with GA-GT since they are already very close in specs. But there has to be a better prototype class than DP because they are painfully slow compared to the LMP1 and LMP2 cars.

 

[REX-RACER]

Yeah P1 and P2 have been a joke, the Ford GT's wont be back, according to ACO rules this is the last year of eligibility for them and Robertson Racing gave a good effort with them with zero backing from Ford and still got a 3rd place at Le Mans.

I agree GTC will merge with GA-GT since they are already very close in specs. But there has to be a better prototype class than DP because they are painfully slow compared to the LMP1 and LMP2 cars.

Yeah, I would have to think that LMP will survive in some manner but I could see them adopting the "production engine" model from LMP2 and DP and merging all three classes into a single Prototype class w/ a better cost structure.

 

[Ry_Trapp0]

Yeah P1 and P2 have been a joke, the Ford GT's wont be back, according to ACO rules this is the last year of eligibility for them and Robertson Racing gave a good effort with them with zero backing from Ford and still got a 3rd place at Le Mans.

I agree GTC will merge with GA-GT since they are already very close in specs. But there has to be a better prototype class than DP because they are painfully slow compared to the LMP1 and LMP2 cars.

the only reason DPs are as 'slow' as they are is because they run at daytona. LMPs running at daytona would be a huge risk because of the speeds they could reach on the banking. also factor in the heavy bias towards downforce over mechanical grip that the LMPs have and all it would take is another car getting within the draft - front, rear, or side - and the potential for an instance loss in downforce is huge and would send them flying up the banking at ~200MPH. indycars are of course heavy aero cars, but are designed with oval use in mind, LMPs aren't. so the design of DPs is very calculated.

besides, if you're a racing fan then who cares? DPs put on the best races of all the prototypes, bar none! well, in the US and europe anyways, i've never seen much super GT(sorta kinda prototype class).

 

[Shifty Powers]

the only reason DPs are as 'slow' as they are is because they run at daytona. LMPs running at daytona would be a huge risk because of the speeds they could reach on the banking. also factor in the heavy bias towards downforce over mechanical grip that the LMPs have and all it would take is another car getting within the draft - front, rear, or side - and the potential for an instance loss in downforce is huge and would send them flying up the banking at ~200MPH. indycars are of course heavy aero cars, but are designed with oval use in mind, LMPs aren't. so the design of DPs is very calculated.

besides, if you're a racing fan then who cares? DPs put on the best races of all the prototypes, bar none! well, in the US and europe anyways, i've never seen much super GT(sorta kinda prototype class).

+1 To that! I love DPs!

 

[Ry_Trapp0]

forgot to add, another MASSIVE concern with the speed on the banks of daytona is TIRES! simply put, road racing tires aren't made for that absolutely massive amounts of pressure and the heat generated from that pressure that accrues when running 150+ on a VERY steeply banked oval. in fact, the 'bus stop' was added to the daytona road course because goodyear couldn't build a road racing tire that could hold up to running 3/4 of the oval lap after lap in a 24hr race. the 'bus stop' on the back straight drops top speed on the oval and also allows the tires to cool slightly before jumping back up on it.
and the massive downforce generated by LMPs combined with the huge amounts of pressure would simply compound the tire problems at daytona. the insurance provider for daytona actually has a minimum lap time that GA isn't allowed to surpass(they're running within 2-3 seconds of it right now), and that minimum lap is a direct result of tire problems on the oval. i've heard that it's not negotiable, but who really knows.

+1 To that! I love DPs!

yea man! i understand the complaints with the 1st and 2nd gen cars - straight alien looking some of them - but the 3rd gen body work is HOT!

 

[snaked]

Will definitely keep an eye on it. I've loved ALMS since my youngin' years. Haven't watched Grand-Am much but may head out this weekend for the LS race. It will be spur of the moment lol

 

[LSWon00]

I'm looking forward to 2014. Having been a fan and attending every 24Hrs of Daytona since 1993 I relish the idea that we may get back to true Factory GT teams battling at the 24 again. I know we're not going back to IMSA GTP and GTU cars but that's why I still stay up with HSR and SVRA. I worked for almost 2 years in Grand-Am in the GT class. I am excited to see ALMS (which in my opinion was a better series) and GA come back together. It was a matter of time, it didn't work for Indy and CART running as two separate series. Being friends with some of the GA team big shots I've been hearing rumors about this for a while now. The intro of the GT3 based 458 Italia and R8 last year in GA was the writing on the wall to me. It looks like the future of sports car racing in North America has a brighter future. Now as long as the France Family doesn't screw it up (I was born and raised in Daytona I'm not their biggest fan) we'll be all set.

 

[Ry_Trapp0]

I'm looking forward to 2014. Having been a fan and attending every 24Hrs of Daytona since 1993 I relish the idea that we may get back to true Factory GT teams battling at the 24 again. I know we're not going back to IMSA GTP and GTU cars but that's why I still stay up with HSR and SVRA. I worked for almost 2 years in Grand-Am in the GT class. I am excited to see ALMS (which in my opinion was a better series) and GA come back together. It was a matter of time, it didn't work for Indy and CART running as two separate series. Being friends with some of the GA team big shots I've been hearing rumors about this for a while now. The intro of the GT3 based 458 Italia and R8 last year in GA was the writing on the wall to me. It looks like the future of sports car racing in North America has a brighter future. Now as long as the France Family doesn't screw it up (I was born and raised in Daytona I'm not their biggest fan) we'll be all set.

what team did you work for?

 

[GTSpartan]

Don't F with the ALMS GT class. They have a lot of direct factory support, so don't rock the boat. If anything, make the closest GA class meet their specs.

 

[LSWon00]

Racer's Edge for a few races and Farnbacher-Loles but Greg Loles got arrested and he screwed the team and a whole bunch of drivers, suppliers, and others out of money. The shop that was in Braselton, GA near Road Atlanta is now home to Kurgan Motorsports. The old white support hauler that carried spare parts and pit equipment used to sit behind their shop, but last time I was by that way it was gone.

Followup: Farnbacher Loles team owner charged with $10M fraud

 

[bluebosss197]

It would be wonderful if Ford had a product up their sleeve waiting to be showcased in the GT class sometime in the near future(ie 1 or 2 years from now). As long as ALMS GT is as it was I'll be happy.