2009 American Le Mans Series Thread

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I usually think it's sad to see P1 and GT1 not as competitive. There seems to be some unwritten theory about racing- higher-spec race cars don't have as many entries and not as much competition. Lower-spec classes of racing offer great competition even at the expense of not really being in any real contention to win a race outright (on any given race weekend). I still think of P2 and GT2 as "entry-level" classes of racing, but these "entry-level" classes of competition sometimes even more intense competition than what the GT1 and P1 classes offer. Is that the nature of racing sometimes? Where you have lower-spec series that end up being more competitive and more interesting than higher-tier series (explains my love of college football apart from the NFL)? I always think of P1 and GT1 as being the bearers of truly awesome race cars, something only the select few can compete in and be successful. It's about developers spending lots of money trying to create the best race car engines and chasses and all in trying to make the superlative race cars in prototype and grand touring. But nowadays, P1 and GT1 don't seem to be as competitive as P2 and GT2. If you try to keep things equal in both classes, you end up NASCAR-izing sportscar racing (kind of like the two-class format in Grand-Am) to where a Radical can upset an Audi or a Peugeot. You could even have a Ferrari F430 (maybe from Risi Competizione) upset Corvettes for GT wins. Will this ever happen to enhance competition levels? Absolutely not. The ALMS would never stoop to this low.

Keep this thing going.
 
The only way I can see P1 becoming competitive is if more companies decide to use it as a showcase for their new tech. Or if sportcar racing becomes more popular. Something that would really help ALMS is if they developed some home grown talent. Maybe if they get some of the young drivers that gravitate towards NASCAR and really promote them they could draw some more fan interest which could lead to car companies want to be a part of it. JMHO
 
Thought of LK when I made this so enjoy:

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The359
Because clearly the ACO has been in charge of sports car racing for many decades now, right?
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Like I said, it is a joke. Its most likely not accurate, but its supposed to be funny. Please don't take this seriously.
 
The359
The point is, it's not funny.
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Fine then, thats just you. I don't see what was the big deal about it. I thought it was funny so I posted it, simple as that.
 
hmm ... im extremely disappointed in a lmp2 over-all win. all it shows is how weak the p1 field is and that porsche and acura should be in p1. specially if they have the resources to keep up with the big diesels.

[day dream] here's an off the wall idea to help P1 out. remember that beautfull bentley speed 8? yeah, itll take it a little time to get it up to speed, but, if it helps sports car then from a fans stand point it makes some sense. then to help off set the cost, they wouldnt have to update the engine. just adjust the drivetrain to take the judd v10.

itd be interesting to see porsche raise the bar by moving penseke to p1 and leaving dyson/others in p2. acura should follow suit, but, i dont know which team should move up. and a return of panoz to p1 as well ... [/dd]

im guessing there are no lc70/75s in alms this year?
 
[empty space];2970880
im guessing there are no lc70/75s in alms this year?
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The only Courages you'll see are the Acuras so sadly not at the moment.
 
I love lemans racing but would it not be better to just have a LMP class and a GT class and not divide it in two different classes?

Then youll have way bigger fights, aud,porsche,peugeot in same categories and chevrolet,aston,ferrari,porsche etc in same categories :)
 
Le Mans has had multiple classes for decades. Recall C1/C2. C1 for manfacturers, C2 for privateers. Same with IMSA having GTP and Lights. Some manufacturers however did still provide some backing in C2 and Lights. Pontiac, Rover, Mazda, etc.
 
Making it two classes would Grand-Am-ize the ALMS. I just don't think they'd do this because (1) this has been how the ACO's rolled for years, and (2) I believe in multiple classes of racing with one being the capable class of machines while another are the superlatives of the class. It wouldn't seem right for a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR to win over a Corvette C6R because the 'Vette is the superlative in the respective class it is in. The first time a P2 car was the old MG Lola (back when P2 was known as LMP675) that upset the Audi R8 in 2003 at Sears Point. However, no one would imagine the Porsche RS Spyder keep handing upset losses to the Audi R10 TDI. In other words, it's been the tradition for years. Why fix it if it isn't broke?

St. Petersburg (Florida) is coming up. Anyone want to share any thoughts about this weekend's race at St. Pete?
 
Gonna watch the replay of the race, there just too much motorsports this weekend: F1, GP2 Asia, Speedcar, Rally, WTCC, LMS, ALMS...

Its a streetcircuit so properly porsche winning as there cars are lighter?
 
F1KimiFreak
Its a streetcircuit so properly porsche winning as there cars are lighter?
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If they don't screw up, They certainly will. This is the only Street Circuit the Porsches did not win on.
 
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thanks, but, it looks like ill miss the first hour or so. its starts at 12.30p cst and i get off at 1 and have a 20-30 minute drive home. so, presuming i get off on time :|
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No way to record? You could probably get a VCR at a pawn shop for $10.
 
I didn't get to see the St. Petersburg race on TV. Here's a little debate I thought of as I recall all the Porsche upsets of the Audi (didn't happen this weekend):



John's Debate! - What If a Leading GT2 Entrant Beat Out a Leading GT1 Entrant to the Checkered Flag?
We've seen P2 competition take down the Audis even when an MG/Lola took down Audi at Sears Point in 2003. The Corvettes are clearly the superlative of GT racing in the ALMS. However... how would you respond if a GT2 Porsche or GT2 Ferrari won the GT battle... over the factory Corvettes? With the P2 upsets of P1, how would you respond if, say, Flying Lizard or Risi Competizione finish ahead of the Corvettes in a race? It may never happen, but how would you respond if it did happen?


I'm a bit surprised that Porsche didn't win outright in St. Petersburg. I think the Porsches were leading until one of those Audis overtook the leading Porsche RS Spyder to win. Good job by Audi to get this win. They'll be heading to SoCal with some momentum. Congratulations to the other class winners from St. Petersburg as well.
 
The difference between GT1 and GT2 are way larger than the difference between LMP1 and LMP2 in the ALMS. In LMS the difference between LMP1 and 2 are greater, so seeing an outright win from an LMP2 car in LMS is very rare, and happens mainly if the LMP1 cars suffer mechanical failures. The wightdifference is smaller, and the LMP2 class is more restricted in horsepower in the LMS, simply to distinguish the classes more. In that aspect, I like the LMS better, but on the other hand, they have a very live and kicking LMP1 field, so they don´t have to make the LMP2 cars step up for it to be great races.
Now, what I´m saying is, that a GT2 car do not stand much chance against a GT1 car under normal conditions. However, under very wet conditions, the difference in outright pace is not that great between the classes. Under normal conditions, the only place a GT2 car can hold a candle is in top speed, but in the wet, they have very similar performance, especially on a twisty circuit, wich the ALMS calendar is full of!
So a GT2 win over GT1 is not impossible, but almost.
 
I'm not sure they said anything about it( at least, I haven't heard anything about it).
 
I know this has nothing to with the thread, but i just wanted to show you this brilliant commercial by Audi Sport

 
Long Beach 2008

LMP1: 1. Lucas Luhr, Germany; Marco Werner, Germany; Audi AG R10/TDI (1, P1), 71.
LMP2: 3. 3. (3) Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; David Brabham, Australia; Acura ARX-01B (1, P2), 71.

GT1: 11. (12) Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (1, GT1), 70.
GT2: 13. (17) Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Dirk Mueller, Germany; Ferrari F430 GT (1, GT2), 68.

Race Notes.
-The Audi team has figured how to be strong on the tight streets with the R10.

-Great to see Acura get their first LMP2 Class win.

-GT2 Impressive as always.

-What happened to GT1 and Aston? It's a Corvette walk over every weekend. Something has to be done about this.

Here is the full results for the race.

1. (6) Lucas Luhr, Germany; Marco Werner, Germany; Audi AG R10/TDI (1, P1), 71.
2. (7) Frank Biela, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi AG R10/TDI (2, P1), 71.
3. (3) Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; David Brabham, Australia; Acura ARX-01B (1, P2), 71.
4. (1) Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Porsche RS Spyder (2, P2), 71.
5. (4) Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Sascha Maassen, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (3, P2), 71.
6. (5) Bryan Herta, Valencia, CA; Christian Fittipaldi, Miami, FL; Acura ARX-01B (4, P2), 71.
7. (9) Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Porsche RS Spyder (5, P2), 71.
8. (2) Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (6, P2), 71.
9. (8) Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Porsche RS Spyder (7, P2), 71.
10. (10) Gerardo Bonilla, Orlando, FL; Ben Devlin, England; Lola B07 46 Mazda (8, P2), 70.
11. (12) Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (1, GT1), 70.
12. (13) Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6.R (2, GT1), 70.
13. (17) Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Dirk Mueller, Germany; Ferrari F430 GT (1, GT2), 68.
14. (15) Jörg Bergmeister, Germany; Wolf Henzler, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (2, GT2), 68.
15. (14) Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Patrick Pilet, France; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (3, GT2), 68.
16. (27) Michael Lewis, San Diego, CA; Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Creation CA07-002 Judd (3, P1), 67.
17. (20) Johnny Mowlem, England; Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Ferrari F430 GT (4, GT2), 67.
18. (19) Harrison Brix, San Jose, CA; Patrick Friesacher, Austria; Ferrari F430 GT (5, GT2), 66.
19. (18) Alex Davison, Australia; Marc Basseng, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (6, GT2), 65.
20. (21) Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (7, GT2), 65.
21. (23) Craig Stanton, Long Beach, CA; Nathan Swartzbaugh, La Habra Heights, LA; Rueben Carrapatoso, Brazil; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (8, GT2), 65.
22. (16) Jaime Melo, Brazil; Mika Salo, Finland; Ferrari F430 GT (9, GT2), 65.
23. (25) Doug Peterson, Bonita Springs, FL; Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, TX; Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 (10, GT2), 64.
24. (24) Jonny Cocker, UK; Paul Drayson, London, UK; Aston Martin DBRS 9 (11, GT2), 64.
25. (28) David Murry, Cumming, GA; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Ford GT-R (12, GT2), 63.
26. (11) Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Richard Berry, Evergreen, CO; Lola B06/10 AER (4, P1), 62.
27. (22) Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Tom Sutherland, Los Gatos, CA; Panoz Esperante Ford (13, GT2), 51.
28. (26) Chris Hall, Daytona, FL; Joel Feinberg, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Dodge Viper Comp Coupe (14, GT2), 0, Excluded.
 

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