2009 American Le Mans Series Thread

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hm ... interesting. i wonder if itll be close to min weight? if they do, put some factory michilens on it and mazda might be winning again.
 
With the GT1 class slowly losing any competitive cars (other than the C6Rs) & some of the LMPs slowly moving towards closed cockpits, anyone else think we might be seeing the series slowly turn into a faster, more popular version of the Grand Am Series w/ the GT & DPs?
 
ReventĂłn;3108257
With the GT1 class slowly losing any competitive cars (other than the C6Rs) & some of the LMPs slowly moving towards closed cockpits, anyone else think we might be seeing the series slowly turn into a faster, more popular version of the Grand Am Series w/ the GT & DPs?
It sure does look that way. Funny how people didn't want to see that but now its happening anyway.
 
ReventĂłn;3108257
With the GT1 class slowly losing any competitive cars (other than the C6Rs) & some of the LMPs slowly moving towards closed cockpits, anyone else think we might be seeing the series slowly turn into a faster, more popular version of the Grand Am Series w/ the GT & DPs?

i hope not as most closed top protos just look weird to me ... so long as audi, acura and porsche stayed open top i guess thats good enough for me :p
 
Closed cars have always been the most popular with fans, just like Group C and IMSA GTP.

Le Mans prototypes and GT's are a step or two above Grand AM, both in terms of technology and speed.
 
Audi took care of business at Road America. Highcroft took home P1 honors with that lovely Acura. You don't see this every day: a Corvette wins in GT1 (it was supposed to be sarcasm). However, only one 'Vette finished, leaving an Aston Martin to get second in the seemingly uninteresting GT1 class. I wanted Risi Competizione to break from their slump, but a crucial spin left them settling for fifth while Farnbacher Loles get their first win in the ALMS.

Up next is Mosport. Detroit follows Mosport, and Petit Le Mans follows Detroit. All I got to see was three hours of this four-hour race at one of America's finest race tracks.


This is somewhat of an "I'm concerned" deal. My debate relates to seeing all of these tape-delayed events rather than seeing races live on Speed or any other event. Do you feel the same way sometimes? Here's my debate:



John's Debate! - More Live, Less Tape-Delay?
It's 5:00 PM CDT, yet it looks like it's 8:00 PM in Elkhart Lake. You know why? Because the race is a tape-delay. [COLOR]Do you think more live ALMS races should be shown on TV rather than the major races? Or are you okay with seeing ALMS races as tape-delays rather than live races?[/COLOR]


I'd probably imagine that more live races would probably cost more to show on TV. However, do you think more live races should be featured for ALMS coverage rather than with most tape-delays of sprint races?
 
Most likely I'm at work when it's on so I don't really care as long as the damn program is tagged right and recorded on my DVR.
 
John's Debate! - More Live, Less Tape-Delay?
It's 5:00 PM CDT, yet it looks like it's 8:00 PM in Elkhart Lake. You know why? Because the race is a tape-delay. Do you think more live ALMS races should be shown on TV rather than the major races? Or are you okay with seeing ALMS races as tape-delays rather than live races?

live and unedited races ftw.
 
I never understood what "ftw" and "iirc" stands for... maybe more live races would cost more for the TV station, but at least you can still watch the event live. I think I realize that the Knoxville Nationals was probably live around this time. What they COULD (and maybe should) do is for Speed to do ALMS races like they do F1 races- show the live coverage on one day (granted it's on a Friday or Saturday). And if you miss it, show it on Sunday. I can do a Saturday night race. I'm down to see a Saturday night road race as much as I'd like to see the Autobacs Super GT (formerly the JGTC) races after midnight (CDT) from Japan.

Anyone else?
 
I never understood what "ftw" and "iirc" stands for... maybe more live races would cost more for the TV station, but at least you can still watch the event live. I think I realize that the Knoxville Nationals was probably live around this time. What they COULD (and maybe should) do is for Speed to do ALMS races like they do F1 races- show the live coverage on one day (granted it's on a Friday or Saturday). And if you miss it, show it on Sunday. I can do a Saturday night race. I'm down to see a Saturday night road race as much as I'd like to see the Autobacs Super GT (formerly the JGTC) races after midnight (CDT) from Japan.

Anyone else?


I don't understand why people use these abbreviations, but "FTW" means "for the win" and "IIRC" means "If I remember correctly". As for your suggestion, Its been done plenty of times with the Rolex Sports Car Series so I would like for that to happen with ALMS. Seems like ESPN is starting to do the same with thier NASCAR races: Live races on ABC or ESPN then show it again on ESPN 2.
 
ive never understood why they edited and never lived complete races live. its an insult to both the fans and the series because when dont see the entire race, its hard to keep up and understand whats going on.
 
Because with 1 network, and a dozen major racing series in the world, there's no time to show them all live?
 
Because with 1 network, and a dozen major racing series in the world, there's no time to show them all live?
ALMS actually has deals with three networks, Speed (which is owned by Fox, who also has two other possible stations, one for sports), NBC, and ABC (who also owns ESPN).

I can understand delaying the endurances to a less intrusive time slot, but a sprint race is many times shorter than something like NASCAR which is always live.


Tape delaying has actually led to more of an overlap with other races. Take Mid-Ohio. ALMS ran on Saturday but was shown on Sunday (on NBC), overlapping some of the live coverage of the Indy race at the same course (on ABC). And the fact that there was also a Formula 1 race being broadcast (on Fox) at the same time and it was a busy day of channel flipping for me.

I think US broadcasters just have it in their head that racing is done (shown) on Sundays.
 
:facepalm: That explains so much...
Yeah before Fox bought them and they were Speedvision they had almost no NASCAR related news, but then Fox bought them, changed it to Speed and used it to increase their NASCAR contract.

I remember the old days when I used to work on second shift and I would get home at almost midnight and be able to watch things like motorcycle ice racing. Since they switched I haven't felt the increase in my cable bill to get Speed is worth it.
 
Audi took care of business at Road America. Highcroft took home P1 honors with that lovely Acura. You don't see this every day: a Corvette wins in GT1 (it was supposed to be sarcasm). However, only one 'Vette finished, leaving an Aston Martin to get second in the seemingly uninteresting GT1 class. I wanted Risi Competizione to break from their slump, but a crucial spin left them settling for fifth while Farnbacher Loles get their first win in the ALMS.

Up next is Mosport. Detroit follows Mosport, and Petit Le Mans follows Detroit. All I got to see was three hours of this four-hour race at one of America's finest race tracks.


This is somewhat of an "I'm concerned" deal. My debate relates to seeing all of these tape-delayed events rather than seeing races live on Speed or any other event. Do you feel the same way sometimes? Here's my debate:



John's Debate! - More Live, Less Tape-Delay?
It's 5:00 PM CDT, yet it looks like it's 8:00 PM in Elkhart Lake. You know why? Because the race is a tape-delay. [COLOR]Do you think more live ALMS races should be shown on TV rather than the major races? Or are you okay with seeing ALMS races as tape-delays rather than live races?[/COLOR]


I'd probably imagine that more live races would probably cost more to show on TV. However, do you think more live races should be featured for ALMS coverage rather than with most tape-delays of sprint races?

The Highcroft Acura is an LMP2 car John. But you knew that ;)

The GT2 class is really interesting at the minute, especially with Farnbacher Loles coming on strong. I'm really glad for them, because they're running Richard Westbrook, who's clearly very talented (as if winning two Porsche Supercups with different teams in consecutive years didn't prove in and of itself).

As for the tape delays, it didn't bother me. I usually record all my motorsport anyway. It's rare I get to watch a race live, especially not the American races. I thought that Speed did a good job of chopping an hour out, although there was filler s*** in there, such as Werner's 'feature' on sock smells, which could have been substituted for more racing.

Better that than them just starting the coverage an hour in, leaving you to suss out what the hell's been going on.
 
ALMS actually has deals with three networks, Speed (which is owned by Fox, who also has two other possible stations, one for sports), NBC, and ABC (who also owns ESPN).

No wonder Speed is Nascar land, its Fox's Fault!
 
I remember the old days when I used to work on second shift and I would get home at almost midnight and be able to watch things like motorcycle ice racing. Since they switched I haven't felt the increase in my cable bill to get Speed is worth it.

i wish i had speed. ive not seen any racing for the past 2-3 years now execpt for the od edited/tape delayed alms race. sebring, lemans, and petit lemans (even without 100% coverage) would make it worth it to me. thats without meantioning mgp and ama. f1 can have it moment as well.

cable not available where i live and my room mates out vote me on satalite so :(
 
[empty space];3122208
i wish i had speed. ive not seen any racing for the past 2-3 years now execpt for the od edited/tape delayed alms race. sebring, lemans, and petit lemans (even without 100% coverage) would make it worth it to me. thats without meantioning mgp and ama. f1 can have it moment as well.

cable not available where i live and my room mates out vote me on satalite so :(
Well, here's hoping that GTTV will get plenty of decent race coverage with a reasonable price.

If it is priced right I might actually pay less than I would have to to get Speed and would only have the races I want to see.
 
[empty space];3124010
You don't know about GT TV? Its a new feature in GT5 where you can watch car content from all around the world.
 
Yeah, I have three Top Gear episodes that expire in about 10 hours.
 
Up next is Mosport. The action will be on Saturday and shown on Sunday. I think this is the only Canadian stop for the ALMS. It takes place on a track I wouldn't mind seeing NASCAR race if they were to run a race in Canada (I think the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve is somewhat a stretch for the handling of these cars, though I love the challenge).

Any predictions for class victors at Mosport (except GT1)?
 
I'm thinking Audi will get P1 while AGR will finally break through. I'm pulling strongly for RIsi in GT2.


BTW, Peugeot have confirmed thier participation in the Petit Le Mans with two Peugeot 908s. I can't wait.
 
Up next is Mosport. The action will be on Saturday and shown on Sunday. I think this is the only Canadian stop for the ALMS. It takes place on a track I wouldn't mind seeing NASCAR race if they were to run a race in Canada (I think the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve is somewhat a stretch for the handling of these cars, though I love the challenge).

Any predictions for class victors at Mosport (except GT1)?

trackmap.gif


That backstretch is almost made for the Audi.

Overall: The Werner Audi.
P1: The Werner Audi.
P2: The Bernard/Dumas Penske Porsche
GT2: The Westbrook Farnbacher Loles Porsche
 
I feel sorry for Gil DeFerran he goes form overall race leader to 2nd overall (1st in P2) to running out of gas on the last lap. Brilliant driving by Luhr and Brabham (sp?) on their respective class wins. Also much love to Mika Salo and theTexas boys in GT 2.
 
It's the AMERICAN Le Mans Series, but Mosport gets some ALMS love this past weekend. Congratulations to all the winners including Risi Competizione coming through in GT2.

This debate is based on a certain feeling of mine. Think of the NBA and Major League Baseball. What do they have in common with Canada? The Toronto Raptors and the Toronto Blue Jays. Seems like the majority of sporting events I see on TV in America that takes place in Canada is usually in Toronto. Almost like some pro American sporting bodies (except the NHL) will mostly campaign in the Toronto area than even Vancouver or Montreal. I often wonder if American motorsport can have a proper Canadian tour, let alone the ALMS and even the former Champ Car. So here's my question for you all:



John's Debate! - More Maple Leaf?
Canada has some interesting race courses. Even though the American Le Mans Series is all about some of the finest racing mostly in America, do you think the ALMS can race in many more Canadian venues besides Mosport? Where else in Canada would you love to see the series race at?



I can think of a few other domestic series that race in other countries. I can remember DTM racing at Brands Hatch and Italy's Adria circuit (the circuit that's shorter than it looks). I've seen the Australian V8 Supercar Series race in New Zealand (Pukekohe) as well as a one-off race at the Jiading Circuit (F1 Grand Prix of China, using rFactor terms). The Sprint Brazilian Stock Car series has some races outside of Brazil.

So where else would I want to see the ALMS race in Canada? My hands-down number one on my list is Mont-Tremblant. The track is so beautiful with its lovely scenery. The track itself is truly a spectacle as well. Champ Car raced there last year with rain soaking down the course early. It is a fantastic circuit. To my understanding, I think the ALMS raced there back in 2001. A stroll around Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve would be lovely as well. I find most F1 tracks to be among the finest race tracks in the world. Imagine that Audi R10 RDI blasting down the high-speed sections. Or even imagine cars getting a new paint job should cars end up side-swiping the outside wall in the final corner. Finally, just about any Canadian street course would also be great to see the ALMS race around. I've always known of Toronto, Vancouver, and somewhat know of Trois-Riveres.



How about you?
 
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