2009 American Le Mans Series Thread

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I have a bunch of pictures of them. I'll probably have a couple up tomorrow since it'll take a while to upload all the pictures. I got carried away :).

Actually I got them on tonight. Heres a few...

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The only time I can think of the Corvettes NOT in dominant form was basically back when the 'Vettes weren't as competitive in the earlier years of Corvette Racing. We're not going to hear the end of Corvette Racing once these boys get their GT2 Corvette to compete and win.

Road America is next on the calendar, next week.
 
For anyone who already saw the results or attended the race, please do not post spoilers. The race is tape-delayed.
 
NISM0_SKYLINE
They sounded amazing. Nothing wrong with Corvette V8s at race speed.
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Ah, the auto-focus killing high fences of Mid-Ohio. Drove me up a wall the time I went. You got some good pics though. 👍


So, did you do the one day ALMS only ticket or did you do the full two-day event? I did both days when I went and while the ALMS race is better to watch IndyCar really knew how to entertain fans.
 
I know those fences were a pain. I have a bunch of pictures but I just picked the first few I saw. I also got a video of a pass I might put it on Youtube. We drove down Saturday morning and stayed there for the whole race and came home. We only live about 3 hours away so we make it a day trip. We had plans on Sunday so we couldn't stay for both but it would of been cool. I've been to a few IRL races so it wasn't to bad.
 
In the rare ALMs double header, we go to Road America for a shortened race. For people who want to seen the Spotters guide, it is up.

http://www.spotterguides.com/images/stories/guides/alms_09_roadamerica.jpg

A new Challenge class team joins the Returning Primetime Viper for a equal amount to the race at Mid-Ohio. It will be a great race for all to see. It Might be the race where Intersport or Corsa have a shot at more than a 3rd seeing that Road America isn't that twisty and narrow compared to the two previous rounds. P2 will be the show of the race as all four cars are extremely competitive so it could be any ones race. GT2 will be much like at Mid-Ohio, constantly changing every where.

Since PLM is two races away, its time to see who will go there for the 10 hour Endurance Race. Expect a Strong P1 and GT2 field.
 
If Mid-Ohio is any indication, Road America should be a great show now that everyone knows what the Vettes are about. Flying Lizard is gonna be watching their back often.
 
If you go to corvetteracing.com they have two charts that tell the differences between the GT1 and GT2 car. They're planning to have a 5.5L V8 for 2010.
 
I'm sure those rotaries would be banned. And that Formula Le Mans deal is extremely promising. Congratulations to the overall winner and all class winners (this to avoid delivering spoilers).

Up next, Mosport in two weeks! The ALMS' only Canadian race in two weeks time.
 
yea GT2 raced today though it wasnt much of a show in the front due to a lucky event for the leaders (wont spoil what it was) but the race for the rest of the class positions was still pretty intense.
 
NapoleonMikey
yea GT2 raced today though it wasnt much of a show in the front due to a lucky event for the leaders (wont spoil what it was) but the race for the rest of the class positions was still pretty intense.
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I saw Rahal massacre their pitstop but had to go to work right after, is there any videos online of the whole race?
 
mazdaman
I like the two lola mazdas but why are'nt they rotary????
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Rotary engines are not very efficient. Low torque and not fuelefficient enough for this type of racing. Yes, a rotary won Le Mans in ´91, but that´s 18 years ago. Rotary development has practically stood still since then, while others are much more efficient in all aspects compared to 18 years ago.
And that win was a combination of happenings. The other had bad luck and the rotaries were given a weight waver, and was lighter than the other Group C cars. The rules was also way different back then.

And no, Rotaries are not banned by the ACO. The last time a rotary engined car raced at Le Mans was in ´97 IIRC. They´re just not good enough anymore.
 
The race is on right now if you're watching Speed Channel right now.
 
Well I'll be darned, Speed Channel showing the ALMS race again? I'm impressed. Anyone who wasn't able to catch it sunday now has a chance at watching it(as of this post that is)
 
Mt. Lynx
Rotary engines are not very efficient. Low torque and not fuelefficient enough for this type of racing. Yes, a rotary won Le Mans in ´91, but that´s 18 years ago. Rotary development has practically stood still since then, while others are much more efficient in all aspects compared to 18 years ago.
And that win was a combination of happenings. The other had bad luck and the rotaries were given a weight waver, and was lighter than the other Group C cars. The rules was also way different back then.

And no, Rotaries are not banned by the ACO. The last time a rotary engined car raced at Le Mans was in ´97 IIRC. They´re just not good enough anymore.
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There was a Rotary Courage C65 ran by B-K Motorsports from 2005-2006 in the ALMS. You know, that's why they say Guy Cosmo raced a Prototype and won a race. They won a race when the whole LMP675 class DNf'd but they completed the most laps and luckily completed more than 70%.
 
Crashbroke23
There was a Rotary Courage C65 ran by B-K Motorsports from 2005-2006 in the ALMS. You know, that's why they say Guy Cosmo raced a Prototype and won a race. They won a race when the whole LMP675 class DNf'd but they completed the most laps and luckily completed more than 70%.
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It was also ungodly loud. My ears were ringing for three days after I saw that thing in person.
 
FoolKiller
It was also ungodly loud. My ears were ringing for three days after I saw that thing in person.
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No they arent that loud. Yours ears just couldnt take the awsomeness of the sound.
Like others said sadly rotaries are not very efficient for endurance racing. Also with the turbo limitations placed on any LM category the rotaries are loosing their best friend. Just look at grand am where the GT battle is between the RX8 and GT3 almost every race, mostly because they dont limit overall but rather limit each model independently to balance the field.
 
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Mt. Lynx
Rotary engines are not very efficient. Low torque and not fuelefficient enough for this type of racing. Yes, a rotary won Le Mans in ´91, but that´s 18 years ago. Rotary development has practically stood still since then, while others are much more efficient in all aspects compared to 18 years ago.
And that win was a combination of happenings. The other had bad luck and the rotaries were given a weight waver, and was lighter than the other Group C cars. The rules was also way different back then.

And no, Rotaries are not banned by the ACO. The last time a rotary engined car raced at Le Mans was in ´97 IIRC. They´re just not good enough anymore.
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Truly i think thats bull:censored we did have some prototypes in the early 2000's but i dont know what happened to them. Hey we may have low torque but we still kick lots of :censored .Also the gt3 can never catch them rx8's cause of the 20b the have in them. Thats funny how before the rx8's came porshe was winning now there losing now that the rx8's are here.But then what was the point of the mazda furai???Also the mazda may have won lemans 18 years ago but its still famous because that was the first and only japanese manufacture to win a leman 24 hour race.
 
mazdaman
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Truly i think thats bull:censored we did have some prototypes in the early 2000's but i dont know what happened to them. Hey we may have low torque but we still kick lots of :censored .Also the gt3 can never catch them rx8's cause of the 20b the have in them. Thats funny how before the rx8's came porshe was winning now there losing now that the rx8's are here.But then what was the point of the mazda furai???Also the mazda may have won lemans 18 years ago but its still famous because that was the first and only japanese manufacture to win a leman 24 hour race.
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Yes, there was a few rotarys racing in ALMS LMP675 in the early -00´s, but they weren´t exactly succesful.
The RX8 races in Grand-Am, no? Has very little to do with Le Mans or its derived series. And besides, Doesn´t the GT cars in GA get a performancebalancing, similar to what they get in the European GT3 championship?
The Furai was a designstudy and nothing more. If they´d wanted to race it, they wouldn´t have used that old Couragechassis as a base.
 
I'm not sure if you picked this up from the Road America race coverage but I hear that this year's Petit Le mans will be flag-to-flag! Meaning... no NASCAR interruption, no "Pass Time" reruns... just one of the finest endurance races live from flag-to-flag.
 
JohnBM01
I'm not sure if you picked this up from the Road America race coverage but I hear that this year's Petit Le mans will be flag-to-flag! Meaning... no NASCAR interruption, no "Pass Time" reruns... just one of the finest endurance races live from flag-to-flag.
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:eek:You just made my day (or night)
 
My day would have been made if Audi confirmed to go to PLM. But, there is a lot of other teams Going to PLM. Here some are and some rumored teams too, they will be bolded. Any tips would be liked.

LMP1+2:
Peugeot Total Sport - Peugeot 908 HDi FaP (2 cars)
Oreca - Oreca 01-AIM (1 car, maybe 2)
Eco Racing - Radical SR10-AER TDi
Drayson Racing - Lola B08/60-Judd
Audi Sport Joest - Audi R15 TDi (2 Cars)
Speedy Racing Sebah - Lola B08/60-Aston Martin (Maybe P2 Lola)
Mundill Racing - Pescarolo 01-Judd

GT1+2:
LG Motorsports - Chevrolet Corvette C6 GT2
Team Falken Tire - Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
T-Mobile Vici Racing - Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
Team Vitaphone - Maserati MC12 GT1
JMB Racing - Ferrari 430GT
Advanced Engineering Pecom - Ferrari 430GT
 
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Crashbroke23
My day would have been made if Audi confirmed to go to PLM. But, there is a lot of other teams Going to PLM. Here some are and some rumored teams too, they will be bolded. Any tips would be liked.

LMP1+2:
:snip:
Drayson Racing - Lola B08/60-Judd
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Confirmed via an announcment on the Radio Le Mans Midweek Motorsport program just a few minutes ago. They'll debut it at Petit Le Mans.
 

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