Race News: Grand Am and ALMS

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hey boys! look at what I got here
 

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ALMS: Risi Competition has announced that they will be competing in the ALMS with two Ferrari 430 GTs for the entire season.
 
The GT2 class will be very interesting this year
 
The GT2 category in the ALMS is certainly showing signs of life, but the surge of interest will be short-lived if GT2S cars don't get Le Mans invites within a year AND if the 997 generation Porsche 911 GT3RSR proves as unstoppable as the 996 generation.

Though it's the same bloody scenario in GARRA. Yes, the Prep 2 rules have brought in some new blood (like the TRG/Krohn GTO's and the Speedsource/Riley Mazda RX-8's) but it's still a Porsche parade with no signs of slowing down.

I'll still root for Risi. I always have since their beautiful 333SP took on all comers at Daytona in the SRP1 years of GARRA competition.
 
I agree, Layla's Keeper.

But I have a feeling that it's going to take a lot of convincing for the ACO to allow these cars to run at Le Mans, but you never know.

Hopefully the Ferraris will be very competitive this year and take some wins aways from the Porsches. Panoz showed some good signs last year and hopefully they will build on that. TVR and Spyker had some successful runs in Europe. I have nothing against the Porsches but it's good to see some diversity on the podium.
 
I liked Bill France's idea concerning the ACO circa late 1970's.....

WE DON'T NEED THEM.

Hence, ladies and gentlemen, IMSA and its glory days of the Camel GT series, which spawned both Group 5, GTO, and GTP racing.

All from the head honcho of NASCAR.

But, that's really semantics that are beside the point.

You mention the Panoz, Spyker, and TVR in your post dougie. The problem with each of these companies (aside from the obvious "no commitment to the ALMS season) is that they're small boutique manufacturers. That makes financing a factory effort (or suppling a factory supported overseas effort) a big drain on resources and a tactical nightmare.

Even mighty Volkswagen had problems trying to subsidize Krohn/Barbour Racing and the Lamborghini effort. Honestly, it's highly unlikely that - without a full scale assault - any of those makes will permanently unseat Porsche.

The only boutique manufacturer with an honest shot in GT was Mosler, and the ACO made quick work of eliminating that threat.
 


Here's a first render of Creation Autosportif’s CA006-H Judd. It's set to debut at Sebring.
 
Grand American:Podcast Videos of the 44th running of the Rolex 24 are now available.

ALMS:Welter Racing is coming to sebring with a Peugeot-Powered LMP2 car.
 
RACECAR
ALMS:Welter Racing is coming to sebring with a Peugeot-Powered LMP2 car.
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That is good news indeed. Just wondering, is there any news on ACEMCO?
 
Is Maseratti still going to run the MC12 this year in ALMS? I remember hearing a bunch of fuss over the car as to whether or not they built enough to compete (or something like that), and later that the car was pretty successful.

I'm personally looking forward to another duke-out with the C6R, DBR9, and the Prodrive 550LM... If I remember correctly, didnt the Ferrari and Aston Martin both have mechanical problems at the 2005 Le Mans?
 
Grand American:Cheever racing to do a demonstraition lap minutes before the Daytona 500.
 
I didnt see the Prototype demo at the start of the 500, but we kept on joking at work that the Corvette Z06 could have kept up with the field around the track... Ok, maybe not at 190 all day, but a 170 seems passable...
 
YSSMAN
I didnt see the Prototype demo at the start of the 500
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apparently it happened between the singing of the national anthem and the "start your engines" command.
 
Oh, I heard it, and i was wondering what that sound was. I knew it was a Sports car though.
 
dougiemeats


Here's a first render of Creation Autosportif’s CA006-H Judd. It's set to debut at Sebring.
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and here is my drawing of what it could look like as a finished product come sebring.
 

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Looks good RACECAR.👍 But I'm not seeing any zyteks in the entry list on the ALMS website. I guess there's still time. So far its 4 AER-powered Lolas, one diesel powered Lola, and 2 Factory Audis. I don't know about Aston Martin's plans, but let's hope they stay the whole season. Without the Maserati, ACEMCO Saleen, and the Viper.... it will only be the Konrad vs. Corvette.
 
dougiemeats
Looks good RACECAR.👍 But I'm not seeing any zyteks in the entry list on the ALMS website. I guess there's still time. So far its 4 AER-powered Lolas, one diesel powered Lola, and 2 Factory Audis. I don't know about Aston Martin's plans, but let's hope they stay the whole season. Without the Maserati, ACEMCO Saleen, and the Viper.... it will only be the Konrad vs. Corvette.
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major possibility so keep an eye out. the last time a zytek raced at sebring was in 03 with John Nielsen as the DBA(named after the danish news paper Den Bla Avis).So if it does, it will be a welcome return.
 
Ahh, I never knew what DBA stood for. And yes, it would be a welcome return indeed. I think the ALMS fans enjoyed watching Shimoda and Chilton in the Zytek last year. It was fun watching Dyson go against Champion and adding the Zytek into the mix made it all the more interesting. 18 days 'til Sebring!
 
Grand American:Luis Diaz and Scott Pruett take the 01 Telmex Lexus Riley to victory lane in dominating fashion in Mexico City.starting from the pole, Scott Pruett built up a lead that was never to be taken back. on the first yellow, Scott brought the car to the pits and Luis Diaz took over. Luis then took the car the rest of the way to victory, becoming the First Mexican driver in over 30 years to take victory in a international event in Mexico city.
 
J. C. France (relative of Brian France of NASCAR) and Chris Bingham are suspended for the Homestead race for the post accident altercation on lap 74. Additional penalties are likely.
 
red70mach1
J. C. France (relative of Brian France of NASCAR) and Chris Bingham are suspended for the Homestead race for the post accident altercation on lap 74. Additional penalties are likely.
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UPDATE:in a Press conference held wednesday,Chris Bingham and J.C. France have both issued public apoligies for the altercation at Mexico City.

Chris Bingham, No.40 Derhaag Motorsports Pontiac Riley:
"I want to express my apoligies and regrets to the Grand American Road Racing Association, JC, and all the Great fans for actions taken after a collision during the recent Mexico City race. it is unfortunate tha these actions have deferred my attention away for what was a sucessful Grand-Am weekend, and a well-rewarded win for the No. 01 TELMEX car.
My actions were Precipitated at the heat of the moment after a significant collision. Regardless of circumstances, there is no scenario in which two drivers should come to an altercation. I fully accept the one-race suspension for the Homestead race as a result of my actions, and believe this to be a fair and just punishment given the severity of the actions that took place. I do not believe either of us was in the right and that we botrh reacted in an unprofessional matter."

J.C. France, No 59 Brumos Racing Porsche Fabcar:
"I would like to take the opportunity to formally apoligize to Grand Am,the fans, my sponsors, chris, and especially the fire safety crew. The little dust up between chris and I was an unfortunate result of passionate people in exciting circumstances. The clips of the incident and crash, like any one-dimentional representation, could be interpreted in many ways. However, I was absolutely in front and on the race line. with that said, racing is racing and sometimes judgment goes right out the window. The desire t omove forward in race conditions is powerful and i can understand anyone trying to stick their nose in anywhere there is a slight chance of fitting. Chris is a fine man and I look forward to racing him again at Long Beach. My hope is that we can leave as a racing incident and go forward."
 
ALMS:Multimatic Motorsports Team Panoz has unveiled a new Livery for 2006. this was debuted last week at road atlanta when the team was putting the Panoz Esperante GTLMs through their paces.
 

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ALMS:History was made on March 18, 2006 at the Mobil 1 12 Hours of sebring. in P1, the Audi R10 became the world's first Diesel powered Sports car to win at sebring with drivers Rinaldo Capello, Aleen Mcnish, and Tom Kristensen, who makes history once again by becoming the first driver to win four times at sebring. in P2, Intersport racing held off and outlasted the Penske Porsches to win with drivers Jon Field, Clint Field, and Liz Halliday. in GT1, it couldn't have been a better then on the 50th anniversery for Corvette Racing to avenge last year by winning the twelve hours of sebring with pilots Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin, and Jan Magnussen. in GT2, Perhaps the best fight that will go down in history. in a class that in the past was dominated by Porsche, Multimatic Motorsports team Panoz takes the victory with drivers Sebastian Bourdais, Scott Maxwell, and David Brabham
 
New car and still able to win its debut race at a demanding track like Sebring - that's pretty impressive.

We'll have to wait until the 24 Hours of Le Mans to see the R10 compete again. The R8 will race its final 3 races in Houston, Mid-Ohio, and Lime Rock, and then the legend will retire. (It may see action in Japan, racing in the Japan Le Mans Challenge which accepts entries from the LMP900 class)

I am wondering, since it is a full factory effort this year, what kind of livery we'll see on the R8. As we bid farewell to the R8, will we see it clad in silver, just as the first time we saw it in its debut?

 
dougiemeats
New car and still able to win its debut race at a demanding track like Sebring - that's pretty impressive.

We'll have to wait until the 24 Hours of Le Mans to see the R10 compete again. The R8 will race its final 3 races in Houston, Mid-Ohio, and Lime Rock, and then the legend will retire. (It may see action in Japan, racing in the Japan Le Mans Challenge which accepts entries from the LMP900 class)

I am wondering, since it is a full factory effort this year, what kind of livery we'll see on the R8. As we bid farewell to the R8, will we see it clad in silver, just as the first time we saw it in its debut?

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where did you get that news?:confused: I haven't seen any news that mentions that:indiff: .

Grand American:Cyberspeed Racing, LLC announced that it will compete for the 2006 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve Championship in a new CRD Pontiac-powered Riley Daytona Prototype. CyberSpeed's No. 97, which features new "hot rod' livery by ESBG Design, wil make its debut at the Grand Prix of Miami at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. this coming Saturday, March 25. The race, which is sponsored by Linder Industrial and Komatsu, will be televised on SPEED on a same-day, tape-delayed basis at 8 p.m. Eastern. Team owner Skip Cummins of Houston, Texas will join lead driver Tony Ave of Mooresville, N.C. behind the wheel.
 
RACECAR
and here is my drawing of what it could look like as a finished product come sebring.
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apparently though it wasn't there yesterday, I wasn't too far off.
 

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I saw it on Planet Le Mans a while back.

Two R10 prototypes in the American Le Mans Series
The AUDI motorsport programme for the 2006 season extends beyond the DTM and the 24 Hours of Le Mans: Audi will also contest the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) with the new R10 diesel sportscar during the second half of the season. As a result, Audi returns to the world’s most popular sportscars series at a factory level.

The Audi R10, which is powered by a V12 TDI enginewith almost 650 hp, celebrates its eagerly awaited race debut on the 18 March at Sebring (USA). The 12-hour race in Florida acts as a test race for the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 17/18 June and is also the opening race of the 2006 American Le Mans Series, in which Audi Sport, Team Joest and Champion Racing will cooperate closely. After the premiere at Sebring the two Audi R10 prototypes will be flown back to Europe to be prepared for the season’s highpoint at Le Mans on June 17/18. Afterwards, Audi Sport North America will contest the remaining six ALMS races, starting with the Grand Prix of Utah on 15 July on the new circuit near Salt Lake City, with two R10 prototypes and the support of Champion Racing.

At the three ALMS races between Sebring and Salt Lake City the Audi Sport North America squad relies once again on the well proven Audi R8, which has already recorded 61 wins from 77 races.

Audi have already competed with a factory team in the ALMS between 2000 and 2002. Audi of America continued its involvement in the following three years with importer teams and celebrated sixth successive ALMS championship titles.

"The main reason for developing the Audi R10 was to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as we want to be the world’s first automobile manufacturer to win with a diesel engine,” says Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. "From the very beginning it was however our intention to enter the R10 in every racing series based on Le Mans. The USA is an extremely important market in which the subject ’Diesel’ is currently coming in vogue. The ALMS programme with the R10 is an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the capabilities of the Audi TDI engines in America.”

"Audi of America is looking forward to our seventh season of participation in the American Le Mans Series,” added Johan de Nysschen, executive vice-president of Audi of America. "The R8 success was very instrumental in building awareness for Audi technology and performance and we hope the R10 will achieve the same success. With Audi Sport, Joest and Champion we have the ideal partners for a successful season.”

2006 American Le Mans Series schedule:
18/03 Sebring (USA) R10
12/05 Houston (USA) R8
21/05 Mid-Ohio (USA) R8
01/07 Lime Rock (USA) R8
15/07 Salt Lake City (USA) R10
22/07 Portland (USA) R10
20/08 Road America (USA) R10
03/09 Mosport (CDN) R10
30/09 Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta (USA) R10
21/10 Laguna Seca (USA) R10
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Aston Martin will race their DBR9s in the next 2 rounds of the ALMS (Houston and Mid-Ohio). This is good news considering the lack of cars in the GT1 class. So far, we've only seen the Corvette-Aston Martin battle on the endurance level. This will be the first time we'll see the DBR9 in an ALMS 2hr45min "sprint" race. This should be exciting!

Apologies to RACECAR, this is your thread but I was pretty excited about the news.:) I'll let you fill in any details.
 
dougiemeats
Aston Martin will race their DBR9s in the next 2 rounds of the ALMS (Houston and Mid-Ohio). This is good news considering the lack of cars in the GT1 class. So far, we've only seen the Corvette-Aston Martin battle on the endurance level. This will be the first time we'll see the DBR9 in an ALMS 2hr45min "sprint" race. This should be exciting!

Apologies to RACECAR, this is your thread but I was pretty excited about the news.:) I'll let you fill in any details.
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No problem. in fact, I do need help with the ALMS news. could you do that?

Grand American:[/U]
in front of a enthusiastic crowd, No. 01 CompUSA Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley co-drivers Scott Pruett and Luis Diaz made Grand american Rolex Sports car presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve history by claiming victory in the inaugural Crown Royal Grand American Challenge of Long Beach.
in the first ever street race for the Daytona Prototype clss, Diaz led the first five laps after starting from the pole position. He surrendered the lead to Patrick Long in the No. 23 Hirewise/10th & M Seafoods Porsche Crawford when Long outbreaked him in turn 1 on Lap 6 of the 52-lap timed event, and Diaz brought the No. 01 machine onto pit lane with the rest of the front runners under the day's first full-course caution on lap 11.
The caution stemmed from a scary four-car incident in the front straightaway involving Burt Frisselle in the No. 8 Shoes For Crews/Synergy Racing Porsche Doran, Eddie Cheever in the No.39 Crown Royal Special Reserve/Cheever Racing Porsche Crawford, Rocky Moran in the No. 99 GAINSCO/Blackhawk Racing Pontiac Riley and Mario Haberfeld in the No. 12 Lowe's Fernandez Racing Pontiac Riley. Diaz gave way to Pruett in the pit stop, and the 2004 Daytona Prototype co-champion managed to win the race off pit road. Prueet led the field to the green flag on the Lap 23 restart and held off Miek Rockenfeller in the No. 23 machine by 3.989 seconds to claim the second victory of the season for himself and Diaz. it was Pruett's first victory at Long Beach in 19 years, as veteran Champ car and Trans-Am competition triumphed in the 1987 event.
 
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