The Mid-Ohio Weekend in Photos
One of the magnificent things about a road course event, and the ALMS/INDYCAR weekend at Mid-Ohio especially, is that there is NEVER a quiet moment on the track. There’s always something buzzing around the circuit. This year was no exception as we has the Cooper Tires Prototype Lites Championship, the SCCA Pro World Challenge, the American LeMans Series, the US F2000 National Championship, and the IZOD IndyCar Series taking to the circuit... [Read More...]
LeMans – Lotus to Contest Full North American and International GTE Schedules
Lotus (Group Lotus, the car people, not Team Lotus the Tony Fernandez team) released news today that they will compete in a full North American and International schedule in the GT2 classe with the Lotus Evora GTE. They will race in the American Le Mans Series in a factory-backed effort through the newly formed Lotus Sport USA, and will also look toward fielding an LMP2 car by 2013. Heading up the new program are sports car racing veteran Ian Dawson... [Read More...]
Part IV:New Direction Needed for IMSA-ALMS
Could common rules with FIA GT3 help save the ALMS The 2011 American Le Mans Series season will (likely) widely be remembered as the one with two very successful events, Sebring and Petit Le Mans, a very questionable television/broadcast package with ABC, ESPN2 and ESPN3.com that fans and some media are very critical of and other than the ALMS serious fan, some other races. What’s this you say? Have you lost your mind? The season is only two... [Read More...]
The Ally Becomes a Rival
Part III of IV on the ALMS Off Broadway to Broadway could describe the exodus from ALMS to ILMC Rocked by a sour economy, decimated by manufacturer defections and a TV deal that has been panned by fans and the media (“It’s About the Content Not the Medium”) the American Le Mans Series is in damage control mode. Yet the biggest blow to the ALMS may end up being the one thrown by its partner, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest. The ACO are... [Read More...]
Where Do We Go Now, O’Sweet Child of Mine
Could Axel & Flash Fire Up The ALMS The original working title of Part II of this series on the ALMS was “Out Manuvered and Out in the Cold.” Following a couple of press releases, one on the 2013 Oklahoma City race (exactly what we need, another processional street race, but that’s another story) and the return of “a” P1 team at Lime Rock, I kept wondering where are they going. What better theme for the ALMS today than Axel... [Read More...]
Part 1 Season of Discontent
“The best we get is fuzzy internet and (a) highlight show at the same time as an Indy broadcast. Come on man, that’s (expletive) shit” says one ALMS Team Manager on condition of anominity. A business/media manager for a front-running GT team tells me “you can’t sale it, none of us can now, they (expletive) tied are hands”. The “can’t sell” is there’s no high-dollar sponsor value for the current ESPN3.com and ESPN2-ABC offers.... [Read More...]
ALMS – Long Beach Recap from Patron
Flying Lizards Going for Long Beach Hat Trick
The Flying Lizard Porsche team heads into Long Beach as one of, if the not favorite in the GT field. Drivers Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long have won the last two years and hope to score the hat trick this year. While Sebring is unlike any other circuit on the ALMS calendar, the Porsche teams seemed a bit off the pace. A few tweaks to the IMSA Regulations between races and the Porsche’s should be mixing it up with BMW, Ferrari and Corvette teams... [Read More...]
