| Author | Message | ||
| Hans E. Hansen (4re_gt4)
Member Username: 4re_gt4 Post Number: 824 Registered: 4-2002 |
Err, Rob, who dominated Grand-Am this year? The 360GT won the championship. And it was only one car against a sea of 911 variants. The rules for ALMS are somewhat similar to Grand-Am. If more than a couple of 360GT's show up, it could be a good shoot-out. The Porsche entries are hardly fair, in that they are not modified street cars. The Ferrari 360GT is only fair retribution, as it is far from a street car also. Fight fire with fire. At least Ferrari is finally doing something about it. | ||
| Rob Lay (Rob328gts)
Board Administrator Username: Rob328gts Post Number: 3300 Registered: 12-2000 |
Well, next year there won't be any factory Audi R8's. So Ferraris will outnumber probably the one Champion R8, if they're still racing. One of their cars was for sale on ebay. | ||
| Kevin Butler (Challenge)
Junior Member Username: Challenge Post Number: 73 Registered: 9-2002 |
I agree with Jon. I went to the DC event last summer and was somewhat disappointed with GT. Hey, 996's are OK but let's get a little variety. I was heckled on the shuttle bus by some Audi and Porsche guys 'cause I had a red F-shirt on and the Olive Garden 550 was the only Ferrari in that event. 2003: revenge! | ||
| Mitch Alsup (Mitch_alsup)
Member Username: Mitch_alsup Post Number: 303 Registered: 4-2002 |
The series banned the M3-V8s because you could not buy one for the street. This issue cannot be applied to Ferraris entered. | ||
| DES (Sickspeed)
Intermediate Member Username: Sickspeed Post Number: 1416 Registered: 8-2002 |
YEEEEEAH, FERRARI...!!! (Oh, i'm sorry, was this a frivolous post...?  ) | ||
| Jere Dunham (Questioner)
New member Username: Questioner Post Number: 9 Registered: 1-2003 |
Ferrari of Washington with Bill Auberlin and Cort Wagner seemed to do very well in GT with 5 wins in a row and the championship in their 360GT. | ||
| Rob Lay (Rob328gts)
Board Administrator Username: Rob328gts Post Number: 3299 Registered: 12-2000 |
I think they'll do very well except that the Porsche dominates the field number wise and all of those teams have been in the series since the beginning. Just look who dominated Grand Am this year... same cars. | ||
| Bill Sawyer (Wsawyer)
Member Username: Wsawyer Post Number: 602 Registered: 2-2002 |
Panoz is doing the engines for the JMB effort. | ||
| Jere Dunham (Questioner)
New member Username: Questioner Post Number: 8 Registered: 1-2003 |
I believe the Ferraris will fare better than Frank expects. Look at who is entering them. JMB racing (European FIA GT champs). Risi Competizione (Won class at 1998 LeMans 24 with 333SP, won 2002 Grand-Am championship in SRPII with Nissan Lola, led first 7 hours of 2002 Daytona 24 with older 333SP and placed 2nd and 3rd in last two ALMS races of 2002 while setting up the new car.) Sorry I do not know anything much about the new ACEMCO team but it sounds like they are experienced also. Should prove interesting. | ||
| Jon P. Kofod (95f355c)
Member Username: 95f355c Post Number: 392 Registered: 8-2001 |
Let's hope the Ferrari's don't embarrass the Porsche's this year or Buckler and the Porsche factory will figure out a way to get them banned from racing like they did with the dominant BMW M3 GTRV8's. I have lost a lot of respect for Porsche over the years. They don't compete at LeMans in the prototype class unless the field is weak and they flood the Gt classes with a zillion Porsche 996 GT cars and whine as soon as someone else starts winning. Oh, well at least the 360 is production car so Porsche can't use the same complaint they did against BMW. Regards, Jon P. Kofod 1995 F355 Challenge #23 | ||
| Frank Parker (Parkerfe)
Intermediate Member Username: Parkerfe Post Number: 1673 Registered: 9-2001 |
While I wish the Ferrari Dino luck, I doubt they will have much success against the Porsches. | ||
| Nika (Racernika)
Member Username: Racernika Post Number: 757 Registered: 12-2001 |
ACEMCO MOTORSPORTS TO FIELD FERRARI IN AMERICAN LE MANS BRASELTON, Ga. (January 21, 2003) � The GT class of the American Le Mans Series was dominated by Porsche in 2002, but the Prancing Horse of Ferrari will definitely make its presence known in the series in 2003. ACEMCO Motorsports is the latest team to announce that it will campaign a Ferrari 360 Modena in the American Le Mans Series in 2003 to provide competition to the Porsche brigade. The American-owned team, based in Spring Hill, Mich., will field a pair of experienced American drivers in its first season of ALMS racing. B.J. Zacharias of Cincinnati, Ohio, and Cass Whitehead of Gainesville, Ga., will be the team�s fulltime drivers. Andrew Davis of Lilburn, Ga., will join the team as a third driver for longer races. The team recently tested its new car at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway as it prepares for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, which will open the 2003 ALMS season Mar. 12-15. Zacharias has made only two starts in ALMS competition, but his second start resulted in a win in the GT class when the series races at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course last season. He co-drove with Kevin Buckler in The Racers Group Porsche 911 GT3 RS in that event. He is a two-time SCCA Runoffs champion. Whitehead has not raced in an American Le Mans Series event, but previously competed in IMSA-sanctioned events in the 1980s and 1990s. He is a highly-regarded racing instructor and coach and is a lead instructor for the Panoz Racing School at Road Atlanta. Jeff Giangrande owns ACEMCO Motorsports. ACEMCO Automotive has been supplying metal stamping and welded assemblies to the automotive industry since 1947. Previously, JMB Racing USA announced that it would run two Ferrari 360 Modenas in all American Le Mans Series races in 2003, and the Risi Competizione team will also field Modenas in the series. |