Grand Am And ALMS To Merge According To Speed

Agree 100%.

This deal looks good in the short term.

However, given the ISC's history, long term things
are considerably more muddy.

Can't see Daytonner spending a dime on the facilities at
Sebring which is much needed. The developers are
aleady surrounding Road Atlanta and the minute
there is an uptick in the housing market, the track
will be plowed under to building homes and ISC
will be happy to accomodate.

BHW

 

Press conference in 10 minutes on http://www.alms.com/

 

also at Grand-am.com

 

tuned in now.

 

What will the class structure look like?

"We don't know yet".

Thanks for the insight.

 

look...I hope for the best but I will remain properly a skeptic.

atherton looks a bit pissed. he knows he will be out of a job in short order. even this press conf shows there is no plan.

 

And yet the continue to call it a merger ! LOL! The Don looks very pleased , must be from the happiness of his checkbook no longer being bled dry...............

 

question: what commonality is shared between the two parties?

Jim France: uhhhhhhhh........we both like sports car racing

 

So we learned that GTE will probably remain - as it should.

With the series to take shape in 2014 and 2013 remaining as it is today...well, I think its safe to say that prototype manufacturers won't be selling a single new chassis this year. I hope they have alternative revenue streams.

In addition, Panoz dubbed the merger the American Sportscar Series or A.S.S. Which is what I feel like for wasting the last hour of my life watching that presser.

 

coincidence that Riley took on the Viper program? I think prototypes will be Delta Wings and DP. not cool.

A.S.S., LOL! I think "North American Endurance Series" might work actually. interesting that GA planted that seed already...

and yeah, I woke up early for nothing. d'oh!

 

i have an idea...

let's call the series IMSA.

we will have gtp, gto and gtu classes.

support series will be kelly american and champion spark plug challenges.

i would even support a tobacco primary sponsor...let's say Camel?

oh John Bishop...what have we done???

 

I may be the minority here but I am optimistic that this "merger" will be a good thing. It would have been nice if they had some clarity around the class structure, but it was good to hear that they will maintain the relationship with the ACO and allow teams to compete at LeMans.

It was interesting to see them attempt to avoid the question about the Delta Wing and alternative energy cars.

 

That's just crazy talk.

 

crazy days those!

 

That would be the best possible outcome!

Al

 

Well, I guess one funded series is better than two disfunctional series.... ALMS has the cool cars, and name brand drivers, but no TV, and sponsorship has declined. Audi & Peugeot are out, so really its a bunch of LMP1 cars with private entrants ... not so exciting. the Daytona prototypes are ugly as sin, but well funded and cheaper to run... there has to be a happy medium... but its mostly about $$$$$$ there is not enough to go around. Wonder what the LMS has to say about it? FIA just got the WSC going ... seems like a shame if this new series is not a part of it.

 

Doesn't their comment that the new series will maintain its links to the FIA/ACO/24 Hours of Lemans call into question maintaining the GA DPs as we currently know them? I can't see the ACO ever allowing a current DP anywhere near La Sarthe. If they stand by the ACO/Le Mans commitment then Grand Am as it currently stands with have to transition into a more internationally recognized standard instead of the nationally focused series it has always been (more or less).

As a long time ALMS fan I'm willing to let the "French Family Inc." prove to me that they can and will support a North American sports car series worthy of international recognition and involvement. A series that provides WORLD CLASS road racing. If not, my support and, more importantly to them, my dollars will go elsewhere.

Interesting times indeed.

 

LOVE THIS!!!!!!!!!!! Those were the good old days in American Sportscar racing

 

I took that to mean the ALMS GT/GTE-Pro guys will be taken care of. overall I think GT cars will be fine...one glass for current ALMS GT cars, another for GA/GT3/maybe GTC cars.

however I think prototypes will be two classes, DP and Delta Wings....which means prototypes in America are pretty much dead.

 

Good points! The latest press release from the ACO states they will be working closely with all the parties involved with the new series and are viewing it as one third of the world endurance racing foundation, along with the Asian Le Mans series and the ELMS. Dailysportscar.com is viewing Panoz' surprisingly dismissive reference to LMP1 as an early indication that that class will be dispensed with after 2013. If it's true that Penske will be involved with Porche in LMP1 that puts that project firmly in the WEC. I really don't want to see the fast European style prototypes go by the wayside in this hemisphere. Perhaps keeping the LMP2 class in play in the new NA series will be a way for them to keep a privateer avenue open to the 24 Hours of Le Mans along with the GTE Pro/AM class. A couple of teams have already expressed the desire to race the same car in the 24 Hours of Le Mans that they will in the new NA series.

I for one want to see this work to the overall global benefit of the endurance racing sport. Although I've preferred the ALMS racing to that displayed in Grand Am in the past, I've also grown tired of the extremely tedious bickering between the rival series and their respective fans over the years. I say if you want to see endurance racing in North America soar in quality and popularity then get behind this effort and help it turn into the best and most exciting endurance motorsports series in the world! When I attend the ALMS race next week at VIR I plan on letting the "powers that be" know exactly what I as a fan want to see from this new enterprise. One thing is for certain, and the four men sitting at that news conference table this morning know this. They cannot get this project where it needs to be without listening and acting on the direct input from the fans and the teams who want to race. So don't stand there and complain about past ills, but instead offer constructive insight and help them make the world's premier endurance racing series. It will take a massive amount of work on EVERYBODY'S part, but it can be done!

 

You forgot the Firestone Firehawk series that had HUGE fields a VERY reasonable cost , some tracks had as many as 140 entries split into two classes. Real as produced cars on real street tires!

 

so basically CTSCC, minus the wreckfest?

 

So many questions, so few answers. How are American teams going to make it to LeMans - are the cars going to be the same?

What tracks will survive on the schedule?
Daytona, Sebring, Laguna Seca, Mid-Ohio, Lime Rock, Watkins Glen, Road Atlanta. That leaves 5 spots for 14 tracks. I would assume they will keep COTA & Road America which are scheduled for the 2013 ALMS schedule. So, that leaves 3 spots for 13 tracks.

 

you have a pm.

three classes...grand sports, sport, and touring. some wild stuff!!!!

 

Long Beach, Baltimore and Detroit....?