Japanese Series

The future of the JLMC on A.C.O.’s hands

© Japan Le Mans Challenge

The ACO press release on the eve of the third JLMC race of 2007 could not be more synthetic: "As our partner, the company COX Incorporated, has chosen not to continue organising the Japan Le Mans Challenge after 31st December 2007, the management of the ACO (Automobile Club de l’Ouest) has decided to take up the promotion of these events from 2008 on."
Clearly the current JLMC grid is not making any impression on the French organization and I don’t blame them.. One rules-compliant LMP1, no proper LMP2 and a handful of GTs does not look anything like the other two "LM"series.

The challenge is clearly to attract private (and works?) teams that can get enough motivation from an automatic invitation to the Le Mans 24 Hours, a very much loved race indeed in the land of the Rising Sun. However, it is not easy to compete with the enormously popular and attractive SuperGT series, where the top Japanese manufacturers combined with a very strong driver selection make for a very good show.

The circuits are there, 4 to 5 races is doable, you just need the right networking and this is what seemingly did not materialize during these last two years. Hopefully the ACO will drive the series in a different direction and attract the right number of teams to realize their "Planet Le Mans" series dream, there’s a lot of hard work ahead but the LMS and ALMS successes prove it is doable if you combine good racing with the right cultural click. Gokouun o inorimasu.

gabriel@planetlemans.com