American Le Mans Series

The Planetlemans ALMS preview (GTs)

© American Le Mans Series // ALMS would not be the same without Corvette…

After a contrasting 2007 season the GT classes will again offer a similar picture this year. A barely populated GT1 field and an increasingly popular GT2 field will be the two faces of this coin in the most popular endurance series of the American continent.

When almost everyone thought Laguna Seca was going to be the last race of the legendary works Corvette team, the GM crew renewed their commitment for 2008 and even found a rival! Next to the bulletproof yellow monsters and their recognizable crew we’ll have the Bell Motorsports Aston Martin with a confirmed lineup of Chapman Ducote and Terry Borcheller. Even when the Corvettes won’t be as challenged as in 2006 when prodrive was around, it is certainly a good sign to see an Aston joining the GT1 ranks and hopefully this stimulates some other teams to dare put a toe in the water…

GT2 however was a main attraction last year and all indicates we could see a similar scenario in 2008, Ferrari and Porsche (read Risi and Flying Lizard) remaining as top challengers for the title. The fact that last year’s GT2 finish at Sebring was chosen by the fans as the best moment of all time in the ALMS says enough about this rivalry. Some other makes will be there nevertheless and might challenge this historical battle at some rounds so let’s see what happens when the Fat lady sings.

On the Ferrari camp, champions Risi will be there with a similar 2-car effort as 2007, Krohn Racing being their part-time associate and an own second car for the remaining rounds. Champions Melo-Salo will be defending Risi’s championship and also doing Le Mans. After some trouble last year Corsa Motorsports will be back and their line-up is pretty promising: Gunnar Jeannette and Johnny Mowlem are both experienced and hungry for victories. A great addition to the class. That mitigates the fact of having lost top team Petersen-White Lightning.

© American Le Mans Series // GT2 is guaranteed close racing

Another very strong team is back…with changed mount. Tafel Racing switched from Porsche to Ferrari and will field a 2-car team with drivers Dirk Müller, Dominik Farnbacher, Allan Simonsen and Jim Tafel himself. Their lap times at the Sebring test show that they are a contender for the top spot this year. A final (sporadic) Ferrari presence will be the JMB team who have confirmed some races in the US towards season end.

Porsche is incredibly back to just two teams, Flying Lizard again spearheading their charge, this year in a 3-car effort. The 2007 championship challengers Jörg Bergmeister- Johannes van Overbeek will be joined by new Porsche drivers Wolf Henzler-Patrick Pilet and routiniers Darren Law- Seth Neiman-Lonnie Pechnik respectively in the other 2 cars. The other full-season Porsche effort will be the return of Farnbacher Loles with 1 car at all races and a second one at selected events.

But other makes will be present in 2008 in this class starting with PTG and their Panoz Esperante who did not do bad at all during the Sebring test. While their car lacks factory development, the team put a good effort last year and managed to improve and be competitive towards the end of the championship. Another make present in 2007 and returning will be Dodge with one Viper in the hands of Primetime (Joel Feinberg- Chris Hall) which probably will need quite some work to be in top positions.

An important addition is Aston Martin through the effort of Drayson-Barwell, an ecological-labelled bio-ethanol project with ex-UK Minister Lord Paul Drayson as an important driving factor both in ad out of the car. Some delay in the car preparation will force them to run the first two rounds on a DBRS9 instead of the Vantage but they will certainly be at all rounds.

© Aston Martin racing // The bio-ethanol Aston will be a key addition in 2008

Corvette will also be present at GT2 through LG Motorsports as will the new Ford GT. In the case of the GT40-tribute cars however two teams have been announced (Robertson, Doran-Kuttner) but full season commitment is unclear to say the least. Tim Pappas from Trans Sport has also been connected with the Ford GT but nothing has been officially announced from the (ex-Porsche?) team’s side until now.

The final bit of information came from Rahal Racing bringing back BMW to the ALMS. A great piece of news even if it only will be for the final couple of rounds. 2009 should see a full season from the M3 Coupes with the experience of Bobby Rahal and team behind them.

Eight manufacturers, top drivers, close racing. This GT2 mantra seems to hold the secret for another strong ALMS season in a more than attractive class that is one of the keys to grow the series in the future. GT1 will still stay pretty small although the more than welcome addition of the Bell Aston should put a bit more of spice, particularly in the long, more unpredictable events. Looking forward to another good season that can provide even more electrifying moments.