American Le Mans Series

The Planetlemans Petit Le Mans preview

© Audi Motorsport

In what promises to be a very attractive race, 38 entries will be taking to the track at Road Atlanta this Saturday dition of the 10-hour long Petit Le Mans. An unusual amount of LMP1s plus the usual hard-fought LMP2 and GT2 fields are more than enough reason not to lose even one minute of this American Classic.

With extra points, Le Mans 24 Hours invitations up for grabs and the LMP2 and GT2 championships still undecided, Saturday’s race should give the teams that little big extra that separates the regular racing from the ones to remember.

LMP1 is probably the one with the most novelties: 10 cars, the return of Peugeot and Creation to the US and the debut of two new Zyteks add a lot of spice to the top class. Regulars Audi (including Allan McNish), Intersport and Autocon will also be there so the podium should be pretty unpredictable, a huge contrast to the regular ALMS rounds.

Audi departs as favorites and come to Petit not only with the motivation of the last few ALMS victories but also with the satisfaction of the LMS title. Peugeot started already with the left foot last weekend when their only 908 had a heavy crash in the hands of Pedro Lamy. The Vélizy team however has a score to set with Audi after Silverstone and are very motivated to grab their first ALMS win.

Creation has not had the best of seasons but is always a good competitor while the Zytek performance will be one to watch as they have not ventured into this class in 2008 but come in full force with the Corsa and LNT cars featuring top drivers eager to shock the establishment. Neither Intersport nor Autocon seem to be at the level of these teams but one cannot discard a good finish, particularly as the #30 car is the very competitive ex-Charouz Lola-Judd.

LMP2 should be a cracker, full stop. Porsche and Acura have never been as close and the championship is at stake, simple as that. Penske adding a 3rd car, Marco Andretti and Tony Kanaan returning to Andretti-Green, the debut of the Lola Coupé in the US, all fantastic additions to an already very attractive class. If the LMP2s can properly challenge the LMP1s, well… we’re up for a real treat.

Two lonely Corvettes will be “fighting” for the GT1 honors but GT2 will see another orsche vs Ferrari classic with all usual suspects: Flying Lizard with their 3-car squad, Farnbacher Loles and VICI will be on the Weissach side while Risi Competizione (with the addition of the Krohn car), Tafel Racing and European guests JMB will be the Ferrari challengers. The title could be decided here as well in this class so it won’t be just another day at the office.

The LG GT2 Corvette is returning to the ALMS while the PTG Panoz, Primetime Viper, Ford GTs (Robertson , Black Swan) abd the Drayson-Barwell Aston martin will add to the variety of the smallest class.

It would be a commonplace to say anything happens in endurance (and this is certainly a real 10-hour enduro) but the quantity and quality of the entries for the 11th Edition of Petit Le Mans adds extra uncertainty factors for the race result…something fans just love about the ALMS. So my advice is make sure you have your Saturday fully booked and enough supplies to enjoy what could well be the most attractive ALMS round of 2008.