I like the idea of awarding points further down the order, but there really should be more distinction between 1st and 2nd place.

This points system is way too focused on consistency. If someone has the bad luck of retiring in a race they’ll need at worst 8 race wins to recover the lost points! (If they finish 1st and the opponent 2nd)

I agree with Simon, a 2 point difference? You don’t have to go all NASCAR and award several hundred points per race but maybe try 20 for first 15 for 2nd 10 for 3rd 8 4th 7 5th etc with 1 pt for the remainder of the field. The prospect of longer races has me giddy as can be, and the driver classification system is, thank god, sensible justified and interesting. I’m actually looking FORWARD to the next season not backward 20 years to the gtp/group c era or further back.
If petit is added all hell hath broke loose on the sports car world, that or sebring. the lms in america kinda seems pointless though, they should just have the top contender in each class be eligible for the petit.

enough ranting and raving, does the alms have any awesome news in store for us? I’d love to say daytona 24 with alms not the grand-am, the cars there are not very interesting with the exception of the gt classes. could you imagine an r15 or acura at the daytona 24, much more exciting than a riley dp is it not?

Well since the Rolex24hr race at Daytona is owned by the same gents that own Nascar AND Grand Am, there is virtually no chance the ALMS would be invited. That would be like the Romans inviting the Huns over for lunch.

dh

one can always dream though eh? c’mon we all know that alms is the organization that should be there, little chance or no chance.

I completely agree w/ Connor’s statements above. So far the only “news’ is the Dayton/ Sharp split and re-group in LM2. That said, I recently received an e-mail from some guy claiming rides available at the 24hr in both Rolex and ALMS classes…maybe he knows something, more likely another poorly vetted scam.

Cheers

Interesting rules changes. By requiring Gentlemen drivers to run for a longer time as a min, this pretty much locks Gentlemen/Pro pairings and in a sense reduces overall team expenses and keeps factory supported teams out of the class, but does that mean a return to the “War of Attrition” in LMP2?

In the not too distance past, this was a class often times won by somebody that was able to keep their car puttering around for the last 2-4 hours.

The driver ratings I always thought was interesting. SRO adds weight to cars with two Platinum drivers in GT2, of course that didn’t stop them from winning.

In reality more weight is just harder on the brakes and tires, not even acceleration is an issue you can change the gearing in such a way to get around that. AF Corse has run around with more driver weight and success ballast than anybody and the results speak for themselves.

In points systems its really about who do you want to reward -

Do you want to reward dominance or consistency?

Most point systems reward consistency and NASCAR’s previous model was the best at that. Mark Martin was never dominant but he often won where he had a decided advantage (Watkins Glen) or where he was competitive (mid range, short tracks and 1 mile ovals). I personally see nothing wrong with that system, only that it keeps heaps out on the track making laps as to get ahead of the 35th placed car to get a few points and stay in the Top 35 (Winner’s Circle Club).

Sportscar Racing has LONG way to go, because NASCAR is very well run from top to bottom. What’s not talked about is the backmarkers still make a fortune running 20th on back. How do you explain Robby Gordon? He tells Jim Beam “Hey I can get you exposure on TV 3-4 times a month and run up front at tracks like Sears Point and Watkins Glen and I have 3 victories (not all on road course, he won at Lauden)”

As was pointed out in the Sportscar Pro’s article about the real cost of racing in the ALMS and much like Jim Tafel you can find yourself deep in debt if you have two many DNF’s.

The ALMS rewards being successful, explain how a small Ferrari Dealer in Houston is able to afford going to France?

LMS needs to fix there TV package. In all reality though, the future is IPTV or Internet TV and since most of the races where available in full with the Eurosport Player, I think you’ll see more in that area.

the only thing I have against iptv is you have to pay for it lol.

They want to keep the P2 Porsches and Acuras from upsetting the balance of the european series. And they want to make cost lower

Oreca and pescarolo have been the cornerstones of the series in P1 for the past 2 years. Zytek and Lola too have spent big sums of money developing their new P1 cars. Too bad no professional team is running a Zytek P1. It would make headlines.

The Acuras and Porsches in proper guise can keep up with the P1 cars in the LMS. After all their are about 3 or 4 RS Spyders and 2 Acuras all available to the highest bidders.

Anthony, Risi is not a small dealership. They’ve been around for almost 30 years. They get major ferrari backing. All the racing costs are taken up by ferrari. And ferrari makes sure the #62 car is always primed to go no matter what. They will fly in parts if needed.

For reference, AF corse gets ferrari backing as well, but nearly all the drivers from Risi had to prove themselves at AF Corse before being moved to Risi. Had it not been for the handicap-weights the MC12 had in the ALMS Risi would have been the team tagged to run those amazing maseratis

That one car they had in the ALMS was FULLY backed.

Nascar is simply hyped by the speed channel. But it doesn’t really do anything for the manufacturers in my opinion as far as sales. If the ALMS had as much tv exposure as Nascar, GM would have more sales running the GT1 cars than running their cars in NAscar (if the 2 series has equal TV time).

DTM employs a similar formula to Nascar but at least their cars are recognizable to the street versions, and it shows the dynamic capabilities of the cars. Nascar reminds me of roller derbie

They don’t have the best drivers as they claim, it’s not the fastest sport in the world (as they claim also), and the daytona 500 is not the most famous race in the world. ALMS INdy and F1 retirees can go to nascar. Nascar retirees can’t make it in those series (Nascar doesn’t require reflexes that sharp). And real cars do more than go in circles.

Ovals tracks were originally for horse racing, but times have changed, and Nascar hasn’t. Cars are way more dynamic now. They should start phasing in more road courses

I’ve always wondered, they seem to go to the same tracks like 2 or 3 times per season in NASCAR. why not have one of those times be the road course version of the oval, since 99 percent of the ovals they run on also have road courses (daytona, lowe’s, richmond, homestead and more).

Also the ALMS barely gives any prize to successful teams. Manufacturers get nothing at all. The reason is to have the very top level of competition.

It’s designed to bring in manufacturers, and the very top privateer teams, but wealthy folks do make their way in too(Greg Picket, Richard Berry, Paul Drayson, ed brown…)

All the teams ship things on their own also (no help). So that’s why the grid is relatively thin compared to Grand Am, LMS and FIA GT.

Intersport would be a top team in any other sportscar series. In practice and qualifying they were a fast as Oreca at Petit LeMans.

Meanwhile apparently the LMS encourages a large grid with this new rule. I like the ALMS but I would love to catch a full broadcast of any LMS race.

as would I, the LMS seems more, how should I say, ‘premium’ or ‘exclusive’ in terms of their grid compared with the american roster. And the fact that their races are actually enduros not just 2 or 3 of them, lends itself to being the better series(the longer the better in my eyes, this is just an opinion of course).

Well the LMS’s playing card is in the numbers and the diversity. But some of the last place finishers in the ALMS would be podium bound in the LMS. Just take a look at the Drayson Lola, at Petit and Laguna compared to Okayama. The BMW’s were at best, podium finishers here but at Okayama they could have won both races.

The P2 competition in the ALMS 2008, and 2007 would have ate up the P1 petrol cars in the LMS.

The ALMS has to cater to manufacturers who would not be around, were it not for the TV coverage and the right markets. The days of Mille Miglias are over. 2-3hrs is the average TV attention span.

Also, the shorter races naturally mean closer racing. The races are not won by consistency, but usually by taking chances, and hard-nosed driving in general. Given the American drive-in-circles-and-make-a-lot-of-noise market, it’s a must. The interest simply wouldn’t be there for most if the top five competitors finished laps apart in a six hour race.