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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Cheers