2008 ALMS Official Thread

[Zytek_Fan]

Who's gonna replace Biela?

Ekstrom maybe.

[Kitdy]

Ekstrom maybe.

He's got a pretty good resume. Why is Biela on the way out? Lack of pace? Too old?

[togos452]

Biela, on tv, said that he signed on to race St. Pete, Long Beach, Utah, and Le Mans for 2008.

The privateer Drayson-Barwell V8 Vantage GT2 is racing in only its second race and have one top professional driver.

Tom Sutherland with # 21 Panoz Team PTG for 2008

(team switched to Dunlops after years with Yokohamas)

Tom Sutherland Signs on with Panoz Team PTG | Sutherland Racing

PTGRacing.com - Panoz Team PTG - 2008

[Dino Scuderia]

Some great racing as usual but then there was some overly aggressive driving too. At least Audi's Luhr got a stop/go for dangerous driving.

The first laps were great with both Audi's powering to the front on the main straight...then John Field in the Intersport Lola diced his way to the lead and held it shortly, then his tires gave up.

The P2's had a hot battle but I think every Acura but one had some kind of incident along the way. Great showing for de Farren's team, stayed clean.

The GT1 Vettes were basically doing a tire test for Le Mans, running 2007 and 2008 Michelins. The sweeper like turns at Miller Park are similar to those at le Sarthe.

GT2 is really tightening up. The Panoz since switching to Dunlop tires was much more competitive and the C6 Vette showing improvement too. The Panoz ran in third place for a good while. The class of the category is still the F430 and RSR and Henzler in the Flying Lizard RSR got a fantastic break in an early yellow to leap to a one lap lead.

Risi continued their nightmare season by having to start from the pits. Salo and Melo worked their way up to knocking on the door of second place when Melo in a boneheaded move tried to force up the inside of the GT2 Vette and collided with it. The front right tire of the 430 and the left rear of the Vette clawed into each other sending the 430 up into the air not unlike two open wheel cars getting together. This demolished the 430 as it landed at an angle back onto the tarmac wrecking the suspension.

Tafel did well once again finishing third. Not sure why they were two laps down to Henzler though.



Results:

1. Bernhard/Dumas Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder 96 laps LMP2
2. Maassen/Long Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder 96 laps LMP2
3. de Ferran/Pagenaud de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-01B 96 laps LMP2
4. Leitzinger/Franchitti Dyson Racing Porsche RS Spyder 96 laps LMP2
5. Fernandez/Diaz Lowe's Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01B 96 laps LMP2
6. Dyson/Smith Dyson Racing Porsche RS Spyder 95 laps LMP2
7. Luhr/Werner Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDi 95 laps LMP1
8. Herta/Fittipaldi Andretti Green Racing Acura ARX-01B 94 laps LMP2
9. Devlin/Bonilla BK Motorsports Lola B07/46-Mazda 93 laps LMP2
10. O'Connell/Magnussen Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R 88 laps GT1
11. Gavin/Beretta Corvette Racing Corvette C6.R 88 laps GT1
12. Field/Field/Berry Intersport Racing Lola B06/10-AER 88 laps LMP1
13. Bergmeister/Henzler Flying Lizard Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 87 laps GT2
14. van Overbeek/Pilet Flying Lizard Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 86 laps GT2
15. Farnbacher/Mueller Tafel Racing Ferrari 430 85 laps GT2
16. Milner/Sutherland Panoz Team PTG Panoz Esperante 84 laps GT2
17. Law/Neiman Flying Lizard Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 84 laps GT2
18. Gigliotti/Peterson LG Motorsports Corvette C6 83 laps GT2
19. Brix/Friesacher Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 83 laps GT2
20. Biela/Pirro Audi Sport North America Audi R10 TDi 79 laps LMP1
21. Jeannette/Mowlem Corsa Motorsports Ferrari 430 79 laps GT2
22. C'potoso/P'relli/P'relli Vici Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 79 laps GT2
23. Stanton/Swartzbaugh VICI Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 77 laps GT2
24. Brabham/Sharp Patron Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-01B 70 laps LMP2
25. Robertson/Murry Robertson Racing Doran Ford GT-R 62 laps GT2

Rtd Salo/Melo Risi Competizione Ferrari 430 60 laps completed GT2
Rtd Feinberg/Hall Primetime Race Group Dodge Viper 35 laps completed GT2
Rtd Cocker/Drayson Drayson-Barwell Aston Martin DBRS9 27 laps completed GT2
Rtd Figge/Tafel Tafel Racing Ferrari F430 25 laps completed GT2

[Chernaudi]

He's got a pretty good resume. Why is Biela on the way out? Lack of pace? Too old?

I've heard that McNish and Capello could be in the #1 from Lime Rock until the end of the season, and personally, I hope they'll also be back for '09.

[Kitdy]

I've heard that McNish and Capello could be in the #1 from Lime Rock until the end of the season, and personally, I hope they'll also be back for '09.

So who's gonna replace McNish in the LMS then?

[togos452]

Allan McNish on XM Airwaves

June 18, 2008

On XM's Powershift program

The Series will have a constant presence on Powershift with guests appearing at 9:25 p.m. ET each week with host Joe Castello. Series President and CEO Scott Atherton will be a featured guest on the June 26 show.

XM Satellite Radio is a corporate partner of the American Le Mans Series and the primary sponsor of the Andretti Green Racing Acura ARX-01b. XM Channel 144 also will carry live coverage of the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix from Lime Rock Park starting at 2 p.m. ET.

American Le Mans Series :: World Class

[raceopen]

Celebrating its tenth anniversary, the American Le Mans Series faced much uncertainty as Audi has refused to make clear their plans for 2008. Annoyed by IMSA's refusal to adopt the full ACO regulations, Audi has threatened only to race at selected events like Sebring. This would effectively decapitate the ALMS.

The Dates:

1. Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring: March 15
2. Acura Sports Car Challenge St. Petersburg: April 5
3. Grand Prix of Long Beach Long Beach: April 19
4. Lone Star Grand Prix Houston: April 26
5. Utah Grand Prix Salt Lake City: May 18
6. Northeast Grand Prix/Lime Rock Lakeville: July 12
7. Acura Sports Car Challenge/Mid-Ohio Lexington: July 19
8. Generac 500/Road America Elkhart Lake: August 9
9. Grand Prix of Mosport Bowmanville: August 24
10. Detroit Sports Car Challenge Detroit: August 30
11. Petit Le Mans Braselton: October 4
12. Monterey Sports Car Championships Monterey: October 18

B]Official site:[/B] American Le Mans Series :: World Class

Hi there's a race scheduled for ALMS today in 17 minutes and my schedule notes says its to be on TV and I checked it thirty minutes ago and not going to be aired so I guess I won't get to see it. I was looking forward to the start of today's race.

[raceopen]

I didn't see today's race in your listing line up but I know its accurate because I copied it from inside Car and Driver Magazine Journal. It says NBC.

[Jack_Bauer]

Hi there's a race scheduled for ALMS today in 17 minutes and my scheduler says its to be on TV and I checked it thirty minutes ago and not going to be aired so I guess I won't get to see it. I was looking forward to the start of today's race.

Which race are you referring to?

According to the official ALMS website there is nothing this weekend. The next race is on July 12th - American Le Mans Series :: World Class

[raceopen]

All I can say about my FOX SPEED CHANNEL is that its about a dead even tie with PBS as far as the mix up and may-hem in the programming.

[raceopen]

I can't recall but I put in my phone as a reminder I was going to watch it today. I figured NASCAR takes up the weekends so they're airing today, who knows. And what comes on in 30 seconds from now East Series in South Boston, VA (NASCAR RACING). I mean I'm getting tired of eating the same stuff everyday. I was looking forward to this ALMS because I've been only able to see ALMS qualifying.

[raceopen]

Shoot! Thats gun point. FOX SPEED is forcing people to watch NASCAR or PINKS.

[Jack_Bauer]

I can't recall but I put in my phone as a reminder I was going to watch it today but i thought it was odd that it was going to be shown on a weekday. I figured NASCAR takes up the week ends so they're airing today in ALMS. And what comes on in 30 seconds from now East Series in South Boston, VA (NASCAR RACING). I mean I'm getting tired of eating the same stuff everyday. I was looking forward to this ALMS because I've been only able to see ALMS qualifying.

Well the full Le Mans race was last weekend, which involved a number of the ALMS teams, so there's no way they would be able to get themselves over to the States for another race in the space of a week. I suggest in future you ignore what Car and Driver tells you and stick to either here or the official ALMS website!

Good to see you have the interest in that kind of racing though, and welcome to UCP by the way.

[raceopen]

Ok Jack no problem thanks for the reply. You see we only get to view the 24hrs from LeMan France in the European LeMan series. And as for our US. Le Man it's always aired afterwards as a rerun not live at all, so I got smart and got the list from that magazine and decided to actually catch a live ALMS start.