2006 ALMS Rumours

[JAG]

Few rumours that are doing the rounds..........

Carsport to enter P2.

Dyson Lola B160's to be sold to another ALMS team.

BK Motorsport to run their own chassis, ala Porsche. May however just be another off the shelf chassis.

Aston will be in the ALMS for the full season.

One Zytek destined for the series.

Grand Am team eying a Riley LMP1.

Lets see how it all pans out.

[Dauer 962]

Don´t forget the annually Rahal rumour. This year along with Honda.

[ger80]

Think they would chose Lola chassis for Rahal Honda car, or not?
BK with an own chassis? Did they tested the Lola Chassis until now? Think the should test Lola chassis before they start building there own.
Panoz got Champcar deal for 2007, so i think there will be no Panoz chassis

[Dauer 962]

Originally Posted by ger80

Think they would chose Lola chassis for Rahal Honda car, or not?

Would be very unlikely if Honda enters with an from the shelf chassis. Think if they will come, they will have their own chassis.

And remember there is well known company in Japan building protos with close relations to Honda.....

[JAG]

'BK with an own chassis? Did they tested the Lola Chassis until now? '

It was mentioned on Speed that BK/Mazda were looking at building their own chassis 'like Porsche'.

[911GT3RS]

My question is.....who bought the Zytek?

[billnchristy]

who bought any of these!!??

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by JAG

Grand Am team eying a Riley LMP1.

Someone with a lot of years experience with Riley....?

[The Badger]

I reckon its Intersport who bought the Zytek . They almost never ran 2 cars the same . And I reckon dad will let junior play with the Lola while he has a go at the big boys !!!!

And Wayne Taylor in the Riley too .

Just a thought .

[KA]

Originally Posted by The Badger

I reckon its Intersport who bought the Zytek . They almost never ran 2 cars the same . And I reckon dad will let junior play with the Lola while he has a go at the big boys

That's the thing that's always puzzled me about Intersport- the variety of different cars and engines they've used, often at the same time. It can't make the race programme any easier to mmanage, having to carry spares for two different types of chassis and two different engines. Maybe Jon Field has just got a low boredom threshold...

Here's another thought- does anyone have to have bought a/the Zytek? Could it be the factory team moving over to ALMS full-time next year? after all, unless they go down the hybrid route, they can't run the car in Europe next year

[Dauer 962]

Originally Posted by KA

after all, unless they go down the hybrid route, they can't run the car in Europe next year

Trevor Foster announced in different interviews an LMP1 for 2006, let´s wait if this comes true.


On Intersport : What about the Aston of which they released pictures earlier this year ?

[The Badger]

Whoever buys the Zytek , would be foolish not to convert it to Hybrid over the winter .

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by The Badger

I reckon its Intersport who bought the Zytek . They almost never ran 2 cars the same . And I reckon dad will let junior play with the Lola while he has a go at the big boys !!!!

While that is a reasonable assumption, Atherton in an interview on Speed suggested it was a "new" team who purchased the Zytek. That would seem to suggest it wasn't Intersport.

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Whoever buys the Zytek , would be foolish not to convert it to Hybrid over the winter .

Has this particular chassis not already been tested with the new 4 litre engine? Maybe it will be sold with a lease agreement for that engine. And if so, it may well be worth converting to a hybrid. Creation reckon the DBA is going to be wicked in hybrid form and I guess the same would apply to the 04S.

[Carousel]

Originally Posted by Dauer 962

On Intersport : What about the Aston of which they released pictures earlier this year ?

If I'm not mistaken, Intersport didn't release any pictures of an Aston. Ben Ingraham, who briefly brought Telesis money to the program, did have a Photoshop rendering made up. As Telesis appears not to be involved any longer in any way except that Intersport never got around to ripping the logo patches of their fire suits, I'm not holding my breath on an Intersport Aston.

[jhansen]

I'm with the Badger, make the 04S a hybrid. But I'd make it a hybrid P2, not add weight for a P1 car. It would be a serious contender against the Porsche's in P2, and still be capable of threatening the overall podium.

If they run it in P1 in the ALMS they'll have to contend with two new Dyson Lolas and maybe the new Audis as well.

[JAG]

Why build a hybrid for the ALMS?

The Zytek could race for two years as it is.

Even if the ALMS adopts the 2005 LMES/LM regs and restricts the older cars more than they already are, the car has proven to be quick against the hybrid Pescarolo in the LMES.

The Dyson LMP1's could be a problem though!

It would depend on the teams finances whether investing in a hybrid car is viable.

Don't quote me on this, but I don't believe former LMP1 cars can be converted into hybrid LMP2's any longer, which rules out the Zytek and Dyson MG's running as hybrid LMP2's.

[jhansen]

But the Zytek is not an LMP1 car. It's an LMP675 car. It's just a thought. It would be competitive as hybrid P2 car. That's all I'm saying.

What configuration will the LMP900 and 675 cars be running to next year in the ALMS?

[JAG]

Originally Posted by jhansen

But the Zytek is not an LMP1 car. It's an LMP675 car. It's just a thought. It would be competitive as hybrid P2 car. That's all I'm saying.

What configuration will the LMP900 and 675 cars be running to next year in the ALMS?

Think there may have been a change in the rules to stop cars that have competed in LMP1, albeit to the old regs, from running as LMP2 hybrids, not sure.

If the ALMS restricts the older cars further, only the Zytek and possibly Lola 675 cars have a chance of competing on pace.

[JAG]

ignore.

[cmk]

Originally Posted by jhansen

If they run it in P1 in the ALMS they'll have to contend with two new Dyson Lolas and maybe the new Audis as well.

If the new Audis don't turn up in Champion's hands or anyone else's next year, which is a definite possibility, I could see a (restricted) P1 Zytek being competitive against the Dyson Lolas given that they will be in their first year of competition.

The Zytek has certainly had the measure of the best of the LMP1 hybrids in Europe on sheer pace while running to the restrictions that it would be under in P1 in the ALMS next year. Sure, I think the P1 Lolas will be faster than the hybrids, but they will be an unsorted package at the outset.

[jhansen]

Originally Posted by JAG

Think there may have been a change in the rules to stop cars that have competed in LMP1, albeit to the old regs, from running as LMP2 hybrids, not sure.

The Courage C65 ran under LMP675 rules before it was a hybrid.

[911GT3RS]

The carsport rumor has a pretty hefty amount of weight, should the sponsor follow through.

[JAG]

Originally Posted by jhansen

The Courage C65 ran under LMP675 rules before it was a hybrid.

Its a recent change.

[Bentley03]

Originally Posted by cmk

If the new Audis don't turn up in Champion's hands or anyone else's next year, which is a definite possibility.........

Sadly, it looks increasingly as if this will be the case. Two (Joest?) R10's at Sebring and bye bye ALMS (in 2006)!

It has been suggested by a number people that the Audi and Porsche LMP programmes are going to be coordinated. Porsche competing only in the ALMS and Audi at Le Mans (and LMES?). Time will tell........