ALMS Round 9/ILMC Round 6: Petit Le Mans 29 Sep -1 Oct

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by JAG

The Robertsons future is uncertain, sponsorship or pay drivers maybe easier to come by if they were competing for their own prize in GTE-Am.

How?

[Dead-Eye]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

How?

Giving pay drivers a realistic chance to compete for wins or podiums might be attractive. I agree about sponsorship though, to get corporate sponsors that aren't affiliated with gentleman drivers you need to be in the main class.

[JAG]

AF Corse, IMSA Matmut, Felbermayer etc. run additional Am cars, without such income some of those teams may not have funds to run a Pro car. You bridge the gap between the sharp end of GTE and GTC and retain gentleman drivers who may be tempted by GT3 or GA.

[AGD]

I think there are potential advantages and disadvantages to adding GTE-Am to the ALMS, but ultimately there must be enough interest in both Am and Pro to justify going that route. Adding another 3-4 car class to GT/GTE-Pro and GTC will just make things more confusing. As of right now, maybe Robertson, Neiman, the Millers, and maybe Ed Brown (although his car would not have been eligible for Am this year) would be interested in a GTE-Am class, but that probably isn't enough to justify it unless others want to join in. I'm not sure if many teams would want to abandon the financial security of GTC to join GTE-Am. Maybe Am would work if GTC was eliminated, but that would still probably end with a net loss of cars and I don't think the ALMS would be happy about that.

[The Badger]

I reckon the Am class is brilliant .

[AGD]

I did not see this earlier, but Raphael Matos will be in the Risi car. Also, Collard will be in the Miller Porsche.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

How?

In the AM class , they stand a lot more chance of getting a win , plus leading the class which may get more coverage as its a seperate class , plus the car would not be the latest spec chassis .

[KA]

Originally Posted by AGD

The car numbers on the entry list are a bit odd. Autocon and Genoa are running 9s in front of their regular number as expected, but Risi has a 0 (062). I guess they did not want to be 962! I don't know why they changed the numbering from Sebring, although I think it makes sense to not at a 0 when it is not needed. I don't know why 0s became 9s in some cases though.

One suggestion on the Americanlemansfans forum is that three-digit numbers starting with 9 are clearer when spoken over the radio by race officials, marshals/corner workers etc during incidents than three-digit numbers starting with 0?

[Tom908V12]

I hope the 908 ORECA won't be part of the three "fired" cars of the entrylist(58 on entry, only 53 accepted)

[seanyb505]

I thought the fired cars would be GTC only?

[Tom908V12]

Originally Posted by seanyb505

I thought the fired cars would be GTC only?

In fact I have no idea what class(es) will be targeted

[vyselegend]

Having to fire cars of a championship round where they are legitimatly entered is a shame, and should never happen.

IMO it should be clear from the begining that GTC championship does not include ALMS/LMIC combined race. Let's face it, the class is a grid filler by intention, so it should not be in the equation when the grid is full...

[fieldodreams79]

We've lost two cars even before the first practice. I'll go out on a limb and say that by the time the green waves next Saturday, "natural attrition" will get us close to, if not under 53.

[courageous]

All ACO cars (and unclassified if there were any) go to the front of the queue - its just LMPC/GTC that need to qualify.

Latest entry list has 58 cars, 53 to start.
8 LMPC cars, 7 GTC & only 10 grid slots (it hasn't been explicitly stated, but I would guess that will get split down the middle with 5 each)

[joeb]

Originally Posted by fieldodreams79

We've lost two cars even before the first practice. I'll go out on a limb and say that by the time the green waves next Saturday, "natural attrition" will get us close to, if not under 53.

That's what I've been saying. Every year one or two cars have been lost from the time of the first test session to race day. Surprisingly the diesels have had their fair share of wrecked cars, it's just that they have the resources to get a new one by race day. They might as well start all 58 cars anyways, because the Jags won't last long enough to make a difference!

Originally Posted by courageous

8 LMPC cars, 7 GTC & only 10 grid slots (it hasn't been explicitly stated, but I would guess that will get split down the middle with 5 each)

I've been looking at the list and trying to figure out which cars will get cut. I think the 11, 68, and 77 are most likely from GTC, and in LMPC the 36 and 52 cars aren't full season participants, plus the 18 is usually slow. so if they have to get in based on a q'ing speed they might be out, but they are a full season entry, so we'll see.

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by The Badger

In the AM class , they stand a lot more chance of getting a win , plus leading the class which may get more coverage as its a seperate class , plus the car would not be the latest spec chassis .

More coverage? Sure a couple of mentions. Enough to warrant sponsors dropping hundreds of thousands +.... no chance. The PRO teams are upset about the level of coverage (to provide value to sponsors) they typically receive compared to the LMP teams, and somehow we believe that the AM teams will suddenly receive enough coverage to justify sponsorship?

[The Badger]

Look ..... if the programme manager is doing his job properly , they would stand a better chance of getting coverage running in the top places in AM than running in 11th in GT ..... right or wrong ?

[vyselegend]

According to autohebdo (french), Peugeot will be testing ahead of PLM on Sunday 25 & Monday 26.

I suppose they wont be alone. Has Audi planned anything?

[joeb]

Originally Posted by vyselegend

According to autohebdo (french), Peugeot will be testing ahead of PLM on Sunday 25 & Monday 26.

I suppose they wont be alone. Has Audi planned anything?

There are official track test sessions on those days. So I expect at least a few dozen cars (if not more) to be seeing action then. The big question is whether or not timing and scoring will be active those days. I can't remember if it was last year, but if it isn't it will likely be active on the test session on Wednesday the 28th.

[Simmi]

I'm sure Audi will be hoping they don't destroy as many tubs as last year during the week.

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by Simmi

I'm sure Audi will be hoping they don't destroy as many tubs as last year during the week.

Considering also that last year they had to use the LM-winning tub in the end, this year's LM winner is now doing press trackdays at Magny-Cours...

[AGD]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Look ..... if the programme manager is doing his job properly , they would stand a better chance of getting coverage running in the top places in AM than running in 11th in GT ..... right or wrong ?

The ALMS does a pretty good job trying to get all the classes some airtime, but running up front in a class is not a guarantee. For example, I don't think Level 5 gets much coverage. They would get some coverage if there were legitimate competition in LMP2, but not if there is only 1 or 2 cars. The same would be true with GTE-Am so if it is under consideration, the ALMS has to make sure there is sufficient interest. Maybe a solution here would be to eliminate GTC and to balance GTC Porsches to GTE-Am speed for a year or two to protect the GTC team's investment while keeping the GTE-Am car counts high, but the ALMS might just prefer to keep GTC going as is.

[HJJ]

Originally Posted by HJJ

The final driver line-up may be announced tomorrow.

The Robertson Racing line-up for Petit Le Mans will be; Andrea Robertson/Melanie Snow and David Murry.

[Victor_RO]

Switcheroo at OAK Racing, Jacques Nicolet moves to the team's LMP2 entry and JF Yvon remains in the #24 car, conditional on race position probably though, since he's joined by the two guys who plonked the car on the podium at Silverstone, Olivier Pla and Alex Prémat.

https://www.facebook.com/EnduranceIn...50380121105428

[HJJ]

I see Kauffman is in GTE-AM and bringing out the 430 instead of the 458 for Petit with no Waltrip but Justin Bell. Mikey's two big sponsors (Aarron & Napa) are based in Atlanta and I'd thought he'd be in the race. Now I have to find someone else to heckle.