Homestead Round of Grand Am

[KC]

The hybrid Doran/Lista of Doran Racing won this weekend at Homestead. The car uses a Ferrari 333 SP tub with Judd V10 power. Excellent result.

[Ickxfan]

A wonderfull victory for Didier Theys and Mauro Baldi. Didier Theys deserves a ride at Le Mans this year! While on the subject of the Grand Am, could someone enlighten me, on the scoring system used in the series.

[KC]

Welcome aboard Ickxfan. I too am wondering now about the scoring method used. Their website offers no schedule on how points are awarded.

One of the things that caught some of the teams out is the qualifying method. The first day of qualifying sets the front half of the grid and these places are guaranteed. The second day sets the lower half of the grid. Two teams left the race after learning that their second qualifying day speeds didn't move them up into the upper half of the grid. This is how NASCAR qualifying is done. It rewards the teams that are fast right off of the trailer. If a Sportsracer team fails to post a decent time on the first day, he could find himslef behind a raft of slower GTs and AGTs that outqualified him on the first day. This upsets a lot of the elite Sportsracer teams because they feel that no GT or AGT should be ranked ahead of them.

[Ickxfan]

The Grand Am webmaster, Don Abbott, was kind enough to relay to me, the scoring system used in Grand Am. My initial thought, is that the differential doesnt reward the top finishers enough.
Grand-AM m will award driver points in each category of each individual series by finishing position as follows:
1. 35
2. 33
3. 31
4. 29
5. 27
6. 25
7. 24
8. 23
9. 22
10. 21
11. 20
12. 19
13. 18
14. 17
15. 16
16. 15
17. 14
18. 13
19. 12
20. 11
21. 10
22. 9
23. 8
24. 7
25. 6
26. 5
27. 4
28. 3
29. 2
30. 1
In 24 hour events, points will be awarded as above plus an additional ten (10) points. Events equal to or exceeding 500 miles or 1000 km, or 6-12 hours in duration, will be awarded points as above plus an additional five (5) points.

[KC]

Its the same method used in NASCAR, it keeps the championship close through the whole season. The most consistent racer will end up on top of the standings.

[Heeltoe6]

The Latford System used in Nascar hardly keeps the championship close; it only promotes points riding...er, racing.

[Ickxfan]

Following up on my earlier comment regarding Didier Theys and LM. He has indeed signed with ORECA to drve their #1 Reynard Chrysler with Yannick Dalmas and Karl Wendlinger. It was only a matter of time before someone would give Didier his well deserved ride at LM.

[KC]

Good news. I saw him drive a Ferrari 333SP at Dallas in 96 along side Max Papis. He eventually retired with a tranny failure.