2010 ALMS thread

[arvin charles]

I just noticed the 2009 thread has been bumped with 2010 info, so I figured it's a good time to start a new one...

Some of the news I know:

LMP

- Aston Martin will field an P1 at Sebring & Long Beach. (Possibly more post-LM)

- Peugeot will be at Sebring. Audi will not (even though they are testing the R15+ and will test again after the 12h race)

- Marino Franchitti has signed with Patron Highcroft Racing for the 2010 season. This part year deal will see Franchitti run at Sebring, Petit and Laguna Seca.

- Dyson Racing will also be running on Dunlops in 2010. The team will run at least one Mazda Lola in the entire ALMS season.

LMPC

- Intersport Racing has announced that Brian Wong will join Mitch Pagerey in there LMPC car for 2010. Wong previously drove a Porsche GT3 Cup Car in the Patron Challenge.

- O'Connell Racing has announced that they will participate in selected rounds of the 2010 ALMS Championship in the new LMPC class. Nikolas Konstant and team boss Kevin O'Connell will drive the car in 2010.

- Primetime has received their LMPC Prototype. http://www.youtube.com/user/ptrace711#p/a/u/0/Ox9RdYp27O4

- Genoa racing has also received their LMPC.

- PR1 Motorsports, in cooperation with Mathiasen Motorsports will also field an LMPC. http://www.americanlemans.com/index_news.php

- Gunnar and Comprent has also confirmed entries.


GT2/GTC

- Risi Competizione has confirmed 1 Ferrari for the season. A 2nd Krohn entry might be possible (It's also rumored he might run an LMPC)

- Flying Lizard Motorsports confirmed 2 entries. Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long, both Porsche factory drivers, will reunite in the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche to defend their 2009 GT2 driver’s championship title. Team principal Seth Neiman and Darren Law will drive in the No. 44 Porsche.

- Black Swan Racing will field a GT3 RSR in the GT2 class w/ Tim Pappas & Jeroen Bleekemolen for the entire season.

- ACS Express Racing has purchased the ex-Black Swan Ford GT, SpeedTV.com has revealed. ACS Express Racing has run in the SCCA World Challenge over the past few years with success and proven to be a very professional outfit. It is unknown whether they will upgrade the car to the spec that Robertson run or leave the bespoke aero that Black Swan developed. Drivers are also unkown at this stage

- Robertson Racing crashed their Ford GT at Sebring during testing. It's allegedly totalled.

- Flying Lizard Motorsports have confirmed the departure of Johannes van Overbeek who will race with Extreme Speed Motorsports in 2010.

- Extreme Speed Motorsports has revealed its lineup for its first season of racing. The team, owned by LMP1 Champ Scott Sharp will campaign two Ferrari F430s in the full ALMS schedule in 2010. It was announced that Scott Sharp will join Johannes van Overbeek in the lead car. The second car will be piloted by Ed Brown and Guy Cosmo.

- Alex Job Racing returns to the ALMS with 2 Porsche GTC cars for the entire season. An LMPC car is also possible.

 

[Azure Flare]

a little early don't you think?

 

[FoolKiller]

a little early don't you think?

Sebring is 39 days away, talk of who is participating this season, in what cars, and where they are testing is already going on, and AmericanLeMans.com is already posting about ten news items a week.

So, no it is not too early to start discussing the 2010 season.

 

[arvin charles]

Level 5 Motorsport is on the Winter Test entry list with an LMP Challenge prototype. That's awesome news!

Confirmation of a full season campaign from Level 5: http://www.americanlemans.com/index_news.php?n=14391

Also Robertson Racing has apparently gotten another Ford GT from Doran.

 

[01GTP]

Thanks for the info.

Should be an interesting season with the new LMPC cars and some more Ferrari's racing.

I'm looking forward to the Lime Rock event as I'll be attending it.

 

[SUPER NUMBBER]

Corvette Racing gets ready for a new era as it enters it's first full season on GT2, looking to continue it's class dominance and going head to head with a bigger competition:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/11/...campaign=Feed:+weblogsinc/autoblog+(Autoblog)

 

[arvin charles]

-Team Cytosport confirms a full season entry with the Porsche RS Spyder. http://www.americanlemans.com/index_news.php?n=14402

-Corvette Racing's new livery

-Falken Tires 911 GT3 RSR getting vinyl wrapped http://www.modernimage.net/_e/page/1049/Falken_Tires_2010_Porsche_Vinyl_Wrap_Race_Car.htm

There's also a rumor that Krohn would be running a Mercedes SLR 722 GT in GT2...

New Update as of 2/20: Ryan Dalziel is joining the RSR Jaguar squad. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81601

 

[Crashbroke23]

(Someone should probably do something about consolodating yearly threads for the le mans series', these threads are dead compared to the ocean of threads for F1. Post shamelessly taken from '09 ALMS thread.)

The Official Sebring Winter test starts tomorrow. A total of 28 cars means a record for the test. Probably my favorite car from the photos of the teams preparing their cars is the Black Swan Porche, Black and Green look good.

Anyways, here is the entrylist.
Link!

 

[arvin charles]

Former Kolles Audi R10 TDI driver Andy Meyrick joins Dyson Racing for the three ALMS endurance races at Sebring, Laguna Seca and Petit Le Mans.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81633

(Someone should probably do something about consolodating yearly threads for the le mans series', these threads are dead compared to the ocean of threads for F1. Post shamelessly taken from '09 ALMS thread.)

It is consolidated. There's only one 2010 thread. No one wants to dig through a whole thread of 2009 info just for this year's stuff. That would just be ridiculous once the season gets going.

PS - F1 sucks. Sports cars is the last bastion of racing with true technical freedom for innovation

 

[Mt. Lynx]

-Team Cytosport confirms a full season entry with the Porsche RS Spyder. http://www.americanlemans.com/index_news.php?n=14402

-Corvette Racing's new livery

*pics*

-Falken Tires 911 GT3 RSR getting vinyl wrapped http://www.modernimage.net/_e/page/1049/Falken_Tires_2010_Porsche_Vinyl_Wrap_Race_Car.htm

There's also a rumor that Krohn would be running a Mercedes SLR 722 GT in GT2...

New Update as of 2/20: Ryan Dalziel is joining the RSR Jaguar squad. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81601

I really like the new look for the ´Vettes. As always :/ I suppose.

Where did you pick up the rumour for 722 GT? To my knowledge that car is nowhere near GT2 spec, and would probably not stand much of a chance there either. It would obviously take a lot of modifying to comply to GT2 rules. They´d have to ditch the auto gearbox and rebuild the rear for starters... And furthermore, I´m pretty sure Mercedes wouldn´t approve of it at all. When the car first was concieved, it was made clear that the 722 GT was a track special for a select few customers to race in. Not really like Ferraris XX programs, but something in that line.

 

[Clark]

Anthony Davidson will be driving for Peugeot at Sebring.

 

[Earth]

Aston Martin on top of both Sebring Tests, but theres not much competition

Test 1 Results

Test 2 Results

 

[NISM0_SKYLINE]

Can't wait for the season to get going. Really can't wait for Mid-Ohio to see it all in person again.

 

[Crashbroke23]

Where did you pick up the rumour for 722 GT? To my knowledge that car is nowhere near GT2 spec, and would probably not stand much of a chance there either. It would obviously take a lot of modifying to comply to GT2 rules. They´d have to ditch the auto gearbox and rebuild the rear for starters... And furthermore, I´m pretty sure Mercedes wouldn´t approve of it at all. When the car first was concieved, it was made clear that the 722 GT was a track special for a select few customers to race in. Not really like Ferraris XX programs, but something in that line.

The rumor came from Murphy The Bear, he likes to throw stuff around. I would think that the 722 GT would be better for GT1, ever though it is very heavy when it is in road spec as the 722. The big news of the day in the ALMS comes from "The Official Cheese Partner of the ALMS", the Cheese makes being Yancy’s Fancy Cheese. I like the publicity shot for the announcement, a Panoz Esperante GTLM Model made out of Cheese! Not forgetting, that the series is now presented by Tequila Patron. Talk about a trickle, turning into a flood. Patron sponsored one car, then three, now five and the series!

 

[arvin charles]

- Extreme Speed Motorsports adds Dominik Farnbacher & Joao Barbosa for the endurance races: http://paddocktalk.com/news/html/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=128618&newlang=&topic=22&catid=10

- New BMW livery

-Did anyone catch the new parts on the Robertson Ford GT? Reverse swan neck!

Where did you pick up the rumour for 722 GT? To my knowledge that car is nowhere near GT2 spec, and would probably not stand much of a chance there either. It would obviously take a lot of modifying to comply to GT2 rules. They´d have to ditch the auto gearbox and rebuild the rear for starters... And furthermore, I´m pretty sure Mercedes wouldn´t approve of it at all.

There were several sources that reported the rumor.

1) autoracing1.com (rumors section about running an SLR)
2) ALMS twitter acknowledging that there is a rumor about it
3) Murphy the Bear stating that Krohn could run either a Ferrari or the new Merc supercar (MP4-12C)

Some believe that it could be the old TRG 722 GT converted to GT2 specs...Obviously, I was hesitant to include this rumor, but it has been persistent & I thought it deserved at least a passing mention. Whether it comes to fruition remains to be seen...

 

[Earth]

Did anyone catch the new parts on the Robertson Ford GT? Reverse swan neck!

And whatever advantage gained is lost by the Robertsons driving.

They didnt get a Le Mans invite, they are being given a message, get real drivers or you wont be taken seriously

 

[NapoleonMikey]

And whatever advantage gained is lost by the Robertsons driving.

They didnt get a Le Mans invite, they are being given a message, get real drivers or you wont be taken seriously

I doubt that will happen it looks like hes just a rich guy that wants to race. Cant really blame him if I had the money I would do the same. Though adding Murray to there team did seem to help them at least get a pole last season but not make anything out of the opertunity.

 

[01GTP]

Patron sponsored one car, then three, now five and the series!

As long as there are more Patron girls it's a win win situation.

https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/album.php?albumid=185&pictureid=2075

 

[arvin charles]

- Krohn Racing teams up with Risi for Sebring & Laguna Seca (as well as Le Mans, but that's already in another thread). They'll be entering a Ferrari 430 GTC...No mention of a Merc. http://www.planetlemans.com/2010/02/23/krohn-racing-continues-with-risi-competizione/

...Then again, there's also no mention about Petit Le Mans...

- Highcroft is now sponsore by both Patron & GE.

- Aston Martin LMP1 crashed in Day 2. Primat is ok & the tub is still intact. Pics: http://www.motorsport.com/photos/select.asp?S=ALMS&Y=2010&D=&I=&N=&E=Sebring_winter_test/Tuesday_session_2

And whatever advantage gained is lost by the Robertsons driving.

They didnt get a Le Mans invite, they are being given a message, get real drivers or you wont be taken seriously

Just so you know, Andrea has taken it quite seriously and has improved a lot from when they first started. And as far as David is concerned, it is a hobby for him. However, he did say this at the Sebring Winter Test:

“I want to run two cars,” David said. “I want to run one and put some 20-something-year-old hot shoes, absolute pro drivers in one [car] and see what it can do. We really talked about how to do that, but I can’t come up with the money to do it.

“I’d still like to run us next year and run a second car. So we’re doing a lot to raise money, but you know how hard it is. If we succeed the way we want, we’ll do both of them next year. If we succeed halfway, we’ll be back [with one car] next year. If we don’t, we’ll probably do something fun and cheaper.”

But Robertson said the final option would only come as a last resort.

 

[JohnBM01]

Spotter Guide for the 2010 12 Hours of Sebring: http://www.spotterguides.com/images/stories/guides/alms_10_sebring_sg.jpg

Good luck to all teams this season. I don't think I'm going to be able to see most of the racing action on Speed because there's a good chance of showers and thunderstorms in my area later this Saturday. So I'll probably have to look at Twitter updates or something to know how the race is going.

I'm really interested to see how the LMP-C class all shapes out. I know my man Crashbroke is a Primetime Race Group fan, and PRG will be in the LMP-C class. I'm hearing some 34 cars will take the grid at Sebring later today (since today is Saturday). P1 and P2 will be their own classes, but only for this race.

Should be a great season, and I like this format- start with 12 hours of Sebring, and end with 10 hours or 1,000 miles at Petit Le Mans. Two Super Bowl races for the ALMS to start and finish.

 

[drifter444]

They should merge the threads.

The coverage is starting now on speed!

http://pl.pscdn.net/002/00324/live1.asx
Flying Lizard team radio stream

 

[drifter444]

Start!

 

[drifter444]

Exciting P1 battle right now! Peugot vs Lola.

 

[Bram Turismo]

Darn it! It looks like Justin TV is not working at the moment, guess I'll have to wait a bit and pray there is a streaming channel.

 

[NapoleonMikey]

Wish they would cover the GT2 battle it looks like its just as close as the P1 battle with the top 5 cars only 2 seconds apart. Also im hoping that Lola can take down the Puegots that would be a real nice upset.

 

[drifter444]

live stream

http://www.garthytv.com/flust-2.php

 

[Clark]

Emanuele Pirro is god.

 

[NapoleonMikey]

That pass was quite amazing and looked even more awesome from the onboard camera from the GT car behind it.

 

[Bram Turismo]

live stream

http://www.garthytv.com/flust-2.php

*EDIT*

It's down

 

[NapoleonMikey]

anyone else not able to get live timing and scoring to work?