2008 ALMS Official Thread

[RacingManiac]

interesting....

[Zytek_Fan]

Forgive my ignorance of the rules, but will they get any special consideration for using a production motor? I was thinking along the lines of the Aston engine in the Lola getting a bigger restrictor.

It's not going to last long is all I'm going to say.

They should have tried to lease an R10 or Peugeot engine and convert it to bio-diesel.

[Wouter Melissen]

It's not going to last long is all I'm going to say.

They should have tried to lease an R10 or Peugeot engine and convert it to bio-diesel.

They have been working with this engine before the Peugeot or the Audi ever hit the track.

[Turbo.Jenkens]

It's not going to last long is all I'm going to say.

Specifically what makes you think this? If anything I would guess than a production based engine making modest power would be good for endurance.

They should have tried to lease an R10 or Peugeot engine and convert it to bio-diesel.

Somehow I don't think that was an option.

[Wouter Melissen]

Despite their concerns about the regulations, Audi have announced their full season entry:

Ingolstadt/Sebring – In spite of regulations that further penalize the most powerful cars, AUDI AG once again will compete in the American Le Mans Series as a factory team in the 2008 season. Team Audi Sport North America enters two Audi R10 TDI prototypes in all eleven races of the popular sportscar championship. Audi confirmed this prior to the 12 Hours of Sebring (USA), the opening round of the American Le Mans Series.

Although computer simulations show that the lighter LM P2 sports cars have an advantage over the "bigger" LM P1 class on seven of the eleven circuits visited by the American Le Mans Series, Audi nevertheless faces this challenge. "The American Le Mans Series is an excellent platform in America for an automobile manufacturer to compete in motorsport at a high-level with innovative technology," explains Head of Audi Motorsport Dr Wolfgang Ullrich. "We want to continue to use this platform and, more specifically, to support the diesel campaign in the USA. We will show fighting spirit and in spite of the situation with the regulations try to win."

The near 650-hp Audi R10 TDI was the pioneer for the "Green Racing" initiative with which the American Le Mans Series regards itself as a meaningful, environmentally aware race series in its tenth year of existence. The R10 TDI also heralds the TDI offensive that Audi starts in the USA in 2008.

The two Audi R10 TDI cars are entered in the American Le Mans Series by Team Audi Sport North America again in the 2008 season. Champion Racing members form the team’s core. German duo Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner contest the full championship. Frank Biela (Germany) and Emanuele Pirro (Italy) share the second Audi R10 TDI from the St Petersburg race onwards.

Reigning LM P1 Champions Dindo Capello (Italy) and Allan McNish (Scotland) will not defend their title: Both will race for Audi Sport Team Joest in the Le Mans Series in Europe this season. Their team mates in Europe will be Alexandre Prémat (France) and Mike Rockenfeller (Germany).

Audi has competed in the American Le Mans Series since 2000, winning the LM P1 class championship eight times in succession with 61 overall race victories and is by far the most successful automobile manufacturer in the series.

[RacingManiac]

Nice, Biela and Pirro duo are back.....

[RacingManiac]

In ALMS news, St. Pete was this weekend, Lucas Luh and Marco Werner R10 won overall from pole, with Dumas/Berhard RS Spyder 2nd, and Brabham/Sharp Acura third.

Result:
Pos Cl Drivers Car Laps
1. P1 Luhr/Werner Audi R10 TDI 81
2. P2 Dumas/Bernhard Porsche RS Spyder 81
3. P2 Brabham/Sharp Acura ARX-01b 81
4. P2 Maassen/Long Porsche RS Spyder 81
5. P2 Dyson/Smith Porsche RS Spyder 81
6. P2 Herta/Fittipaldi Acura ARX-01b 80
7. P2 Bonilla/Devlin Mazda Lola B07-46 80
8. GT Gavin/Beretta Corvette C6.R 79
9. GT O'Connell/Magnussen Corvette C6.R 79
10. P2 Fernandez/Diaz Acura ARX-01b 78
11. GT Farnbacher/Muller Ferrari 430 GT 77
12. GT van Overbeek/Pilet Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 77
13. GT Werner/Basseng Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 76
14. GT Jeannette/Mowlem Ferrari 430 GT 76
15. GT Brix/Friesacher Ferrari 430 GT 75
16. GT Hand/Milner/Sutherland Panoz Esperante 75
17. GT Neiman/Law Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 74
18. GT Gigliotti/Peterson Riley Corvette C6 74
19. P2 van der Steur/Pecorari Radical SR9 AER 74
20. P2 Leitzinger/Franchitti Porsche RS Spyder 71
21. GT Bergmeister/Henzler Porsche 911 GT3 RSR 71
22. GT Salo/Melo Ferrari 430 GT 69
23. GT Robertson/Murry Doran Ford GT Mk.VII 64
24. P1 Biela/Pirro Audi R10 TDI 63
25. GT Borcheller/Ducote Aston Martin DBR9 48
26. P1 Field/Dayton/Berry Lola B06/10 AER 33
27. GT Feinberg/Hall Dodge Viper Comp Cou 20
28. GT Carrapatoso/Swartzbaugh/Stanton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR -
29. GT Drayson/Cocker Aston Martin DBRS9 -

[Dino Scuderia]

The new Audi chassis is going to be tough for Porsche to deal with on the high downforce circuits....with the torque the Audi can squirt by anytime. Though with all the crashes the tempo of the race and strategies were often interrupted.

Too bad the Aston got caught in the Viper crash. Bad luck for Flying Lizards and Risi...but nice to see Tafel get their first win.

[togos452]

DBR9 from Bell Motorsports update

(with Dunlop tires)

AUTO-RACING - Marshall Pruett's ALMS Mailbag 5.14.08 - SPEEDtv.com

Video

ALMS: Bell Motorsports Aston Martin DBR9 Announcement - Brightcove

First news of Bell Motorsports

1-28-2008

American Le Mans Series :: World Class

Terry Borcheller and Chapman Ducote to race # 008

2-9-2008

American Le Mans Series :: World Class

Bell Motorsports

Borcheller:



Ducote:

[Dino Scuderia]

Amazing qualy sets record for the series.

First nine cars separated by only .853, a record.

Audi failed to find balance in their car and ended up sixth behind five LMP2 cars with Porsche on the pole.

Henzler in the Flying Lizards RSR posted the exact same time as Melo in the F430...but because Henzler's lap was posted first he gets pole in GT2.

The GT2 Aston Martin Vantage is still way off pace. I wonder if BMW will progress any faster when they enter.

The Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix presented by The Grand and Little America Hotels is set for Sunday, May 18 from Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah. The green flag is scheduled for 1 p.m. MT with live television coverage on SPEED. Live radio coverage will be available on XM Satellite Radio Channel 144 and American Le Mans Radio at americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA's Live Timing & Scoring.

Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix
presented by the Grand and Little America Hotels
Miller Motorsports Park, Tooele, Utah
Saturday's qualifying
1. Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:31.050, 120.51
2. Gil de Ferran, Brazil; Simon Pagenaud, France; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 1:31.189, 120.33
3. Luis Diaz, Mexico; Adrian Fernandez, Mexico; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 1:31.342, 120.13
4. Scott Sharp, Jupiter, FL; David Brabham, Australia; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 1:31.352, 120.12
5. Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Sascha Maassen, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:31.462, 119.97
6. Lucas Luhr, Germany; Marco Werner, Germany; Audi AG R10/TDI (P1), 1:31.590, 119.80
7. Marino Franchitti, Scotland; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:31.683, 119.68
8. Frank Biela, Germany; Emanuele Pirro, Italy; Audi AG R10/TDI (P1), 1:31.797, 119.53
9. Bryan Herta, Valencia, CA; Christian Fittipaldi, Miami, FL; Acura ARX-01B (P2), 1:31.903, 119.40
10. Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Guy Smith, England; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:32.356, 118.81
11. Jon Field, Dublin, OH; Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Richard Berry, Evergreen, CO; Lola B06/10 AER (P1), 1:34.870, 115.66
12. Gerardo Bonilla, Orlando, FL; Ben Devlin, England; Lola B07 46 Mazda (P2), 1:35.241, 115.21
13. Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 1:43.869, 105.64
14. Jan Magnussen, Denmark; Johnny O'Connell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 1:44.044, 105.46
15. Jörg Bergmeister, Germany; Wolf Henzler, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:47.135, 102.42
16. Jaime Melo, Brazil; Mika Salo, Finland; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 1:47.135, 102.42
17. Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Patrick Pilet, France; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:47.252, 102.31
18. Dirk Werner, Germany; Marc Basseng, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:47.338, 102.23
19. Dominik Farnbacher, Germany; Dirk Mueller, Germany; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 1:47.958, 101.64
20. Harrison Brix, San Jose, CA; Patrick Friesacher, Austria; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 1:48.330, 101.29
21. Johnny Mowlem, England; Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 1:48.399, 101.23
22. Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Tom Sutherland, Los Gatos, CA; Panoz Esperante Ford (GT2), 1:49.039, 100.63
23. Doug Peterson, Bonita Springs, FL; Lou Gigliotti, Dallas, TX; Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 (GT2), 1:49.057, 100.62
24. Alex Figge, Hollywood, CA; Jim Tafel, Alpharetta, GA; Ferrari F430 GT (GT2), 1:49.928, 99.82
25. David Murry, Cumming, GA; David Robertson, Ray, MI; Andrea Robertson, Ray, MI; Doran Ford GT-R (GT2), 1:50.433, 99.36
26. Francisco Pastorelli, Netherlands; Nicky Pastorelli, Netherlands; Rueben Carrapatoso, Brazil; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:50.893, 98.95
27. Jonny Cocker, UK; Paul Drayson, London, UK; Aston Martin Vantage GT2 (GT2), 1:51.743, 98.20
28. Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Darren Law, Phoenix, AZ; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:52.054, 97.92
29. Craig Stanton, Long Beach, CA; Nathan Swartzbaugh, La Habra Heights, LA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), No Time
30. Chris Hall, Daytona, FL; Joel Feinberg, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Dodge Viper Comp Coupe (GT2), No Time.

[Kitdy]

That's a pretty eventful qualifying. A tie in GT2, Gil de Ferran nearly taking pole on his debut, with Audi banished to 6th and 8th position on a track where they expected to do well?

Will Audi prove to have better race like they did at the last race?

[Kitdy]

Great race from de Ferran and Pagenaud. 23rd to 3rd.

The fuel consumption of the Audis could really be a problem in future races; the LMP2s had to stop only twice and were faster than the Audis in race pace as well.

Great first lap where the two Audis went outside and inside to jump up from the 3rd and 4th row to go 1-2. Some great passes as well and a barnstormer from Jon Field in the B06/10.

[TS020]

The fuel consumption of the Audis could really be a problem in future races; the LMP2s had to stop only twice and were faster than the Audis in race pace as well.

Don't the Audi's have smaller fuel tanks than the LMP2 cars because the diesel engine is more efficient than the petrol burners?

[Dino Scuderia]

10% smaller.

[Kitdy]

Who's gonna replace Biela?