Sports Car Rumors

by Alpineopossum Thu Aug 16, 2012 8:28 am

So in the sports car racing world, it will be an intersting season. With all the controversy over Grand Am recently, many teams are dissatisified with Grand Am officials. As for ALMS, I think their prototype is a sideshow. A very high performance sideshow. The GT ranks are what that series is all about. There are a LOT of rumors about this.
* BMW is considering a move to the Z4 M as opposed to the M3. I don't know whether they are serious, because they could not put a V8 in it. That said they put a V8 in the old M3 despite that was illegal since the M3 didn't have one at the time.
* Dodge / SRT is here to stay. This program is basically replacing their NASCAR program. I would not be surprised to see a Dodge B-Team emerge

An important thing to remember. A NASCAR operation costs upward of $40 million from a manufacture's prospective. A GT operation costs about five million to six million. It is also very closely related to the version you can drive on the road, so the manufacture doesn't need to start firm the ground up.

Earlier this month, by Dad tested a new 911 Carrera S at Mid Ohio. He said it was as fast as the last generation GT3 road car. This makes one wonder what will the new GT3 be like?

Risi Competizone may return with Pierre Kaffer, Raphael Matos, Jamie "The Junkyard Dog" Melo, and Gianmaria Bruni.

Flying Lizard (Porsche), Miller (Porsche), Falkan (Porsche), Extreme Speed (Ferrari), Job (Lotus), Corvette, Viper, and Rahal Letterman (BMW) will all return next year.

So what does Grand Am have on the GT level?
SpeedSource, campaigning a car that has nothing to do with a street car that they do not make anymore (Mazda RX- Cool

The Nonnamaker brothers will be back with some Mazda's
Brumos Racing will obviously be back. The #59 Porsche is basically Grand Am's version of the #3 or the #43 in NASCAR.
Magnus Racing will be back. Hopefully with a new paint job
TRG will do its thing again. It's thing is having 3-4 cars with pay drivers to support 1-2 car(s) with really fast drivers
Turner will be back with their Beamers.
Stevenson will run a Camaro as will that 88 team.

So overall Grand Am is in decline. Prototype racing is in decline. GT is rising.

The exception to the decline of prototype racing is at Le Mans. Audi and Toyota are back. Pierguiseppe Parazinni will be their for somebody to trip over. And Porsche will return in the next year or two. So Le Mans will be interesting.

by RealRacer4 Thu Aug 16, 2012 9:26 am

Personally, I hope to see the 2 series merge, or Grand-Am losing ground and eventually going out of business, leaving teams no choice but to go over to ALMS. As exciting as the racing can be in Grand-Am I'd prefer watching an ALMS over Grand-Am anyday. Mostly because of how much technology is involved in that series. Glad to see some manufacturers, like Audi rejoining ALMS.

by PKligBKFan Thu Aug 16, 2012 10:23 am

Sahlens is going to DP next year in Grand-AM.

by Milan655 Thu Aug 16, 2012 11:20 am

Alpineopossum wrote:
* BMW is considering a move to the Z4 M as opposed to the M3. I don't know whether they are serious, because they could not put a V8 in it. That said they put a V8 in the old M3 despite that was illegal since the M3 didn't have one at the time.

Earlier this month, by Dad tested a new 911 Carrera S at Mid Ohio. He said it was as fast as the last generation GT3 road car. This makes one wonder what will the new GT3 be like?

BMW currently use the Z4 in the Blancpain Endurance Series, for GT3 cars.

I'm not sure whether it differs to North American, the ALMS etc, but in Europe, there is almost no difference between the GT1 class and the GT3 class. GT3 differs as there are more restrictions on the changes to the cars from the stock model; basically, less aerodynamic additions to the car. That's why your Dad said the Carrera S was similar to the last generation GT3; it's generally a stock model, adapted for race use, e.g. the hydraulic bars which push the car up during a pitstop.

by AntmanB Thu Aug 16, 2012 12:56 pm

There will be a new Gx class in grandam next year.

by Alpineopossum Thu Aug 16, 2012 7:22 pm

I would have to wonder how long Toyota will stick around. Mainly because someone at the company decided it would be a good idea to hire a bunch of reject F1 drivers. And their whole Le Mans experiment went from a multi-million dollar investment to a complete joke six hours and two destroyed cars later. It is very hard to compete with Audi. Porsche might do it when they come back. But I can't see Toyota being in longer than two more years.

by RACECAR Thu Aug 16, 2012 7:29 pm

AntmanB wrote:There will be a new Gx class in grandam next year.

And Lotus and Mazda has already commited to it, Aston Martin Are considering it too.

by Alpineopossum Thu Aug 16, 2012 10:38 pm

GT wise, Grand Am is a joke next to ALMS.

ALMS: Porsche vs Ferrari vs BMW vs Corvette vs Viper vs Jag vs Lotus vs Aston Martin vs Lambo
Grand Am: Porsche vs Mazda vs Camaro vs BMW vs Ferrari vs Audi
See the difference?
Also, most of the ALMS teams are factory teams. None of the Grand Am ones are. Grand Am does have a healthy prototype class. With Grand Am, the prototypes are the main show. With ALMS, the GTs are the main show.

by RACECAR Thu Aug 16, 2012 10:56 pm

Alpineopossum wrote:GT wise, Grand Am is a joke next to ALMS.

ALMS: Porsche vs Ferrari vs BMW vs Corvette vs Viper vs Jag vs Lotus
Grand Am: Porsche vs Mazda vs Camaro vs BMW
See the difference?

Does the FXDD Ferrari thats been sorta leading the points not count, or the APR Audi R8s?

by Alpineopossum Thu Aug 16, 2012 11:26 pm

RACECAR wrote:
Alpineopossum wrote:GT wise, Grand Am is a joke next to ALMS.

ALMS: Porsche vs Ferrari vs BMW vs Corvette vs Viper vs Jag vs Lotus
Grand Am: Porsche vs Mazda vs Camaro vs BMW
See the difference?

Does the FXDD Ferrari thats been sorta leading the points not count, or the APR Audi R8s?

I could have sworn I put Ferrari in. Fixed.

by Dan Mackay Fri Aug 17, 2012 1:18 am

so what gt car will lepage a p1 car at le mans this time Razz

by Alpineopossum Fri Aug 17, 2012 9:58 am

Dan Mackay wrote:so what gt car will lepage a p1 car at le mans this time

Here are the odds
Pierguiseppe Parrazini - 2/1
Robert Kauffman - 3/1
Jean-Denis Délétraz - 10/1
Abdullah al-Faisal - 7/2
Tracy Krohn - 8/2
Jamie Melo - 15/2

I put Melo on their because while undoubtedly a good driver, he has the tendency to cause a lot of accidents, hence the nickname "The Junkyard Dog" (which I think he got at the Washington DC race in 2002).

by Alpineopossum Mon Aug 20, 2012 1:48 pm

So a rumor that has been going around the sports car community is this.

ALMS wants and 11th race. Previously that was going to Oklahoma City, but now, it looks like the lead candidate is the street / parking lot track at Bobby Kennedy stadium in Washington DC.

Now, I love the idea of holding a race in DC. Its a really cool city. It is also a very beautiful city. So why are they holding a race in the ugliest corner of DC imaginable on a crappy race track in the parking lot of an MLS Stadium? And like a race in downtown dc wouldn't disturb traffic. It's not like you can drive around DC under any circumstances without ending up somewhere far from your destination...

by RealRacer4 Mon Aug 20, 2012 6:29 pm

Alpineopossum wrote:So a rumor that has been going around the sports car community is this.

ALMS wants and 11th race. Previously that was going to Oklahoma City, but now, it looks like the lead candidate is the street / parking lot track at Bobby Kennedy stadium in Washington DC.

Now, I love the idea of holding a race in DC. Its a really cool city. It is also a very beautiful city. So why are they holding a race in the ugliest corner of DC imaginable on a crappy race track in the parking lot of an MLS Stadium? And like a race in downtown dc wouldn't disturb traffic. It's not like you can drive around DC under any circumstances without ending up somewhere far from your destination...

They have a race in Baltimore, and the last race in D.C. was an issue for the public (for stupid reasons). There are plenty of tracks they can find that are far better than in downtown D.C.

by RACECAR Tue Aug 21, 2012 9:48 pm

And they couldn't just try to put together a return to Sears Point because...?

by PYLrulz Tue Aug 21, 2012 11:22 pm

RealRacer4 wrote:
Alpineopossum wrote:So a rumor that has been going around the sports car community is this.

ALMS wants and 11th race. Previously that was going to Oklahoma City, but now, it looks like the lead candidate is the street / parking lot track at Bobby Kennedy stadium in Washington DC.

Now, I love the idea of holding a race in DC. Its a really cool city. It is also a very beautiful city. So why are they holding a race in the ugliest corner of DC imaginable on a crappy race track in the parking lot of an MLS Stadium? And like a race in downtown dc wouldn't disturb traffic. It's not like you can drive around DC under any circumstances without ending up somewhere far from your destination...

They have a race in Baltimore, and the last race in D.C. was an issue for the public (for stupid reasons). There are plenty of tracks they can find that are far better than in downtown D.C.

Not only that, RFK Stadium. It should have plenty of parking for anyone that wants to go (not like one could take the Metro to begin with, like I do when me and my brother go to Washington Capitals games)

by RACECAR Sat Sep 01, 2012 1:26 pm

You guys will never believe this (I myself am still trying to): The Amercan Le Mans Series and The Rolex Sports Car Series will announce an agreement that will see both merge, likely in 2014.

Link to story here

by RealRacer4 Sat Sep 01, 2012 1:51 pm

So with them merging, which cars will they be using. The Grand-Am cars or the ALMS cars? I hope it'll be the ALMS cars because if not, then it'll make it difficult for the teams that want to compete in the 24 hours of Le Mans since they'll have to spend all of that extra money to get the chassis and parts just for one event.

by BWard Sat Sep 01, 2012 1:56 pm

RealRacer4 wrote:So with them merging, which cars will they be using. The Grand-Am cars or the ALMS cars? I hope it'll be the ALMS cars because if not, then it'll make it difficult for the teams that want to compete in the 24 hours of Le Mans since they'll have to spend all of that extra money to get the chassis and parts just for one event.

Nevertheless what happens I think it will make it a more popular Racing Series in America.

by RealRacer4 Sat Sep 01, 2012 2:06 pm

BWardboy88 wrote:
RealRacer4 wrote:So with them merging, which cars will they be using. The Grand-Am cars or the ALMS cars? I hope it'll be the ALMS cars because if not, then it'll make it difficult for the teams that want to compete in the 24 hours of Le Mans since they'll have to spend all of that extra money to get the chassis and parts just for one event.

Nevertheless what happens I think it will make it a more popular Racing Series in America.

There's no doubt about that. Also, if they decide to stick with the LMPs and the the LMGTs, it'll open up to other teams outside of the U.S. to compete in the newly merged series, especially for the 24 Hours of Daytona.

by BWard Sat Sep 01, 2012 2:17 pm

RealRacer4 wrote:
BWardboy88 wrote:
RealRacer4 wrote:So with them merging, which cars will they be using. The Grand-Am cars or the ALMS cars? I hope it'll be the ALMS cars because if not, then it'll make it difficult for the teams that want to compete in the 24 hours of Le Mans since they'll have to spend all of that extra money to get the chassis and parts just for one event.

Nevertheless what happens I think it will make it a more popular Racing Series in America.

There's no doubt about that. Also, if they decide to stick with the LMPs and the the LMGTs, it'll open up to other teams outside of the U.S. to compete in the newly merged series, especially for the 24 Hours of Daytona.

Yeah, it'll make the racing more exciting and maybe make the grids bigger of possible.

by RACECAR Sat Sep 01, 2012 5:07 pm

RealRacer4 wrote:So with them merging, which cars will they be using. The Grand-Am cars or the ALMS cars? I hope it'll be the ALMS cars because if not, then it'll make it difficult for the teams that want to compete in the 24 hours of Le Mans since they'll have to spend all of that extra money to get the chassis and parts just for one event.

Nothing on the details quite yet, but an announcement is coming this wendesday at Daytona. For now, the only thing as far as I can see is that Grand-Am will be the santioning body. I wouldn't necessarily say that means the end of the ALMS because Grand-Am wants to go global and seeing as they have talked numerous times with FIA at Grand-Am events (and have actually visited at the WEC SIlverstone event this past weekend), I would think they aren't going to completely destroy it.

by Alpineopossum Sat Sep 01, 2012 9:39 pm

I hope this isn't Grand Am taking over. If that happens, it will be bad. But if they are ALMS with DPs and no spec tire, it'll be good.

by RACECAR Sun Sep 02, 2012 8:40 pm

Just found out that this is actually the final homogation year for the current GT Class in Grand Am and that the new GX class was supposely going to allow teams running in GTE in the ALMS to more easily transfer over to Grand-Am. Seems to me thats one sign that while Grand-am will supposedly be the santioning body, they aren't necessarily changing the hell out of the ALMS. Also, (not necessarily directed at you guys, but the morons and their "NASCAR WILL RUIN IT!!!!" Doomsday comments at SpeedTV.com) the NASCAR concern is way overblown. Sure they own Grand-Am, but look at how they treat Grand-Am in comparison to their main three series. Exactly what indication is there that they so much are even concerned as to whether the DPs or LMPS will be the top class?

by **crl** Tue Sep 04, 2012 9:58 pm

Annoucement will be shown on SPEED tomorrow morning at 10 Eastern.

by AntmanB Tue Sep 04, 2012 11:37 pm

crl wrote:Annoucement will be shown on SPEED tomorrow morning at 10 Eastern.

My Body - I mean DVR - is ready.

by Spannerhead29 (Nelson) Wed Sep 05, 2012 10:04 am

I have no idea why but nascar.com broadcasting this.

Video link

EDIT: Never mind, I just found out that NASCAR "powers" Grand-Am.

And it's confirmed, Grand-Am and American Le Mans will be combined.

by Alpineopossum Wed Sep 05, 2012 3:37 pm

The announcement involved a array of cars: Grand Am DPs, ALMS P2, and ALMS GT. sounds like those are our classes

by Toblerone Wed Sep 05, 2012 5:11 pm

I imagine that the Grand-Am GTX or whatever that new class is called would still be around. ALMS always like green tech. Now Grand-Am followed. I see a green technology class with experimental cars.

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