ALMS, Petit Le Mans – Preview
Action Ahoy!

We started the season at Sebring with a nine-ring circus and now we end it in Georgia in a similar fashion, as the remains of the 2012 ELMS travels across the Atlantic to join with the ALMS for the season finales of both series.

While the season opener had the rather unmanageable nine separate classes, according to the official entry list, we are blessed to have only seven to worry about at Petit.  But in those seven classes are separate battles also – P2 is a battle among the semi-usual four ALMS entrants and four ELMS entrants.  GT is all ALMS, except in the class/sub-class –AM, where there are two ELMS entrants.  The rest of the entry consists of the usual, with the addition of the unclassified Delta Wing, racing all by itself.  While there are technically only the sevenish classes to worry about, there is much more to think about, especially with three of the classes having mixed entries.

First off is P1.  Whoo-hoo!  We’ve got some variety, assuming Rebellion is able to play the musical chassis game properly.  They add a much needed boost to the class, as the Toyota-powered team tries to step out of the shadow of the factory efforts, in what the team sees as an opportunity to shine and go all out for an overall win.  With Jani/Prost/Belicchi driving the Lola/Toyota/Michelin combination, they have a real chance.

But the guests must get past the hosts, and I don’t think either Dyson nor the championship leading Pickett Racing team are about to going to be very hospitable.  Welcoming maybe, but don’t expect the ALMS veterans to give them an inch.  First off, there is series pride – both teams want the opportunity to win “their” race outright, now that the factories are absent.  Plus they have a championship to worry about.  As it sits entering the finale, it is Pickett Racing in control – they simply need to complete the 70% distance in order to gain the championship.  Dyson?  They’re going to need to finish and hope the Pickett team has bad luck – not that the Dyson team is wishing bad luck on their friendly rivals, but they also want to repeat as champions.  By the way, has Petit ever dished a team any bad luck?

Pickett Racing adds Romain Dumas to the usual potent Graf/Luhr line-up, while Dyson counters with Steven Kane in the #16 and will have Mark Patterson and the ex-Autocon pair of Tony Burgess and Chris McMurry in the #20.  Chris, whose company has been developing the ALMS web presence, has also been busy working with his 14 year old son Matt.  At some point Chris may be better known as Matt’s father.

An unknown for this race is the unclassified Delta Wing, this time driven by Gunnar Jeannette and Lucas Ordonez.  The controversial car thus far has exhibited speeds right in the P2 class range, with power coming from only a tiny 1.6 liter Nissan motor.  Impressive so far – let’s hope that it is able to have a clean run to the checkered flag this time and not taken out as it was at Le Mans.

P2 for the ALMS is pretty much the same as in P1 when it comes to the championship.  Conquest is 16 points back of Level 5 and needs help in order to get the season long championship.  It is a doubly difficult task with Scott Tucker listed in both of the Level 5 cars, meaning something would have to happen so that he did not score points in either car, which is pretty unlikely, given the reliability that the P2 HPD cars have shown this season.

Much of the news in P2 comes from the Franchitti brother reunion in the No. 95 Level 5.  This will be a special event for the brothers – could it be an indication of things to come for the multi-time Indy 500 champion?

Dempsey adds the very fast Dane Cameron to the usual Foster/Dempsey combo, as the team takes their next step towards an eventual hoped for appearance at Le Mans.

The ELMS entries add some much needed luster, as the four entries in the class chase their own championship.  Entering into the originally unplanned finale, it is Thiriet TDS leading OAK, 44-34, with Greaves (18 points) and Murphy (15 points) further back.  Given that this is a double-points race for the ELMS competitors, 50 points await the class winner.  This means that no one is mathematically eliminated from winning the season title, but those trailing TDS will obviously need some help if they are to pull it off.

Keeping with the ELMS, the other entries are in the GT-Am category.  The class is down to two competitors, and it is IMSA Performance Matmut against AF Corse; Porsche vs. Ferrari.  IMSA Matmut holds a 43-34 point advantage – the same as in P2 applies – AF Corse will need some help here.  This race does finally have what we’ve all been waiting – the IMSA team competing in an IMSA regulated series.  Finally…

PC ends the season with a six-car entry, led by the dominant 2 cars from CORE Motorsports.  Is it a swan song for the team, as they move on to the P2 class?  Despite originally saying there wasn’t much interest in moving up at Sebring, later on the news came up the Jon Bennett was/is interested in moving up.  How the recent merger news affects their future plans remains to be seen, but for now their attention is on wrapping up what has been a wonderful 2012 season.

The remainder of the entries are fighting for scraps, but a win at Petit would make the season for any of the others.  Many may not like the spec class of racing, but this category cannot be accused of being boring – just look at last year at Petit and the roller coaster ride that the PC class provided.

GTC sees an eight-car entry, featuring two-car efforts from both TRG and NGT.  Among the drivers from the TRG effort are Emmanuel Collard – a rather surprising entry – while Grand AM GT champion Jeff Segal is a part of the NGT effort.  For AJR, the race will be a coronation for the season champion, Cooper MacNeil; a fitting result for the young driver and the very experienced AJR team.

OK – what’s been missing here so far?  How about the GT class?  OK, so Gavin/Milner have wrapped up the season championship.  Good for them and good for all of us because now all bets are off.  No worrying about scoring points – now everybody can simply go for it – a spectacle that really should be the focus of everybody’s attention.  So far, we’ve seen nothing to disappoint – in the last test session on Monday afternoon, seven cars were within 0.665 seconds of each other, led by the #3 Corvette

This class has been a standout for the series for quite some time and 2012 has been no exception.  Wins by Corvette, BMW, Porsche (Lizards and Falken) and Ferrari (ESM) has made this one of the most competitive seasons we’ve even seen and, while the championships are decided, a win at Petit is a big deal.  It is prestige, glory and most important, bragging rights as everybody enters into the off season.

Some things to look at in this class as we wrap the season up: 

Is this the last time we’ll be seeing the M3 based BMW effort, as a new replacement is reportedly being readied?

Will the Vipers show improvement, especially after receiving some further adjustments from IMSA?

Can Alex Job Racing continue to show the remarkable progress with their Lotus effort?  This has come a long ways from what we saw earlier this season.

How many of the competitors will return in 2013 in this class?  There are some rumors that at least one of the teams may be looking at a P2 effort for 2013.

Will this class continue to steal the show yet again? 

For most of the questions, we’ll have to wait and see, but for the last, I don’t think there is much doubt – GT will once again steal the show.  This is hands down the finest GT racing on the planet.

Testing has started and will continue through the week.  The official activities kick off on Thursday, after another test session to be held Wednesday afternoon.  DSC coverage will kick off in earnest on Thursday morning.

Gary Horrocks