Le Mans Series Set To Go It Alone In 2012

There was an air of discontentment amongst Le Mans Series organisers as the plans for the 2011 ILMC emerged with more than half of the LMS races slated to run joint rounds with ILMC, the LMS were feeling very much like the junior partners.

A healthy full season entry list of 36 cars will have bolstered Patrick Peter's confidence in his product and will have no doubt contributed to the announcement yesterday that, from next season, there will be no joint races, the ILMC and LMS may race at the same circuits, but this will be on different dates.  A full announcement is expected in June in Le Mans week.

Turning to the choice of circuits for 2011 it seems that a combination of a new management team at Imola, and manufacturer pressure for an Italian race swung it for this season, whilst Portimao fell victim to a repeated insistence from the circuit management for a summer date despite repeated failures for the fixture to attract a crowd from the tourist trade.

He also revealed that competitors had been asked to give their opinions on whether the opening race of the season at Paul Ricard should retain the 8 hour format from 2010

The shift from 1000kms to a confirmed 6 hour duration is principally driven by TV pressures, the unpredictability of a race finish time proving difficult to market and accommodate.

Good news though on the broadcast quality front – From Spa onwards everything will be filmed in HD (including on-board cameras).