American Le Mans Series - Miller Motorsport Park - Race Preview

It’s July.  It’s May.  It’s July yet again.  It’s Miller time!!

If rumors came true, this is the race that might not have been, but the American Le Mans Series returns to the desert yet again, to race at what may be one of the best facilities in North America.  Unfortunately the vision of the late Larry Miller has not caught on in Utah, proving that the adage of “if you build it, they will come” does not always work out.

Everything about the facility is first class, except maybe the location.  To the citizens of Salt Lake City, there appears to be a major case of apathy going on concerning the race track – no matter what the hard working staff tries, they just can’t get the fans to come to the track.  So, is this the last time the series visits the track?  We’ll know later this year.

On track, the racing has been quite good, with the track layout generating some good competition.  A unique feature about racing here is the altitude.  It’s high – above 4000 feet high.  Traditional set-ups react differently here – the rarefied air here makes downforce a valuable commodity, while the normally aspirated cars struggle against the turbos.

It’s the above reasons that have allowed Jon Field and Intersport to shine here in the past and there should be no reason for them to not do the same again. Expect the Intersport team to again feature in the race among the six entered prototypes.  This should also be a strong venue for Dyson to shine again, if they can shake the reliability issues that have plagued them lately.

Reliability has been a concern of late for the Lola teams.  Gearbox/drive train issues have been a concern for the (LMP1) Lola competitors (Autocon, Intersport and Drayson) and Dyson (P2) has just been hampered with stuff.  Hopefully the 2 month gap since the last race has allowed some of these issues to be resolved, especially for Autocon, which has had a dreadful run of luck this season.

The other competitors in the combined prototype class are Cytosport and Highcroft.  Cytosport, according to the latest communication from IMSA will be allowed to run at a reduced weight (800 kg), which should be able to keep them competitive in the class.  It’s the first time for team to compete here, but the Porsche chassis has seen previous success here and the team feels like the layout of the outer course will be a favorable one for the team.
 
Miller has not been kind to Highcroft in the past as this team has struggled here – sometimes due to getting caught behind Intersport in the early going.  If the team responds with a good finish here, it will take them quite a ways towards the season championship – if not, it’s game on for the season long championship.

There's a surprise driver change for Drayson Racing - The good Lord has suffered a non-racing related foot injury which means he can't drive this weekend - Emmanuele Pirro will step in - Not a bad supersub to have is it?

As far as the overall race, look back to last season in the LMP2 class.  Dyson was on their way to a possible class victory, but the somewhat slower and more efficient Acura of Fernandez Racing won out, when the Dyson Lola Mazda was forced to make a late stop for fuel.  This one should come down to strategy and reactions to how the race unfolds.

Notable by not being present is the Steve Pruitt led Corsa team.  At Long Beach, Steve had said he’d hoped to be back for his home race.  In this case no news is not good news.

GT, for this race gets even better – if that is possible.  Adding to the intrigue, Risi is running a second Ferrari for Giancarlo Fisichella and Toni Vilander.  While Vilander has raced in ALMS competition before, he, like his F-1 experienced teammate Fiscihella has not previously raced at Miller.  Neither has Gianmaria Bruni, but all the drivers (except for Fisichella) got to experience the track at a recent test.

Another change for Risi is the switch over to E85, joining in with the majority of the GT class competitors.

Many have felt that once Le Mans was over, teams might be willing to show their true pace.  Le Mans is over now – let’s see it.  Thomas Blam, of the Lizards expects the same – “I expect that this will be the first race in which we see how the GT field really stacks up."  The Lizards have won here the last two seasons, and again the No 45 must rank as one of the favorites, but they are leery of the competition. “This one is going to be tough - any one of 10 cars could run up front in GT.”

The team most are expecting to challenge for the class win are Corvette Racing.  By their standards, it’s been a long dry spell, but they’ve been close and are knocking on the door.  Is this the race for them to get their first GT class win of the season, or will it be BMW?  Rahal Letterman BMW was oh so close at Laguna – they’re due also.

Extreme Speed Racing had a coming out party of sorts at Laguna, courtesy of Johannes van Overbeek’s outstanding drive.  It’ll be tough for them to surpass that, but they are progressing rather well as a still young team.

Not progressing well at all is the Rocketsports Jaguar.  Any inkling of momentum the team may have gained at Laguna has to have been washed away from the frustratingly disappointing effort at Le Mans.  It may no longer be when it comes right – if it ever comes right might be the real question now.

Team Falken continues their learning season.  The drivers have shown flashes of brilliance – it’s a matter of the tires catching up to the lofty benchmark that Michelin has established.  The heat might be a difficult one for the tires to tackle so early in the program, but so far, the team has been a pleasant surprise.

Robertson Racing had a busy few months.  Time in the wind tunnel has brought forth some developments which the team hopes will pay off at Miller, while they’ve also switched engine builders for the Ford V8.  Out are Roush-Yates and in are Elan.  You’ve got to give them credit – they’re not backing away from a challenge.

LMPC has had some good battles, especially between Level 5 (Tucker/Bouchut and Tucker/Wallace) and Green Earth Team Gunnar (Jeannette/Zugel) and that should continue here.  Genoa has been right there also, but they’re not on the entry list this time.  In fact for this round, only 5 cars are entered.  Alex Figge and Max Hyatt are in the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry this time, and the Intersport entry has the usual Wong/Pagery pairing.

GTC has the full allotment of ten cars again, and heading the entry are the 3 Alex Job Racing entries.  Running 1-2-3 in the points, they’ve been the ones to shoot for in the class, but the others are catching up.  Always a challenger when Andy Lally is around, TRG figures to feature in the class again.  The Tim Pappas Black Swan team also should show some real speed, as Jeroen Bleekemolen appears to be one of the fastest drivers around.

The Orbit entry for Bryce Miller will have some changes, starting with this event.  The team has announced that Luke Hines will drive the remainder of the season with the team and further changes on the Miller Racing front have former team manager Eric Barrett leaving the team.  The team also announced that they would concentrate on the ALMS schedule – no further Grand Am races are planed for this season.

In a sense, coming to Miller Motorsports Park is a return to the norm.  The race is scheduled for 2 hours – 45 minutes, which surprisingly is the first one of that length for the season and instead of races once a month, the traveling ALMS circus will cross the continent and now be featured at 5 events in 8 weekends.

Adding to the joy of this round, at least for this flea, will be the heat.  The way some parts of the country are right now, the forecast actually is not that bad temperature wise – highs in the mid 80’s are fine with me.  It’s the forecast of scattered thunderstorms that is a bit worrisome.

On a positive note, In-n-Out Burger has expanded into Utah.  There are currently no locations in close proximity to the track, but then again, nothing is close to the track.  I guess it’s my duty to find the closest one.  I’ll take one for the team.

The ALMS cars are on track for a promoter test day Friday afternoon and full coverage from DSC will kick off Saturday morning.

RIP “Beach Boy” Bob.  May you rest in peace.

Gary Horrocks