ALMS 2013 Discussion

[MitchZ06]

It's already up on ALMS.com.

[amidst tundra]

Originally Posted by MitchZ06

It's already up on ALMS.com.

Is that available to watch all regions? If so why did I pay £5 for ESPN player lol... that's a beer lost. Yep does work! Cheers.

[MitchZ06]

No problem, they actually got it up real quick for once too probably because of the streaming farce. You can watch the races outside the US live on the website too, £5 better spent on a beer my friend.

[amidst tundra]

Originally Posted by MitchZ06

No problem, they actually got it up real quick for once too probably because of the streaming farce. You can watch the races outside the US live on the website too, £5 better spent on a beer my friend.

True, but I work as a night porter so I'll earn £18 watching this race... boss is away

[Creep89]

Originally Posted by amidst tundra

Is that available to watch all regions? If so why did I pay £5 for ESPN player lol... that's a beer lost. Yep does work! Cheers.

The ESPN Player comes with higher Bitrate. You can choose up to 2,2Mbit/s, which looks really good. The Player on alms.com does not provide such a high bitrate, so as a result the stream does not look as good as the ESPN one.

[FstrthnU]

I actually have an idea for what will happen to Core Autosport next year. Considering that the team has had a very close relationship with Starworks Motorsport (in particular lending drivers), I think Pottolichio might fund a Core Autosport P2 car or Core could help run a Starworks P2 car. If Starworks pulls completely out of Grand-Am next year, I think they could have enough resources to run a 2nd WEC car as well as an ALMS car with Core's help.

[R4z3rw33n]

Originally Posted by FstrthnU

I actually have an idea for what will happen to Core Autosport next year. Considering that the team has had a very close relationship with Starworks Motorsport (in particular lending drivers), I think Pottolichio might fund a Core Autosport P2 car or Core could help run a Starworks P2 car. If Starworks pulls completely out of Grand-Am next year, I think they could have enough resources to run a 2nd WEC car as well as an ALMS car with Core's help.

I seem to remember Bennett suggesting the possibility of an independent CA P2 effort (in an interview with Dagys - if memory serves) a while ago. Adding Starworks to that scenario certainly can't be a negative.

There was another rumour (not too long ago) about the possibility of a big GA/DP team making the switch between series. Perhaps the two items are related?

[The Badger]

Big team would suggest to me either a 2 car team or a top team .

Love to see Ganassi come to ALMS with their sponsor and drivers .

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Big team would suggest to me either a 2 car team or a top team .

Love to see Ganassi come to ALMS with their sponsor and drivers .

The LAST thing the ALMS, especially a privateer class like LMP2, needs is the Ganassi Cancer.

[Jonerz]

Originally Posted by FstrthnU

I actually have an idea for what will happen to Core Autosport next year. Considering that the team has had a very close relationship with Starworks Motorsport (in particular lending drivers), I think Pottolichio might fund a Core Autosport P2 car or Core could help run a Starworks P2 car. If Starworks pulls completely out of Grand-Am next year, I think they could have enough resources to run a 2nd WEC car as well as an ALMS car with Core's help.

Core Autosport and Starworks Motorsport are not related. Core Autosport is Jon Bennett's South Carolina-based race team. He has built them up from IMSA Lites through his own personal wealth gained from being successful in the composites industry. He has done the intelligent thing and rented his second car to paying drivers to help defray costs while doubling data over the weekend, increasing chances for teams titles etc.

Starworks Motorsport is Peter Baron's wholly professional race team based in Florida. He makes money by providing the infrastructure for guys like Enzo Potolicchio and Alex Popow to go racing at the highest levels of North American and World motorsport.

The 06 Core Autosport car had two seats open when Frankie Montecalvo took his business elsewhere (along with Gunnar Jeanette his mentor, driver coach, co-driver etc.). And after Potolicchio had wound up doing a WEC program Popow added Sebring in the Core car to his Grand-Am programs (Rolex and CTSCC in Mustangs before that fell apart) and after liking the ALMS, the PC class and feeling competitive he signed on for a full season in PC with Core and has brought Ryan Dalziel to some races because of his previous existing relationship with them through Starworks. (How the Tom Kimber-Smith deal worked out, I don't know. Likely Alex met him through Starworks' WEC program and he needed him in the Core car when Dalziel couldn't make it.)

Peter Baron has irons in many fires going into 2013, as he always does, because he is a businessman and will run program for profit. Should Enzo stick with Peter Baron (and I assume he will because they seem to have a good relationship that has brought them a Le Mans 24 Hour win, a Sebring win and were a Lucas Luhr mistake away from winning the Daytona 24) they will likely choose between an ALMS program or a WEC program for 2013 - in each case, one car, one championship. Enzo probably won't go back to Grand-Am, unless they make a major appeal to him and that doesn't fit the NASCAR "you need us but we don't need you" mantra. Enzo could replace his Grand-Am effort with an ALMS effort in addition to the WEC. However amongst the many reasons that won't necessarilly happen, the WEC will have a lame schedule (outside of Sebring, Spa, Le Mans and Silverstone), having already achieved a Le Mans 24 Hour win and a (knock on wood) a World Championship to his name, the ALMS could be the target in 2013.

Core Autosport's 2013 plans are contingent on what Jon wants to do. Does he want to move up to P2 and try his hand at Le Mans? Or will he stick with PC? Also, the second Core car will be rented out as it has been since the inception of the program.

tl;dr The two teams are unrelated, the appearance of driver "sharing" is purely coincidental. Their 2013 plans are highly unlikely to involve one another and I don't think Enzo dropping the Grand-Am program as a guarantee to expanding his WEC program or even replacing the Grand-Am program with ALMS or somesuch. And finally, Enzo is only worth one car in any series he runs, his car, until someone can prove to me he is paying for Alex Popow (why isn't Alex quitting GA if he is reliant on Enzo's money?).

Also FWIW, I'm hard pressed to identify the teams (plural) that are leaving Grand-Am...

Chris

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

The LAST thing the ALMS, especially a privateer class like LMP2, needs is the Ganassi Cancer.

Why ?

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Why ?

With Chip's Telmex mega-bucks he'll outspend the class and dominate smaller teams, under his reign of dominance in DP the series have gone from nearly 30 to 9 full time cars. In nearly every series he races in, they also get away with cheating, and always get the best of race control, then complains when things don't go his way, like in CART asking Da Matta to be "Thrown out of the series" at Milwaukee when he simply didn't have enough time to drive into the pitlane and had to go another lap with his engine blown. Or of course this year when they, especially their drivers, complained about BMW being "down on power" and Pruett calling it unfair. Or of course knocking out both your top competitors at the 2011 Rolex 24 with Juan Pablo Montoya in the 02 and doing the same to their top championship contenders at the Brickyard. If Ganassi came to LMP2, the class would die with it. Plus I doubt he would in the first place.

Interesting how in a series with much bigger fish than him, NASCAR, the team struggles and is nowhere near a championship winning program. Mind you, when one of your drivers just wants to collect a paycheck, play golf, and eat cheeseburgers you are slightly handicapped

[The Badger]

Woooow ..... sorry I asked !!!

[Jonerz]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

With Chip's Telmex mega-bucks he'll outspend the class and dominate smaller teams, under his reign of dominance in DP the series have gone from nearly 30 to 9 full time cars. In nearly every series he races in, they also get away with cheating, and always get the best of race control, then complains when things don't go his way, like in CART asking Da Matta to be "Thrown out of the series" at Milwaukee when he simply didn't have enough time to drive into the pitlane and had to go another lap with his engine blown. Or of course this year when they, especially their drivers, complained about BMW being "down on power" and Pruett calling it unfair. Or of course knocking out both your top competitors at the 2011 Rolex 24 with Juan Pablo Montoya in the 02 and doing the same to their top championship contenders at the Brickyard. If Ganassi came to LMP2, the class would die with it. Plus I doubt he would in the first place.

Interesting how in a series with much bigger fish than him, NASCAR, the team struggles and is nowhere near a championship winning program. Mind you, when one of your drivers just wants to collect a paycheck, play golf, and eat cheeseburgers you are slightly handicapped

I've never understood why he is in DP in the first place. I know he tried his hand at sports cars in the Eighties... but Ganassi Racing + DP has never made sense to me.

I always assumed his lack of success in NASCAR has been because he is incapable of bullying them the way he has been able to bully in open-wheel. He finally found an organization that surpasses his capabilities for wrong doing and tyranny.

Chris

[BSchneiderFan]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

The LAST thing the ALMS, especially a privateer class like LMP2, needs is the Ganassi Cancer.

Behave. Inappropriate.

[amidst tundra]

Originally Posted by Creep89

The ESPN Player comes with higher Bitrate. You can choose up to 2,2Mbit/s, which looks really good. The Player on alms.com does not provide such a high bitrate, so as a result the stream does not look as good as the ESPN one.

To be honest, if I can watch it, I'm not bothered how it looks to a point. The number of people complaining the GT1 World uploads aren't in HD grate on me. Then again, I only had a HD TV for a few months before I sold it.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

The LAST thing the ALMS, especially a privateer class like LMP2, needs is the large teams such as Ganassi with major budgets in a privateer pro-am category, especially a team that has a history of rather sketchy rules and bullying the paddock in other series.

Is that better? If it offends anybody, then I'm sorry and invite any moderator to please edit my original post.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

Behave. Inappropriate.

My apologies.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

Behave. Inappropriate.

[MagVanisher]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

The LAST thing the ALMS, especially a privateer class like LMP2, needs is the Ganassi Cancer.

What is so bad when it's a good opportunity to strike Grand-Am by having Ganassi joining ALMS?

[MitchZ06]

Ganassi would be better off in P1...

[HJJ]

Remember, Ganassi is a principle in Delta Wing. Just saying.....

[MagVanisher]

Originally Posted by HJJ

Remember, Ganassi is a principle in Delta Wing. Just saying.....

So Ganassi would defect to ALMS and race in Delta Wing cars?

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by Jonerz

I've never understood why he is in DP in the first place.

He makes money doing it.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by MagVanisher

So Ganassi would defect to ALMS and race in Delta Wing cars?

God forbid , I hope not !!!

Surely he wants competition and not to race in a one chassis class .

I will swith off the TV .