2010 Le Mans Intercontinental Cup

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by JAG

This season is only a toe in the water exercise, next year there will be at least two US rounds, and possibly more in Europe and Asia.

Unless not enough entrants are interested, and they have to adjust the rules... just like this year....

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by JAG

IMO the ILMC shouldn't just be viewed as a means to boost Sebring and PLM's entries.

I'd like to see teams such as Highroft, Dyson, P&M, RISI, Rahal etc. taking in a few ILMC rounds outside of North America.

This would obviously only be possible if round clashes were avoided, and perhaps if the ALMS was restructured with fewer rounds.

Rahal is BMW's North American team... no entry at LM, no entry in LMIC
Dyson has no interest in LM, no entry in LMIC
Highcroft... maybe
P&M... maybe
Risi, not likely

The ALMS will not be restructured for fewer rounds. Repeatedly, some fail to understand it is a business, whose intent is to make profits.

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

Rahal is BMW's North American team... no entry at LM, no entry in LMIC

But do we know for sure that they submitted an entry for Le Mans this year?

[JAG]

Except that the North American teams by-and-large have North American sponsors who don't have a presence in Europe or Asia, and so don't give a crap about going over there. It doesn't gain them anything to go overseas, so why would they fund such an expedition?

Because a significant number of these teams are factory backed efforts and/or enter Le Mans regularly, so at the very least a pre Le Mans warm-up at Spa could be on the cards.

For the very same reason Peugeot are happy to compete at Sebring and PLM, Chevy would get worldwide publicity competing at Spa, Le Mans and Silverstone.

Not to mention building these links can only benefit each regional series.

Fernandez's links with Aston Martin could see a car on the ALMS grid for a full season, Audi may then decide to place a single car in the series and such.

The cars are already out there, by spreading their resources sensibly, a manufactuer/team can have a presence in both regional series, and play a leading role in the ILMC.

But as I said above, to do this their needs to be co-operation on the calender front.

[JAG]

Originally Posted by Purist

Restructuring the ALMS as you say would only hurt the series. They NEED the maximum number of rounds they can get to achieve the maximum amount of exposure in the US throughout the entire racing season.

Let's face it, Europe has no single series that is equivalent to NASCAR. Australian V8 Supercars is probably the closest to it anywhere else in the world, but that's still only 12-15 weekends a year, as opposed to 36 for Sprint Cup.

ALMS obviously is not on that level, but needs as many rounds as possible (which ideally would be 12-16 a year); don't expect your series to get TV coverage over here unless you have eight or more rounds a season. It's just that simple.

NASCAR, V8 Supercars and DTM are unique in that they are very high level series, but focused entirely on their home markets.

The ALMS is part of a wider ACO sportscar scene, GT manufactuers seemingly can run factory backed programs on both sides of the Atlantic, prototype manufactuers not.

An Audi Sport boss said they wanted to compete in a full LMS season this year, and presumably the ALMS too, along with the ILMC, but the budget wasn't available.

I'm not sure how a bigger ALMS calendar would help matters, unless the series became so popular sponsors were throwing money at manufactuers and teams, personally I think that scenario is a touch idealistic.

Theoretically would the ALMS not be in a healthier financial position if manufactuers such as Audi were pouring money into the coffers for 6-8 rounds, rather than the series having 10-16 rounds with the current grid?

Then you have to consider how many of the current ALMS privateers would welcome more rounds, giving their sponsors greater expsosure, or are they infact funding much of their program out of their own pockets?

[Purist]

Even to most ALMS watchers, I'm not sure how much of a presence the LMS gets over here. It's not on SPEED anymore, near as I can tell.

Corvette gets their worldwide exposure at the Le Mans 24 hours. At least until the economy improves, they have no good reason to take the factory team overseas for any other event.

Mazda, who knows. Unless they and BP increase their sponsorship (may be tough for BP to do that right now), a trip, even just to Le Mans, is NOT going to happen.

Porsche and Ferrari already have factory-supported teams on both sides of the pond, so they don't need for IMSA Performance to come to Sebring or for Risi to go to Spa.

A larger ALMS schedule, when the money is in place, is good for getting the series into more markets, having fewer gaps in the calendar, and getting the series on TV more often to boost momentum and presence for the series. The ALMS had 12 rounds in 2007, and without the CCWS/ICS merger, would have been the same for 2008 (Houston wouldn't have disappeared).

Don't forget, things are more geographically spread out in the US than in Europe, and we don't have bullet trains here. We don't have a mass transit system worth ****, because most Americans want their cars AND low taxes, and most cities are designed for cars. With all the lead time and lay-overs, unless the race is more than a full day's drive away (750-900 miles), it doesn't necessarily even make a huge difference to fly to a race, and airline tickets aren't cheap.

Anyway, what events would we cut at present? As it is, we really could use an event that draws from the Pacific Northwest (Sonoma, Portland, Seattle Int'l Raceway). Canada might warrant a second race (St. Jovite, or a revived Vancouver). There's Mexico City, especially if Fernandez comes back over here full-time. There's also Texas (Houston, TMS, OKC as a possible draw from Texas) and the Mid Atlantic (VIR, Baltimore) to consider.

I'd say it's more that there is this "bigger is better" mentality, and if you can support them, having more rounds gets you taken more seriously and gets you more attention. With NASCAR, MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, PGA, etc, you MUST be racing on a somewhat consistent, regular basis to garner real attention and to grow.

A couple of things also strike me with your comments, JAG. You make little mention of European teams coming over here, but want our teams to go over there. Frankly, the Europeans have been looking after their own interests, and NOT coming over here in any significant numbers for the last five years, and the US teams have been looking after their own well-being, and NOT making expensive sojourns over to Europe, except for Le Mans itself. Also, for all the talk, Europe hasn't exactly been doing the best job of maintaining most of their marquee sportscar events. How consistently has the Silverstone 1000km been held over the last 45-60 years? What about the Spa 1000km, or the BOAC 1000km at Brands Hatch? The LMS has already let Monza lapse, which is pathetic given Ferrari's involvement in the series. It's not on the Nordschleife anymore, but Germany doesn't have an LMS round either.

In the States, Sebring, Daytona, the Glen, and Road America still all have sportscar races, though Elkhart Lake's is not an endurance event just at the moment. We've also added PLM at Road Atlanta. Races are still held at Mid Ohio, Mosport park, Laguna Seca, VIR, and Lime Rock Park. Why shouldn't we continue to make the most we can of our road racing resources and venues? Just because European sportscar racing isn't doesn't mean we should have to sacrifice if we can support what we're already doing.

[JHamilton]

Originally Posted by WMUCarGuy

I don't think it's good at all. Now very few of the would be entrants will come to Petit, or at least that's the way it seems to me...

This year, yes, but in upcoming years it might be a different story. Audi and Pug will be there. Outside of that, I'm not expecting much anyway.

[JAG]

For good or for worse the ALMS has alligned itself with the ACO.

The series benefited greatly from the likes of Joest Audi, Schnitzer BMW, ORECA Chrysler, Aston Martin etc. competing, but now there are alternatives.

For the ALMS to go it alone and expand, the above manufactuers and teams need to be replaced by home grown alternatives.

[Purist]

I wasn't talking about the ALMS just going it alone.

And the ACO should be mindful that unless the ALMS looks after its own interests, they simply won't have a North American arm anymore.

And so, it comes down to the fact that the ALMS needs the larger schedule (compared to the LMS) to be viable. It's just that simple, and I don't understand why that's so hard for you, JAG, to accept.

[gwyllion]

The China race will be Zhuhai, November 7.

In 2011 Le Mans will be included in the ILMC with double points!

source: http://www.endurance-info.com/versio...ance-4613.html

[CTD]

Originally Posted by gwyllion

The China race will be Zhuhai, November 7.

In 2011 Le Mans will be included in the ILMC with double points!

source: http://www.endurance-info.com/versio...ance-4613.html

Awesome!
We are getting close to a real World Series now!

[Acid09]

Good to see the test day back too!

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by Acid09

Good to see the test day back too!

With the new technical regulations it makes a lot of sense. Audi suffered quite a bit from the lack of a test day.

[CTD]

Originally Posted by Acid09

Good to see the test day back too!

Originally Posted by gwyllion

With the new technical regulations it makes a lot of sense. Audi suffered quite a bit from the lack of a test day.

RLM was sure that the Test Day was gone for good

[JAG]

That is a dream calendar, I didn't think the ACO would include Le Mans.

[Gil Abobeleira]

Great calender for 2011!

My only regret is the fact that they'll race at the current Fuji track, which is bloody awful (bring Suzuka or - let me dream - Autopolis).

[deggis]

Originally Posted by JAG

That is a dream calendar, I didn't think the ACO would include Le Mans.

Same. But it was a logical thing to do.

[NaBUru38]

I'll believe this when I see the cars racing on the track for the cup, but it could hardly get better than this!!! Oh, Suzuka and a South American race... but anyway, this is amazing!!!

[I Rosputnik]

You could have races in South America under the ALMS banner. One at Interlagos, another at San Luis and then another at Mexico City. Can't be that hard.

How many cars per class?

[6157]

Originally Posted by JAG

For good or for worse the ALMS has alligned itself with the ACO.

The series benefited greatly from the likes of Joest Audi, Schnitzer BMW, ORECA Chrysler, Aston Martin etc. competing, but now there are alternatives.

For the ALMS to go it alone and expand, the above manufactuers and teams need to be replaced by home grown alternatives.

There's no good, just for worse.

They need to be replaced NOW. When was the last time Schnitzer ran a full season? Oreca? Aston Martin? Audi would have run here with or without the LeMans' blessing. The relationship with the ACO is bringing absolutely nothing to the ALMS right now.

The ALMS has needed to kick the ACO to the curb for about the past three years.

[fieldodreams79]

sweet! good to see my backyard race is still on (this) calender; maybe more of the "cross the pond" LMPs at PLM 2011.

and i am all about some Fuji, too.

[KA]

Originally Posted by 6157

There's no good, just for worse.

They need to be replaced NOW. When was the last time Schnitzer ran a full season? Oreca? Aston Martin? Audi would have run here with or without the LeMans' blessing. The relationship with the ACO is bringing absolutely nothing to the ALMS right now.

The ALMS has needed to kick the ACO to the curb for about the past three years.

...and what happens if they did? Do you tear the rulebook up and start from scratch, bearing in mind that you could probably end up with classes of car that can't race at Le Mans, and no international presence from Audi, Peugeot etc at Sebring or Petit.
Alternatively, if you use the ACO classes and regs as a basis, then how much does it change things?

Breaking the ACO link could leave ALMS as nothing more than a more expensive alternative to Grand-Am...

[AndrewF31]

I just hope that the inclusion of LM in the LMIC doesn't mean ACO will favor teams that enter the LMIC over others. It would spell the death of the lower budget regional teams that nowadays stay at home but have a bit of extra money to invest for a trip to Le Mans.

[JAG]

Originally Posted by 6157

There's no good, just for worse.

They need to be replaced NOW. When was the last time Schnitzer ran a full season? Oreca? Aston Martin? Audi would have run here with or without the LeMans' blessing. The relationship with the ACO is bringing absolutely nothing to the ALMS right now.

The ALMS has needed to kick the ACO to the curb for about the past three years.

The ALMS hosts such exotic machines because the cars have primarily been developed for Le mans.

The ALMS is only lacking half a dozen P1/P2's and all could potentially be sourced from North America. This could be achieved by teams expanding or moving up in class and new entrants attracted by cost cutting measure and announcements such as HPD supplying customer engines.

IMO the ILMC can only have a positive effect on the ALMS as it will attract manufactuers to the sport, most of whom will also want a presence in the LMS/ALMS, and by guaranteeing Sebring and PLM remain world class events.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by I Rosputnik

You could have races in South America under the ALMS banner. One at Interlagos, another at San Luis and then another at Mexico City. Can't be that hard.

I would have a Le Mans Americas Cup from October to March, with Petit Le Mans as season opener, then those three races (for teams who don't go to Asia) and Sebring as season ender. And how about replacing Interlagos with the Sao Paulo Indy street circuit?