Asian Le Mans Series

[tux]

I was suprised to see ARC Bratislava on the entry list.

[Deleted]

I was surprised to see cars on the entry list. Especially at later stage

It must be weird feeling for AAI to suppply "only" 30% of the grid instead of 40 to 50%

Perversely the series has more GT3s than ELMS, more ACO legal P2s than IMSA

[Jam3s]

Well, it's a start I suppose. Interested to see how the two different P3's compete, pity there isn't a Ginetta there though we'll know the answer to that the following week.

[Ephaeton]

well, day 1 comparison sees the Ligier faster...

Then there's this interview with Taesch Wahlen with the gem:

“We could maybe go from three to four-hour races instead of having a fifth round organized. The idea would be for 2015/2016 to have only standalone Asian Le Mans events.”

Uh.. good luck with that.

[Ospi]

Basically they won't run with wec again, it's been a disaster. True winter series, 4 events ending early Feb.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by Ephaeton

Uh.. good luck with that.

Repeating old mistakes over and over again is in the blood of this series and it's iterations.

I'm sure by standalone they also mean continuing to not cooperate with SGT and other Asian series but by just running alone again and nobody ever comes to see em

Well I guess at least ELMS seems to be somewhat learning it's lesson on sharing track with others

[tux]

Im not sure this is what Asia needs........

http://sportscar365.com/lemans/aco-p...-championship/

[Deleted]

Two LMP series.

In Asia, the market of horrific track record.

Incorporating yet umproven category, plus CN cars the ACO officials have badmouthed in public and whom have zero chance for getting LM entries. And no filler categories so total count?

Sliding the cake into even smaller pieces than before without thinking of self cannibalization.

No need to get the primary series working first if you can have two (or three when WEC Asia counted).

Remember how Ratel needs to artificially lure cars in to his sprint Blancpain Series so not all would just do the endurance Blancpain? And those even have the currently most numerically populous category in world going on.

Instead of carefully spaced out BIG EVENTS and cooperation like in ILMC days we now have multiple scattered micro gatherings for dwarf groups. All on Grade 1 and all standalone.

Anyone remember the famous words in 1998 Oscar gala. Maybe some French are taking it to the heart right now...

[Deleted]

Three of the four AAI cars retired in two hour eace. While no one else did. Good job

[Deleted]

With 13 cars the start photo makes it look bit more like actual race than with 6-8 last year



And there were (non cardboard) humans watching looks like. Though most appear to have professional cameras so maybe they are just press people. In any case, will they count on that on the standalone weekends?

[Graham Goodwin]

The guys with cameras in that pic are fans

BUT - honestly a little less cynicism is due here - The grid is of good quality, several teams have, unprompted, told me they will be bringing additional cars and are DELIGHTED with the changes made for this year.

It's a long hard road but this is WAY better than last year already, despite the challenges of the timing of the first race.

The organisers have shown others in the business the correct way to 'do' customer service - They deserve huge respect for that

[Ospi]

One thing which is a little confusing is that the p3 stops are now competitive (unlike the elms p3 regs) which means additional staff and the requirement for better equipment. They definitely didn't design the nuts on those things with efficiency in mind. I just find it odd that in a series designed to be cheaper for Asian teams to get involved removed a rule which was designed to help keep costs down.

[Asa]

The teams who bought cars in Asia need to find a use for them outside the AsLMS season. I guess that is why ACO is doing this new series.

You cannot ask an Asian team to buy a car, ship it to Asia, run it for 4 races and then leave the car in the garage to gather dust for the remainder of the year. Once they bought a car, they need to find a place to keep it running.

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by Graham Goodwin

The guys with cameras in that pic are fans

BUT - honestly a little less cynicism is due here - The grid is of good quality, several teams have, unprompted, told me they will be bringing additional cars and are DELIGHTED with the changes made for this year.

It's a long hard road but this is WAY better than last year already, despite the challenges of the timing of the first race.

The organisers have shown others in the business the correct way to 'do' customer service - They deserve huge respect for that

While that all might be very true, the poor scheduling job that these organizers (and their predecessors) are (/have been) doing is a big stumbling block. And the lack of cooperation with other major series is another and going by the recent news bits and quotes it's hard to see substantial improvements coming anytime soon.

Those are 2 major issues that the series have to overcome if it wants to be successful. You would think that with all the experience the ACO has, they can figure that out as well?

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by Asa

The teams who bought cars in Asia need to find a use for them outside the AsLMS season. I guess that is why ACO is doing this new series.

You cannot ask an Asian team to buy a car, ship it to Asia, run it for 4 races and then leave the car in the garage to gather dust for the remainder of the year. Once they bought a car, they need to find a place to keep it running.

Half of the field in the series are GT3s which are eglible in thousand and one Asian series. Same with Challenge/Trofeo/Cup entries in GT-AM. Even CNs have places to go to (if for some reason there were CNs left). Finally LMP2 has three Asian WEC events to go to, as do (again theoretical) LMGTE cars. Those may also get accepted or SGT.

The only ones "left out" - unless they head Europe for ELMS or French GT - are LMP3. But even they have much more options with or without some sprint series, than LMP1. Where privateer are forced to run on WEC or nowhere at all. Which is two to three series less than at the start of the decade. They are the real victims and whom should be catered for.

[Asa]

I quote:"Developed to encourage new teams and drivers to enter prototype racing, to serve as a ladder to further ACO-rules competition as well as allowing teams who have already invested or considering investment in LMP3 hardware to create a sustainable business model."

LMP3 hardly "have much more options" in Asia if you know the motorsport scene out here.

[Deleted]

No but they have many more options worldwide than LMP1 does

[Asa]

Originally Posted by Chiana

No but they have many more options worldwide than LMP1 does

So the Asian teams are supposed to buy their LMP2 and LMP3 cars, ship them to Asia to do AsLMS, then ship them back to Europe or USA in summer? How's that supposed to help Asia develop Le Mans style racing and how is that supposed to attract Asian drivers? Yeah, I know, fly them to Europe and USA to race. If that is the YOUR plan, then we can forget about the whole thing today.

Fortunately the ACO do not think like you.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/121336

[Deleted]

All I'm saying, you first make your primary series in the region work on it's own and on long term basis, you know see if it actually lasts. Even the old All-Japan LM Series and previous iterations of ASLMS ocassionally had good grids. And they weren't even really relying on filler classes like GT3 (ELMS proves that can spiral down anytime too). Only then, if it works, you should consider B-series and such. And even then you need to realize it will automatically cannibalize entries from your other series. All this sounds premature to me. ACO itself always talks of stability and time, well use it here then too.

Dome isn't even gonna have anything ready until 2017. So the only true Asian LMP3 is some way on the road.

Not sure why you mentioned P2 since that isn't gonna get expanded in Asia anyway, that sprint series thing is proposed for P3 and (unsupported) CN.

If they right now want LMP3 to have more Asia presence, they could just allow them into WEC Asianevents as fifth class. ILMC level of integrated cooperation. But they won't.

[Juntos]

Now I feel like the biggest idiot in the world. How can ACO sings the victory song if they had 3 prototypes and a bunch of old GT3 cars at Fuji? 11-car 4-class race? Is that a success? There are two sides to every story. With the truth and ACO stuck smack in the middle.

[Deleted]

Technically it's a series for seven types of formula

LMP2
LMP3
CN
LMGTE
FIA GT3
JAF-GT300
One-make GT

But currently only four are subscribed, and LM24 legal individual car count is two (three when Algarve joins). LMP3 success needs bit more time to judge

[Juntos]

Tryouts begin after breakfast but ACO did open a couple of bottles of champagne after round 1. Asian LMP3 success is today comparable to David Cheng embarrassing race pace. All masks eventually have to come off, and with them so do the gloves.

[Asa]

Originally Posted by Chiana

All I'm saying, you first make your primary series in the region work.

The new proposed series do not run on the same dates as the AsLMS. AsLMS runs in the winter, the new series is supposed to run in the summer.

If there is not a good series to run these cars in Asia throughout the year, then Asian teams will not buy the cars, because no driver will want to (pay and) drive them. It is as simple as that.

[Deleted]

Between 2003-2011 there was no other place to run LMP1/LMP2 cars in Europe than LMS comprised of five races, plus LM if you were lucky to receive entry.

Two series will ultimately lead to decreased car counts, even if held on different timeframes.

[Victor_RO]

Originally Posted by Chiana

Two series will ultimately lead to decreased car counts, even if held on different timeframes.

Depends very much on how many of those cars get sold. It might not be that much of an issue if the rumoured sales figures for at least the Ligier turn out to be accurate.