ALMS Round 8: Circuit of the Americas

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by jasonjessica09

I don't buy this claim for a minute sir. No way DP can be sped up by 6 seconds. Basically going from 2 min 1 sec at COTA to 1 min 55 without expensive upgrades which are trying to be avoided by the teams. We'll find out in time who the wrong one is. I think you are.

But they are buying expensive upgrades and USCC has stated that DPs have to be sped up.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by jasonjessica09

I don't buy this claim for a minute sir. No way DP can be sped up by 6 seconds. Basically going from 2 min 1 sec at COTA to 1 min 55 without expensive upgrades which are trying to be avoided by the teams. We'll find out in time who the wrong one is. I think you are.

Believe what you will!








L.P.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by Salamus

But they are buying expensive upgrades and USCC has stated that DPs have to be sped up.

L.P.

[jasonjessica09]

Originally Posted by TRspitfirefan

+1

The great thing is that it could be better, because in ALMS the top cars are SRT, Corvette, and BMW. When you look at WEC it's Aston Martin, Porsche, and Ferrari that rule. I hope at The 24 Hours of Daytona we'll combine the best of both worlds together on an even platform. I think this year we did not get that. Aston Martin seemed to be no threat at Sebring while Corvette and SRT were non factors at Le Mans.

[Breitling24]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

L.P.

And now that DP's will be allowed at Le Mans... they have to go faster, or GT's will be all over them. With pretty much all of the DP owners crying poor, I wonder how many takers there will be. 8Star, yeah, Ganassi?

[BullMan]

Originally Posted by Breitling24

And now that DP's will be allowed at Le Mans... they have to go faster, or GT's will be all over them. With pretty much all of the DP owners crying poor, I wonder how many takers there will be. 8Star, yeah, Ganassi?

Uh, they aren't allowed at Le Mans.

[Salamus]

Originally Posted by Breitling24

And now that DP's will be allowed at Le Mans...

Huh? Have I missed something?

[FstrthnU]

The ACO has made no indication that Daytona Prototypes will be allowed for any future 24 Hours of Le Mans. As far as everything is concerned the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans will have LMP1, LMP2, GTE-Pro and GTE-Am.

[BullMan]

Originally Posted by FstrthnU

The ACO has made no indication that Daytona Prototypes will be allowed for any future 24 Hours of Le Mans. As far as everything is concerned the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans will have LMP1, LMP2, GTE-Pro and GTE-Am.

And one would surmise that as long as they are turning people away in those 4 categories, they won't add another to take up slots.

[chernaudi]

The statement of DP's being added to LM is based on the fact that the ACO/FIA and IMSA have agreed to homologate DP's for TUSCC until about 2017.

That doesn't necessarily mean that DP's will race at LM any time soon. I don't think that the ACO/FIA have signed off on that.

[BullMan]

I think it was just a poorly worded press release. Several people came away thinking DPs would be allowed at Le Mans.

[Breitling24]

Originally Posted by Salamus

Huh? Have I missed something?

Paddock talk at CoTA from some insiders... maybe the next press conference? Maybe rumour?

But, DP is supposed to be given more speed, to match P2's. They didn't want P2 coming in and showing up DP's...
USCC has worked to keep an French connection...
Would USCC and/or it's competitors be happy that it's "premiere" class wasn't eligible for an invite while GTLM cars are?

I don't know. Could also be a poorly spoken conference, as mentioned, could be more pipe dreams. The guys that I was talking to were under the impression it would happen.

[Simmi]

If USCC want DPs to go to LM then it likely won't be next year - given they shot down any chance of that with the Belle Isle scheduling over test day.

Regardless of that annoyance, it's surely better to get things sorted over a full season rather than rushing through the inevitable BoP/teething issues ahead of LM. Wait until it's right before bringing anything over.

[JacobP]

The ALMS race was pretty cool. Great weather, and I liked the GT battle. I liked ALMS more than the 6-hour WEC race. The later was a bit more grueling, specially if you're there from 10 to 6pm. I took a hike around the race track and really liked what I saw. I am a fan of DPs, and can't wait for P2 vs DP battle next year.

[Breitling24]

Originally Posted by JacobP

The ALMS race was pretty cool. Great weather, and I liked the GT battle. I liked ALMS more than the 6-hour WEC race. The later was a bit more grueling, specially if you're there from 10 to 6pm. I took a hike around the race track and really liked what I saw. I am a fan of DPs, and can't wait for P2 vs DP battle next year.

6 hours grueling? You better not go to Le Mans. 10-6... that's barely a workday.

At least the weather turned nice for Saturday and Sunday... beat the heck. out of the 90 degrees F and rain of Friday. That weather would have made a 6h race miserable.

[FalkenALMS]

Originally Posted by Mechanic Z

It looked pretty thin on TV.
You could see some full parking lots in the aerial shots, but the track itself didn't look terribly full.

We don't know the numbers, but the paddock and grid walk were pretty packed. COTA was a pretty big track and there were many places for fans to watch. Like IMS, you could probably have 50k fans there and it would look like nothing.

[KSR88]

Crowd was not great--33k for the weekend...that said the
WEC race on Sunday had half to two thirds the ALMS race on Sunday. You couldd go anywhere and take your pick of seaat cuz COTA say the small numbers and did not hire ushers. ALMS race was good in GT and GTC--and WEC was dull. LMP1 appeared staged with one Audi trailing the Toyota from early on..and all 4 LMP1s on the podium. Both GT races weres non competitive except for team mates.
All the paved runoff of a modern track leads to few safety cars and the quality of the field needed them. Half the small crowd left early.

[BullMan]

Originally Posted by Breitling24

Paddock talk at CoTA from some insiders... maybe the next press conference? Maybe rumour?

But, DP is supposed to be given more speed, to match P2's. They didn't want P2 coming in and showing up DP's...
USCC has worked to keep an French connection...
Would USCC and/or it's competitors be happy that it's "premiere" class wasn't eligible for an invite while GTLM cars are?

I don't know. Could also be a poorly spoken conference, as mentioned, could be more pipe dreams. The guys that I was talking to were under the impression it would happen.

This may just be semantics, but the USCC's top class IS eligible to run at Le Mans. P2 cars. I don't see ACO bending over for Daytona. USCC needs Le Mans much more than Le Mans needs them, which is an old adage NASCAR likes to use on people.

[TRspitfirefan]

Originally Posted by Breitling24

USCC has worked to keep an French connection...
Would USCC and/or it's competitors be happy that it's "premiere" class wasn't eligible for an invite while GTLM cars are?

GTLM is the premier class.

[stampchez]

What kind of crowds to the other WEC races draw? Hopefully this race will have a good chance to grow in Austin with USCC.

[Ginaro Zukovsky]

Originally Posted by KSR88

Crowd was not great--33k for the weekend...that said the
WEC race on Sunday had half to two thirds the ALMS race on Sunday. You couldd go anywhere and take your pick of seaat cuz COTA say the small numbers and did not hire ushers. ALMS race was good in GT and GTC--and WEC was dull. LMP1 appeared staged with one Audi trailing the Toyota from early on..and all 4 LMP1s on the podium. Both GT races weres non competitive except for team mates.
All the paved runoff of a modern track leads to few safety cars and the quality of the field needed them. Half the small crowd left early.

If the WEC LMP1 appeared staged to you, the ALMS LMP1 result was known to the rest of us about a week ago!

[Mechanic Z]

Originally Posted by FalkenALMS

We don't know the numbers, but the paddock and grid walk were pretty packed. COTA was a pretty big track and there were many places for fans to watch. Like IMS, you could probably have 50k fans there and it would look like nothing.

I wasn't sure where to look for crowds, with it being a new track to the series. Glad to hear that it was better attended than it looked on TV.

Originally Posted by KSR88
33k for the weekend

Not too bad for a first time event.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by TRspitfirefan

GTLM is the premier class.

Sorry, while it is my personal favorite, it is not the premier class.








L.P.

[TRspitfirefan]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

Sorry, while it is my personal favorite, it is not the premier class.








L.P.

GTLM features all the best teams, the strongest driver line-ups and the most advanced machinery.
This tough level of competition, will make It a much more difficult task to secure a win in the GTLM class, than it will be to win a USCC race overall. Therefore, It is the Premier class.

Other than slightly faster lap times, what does the Prototype class have, that enables it to claim the title "premier class"?

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by TRspitfirefan

GTLM features all the best teams, the strongest driver line-ups and the most advanced machinery.
This tough level of competition, will make It a much more difficult task to secure a win in the GTLM class, than it will be to win a USCC race overall. Therefore, It is the Premier class.

Other than slightly faster lap times, what does the Prototype class have, that enables it to claim the title "premier class"?

Other than that they (prototypes) are the fastest, they are positioned as such by the series, as well as the natural hierarchical structure of the series. They (GTE) are not "the" premier class.








L.P.