ALMS 2012 rumour entry list .

[AGD]

Originally Posted by Canada ALMS fan

Anyone else thinking that although Masaood will do Grand Am he may perhaps also be some of the rumoured funding Dyson has/is targeting for a Le Mans assault?

Maybe. He could get an entry that way without worrying about it. Having said that, I'm not so sure if I'd want to tackle P1 at Le Mans with a Lola-AER. If he wants to race with the P2s, he might as well race a P2! Granted, he may not have access to an auto-invite P2 team.

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by Jonerz

I wonder if better exposure would have kept Oryx in? It doesn't seem like it, as they are unsponsored. Just seems that Humaid just didn't want to spend the big money anymore.

Chris

Sponsored by 'own money,' so stroking of ego via media exposure would be important.....

[The Badger]

Shame to loose Oryx , and they did a brilliant job in only one year . Maybe a combo of ALMS shenanigans and money .

[JAG]

How many enrants has the ALMS now lost to GA, in addition to GM putting increased effort behind the series, who's come the other way, just Dempsey?

[Speed-King]

This year or all in all?
Anyway, just from the top of my head:

ALMS to GA
-AJR (eventually went back)
-TRG (ditto)
-Pacific Coast (went on to Champcar)
-Risi?
-Oryx
-Dyson back in 2001
-LG (might be done)
-Penske (ended sportscar program there)

GA to ALMS
-Fernandez
-AJR
-Dempsey (kinda sorta)
-PR1
-Dyson
-Muscle Milk (bit of a break in between)
-Rocketsports (ditto)
-Level 5 (for all the good it'll do....)
-Intersport (pre-DP-era)

Looks fairly even to me...

[JAG]

Originally Posted by AGD

Dyson is taking Jay Cochran back on-board the #16 car for 2012 so it would seem that Dyson isn't full of cash exactly. My guess is that they are trying to woo more pay drivers.

Dagys seems convinced they'll have two 2012 Lola's, must have been planned for some time.

[AGD]

Originally Posted by JAG

Dagys seems convinced they'll have two 2012 Lola's, must have been planned for some time.

Be that as it may, I don't think that Dyson is hiring Cochran for his awesome driving skills. If Dyson seems willing to put two amateur drivers in their main car, what makes you think that their second car will be some sort of all-pro effort? Maybe they'll find good pay drivers or maybe it's possible that the 2nd car will be all-pro, but it seems less likely than more.

[Coach Ep]

Former Intersport teammanager Brian Adler´s BAR1 efforts into LMPC more or less announced: http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...on-lola-mazda/

Imsa Lites champ Ricardo Vera will be one of the drivers. Good to see one the new hotshots stepping up to a more ´adult´ prototype. No word about a possible second (or third) driver. Still expecting Kyle Marcelli (and maybe Tommy Drissi) to show up here.

Hopefully we´ll see fellow Lites youngsters Tristan Nunez and Sean Rayhall following Vera soon. Too bad any of them won´t be in Dyson 2nd car this season.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by AGD

Be that as it may, I don't think that Dyson is hiring Cochran for his awesome driving skills. If Dyson seems willing to put two amateur drivers in their main car, what makes you think that their second car will be some sort of all-pro effort? Maybe they'll find good pay drivers or maybe it's possible that the 2nd car will be all-pro, but it seems less likely than more.

Well, when they ran the Spyders and the Lola before that, they usually had two pros in the second car. Wasn't it Smith/Dyson in the #16 and Wallace/Leitzinger in the #20?

[Jonerz]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

Too bad any of them won´t be in Dyson 2nd car this season.

Hold your horses on the second car thing.

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Well, when they ran the Spyders and the Lola before that, they usually had two pros in the second car. Wasn't it Smith/Dyson in the #16 and Wallace/Leitzinger in the #20?

Yupp.

Also, can everyone stop kicking Chris Dyson in the balls so hard? Motorsport is his profession. Yes he is a team principal/owner/driver but he is at the very least a B/B+ driver. He has had a number of very good races in his career where he's been right on the pace with the best professionals in the ALMS. He grabbed ALMS overall pole at Mosport in 2005 over the Audis and his teammate (which I believe was James Weaver). In second class RS Spyders he didn't shine, fair enough. But at Mid-O last year in 2010 he was right on pace and I thought he had a good year this season.

Chris

[AGD]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Well, when they ran the Spyders and the Lola before that, they usually had two pros in the second car. Wasn't it Smith/Dyson in the #16 and Wallace/Leitzinger in the #20?

True, but I'm not sure where the money will come from to run a second all-pro team. Maybe Mazda or Dunlop are throwing some cash around, but I don't know. I'm not aware of any rumors about that. Maybe Cochran's money will go toward getting some pro drivers, but we'll see. It would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath.

Originally Posted by Jonerz

Also, can everyone stop kicking Chris Dyson in the balls so hard? Motorsport is his profession. Yes he is a team principal/owner/driver but he is at the very least a B/B+ driver. He has had a number of very good races in his career where he's been right on the pace with the best professionals in the ALMS. He grabbed ALMS overall pole at Mosport in 2005 over the Audis and his teammate (which I believe was James Weaver). In second class RS Spyders he didn't shine, fair enough. But at Mid-O last year in 2010 he was right on pace and I thought he had a good year this season.

Chris Dyson does not suck and he certainly gave his team a chance to win races last year. That's more than what could be said about most of the Audi drivers. He can run laps as fast as anyone given the right circumstances, but he's not Guy Smith, Butch Leitzinger, Steven Kane, Lucas Luhr, Klaus Graf, and so forth. Long story short, a Dyson, Smith, Cochran lineup looks quite deficient compared to Graf, Luhr, Pagenaud (or insert whatever pro 3rd driver).

[Speed-King]

True, but I'm not sure where the money will come from to run a second all-pro team. Maybe Mazda or Dunlop are throwing some cash around, but I don't know. I'm not aware of any rumors about that. Maybe Cochran's money will go toward getting some pro drivers, but we'll see. It would be nice, but I'm not holding my breath.

I think the money is there, it's just a question of the Dysons being willing to spend it. After all, they were also self-sponsored in the Spyder days...

[AGD]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

I think the money is there, it's just a question of the Dysons being willing to spend it. After all, they were also self-sponsored in the Spyder days...

Yeah, we'll see how much money they want to spend. Maybe they are feeling generous after their championship. That said, if they have to pay their own way to go to Le Mans, would they also pay for an all-pro car? I guess it would be a different story if they don't go or if someone else (whether it be Oryx, another driver, a sponsor, or Mazda) is paying for it. Is there any chance that Dempsey might partner with Dyson to run the 2nd car? Either full-time or as a part-time 3rd driver? In the case of the latter, perhaps he can use his money or his connections to get money for pros.

Given that Dyson will probably need BoP to keep up with Muscle Milk's HPD, I wonder if there is any thought that they can't put anyone too fast in the #20 or else it might blow their chance at getting BoP. It would seem unlikely that someone would think that way, but IMSA gave Drayson a pretty healthy BoP advantage just because he sucked as a driver. Who knows.

[Speed-King]

I wouldn't be surprised to see it being the other way around, with having pro-drivers and still being slow as an argument FOR more BoP...

[AGD]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

I wouldn't be surprised to see it being the other way around, with having pro-drivers and still being slow as an argument FOR more BoP...

You could be right. If the Lola-AER is as slow as I expect it to be relative to the HPD, they probably don't need slow drivers to prove their point. It could help put the cherry on the cupcake though especially as the Dyson car may start off with a lot of BoP based on last year's performance and the question might be how much BoP to take off rather than how much to give the Dyson cars. Poor Muscle Milk, I feel bad for them. That said, they benefited from BoP in 2010 so I guess they can't feel too angry about it. We'll see. It's BoP so who knows...

[Simmi]

Is Guy Smith confirmed anywhere as driving for Dyson next year? Could he theoretically snag a WEC drive?

[AGD]

Originally Posted by Simmi

Is Guy Smith confirmed anywhere as driving for Dyson next year? Could he theoretically snag a WEC drive?

Yes, I think so:

Chris Dyson will again be joined by Guy Smith in the No. 16 car, with Jay Cochran returning to the lineup as well.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...ng-lm24-effort

[Coach Ep]

Looks like we gonna see Tristan Nunez in action with Performance Tech for the Petit at the end of the season!

PT might also have another LMPC car in the championship.

http://www.oreca-manufacturer.com/le-repas-de-noel-de-performance-tech-motorsports…/

[JAG]

Originally Posted by AGD

You could be right. If the Lola-AER is as slow as I expect it to be relative to the HPD, they probably don't need slow drivers to prove their point. It could help put the cherry on the cupcake though especially as the Dyson car may start off with a lot of BoP based on last year's performance and the question might be how much BoP to take off rather than how much to give the Dyson cars. Poor Muscle Milk, I feel bad for them. That said, they benefited from BoP in 2010 so I guess they can't feel too angry about it. We'll see. It's BoP so who knows...

If Dyson and MM both start with 2012 cars, there's no reason for BoP, HPD put on a good show at Sebring but by the end of 2011 the Lola was arguably the class of the petrol field, Dyson's 2011 car was a hybrid P1/P2, they had power/weight breaks, but ran P2 tyres and such.

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by JAG

If Dyson and MM both start with 2012 cars, there's no reason for BoP, HPD put on a good show at Sebring but by the end of 2011 the Lola was arguably the class of the petrol field, Dyson's 2011 car was a hybrid P1/P2, they had power/weight breaks, but ran P2 tyres and such.

Two cars (types) in top class... if they aren't even out of the box, there will be BoP...

---------------------------------

Dyson has been testing drivers recently, that come with budget. These drivers have been linked with other programs as well, so as likely, or not as the second car might be, the ink does not appear to be dry.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Fogelhund

Two cars (types) in top class... if they aren't even out of the box, there will be BoP...

---------------------------------

Dyson has been testing drivers recently, that come with budget. These drivers have been linked with other programs as well, so as likely, or not as the second car might be, the ink does not appear to be dry.

If both dyson and mm start with new 2012 rules cars, I hope there are no preseason adjustments.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by joeb

If both dyson and mm start with new 2012 rules cars, I hope there are no preseason adjustments.

In-season performance balancing is even worse than pre-season... and you can count for this to happen when Dyson is involved

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Chiana

and you can count for this to happen when Dyson is involved

The question is at this point - what can you do with only two teams? Would you rather have them walk away?

I wouldn't put it beyond them, last year TRG - one of the more respected teams in the sport - pulled out of Grand Am GT when they felt that they had no chance to win.

[Deleted]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

I wouldn't put it beyond them, last year TRG - one of the more respected teams in the sport - pulled out of Grand Am GT when they felt that they had no chance to win.

Yeah but in case of ALMS P1, there is likely going to be only 2-4 entries in the top class of the series! Even without BoP tweaking there's a high chance of winning the race overall if the other team faces problems or anything (like Cytosport at Baltimore last year). You can't say the same for GA GT.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Chiana

Yeah but in case of ALMS P1, there is likely going to be only 2-4 entries in the top class of the series! Even without BoP tweaking there's a high chance of winning the race overall if the other team faces problems or anything (like Cytosport at Baltimore last year). You can't say the same for GA GT.

That can't be the rationale for a 2+ million dollar per year racing program, though, especially when you expect paydrivers to pick up some of the bill...