ALMS Rnd 2: Houston 10-12 May 2006

jhansen · 10 May 2006, 15:06 (Ref:1605154)

It's time for Round 2 of the ALMS championship, which sees the series racing in Texas for the Grand Prix of Houston. The series last raced in Texas in 2001. It's a pretty packed schedule for the ALMS with two 50-minute practice sessions and qualifying set for Thursday. The 30-minute warm-up will be Friday at 1:45pm with the race starting at 8pm, which means it'll finish in the dark.

This will probably be one of the smallest grids of the year with 24 cars on the official entry list. However, with that said, the grid has the usual high standard of quality. The race should be interesting. Although I'm not a fan of street races.

Entry list here:

http://www.americanlemans.com/Events...%20Entries.pdf

Event Schedule here:

http://www.americanlemans.com/Events...20schedule.pdf

Timing and scoring here:

http://www.imsaracing.net/2003/lt/ltc.html

ALMS Radio here:

http://globecast.workscast.com/

JAG · 10 May 2006, 16:59 (Ref:1605238)

I'm betting the Lola and Porshe P2's will be quicker than the R8.

Wonder how far Dyson have progressed?

Will Intersport be competitive with the RS's?

Looking good.

neiltbag · 10 May 2006, 17:32 (Ref:1605249)

Well for the first time in ages, an Audi is not the "well, duh!" choice to win, and that's a good thing. Perhaps the most wide-open ALMS race for ages, which is a shame given the small field.

It's also a shame that CBS are showing it tape-delayed, would have liked to have had Hindy's commentary running in tandem with the images like usual.

paul-collins · 10 May 2006, 19:08 (Ref:1605315)

It appears that the ALMS is running a fantasy league now, too.

http://uniquefantasy.com/lemans/

I don't know if people here are interested in this sort of thing...

Seoigh · 10 May 2006, 19:23 (Ref:1605327)

I hope 'The Captain' and associates have figured out how to make the P2's complete a race...there were awesome at Sebring....briefly

**skycafe** · 11 May 2006, 00:26 (Ref:1605545)

I kind of feel like this will be a Porsche race. They have to be ahead of Dyson's Lola's development-wise, and will be trouble free, while the Dyson cars will have some challenges.

I think the Field's Lola P2 car will out run the Audi in qualifying.

Aston's in GT1? The Corvette's are hobbled and it seems like the worst possible course for them the way they are hobbled, but at least one of their cars always runs like a metranome.

I am just glad race is here finally after the long wait since Sebring.

gttouring · 11 May 2006, 00:50 (Ref:1605553)

finally the race season is on...
i have no idea about GT1
GT2 is what i am clamouring to see though.
Risi 430's! Panoz and Porsche what a rumble this will be.
Porsche LMP 2 will do very well and the mighty R8 will still storm around as it should.
i have no clue now that i think about it...who will do what

**Bentley03** · 11 May 2006, 06:51 (Ref:1605656)

I believe Houston time is six hours behind the UK, so the schedule here should be:

Thursday
Practice 1 17:10 - 18:00
Practice 2 23:20 - 00:10

Friday
Qualifying GT1/2 00:20 - 00:40
Qualifying LMP1/2 00:50 - 01:10

Saturday
Race 02:00 - 04:45

bgeorge104 · 11 May 2006, 12:20 (Ref:1605936)

The race is being shown on Motors TV Saturday 20:00 BST, according to the listing on sky, it's "live", I wonder if I can get a bet on after listening to the race on Globecast?

tux · 11 May 2006, 14:36 (Ref:1606019)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley03

I believe Houston time is six hours behind the UK, so the schedule here should be:

Thursday
Practice 1 17:10 - 18:00
Practice 2 23:20 - 00:10

Friday
Qualifying GT1/2 00:20 - 00:40
Qualifying LMP1/2 00:50 - 01:10

Saturday
Race 02:00 - 04:45

thank you i was just about to pop off and google the times in uk. im not moaning but i was hoping motorstv would show it live after they got the contract to show it in the uk.

arakis · 11 May 2006, 16:08 (Ref:1606072)

is there live timing on at first practice.

GO GO FERRARI GO GO
430 430 430 430

WouterM · 11 May 2006, 16:31 (Ref:1606081)

Quote:

Originally Posted by arakis

is there live timing on at first practice.

GO GO FERRARI GO GO
430 430 430 430

http://www.imsaracing.net/2003/lt/ltc.html

FCYTravis · 11 May 2006, 17:07 (Ref:1606099)

Quote:

Originally Posted by skycafe

I think the Field's Lola P2 car will out run the Audi in qualifying.

Right now the Field's car can't even outrun the GT1 field, much less the Audi. R8 is 9/10ths quicker than the field.

jhansen · 11 May 2006, 17:10 (Ref:1606100)

Why doubt the Intersport car? It has already prooved itself on pace before. My guess is that they let Liz Halliday drive most of the session to get used to the street track.

What I don't get is how teams at this level can show up at a race and then seemingly fight mechanical gremlins during practice. ie the Konrad Saleen.

arakis · 11 May 2006, 17:13 (Ref:1606105)

First Practice times

1 2 P1 1 Rinaldo Capello 1:07.102 Audi R8 Audi Sport North America Michelin
2 6 P2 1 Lucas Luhr 1:08.053 Porsche RS Spyder Penske Motorsports Michelin
3 16 P1 2 Butch Leitzinger 1:08.273Lola B06/10 AERDysonRacingTeamMichelin
4 7 P2 2 Timo Bernhard 1:08.470 Porsche RS Spyder Penske Motorsports
5 4 GT1 1 Oliver Gavin 1:10.910 Chevrolet Corvette C6-R Corvette Racing
6 3 GT1 2 Ron Fellows 1:11.000 Chevrolet Corvette C6-R Corvette Racing
7 009 GT1 3 Pedro Lamy 1:11.292 Aston Martin DBR9 Aston Martin Racing
8 12 P1 3 Chris McMurry 1:11.309 Lola EX257 AER Autocon Motorsports
9 007 GT1 4 Tomas Enge1:11.661 Aston Martin DBR9 Aston Martin Racing
10 37 P2 3 Liz Halliday 1:12.584 Lola B05/40 AER Intersort Racing Goodyear
11 62 GT2 1 Jamie Melo 1:13.468 Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta Risi Competizione
12 31 GT2 2 Patrick Long 1:13.828Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Petersen/White
13 23 GT2 3 Klaus Graf 1:14.339 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Alex Job Racing
14 50 GT2 4 Scott Maxwell1:14.370 Panoz Esparante GT-LM Multimatic
15 45 GT2 5 Johannes van Overbeek 1:14.635 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR
16 8 P2 4 Jamie Bach 1:14.803 Courage C65 Mazda B-K Motorsports
17 21 GT2 6 Bill Auberlen 1:14.964 BMW M3 E36 BMW Team PTG Yokohama
18 51 GT2 7 Gunnar Jeannette 1:15.167 Panoz Esparante GT-LM Multimatic
19 44 GT2 8 Lonnie Pechnik 1:15.467 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR Flying Lizard
20 22 GT2 9 Martin Jensen 1:16.227 BMW M3 E36 BMW Team PTG Yokohama
21 20 P1 4 Chris Dyson 1:19.740 Lola B06/10 AER Dyson Racing Team
22 19 P2 5 Ben Devlin 1:31.777 Lola B2K/40 AER van der Steur Racing Inc --

Go Ferrari GO Forza

FCYTravis · 11 May 2006, 17:19 (Ref:1606108)

Quote:

Originally Posted by jhansen

What I don't get is how teams at this level can show up at a race and then seemingly fight mechanical gremlins during practice. ie the Konrad Saleen.

Dyson struggled with the 20 car as well. Cars break, it happens. Just don't know why it has to happen to Dyson so much

rdjones · 11 May 2006, 21:11 (Ref:1606351)

Times from the 1st session look like this:-

Quote:

Practice Session 1

1. Allan McNish, Scotland; Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Audi R8 (P1), 1:07.102, 89.63
2. Sascha Maassen, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:08.053, 88.37
3. James Weaver, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Lola B06/10 AER (P1), 1:08.273, 88.09
4. Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:08.470, 87.84
5. Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6-R (GT1), 1:10.910, 84.81
6. Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny OConnell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6-R (GT1), 1:11.000, 84.71
7. Pedro Lamy, Lisbon Portugal; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Aston Martin DB9 (GT1), 1:11.292, 84.36
8. Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Lola EX257 AER (P1), 1:11.309, 84.34
9. Tomas Enge, Czech Republic; Darren Turner, England; Aston Martin DB9 (GT1), 1:11.661, 83.93
10. Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Liz Halliday, Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Lola B05/40 AER (P2), 1:12.584, 82.86
11. Mika Salo, Finland; Jaime Melo, Brazil; Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta (GT2), 1:13.468, 81.86
12. Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:13.828, 81.46
13. Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Klaus Graf, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:14.339, 80.90
14. Scott Maxwell, Canada; David Brabham, Australia; Panoz Esperante GTLM (GT2), 1:14.370, 80.87
15. Wolf Henzler, Germany; Johannes van Overbeek, San Francisco, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:14.635, 80.58
16. Jamie Bach, West Palm Beach, FL; Guy Cosmo, Long Island, NY; Courage C65 Mazda (P2), 1:14.803, 80.40
17. Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; BMW E46 M3 (GT2), 1:14.964, 80.23
18. Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Panoz Esperante GTLM (GT2), 1:15.167, 80.01
19. Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:15.467, 79.69
20. Martin Jensen, Denmark; Justin Marks, Sacramento, CA; BMW E46 M3 (GT2), 1:16.227, 78.90
21. Guy Smith, England; Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Lola B06/10 AER (P1), 1:19.740, 75.42
22. Gunnar Van der Steur, Chesapeake City, MD; Ben Devlin, England; Lola B2K/40 AER (P2), 1:31.777, 65.53
23. Paolo Ruberti, Italy; Tom Weickardt, Whitefish Bay, WI; Saleen S7R (GT1), 5:07.718, 19.54

**skycafe** · 12 May 2006, 00:32 (Ref:1606511)

The Audi? Wow. Well, I have been wrong before (on a really consistant basis!), but perhaps never this WRONG

the humbled robert

rdjones · 12 May 2006, 06:40 (Ref:1606688)

But the Dyson will be on pole

1. James Weaver, England; Butch Leitzinger, State College, PA; Lola B06/10 AER (P1), 1:04.459, 93.30
2. Timo Bernhard, Germany; Romain Dumas, France; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:04.481, 93.27
3. Sascha Maassen, Germany; Lucas Luhr, Germany; Porsche RS Spyder (P2), 1:05.245, 92.18
4. Allan McNish, Scotland; Rinaldo Capello, Italy; Audi R8 (P1), 1:05.382, 91.98
5. Chris McMurry, Phoenix, AZ; Bryan Willman, Kirkland, WA; Lola EX257 AER (P1), 1:06.629, 90.26
6. Ron Fellows, Canada; Johnny OConnell, Flowery Branch, GA; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 1:08.035, 88.40
7. Oliver Gavin, England; Olivier Beretta, Monaco; Corvette C6.R (GT1), 1:08.090, 88.33
8. Clint Field, Dublin, OH; Liz Halliday, Rancho Santa Fe, CA; Lola B05/40 AER (P2), 1:08.399, 87.93
9. Tomas Enge, Czech Republic; Darren Turner, England; Aston Martin DBR9 (GT1), 1:08.427, 87.89
10. Pedro Lamy, Lisbon Portugal; Stephane Sarrazin, France; Aston Martin DBR9 (GT1), 1:08.629, 87.63
11. Paolo Ruberti, Italy; Tom Weickardt, Whitefish Bay, WI; Saleen S7R (GT1), 1:10.368, 85.47
12. Mika Salo, Finland; Jaime Melo, Brazil; Ferrari 430 GT Berlinetta (GT2), 1:11.209, 84.46
13. Jorg Bergmeister, Germany; Patrick Long, Oak Park, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:11.340, 84.30
14. Scott Maxwell, Canada; David Brabham, Australia; Panoz Esperante GTLM (GT2), 1:11.777, 83.79
15. Jamie Bach, West Palm Beach, FL; Guy Cosmo, Long Island, NY; Courage C65 Mazda (P2), 1:11.866, 83.69
16. Mike Rockenfeller, Germany; Klaus Graf, Germany; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:11.895, 83.65
17. Gunnar Jeannette, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Tom Milner, Leesburg, VA; Panoz Esperante GTLM (GT2), 1:12.131, 83.38
18. Wolf Henzler, Germany; Johannes vanOverbeek, San Francisco, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:12.449, 83.01
19. Seth Neiman, Burlingame, CA; Lonnie Pechnik, Pacific Grove, CA; Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (GT2), 1:12.722, 82.70
20. Gunnar Van der Steur, Chesapeake City, MD; Ben Devlin, England; Lola B2K/40 AER (P2), 1:12.984, 82.40
21. Martin Jensen, Denmark; Justin Marks, Sacramento, CA; BMW E46 M3 (GT2), 1:13.186, 82.18
22. Guy Smith, England; Chris Dyson, Pleasant Valley, NY; Lola B06/10 AER (P1), No Time, 0
23. Joey Hand, Sacramento, CA; Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA; BMW E46 M3 (GT2), No Time, 0

**Bentley03** · 12 May 2006, 07:02 (Ref:1606706)

I did manage to stay awake for qualifying, just!

Very exciting and thanks to Hindy for his usual first rate commentary, especially appreciated last night with live timing down for about an hour.

It's a relief to see James Weaver put the B06/10 on pole. Shame about the 20 car (lost oil pressure) but the team must be very encouraged to see their new baby showing some pace at last.

Nick49 · 12 May 2006, 13:54 (Ref:1607046)

Hello

Lets hope the Dyson Team can keep it going. Porsche must be smiling being ahead of the Audi and also Corvettes ahead of the Aston Martins. Should be an interesting race.

Nick

Fogelhund · 12 May 2006, 14:10 (Ref:1607058)

Rumours suggesting that there will be another joint Honda/Acura and ALMS conference. Perhaps we'll see the announcement of (a) team(s)?

I'll suggest they will come from the list of Rahal, Andretti/Green and Newman/Haas.

There are unconfirmed suggestions that there was some work done on the track overnight, to remove some of the bumps. The Champcars in particular had some problems, including broken gearboxes after as few as three laps.

Silk Cut Jaguar · 12 May 2006, 15:42 (Ref:1607157)

Champcars - 0:59.1
LMP1 - 1:04.459

I don't know why but I assumed the gap would be a little bigger but then I suppose 5 seconds is a lifetime on a short track like Houston.

I'm looking forward to this race as prototype street races seem to be a rare thing these days... well, except for that little one in June.

**Bentley03** · 12 May 2006, 15:47 (Ref:1607163)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silk Cut Jaguar

Champcars - 0:59.1
LMP1 - 1:04.459

I don't know why but I assumed the gap would be a little bigger but then I suppose 5 seconds is a lifetime on a short track like Houston.

Likewise. Champcars have what, 750bhp with turbo?

Makes me wonder what sort of time Nishy could do have done in an R10.

Dani Filth · 12 May 2006, 19:01 (Ref:1607306)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bentley03

I believe Houston time is six hours behind the UK, so the schedule here should be:

Saturday
Race 02:00 - 04:45

can anybody confirm the time ?? . i have to set the clock for 4:00 if that's the case

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