Quote:
Originally Posted by Itgb
It's hard to believe, but I've been attending ALMS races for almost 10yrs now(Laguna Seca and Long Beach). Originally, BMW wasn't even in this series, so the fact that they aren't pulling out and continuing with the Z4 makes me happy. Maybe in a few years they will switch to the new M3/4 when the timing is right. I'm just a little worried about what's going to happen with the merger with Grand-Am in 2014 since daytona prototypes do nothing for me.  |
don't worry, the GT classes will all compete. Daytona GT classes are similar to the GTC class in ALMS, cheap and easy switch for ALMS teams.
The merger of the ALMS prototypes with Daytona prototypes will the more difficult. Maybe they can run 3 P classes? But Daytona prototypes will not qualify for 24 Hours of LeMans.
Remember Target team runs a Dinan BMW Daytona P car:
Official announcement of the merger was made today. Here’s what we found out:
• A merger was first discussed five years ago, but the time wasn’t right.
• Ed Brown (ALMS Sponsor) got the ball rolling again at the Daytona 24 this year
• Don Panoz and Jim France did the deal on the golf course six months ago ..... read in the pub
• 2013 will see the two series running separate schedules
• 2014 will see a combined series beginning at Daytona, then going to Sebring
• No official name for the new series has yet been decided
• The likely number of races is 12
• Jim France insisted during discussions that the link with Le Mans must remain
• The class structure is yet to be decided, but will not feature LMP1
• ALMS GT is part of the package, as is Grand-Am GT
• Nissan DeltaWing is part of the package
• The process of determining the technical regs is only just beginning
"So, much still to be discussed and announced over the coming months; but what was striking about the announcement was the air of optimism and positivity. This was to be expected, of course, but we probably didn’t expect Jim France to describe himself as ‘a lifelong sportscar fan’; nor for him to recall a conversation with his late father, who told him that “We don’t know how big sportscar racing can be.”
The board of the new organisation will be as follows:
Chairman - Jim France
Vice Chairman - Don Panoz
Lesa France Kennedy (NASCAR Vice Chair/Executive Vice President)
Ed Bennett (Grand-Am President/CEO)
Scott Atherton (ALMS President/CEO)
Karen Leetzow (NASCAR Vice President/Deputy General Counsel)