Tom (aka Godzilla)
10-19-2005, 02:57 PM
The 2005 American Le Mans season finale Laguna Seca may well be remembered as the day when the torch was passed from old to new.
The season may have gone to the veterans, but the race definitely went to the rookies. It was a weekend of firsts, in all classes.
By the numbers:
1 - number of cars winning their debut race (Porsche RS Spyder)
2 - finishing place of the #2 Champion Racing Audi R8; driven by Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro, who clenched the driver's title at Petite Le Mans
3 - number of new track qualifying records set
3 - number of ALMS classes that Porsche has claimed victories in (LMP2, GT1, GT2)
5 - consecutive victories by the Corvette C6R in GT1
41 - combined age of the youngest ever driving pair to claim a victory in ALMS (Tom Chilton: 20, Hayanari Shimoda: 21; drivers for the LMP1 Zytek 04S)
2002 - the last year when anything other than an Audi or Lola won in LMP1 (A Panoz LMP1 was victorious at the Grand Prix of Washington in 2002)
24 - number of weeks until the opening race of the 2006 ALMS season. :D
"This season is one that probably could not be duplicated," said and elated Dave Maraj, Team Owner/Champion Racing. "We won the three most important sports car races: the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours Le Mans and Petit Le Mans. Two of our drivers won the Driver's Championship (Biela/Pirro), Team ADT Champion Racing won their 2nd Team Championship and we gave Audi their 6th Manufacturer's Championship. It's been quite a year for Champion Racing." He forgot to mention the Champion Racing also claimed overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a feat that no American based racing team has accomplished since 1968,
Although the chassis has dominated endurace racing since it's debut, the Audi R8 will be nearly obselete when new rule changes take effect in 2006. The car has already been handicapped with an engine intake restrictor, and the lack of power showed when faced with challenges from the Zytek, which is compliant with the new regulations. Even though Audi withdrew it's factory teams in 2002, German is still the preferred language in the Champion pits. Rumors are that Audi is currently preparing a successor to the R8 that will comply with the 2006 rulebook. With the Lola's being a proven competitor, and the Zytek's showing their potential, Audi will need to rekindle the creative flames that forged the R8 if they want to stay in the endurace racing game.
In LMP2, it's all about the Porsche RS Spyder. We should consider ourselves fortunate, since the ALMS is the only series that the Porsche RS Spyder is competing in. That means if anyone else wants to watch her race, they'll have to come to the good 'ole US of A to do so. For now, Penske motorsports remains Porsche's exclusive partner in prototype racing. That's probably a releif for the for the Miracle Motorsports Courage C65 team. Although they finished second in LMP2 and and clenched the manufacturer's champinship, they do have alot of work in the offseason. As do the other LMP2 teams, if they want to compete with the Porsche.
In GT1, the Corvette Racing C6R's finished 1-2 for the 31st time in team history. The GT1 battle was back and forth between the Corvettes, Aston Martins, Saleen and Maserati. It was a great example of what make ALMS a global race series. The Saleen S7-R qualified on the pole with a new track record, but the Corvette's superior braking was demonsrated when Ron Fellows executed "the pass of the year" getting around the #57 Aston Martin heading into the Corkscrew. "There were a couple of places were we were better, and braking was one of them," Fellows reported. "The Corvette has always stopped very well and cornered very well, so I went for it." A stuck rear wheel during a pit stop allowed the #4 Corvette to take over the lead from the #3 sister car at 3:07 elapsed time. The two yellow screamers never looked back. "My car was fantastic today, absolutely hooked up. Nobody could touch us." said Oliver Gavin.
GT2 continues to be an all-Porsche event. But, in a night of firsts, they were not to be left out. A first place finish by the Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing 911 GT3 RSR earned the first ALMS Driver Championships for both Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long, it earned the Michael Petersen-owned team their first-ever ALMS Team Championship.
http://tom.socaleuro.com/features/racing_alms_ls_05/05_alms_ls009_800.jpg
http://tom.socaleuro.com/features/racing_alms_ls_05/05_alms_ls053_800.jpg
http://tom.socaleuro.com/features/racing_alms_ls_05/05_alms_ls062_800.jpg
http://tom.socaleuro.com/features/racing_alms_ls_05/05_alms_ls009_800.jpg
http://tom.socaleuro.com/features/racing_alms_ls_05/05_alms_ls068_800.jpg
http://tom.socaleuro.com/features/racing_alms_ls_05/05_alms_ls086_800.jpg
The season may have gone to the veterans, but the race definitely went to the rookies. It was a weekend of firsts, in all classes.
By the numbers:
1 - number of cars winning their debut race (Porsche RS Spyder)
2 - finishing place of the #2 Champion Racing Audi R8; driven by Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro, who clenched the driver's title at Petite Le Mans
3 - number of new track qualifying records set
3 - number of ALMS classes that Porsche has claimed victories in (LMP2, GT1, GT2)
5 - consecutive victories by the Corvette C6R in GT1
41 - combined age of the youngest ever driving pair to claim a victory in ALMS (Tom Chilton: 20, Hayanari Shimoda: 21; drivers for the LMP1 Zytek 04S)
2002 - the last year when anything other than an Audi or Lola won in LMP1 (A Panoz LMP1 was victorious at the Grand Prix of Washington in 2002)
24 - number of weeks until the opening race of the 2006 ALMS season. :D
"This season is one that probably could not be duplicated," said and elated Dave Maraj, Team Owner/Champion Racing. "We won the three most important sports car races: the 12 Hours of Sebring, the 24 Hours Le Mans and Petit Le Mans. Two of our drivers won the Driver's Championship (Biela/Pirro), Team ADT Champion Racing won their 2nd Team Championship and we gave Audi their 6th Manufacturer's Championship. It's been quite a year for Champion Racing." He forgot to mention the Champion Racing also claimed overall victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a feat that no American based racing team has accomplished since 1968,
Although the chassis has dominated endurace racing since it's debut, the Audi R8 will be nearly obselete when new rule changes take effect in 2006. The car has already been handicapped with an engine intake restrictor, and the lack of power showed when faced with challenges from the Zytek, which is compliant with the new regulations. Even though Audi withdrew it's factory teams in 2002, German is still the preferred language in the Champion pits. Rumors are that Audi is currently preparing a successor to the R8 that will comply with the 2006 rulebook. With the Lola's being a proven competitor, and the Zytek's showing their potential, Audi will need to rekindle the creative flames that forged the R8 if they want to stay in the endurace racing game.
In LMP2, it's all about the Porsche RS Spyder. We should consider ourselves fortunate, since the ALMS is the only series that the Porsche RS Spyder is competing in. That means if anyone else wants to watch her race, they'll have to come to the good 'ole US of A to do so. For now, Penske motorsports remains Porsche's exclusive partner in prototype racing. That's probably a releif for the for the Miracle Motorsports Courage C65 team. Although they finished second in LMP2 and and clenched the manufacturer's champinship, they do have alot of work in the offseason. As do the other LMP2 teams, if they want to compete with the Porsche.
In GT1, the Corvette Racing C6R's finished 1-2 for the 31st time in team history. The GT1 battle was back and forth between the Corvettes, Aston Martins, Saleen and Maserati. It was a great example of what make ALMS a global race series. The Saleen S7-R qualified on the pole with a new track record, but the Corvette's superior braking was demonsrated when Ron Fellows executed "the pass of the year" getting around the #57 Aston Martin heading into the Corkscrew. "There were a couple of places were we were better, and braking was one of them," Fellows reported. "The Corvette has always stopped very well and cornered very well, so I went for it." A stuck rear wheel during a pit stop allowed the #4 Corvette to take over the lead from the #3 sister car at 3:07 elapsed time. The two yellow screamers never looked back. "My car was fantastic today, absolutely hooked up. Nobody could touch us." said Oliver Gavin.
GT2 continues to be an all-Porsche event. But, in a night of firsts, they were not to be left out. A first place finish by the Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing 911 GT3 RSR earned the first ALMS Driver Championships for both Jörg Bergmeister and Patrick Long, it earned the Michael Petersen-owned team their first-ever ALMS Team Championship.
http://tom.socaleuro.com/features/racing_alms_ls_05/05_alms_ls009_800.jpg
http://tom.socaleuro.com/features/racing_alms_ls_05/05_alms_ls053_800.jpg
http://tom.socaleuro.com/features/racing_alms_ls_05/05_alms_ls062_800.jpg
http://tom.socaleuro.com/features/racing_alms_ls_05/05_alms_ls009_800.jpg
http://tom.socaleuro.com/features/racing_alms_ls_05/05_alms_ls068_800.jpg
http://tom.socaleuro.com/features/racing_alms_ls_05/05_alms_ls086_800.jpg