Grand Am And ALMS To Merge According To Speed

FYI classes announced:

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130104/GRAND_AM/130109950

 

Here also:

http://www.grand-am.com/News/GA_News/tabid/141/Article/53028/grand-am-american-le-mans-series-announce-class-structure-for-unified-series.aspx?cid=6383&sid=1

 

DP/P2/Delta Wing BOP decisions are going to be.....interesting

I have a feeling PC is being allowed as a transitional/car count class and will be phased out in a few years. too many gentlemen drivers own or run PC to throw the baby out with the bathwater (and they put on a pretty good show).

I agree with what they're doing in GT.

overall I think this is the best decision given the constraints they were faced with.

 

No surprises.

My question is, if GrandAM's new "Man on the Street" fans
have a hard time comprehending two classes competing at
once, how are they going to get (counting fingers...), multiple,
multiple classes?

http://www.grand-am.com/Mobile/NewsDetail/tabid/266/Article/53028/grand-am-american-le-mans-series-announce-class-structure-for-unified-series.aspx?cid=1&sid=1

BHW

 

Multiple "classes-within-categories"

Sheesh! They squandered a good opportunity for clean-up here...

 

I think it came down to "clean-up with no car count" vs. "cluster**** with car count".

 

Can wait to watch these out at the KS Speedway this year!

 

I agree. They should have a prototype and GT class. Keep it simple.

 

Not really, keep it financially reasonable, then you will have more participation. That is the real simple. The more the participation, the more likely the series will last longer than it takes to cook a 7 pound turkey on Thanksgiving.

There will never again be the "ideal" American road racing series. Personally, I would rather have something, than no series at all.

 

pretty much. enjoy what we can get.

 

The devil will be in the details of course.

How the DP and P2 cars will be equalized is anyone's
guess right now. Since DP has been a collosal failure
that's not resonated with media, sponsors and these
new "Man on the Street" fans they were supposed to
create, the only way left is up.

If entry at Le Mans is the goal, then it won't be acceptable
to dumb down the P2 cars. They'll have to unleash the DP
cars (power and aerodynamics) but then they run the risk
of being faster than Cup which certainly isn't in NASCAR's
interests.

Since there were no surprises in the announcement and there
evidently weren't any "reporters" there to ask pointed
questions, we'll have to wait to find out exactly how all this
shakes out as the year goes on.

BHW

 

I understand why, but multiple classes of cars is not going to grow the series. Grand-am needs to focus on the fans and not the cars. Once the fan base returns to the sport the sponsorship money will return. The cars will get better.

We (FCHAT Chatters) do not represent the majority of race fans in this country.

NASCAR is the most watched racing series in the USA. In NASCAR its all about the drivers,sponsors, the venue (the party) and the manufactures not the cars. It is also about the history of the sport. They run only one type of car.

So, IMHO, the new ALMS/Grand am should have a GT and a Prototype class only. Focus on having the manufactures involved as much as possible. Make the GT looks as close to stock as it can.
The prototypes will run power plants from automobile manufactures and make them adhere as close as they can to the Le mans spec. So they can run the 24 or FIA.
Use the grand-am media to cover the drivers, highlight the manufactures and the history of the sport. Spend some Grand-am $ to improve the venues. Create a better experience for the fans.
It is not easy. It's not cheap. But it is never going to happen, so I will stop wasting my time. Grand-am has a real opportunity to make a change here.

 

Absolutely correct but the notion of NASCAR doing the
logical or right thing dosent go among with their narrative
that Cup is the ultimate form of racing in the world and
their unwritten edict that any money spent on other forms
of racing (entertainment) is money out of their pockets
which they'll stop at nothing to recoup.

As a colleague noted regarding the full transcript of Friday's
announcement, not one single mention of the fans but many
mentions of "us" and "we".

What we come away with from Friday is they're solely concerned
with car counts and they'll just throw all these different categories
into a blender and see what sticks and what dosent.

Still, many more questions remain to be answered, how the BOP
works, if/how this would all work with the ACO and what, if any,
new manufactueres will come on board.

BHW