Official ALMS 2013

[ElctrcTelsa]

As the last year of ALMS as we know is rolling around, the merger with Grand-Am happening next year, there is a lot to compete for. Especially with some classes going away completely as well as some classes will be gaining a lot more competition in the 2014 season. The schedule is pretty normal and few teams will be coming back to the ALMS after a absence. There should be a few new cars coming as well.

Schedule:

61st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring March 13-16, 2013 : Sebring International Raceway, Sebring Florida

Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach April 19-20, 2013 : Long Beach Street Circut, Long Beach California

American Le Mans Monterey May 9-11, 2013 : Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Salinas California

American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix July 5-6, 2013 : Lime Rock Park, Lakeville Connecticut

Mobil 1 Presents Grand Prix of Motorspot July 19-21, 2013 : Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, Bowmanville Ontario Canada

Road Race Showcase August 9-11, 2013 : Road America, Plymoth Wisconsin

Grand Prix of Baltimore August 30-31, 2013 : Baltimore Street Circuit, Baltimore Maryland

Circuit of the Americas September 19-21, 2013 : Circuit of the Americas, Austin Texas

ALMS at VIR October 3-5, 2013 : Virginia International Raceway, Danville Virginia

Petit Le Mans October 16-19, 2013 : Road Atlanta, Braselton Georgia

Teams

LMP1

Dyson Racing: Lola B12/66-Mazda

Highcroft Racing: Deltawing

Muscle Milk Pickett Racing: HPD ARX-03a

LMP2

Black Swan Racing: Lola B11/83-HPD

Conquest Endurance: Morgon-Nissan

Dempsey Racing: Lola B12/87-Judd

Level 5 Motorsports: HPD ARX-03b

LMPC

CORE autosport: ORECA FLM09

Dempsey Racing: ORECA FLM09

Merchant Services Racing: ORECA FLM09

Muscle Milk Pickett Racing: ORECA FLM09

Performance Tech Motorsports: ORECA FLM09

PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports: ORECA FLM09

RSR Racing: ORECA FLM09

GT

BMW Team RLL: BMW M3 GT

Corvette Racing: Corvette C6.R

Extreme Speed Motorsports: Ferrari F458 Italia

Flying Lizard Motorsports: Porsche GT3-RSR

Lotus/Alex Job Racing: Lotus Evora GTE

Paul Miller Racing: Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

Risi Competizone: Ferrari F458 Italia

SRT Motorsports: SRT Viper GTS-R


Team Falken Tire: Porsche 911 GT3 RSR

GTC

Alex Job Racing: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

Competition Motorsports: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

GMG Racing: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

Green Hornet Racing: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

JDX Racing: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

NGT Motorsport: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

TRG: Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

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There are also some random tidbits of news out there about the upcoming season:

• CORE Autosport apparently is coming to GT class with Porsche
• Risi is back!
• BMW is bringing the Z4
• SRT is having its first full year of action
• TRG is bringing an aston martin (not on the official teams list yet)
• Porsche is testing a LMP1 sports prototype (unexpected for 2013 season debut)
• Audi is running an electric LMP1 at Sebring
• Porsche terminates factory based sponsorship with Flying Lizard
  

It's really looking forward to being a fantastic season. ESM really has their feet under them now and am looking forward to the Porsche/Ferrari/BMW rivalry. The SRT viper's and corvette's are going to be pretty fantastic to watch as well.

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This weekend, January 26-27 is the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, where many GT cars, including the ESM Ferrari's will be running. It is on Speed at 3:30 pm Saturday and picks back up at 9:00 am on Sunday for nearly full race coverage.

[texlonghorn]

Porsche terminated all factory support for the 997 RSR while they focus on 991 RSR development.

Also Level 5 will not be racing LMP2 this season.

And I want to go to Sebring before the merger, so I'm going to try my damnedest to go down for the race.

[ElctrcTelsa]

Yep, I just didn't post the whole article - the main thing being the lack of partnership with Flying Lizard.

Sebring is the week of my mid-terms, which sucks because I love watching that race.

I really can't wait for the Rolex 24 to see how the "improved" ESM Ferrari's run.

[ElctrcTelsa]

One hour from start time for the Rolex 24.

Live steam can be found here:

http://stream.speedtv.com/rolex24

[ElctrcTelsa]

American Le Mans Series entrants in the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans:

- GTE Class
Corvette Racing Corvette's (Going for their 8th consecutive class win)
SRT Motorsports Viper's (First return since 2000, where they left with three consecutive class wins)
ESM Ferrari 458(at large bid from ALMS)
Partick Dempsey Porsche GT3 RSR

(Reserve)
TRG Motorsports Porsche

- LMP2
Level 5 Motorsports (HPD Racing FTW!)

Good showing by the ALMS for the 24. Hope the Level 5 car does well and the ESM Ferrari can take it to another level. They finished about mid pack at the Rolex 24, so hopefully they got a few good things down for the Le Mans!

[ChamoJB]

I like the 24 hrs of daytona, great raceing in the last 1 or so.

Back to ALMS, I read that Audi is going to be taking all their winning cars from 2008 until 2012 from the lemans race to sebring. I guess there will be a total Audi domination.

[texlonghorn]

I don't get to Sebring because it falls on the same days as an event I'm volunteering at in Richmond. Bah.

[Jared]

That's weak, dude. I would love to see Sebring.

[teXas]

Sebring is for women.

[texlonghorn]

Originally Posted by Jared

That's weak, dude. I would love to see Sebring.

It's a bummer, but a lot more good comes out of this event I'm working than going to the race. I'll get there at some point.

If I get a good job soon I can save up some money/vacation time and go to the WEC/ALMS weekend at COTA.

[ElctrcTelsa]

Few shots from winter testing at Sebring:

[ElctrcTelsa]

ESM Racing is moving to the P2 category in 2013 season. Not sure how I feel about this, they were really starting to do well in the GT category, which was the only one I really watch for. I suppose its for the merger with GRAND-AM as the P2 will be the "top" category.

Meh.. Now I need a new GT favorite to cheer for.

BRASELTON, Ga. – Tequila Patrón and Scott Sharp return to their sports car racing roots in the P2 class of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) presented by Tequila Patrón for the 2013 season.

Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) and Tequila Patrón will field two Honda Performance Development ARX-03b prototypes in a full-season championship run. The ALMS season starts with the 61st Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh from Florida next month.

The team also plans to field entries in the combined prototype class of the 2014 unified sports car championship – a merger between ALMS and GRAND-AM Road Racing.

“Moving to P2 is a new chapter for us at ESM and a homecoming for Tequila Patrón,” said team owner/driver Scott Sharp. “We feel we have a terrific opportunity to learn and develop the P2 car this year, and that will put us in an ideal position going into the merged season of 2014!”

The ESM driver lineup remains the same with Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek co-driving the No. 01 Tequila Patrón racing machine, and Ed Brown and Guy Cosmo in the sister No. 02 Tequila Patrón prototype. ESM will continue to run on Michelin tires during the 2013 season. In addition, ESM will campaign a Ferrari 458 Italia in the 2013 GRAND-AM Rolex Series GT class and the Ferrari Challenge Series.

“This is a tremendously positive development for our 2013 prototype grid,” said Scott Atherton, ALMS President and CEO. “It is another example of Tequila Patrón’s commitment to the American Le Mans Series and the future of sports car racing in North America. Both Extreme Speed Motorsports and Patrón’s presence in our P2 class this year – along with their plans for the 2014 combined prototype category – bolster the level of competition in our championship. We believe that this development will be a catalyst that attracts other P2 competitors in 2013 and into the future. We congratulate Scott Sharp, Ed Brown and everyone at Extreme Speed Motorsports and Tequila Patrón on this advancement, and we wish them nothing but the best of luck in their P2 efforts.”

The announcement comes on the heels of ESM’s best season to date where Sharp and van Overbeek finished second in the GT championship in 2012, which included victories at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park and Petit Le Mans.

Sharp returns to prototype racing where he won the ALMS LMP1 championship in 2009 aboard the Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-02a prototype with co-driver David Brabham. The pairing also won four times in Acura’s P2 car during the 2008 ALMS season. Sharp’s co-driver van Overbeek is new to the P2 class but has amassed more than 100 ALMS starts and expects to be up to speed quickly in the new black and green racing machine.

Racing in the P2 class will be new to Brown, who eagerly supports Tequila Patrón’s return to prototype sports car racing with the goal of earning podium finishes and setting the foundation for a championship run during the 2014 combined sports car series. Brown will leverage the knowledge of co-driver Cosmo during the 2013 season. Like Sharp, Cosmo is a former P2 race-winner with a 2005 victory in a Mazda-powered prototype.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing Tequila Patrón back on a prototype car this season, especially from behind the wheel of one,” said Brown, ESM co-principal. “We’re excited for the future. I think the team evolved so quickly in the GT ranks that we did things in the category that we never thought were possible against the factory teams. We just felt like this was the next best step as a team to move forward, race in P2s and really take that forward into the new series next year.”