NEWS

03/10: Audi Out Front Early in Sebring Testing
Audi Sport North America fired the first shot at Sebring International Raceway this week with the unofficial fastest time in Monday morning's first test session for the 56th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida. Allan McNish's time of 1:44.093 was just 0.244 seconds better than diesel rival Peugeot.

Audi has won Sebring's 12-hour classic every year since 2000 including the last two seasons with its diesel-powered Audi R10 TDI. The task grew tougher in February when Peugeot announced its entry into the race with its factory 908, the car that finished second to Audi at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2007.

Audi's second R10 was third at 1:44.459 as the first three LMP1s were within 0.366 seconds of each other.

Penske Racing's No. 7 Porsche RS Spyder was quickest in LMP2 with Timo Bernhard posting a time of 1:45.147. The defending class Series co-champion with Romain Dumas was just ahead of two Acura entries: last year's P2 race winner Andretti Green Racing and Patrón Highcroft Racing. (ALMS.com)
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03/05: Series Going 'Green' at Sebring 12 Hours
The American Le Mans Series unleashes a new era next week at the 56th running of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Fresh from Florida when it becomes the first major racing series in the world to have every race car on its grid racing one of three alternative "street legal" fuels. Widely acclaimed as the global leader in green racing, every car in the Series will race a clean diesel, an E10 or an E85 ethanol blend that is virtually identical to what consumers put in their cars at the fuel station.

"We have always been about relevancy and authenticity," says Scott Atherton, President and CEO of the American Le Mans Series. "What is more relevant than working with our many automobile manufacturers to find tomorrow's fuel solutions?" (ALMS.com)
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01/24: BMW Could Return to GT Racing in ALMS
BMW might return to the American Le Mans Series in 2009 with a V8-powered M3. BMW North America withdrew from the series at the end of 2006.

BMW Motorsport in Germany is working on a race version-almost certainly a GT2-class car-of the new M3, but it is unknown if company management has signed off on the project. BMW Motorsport boss Mario Theissen has said repeatedly that a GT program is one of the company's long-term goals.

Meanwhile, BMW North America motorsport manager Martin Birkmann denied the project's existence. "There is nothing concrete we can shout about right now, but we are keen to go racing again," he said.

Series gossip suggests that Rahal Letterman Racing is the favorite to run the BMWs should the program go ahead. (AutoWeek.com)

- Toyota to Bring Hybrid Vehicle to Le Mans
TOKYO (AFP) — Japan's Toyota Motors plans to bring a hybrid vehicle to the Le Mans 24 hour race in France, aiming to earn the company's first victory in the competition, a report said Saturday.

Toyota, which has enjoyed successes with hybrid models particularly the popular Prius, wants to boost the image of its environmental technology by showcasing it in Europe, said the evening edition of the Yomiuri Shimbun. (afp.google.com)
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01/19: Dyson Racing Confirms 2008 Program and Lineup
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY January 18, 2008 – Thetford / Norcold Dyson Racing today is pleased to announce that it will campaign two Porsche RS Spyders in the full 2008 American Le Mans Series Championship.

Chris Dyson and Guy Smith will co-drive the team's No. 16 machine, while Butch Leitzinger will be joined by Marino Franchitti in the No. 20 entry.

The team finished runner-up in the 2007 ALMS LMP2 team championship and third and fourth in the driver's title in its first year of running the RS Spyder. With a full year's experience with the car and an extensive off-season testing program, the team is confident of an even stronger 2008 effort. (ALMS.com)

- ALMS Corvettes Going Green with E85 Fuel in 2008
Corvette Racing will be powered by E85 ethanol, a high-octane, renewable alternative fuel, in the 2008 American Le Mans Series.

As part of the series' "green racing" initiative, the most successful team in ALMS history will use a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline in the demanding arena of endurance road racing.

After winning its seventh consecutive GT1 manufacturers and team championships in 2007 using E10 (10% ethanol), Corvette Racing's twin. (USAToday.com)
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12/25: Corvette Racing commits to ALMS and Le Mans in 2008
The American Corvette Racing team which competes in the American Le Mans series and the Le Mans 24 Hour race has confirmed that it will continue its racing programs in 2008,

Although they were defeated in the 2007 Le Mans 24 Hour race by a factory backed Aston Martin DBR9, in all but two races in the 2007 ALMS Corvette Racing’s Chevrolet Corvette C6.R racecars were unopposed in the GT1 class and seem unlikely to be challenged on a regular basis in 2008. (eemsonline.co.uk)
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12/05: Audi Commits to Two-Car Effort for 2008 Season
Audi confirmed its plans to go for an unprecedented ninth consecutive LMP1 championship in the American Le Mans Series on Friday by committing to a two-car effort for the 2008 season. For the second straight season, two diesel-powered Audi R10 TDIs will be on the Series' grid for 12 rounds of the world's leading sports car series under the banner of Audi Sport North America. (RoadAtlanta.com)
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11/14: Ryan's run in IRL
STAR Australian racer Ryan Briscoe has been given the second chance he was desperately seeking with the great Roger Penske confirming he has won a seat in his crack Indy Racing League team next season.

As has been widely predicted over the last few months, Briscoe will replace Sam Hornish jr who is joining a horde of open wheeler drivers who are chancing their hand at the lucrative NASCAR series.

Briscoe ticked all the boxes this year as a factory driver for Penske's Porsche RS Spyder team in the American Le Mans Series.

What went a long way to sealing Briscoe's elevation into the Penske open wheeler team is that he covered himself in glory with a sparkling drive to finish fifth in what was effectively a third Penske entry in the Indianapolis 500 in May. (news.com.au)

- Mosport Record Book Rewritten Often in 2007
BOWMANVILLE, ON - Lap records fell in bunches at Mosport International Raceway in 2007. In all, 17 new records were established at Mosport's famed 4 km road course, 15 of which occurred during the Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport. Among the many records that were reset during that event was the outright mark which had stood for five years. The old standard fell when American Le Mans Series driver Dindo Capello took to the track to qualify for the Mobil 1 presents the Grand Prix of Mosport last August and rewrote the Mosport record book.

During the Saturday afternoon qualifying session Capello posted the fastest lap in Mosport's rich 46-year history, a sparkling time of 1:05.829 behind the wheel of an Audi R10 TDI prototype for his fourth LMP1 pole position of the 2007 season and first overall pole since 2001. He edged out Penske Motorsports' Romain Dumas by 0.09 seconds in the No. 7 Porsche RS Spyder, the LMP2 pole-winner, shattering the previous mark of 1:07.169 which was set by Frank Biela behind the wheel of an Audi R8 in August 2002. Although Dumas wasn't quite as fast as Capello, his time of 1:05.919 was good enough to reset the LMP2 qualifying record. (insidetracknews.blogspot.com)

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10/31: Corvette Racing Announces Post-Season Awards
Corvette Racing Wins Post-Season Accolades
Fellows Named Most Popular Driver, Gongla Wins GT1 Crew Chief of the Year Award

MONTEREY, Calif. - The checkered flag at the conclusion of the Monterey Sports Car Championships at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on Oct. 21 marked the end of the 2007 American Le Mans Series season, but Chevrolet's factory road racing team kept on winning. Two members of Corvette Racing received special recognition awards in post-season ceremonies: Corvette Racing driver Ron Fellows was voted the Most Popular Driver for the fourth consecutive year, and Ray Gongla, crew chief for the No. 4 Compuware Corvette C6.R, was honored as the GT1 Crew Chief of the Year. (motorsport.com)
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10/20: Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder Team Ends Dream Season with One-Two LMP2 Finish at Laguna Seca Raceway; 11 Wins in 12 Racea
MONTEREY, Calif. – In an exciting race similar to the event two weeks ago at Road Atlanta, Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) scored their eighth LMP2 win of the season in the Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder at the American Le Mans Series finale at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway.

Bernhard and Dumas, who clinched the drivers championship before they arrived for this race weekend, also finished second overall to the LMP1 Audi R-10.  The Penske Racing Porsches also scored eight straight overall wins during the season, beating the more powerful 12-cylinder Audis on both street course and traditional road circuits.  And for the last hour of the race, Dumas chased the leading Audi, passing it twice in tight corners, but not quite able to make his lead stick on the straights.

“I put more than maximum pressure on him – I gave it all I had.  With 200 horsepower less than the Audis, I think we gave everyone quite a show, and we are pleased with the outcome today as well as the whole season.  We not only won our class championship, but we beat those guys overall eight times,” said Dumas, who celebrated his first ALMS drivers title.

“I could not have dreamed of a season like this – beating the overall Le Mans winners eight straight races.  Penske Racing and Porsche Motorsport gave us the best of both worlds, and Romain and I are grateful for the opportunity,” said co-driver and co-champion Timo Bernhard, who is a two-time ALMS champion, having won a GT2 title with Alex Job Racing in 2004.

Bernhard said the competition for both the overall and class lead was very close in the beginning, and he decided to play it safe and see how things played out.  He ended up passing the pole-sitting Penske Porsche RS Spyder of Sascha Maassen (Germany), and then went after the overall Audi leader, but traffic forced him to concentrate on the LMP2 battle.  Bernhard and Dumas finished on the class podium for all 12 ALMS races

Maassen and his co-driver Ryan Briscoe (Australia) fell to fourth place in class late in the race, but Briscoe passed the two Acuras ahead of him to finish second in class and fourth overall.  Maassen and Briscoe won the LMP2 class three times this year, including two overall wins.

“It’s been a wonderful season, and this one-two class finish – the 11th win in 12 races – brings back the glory days of the Porsche 917/30 for both Porsche and Penske Racing.  It’s been a huge honor to be a part of this program, and we believe this puts the exclamation point on a season which will put the Porsche RS Spyder right with the 917 in Porsche racing history,” said Tim Cindric, president of Penske Racing.

Porsche and Penske Racing swept all the championships in the LMP2 class, winning the chassis and engine manufacturers titles, the drivers crowns, and the team championship for the second year and a row.  It was the Penske Porsche RS Spyder’s third win at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway – the first win at the car’s debut in October, 2005.

In the GT2 contest, three Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs and a Ferrari swapped the class lead nine times during the four-hour event, but the Salo/Melo Ferrari won the race in the end, clinching the team, driver and manufacturer’s title for Ferrari.  The Flying Lizard Porsche of Johannes van Overbeek/Joerg Bergmeister had an outside chance to win the drivers title, but a flat tire after an off-track excursion caused an extra pit stop which resulted in a fourth-place finish.  The Tafel Racing Porsche driven by Wolf Henzler/Dominik Farnbacher finished second for the second race in a row with a late-race pass of the Rahal Letterman Porsche of Ralf Kelleners/Tom Milner, which ended up third.

Here is a summary of Porsche’s record in the American Le Mans Series since its inception in 1999:

PORSCHE AMRICAN LE MANS SERIES STATISTICS
(1999 – 2007)

Porsche overall wins: 9 (Mid-Ohio, ‘06; Long Beach, ‘07; Houston, ‘07, Salt
Lake City, ’07, Lime Rock, ’07, Mid-Ohio ’07, Road America, ’07, Mosport ’07, Detroit ‘07 )

Porsche Class Victories:  83
Audi - 69
Corvette – 55
Lola - 32
Ferrari - 21
Dodge - 16
BMW - 15
        
Porsche LMP2 Wins: 19
Porsche GTS Wins:  2
Porsche GT/GT2 Wins:  61
Porsche 911 GT3 R/RS/RSR wins: 57
        
Porsche Class Poles:  74
Audi – 51
Corvette – 49
Lola/MG/AER – 31
                                         
Longest Class Winning Streak: 
21 Porsche GT class wins in a row: 2002 – 2004 (started with 2002 12 Hours of Sebring - ended by Ferrari at Lime Rock 2004)

Porsche factory driver Maassen leads ALMS drivers in all-time consecutive starts 40 (streak ended at Lime Rock in 2004) and ALMS GT/GT2 class wins (22).  Maassen is the only driver in ALMS to win a race every year the series has been run, including victories in 2004 at Sebring and Petit Le Mans, a 2005 LMP2 win in the new Porsche RS Spyder prototype, and 2006 wins in the RS Spyder at Salt Lake City, Road America, Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca.  Maassen continued that streak in 2007 with his St. Petersburg victory.

Porsche has 83 ALMS class wins, 14 more than any other manufacturer.

Porsche has won the GT/GT2 ALMS manufacturers title seven of the eight years of ALMS’ existence (including 2006 title).   2006 was Porsche’s first LMP2 title, and Porsche won the drivers, manufacturers, engine and chassis titles in LMP2 for 2007.
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SERIES ANNOUNCES VISION FOR THE FUTURE

10/05: The American Le Mans Series announced a 12-race schedule for 2008 on Friday at Petit Le Mans. Click here for Hi-Res The American Le Mans Series mapped its vision toward 2010 at today's annual State of the Series address at Road Atlanta in conjunction with the 10th annual Petit Le Mans by announcing a new three-year television agreement with SPEED, the leader in motorsports television. In addition, President and CEO Scott Atherton spoke of maintaining the Series' worldwide leadership for alternative fuels within the auto racing industry, introduced new team and auto manufacturer content in the all-important independent team category and unveiled a 12-race schedule similar in scope to the one in 2007 that has lead to an attendance surge of more than 40 percent over 2006. "Last year we announced a comprehensive initiative centered around the utilization of alternative fuels for racing - and it could not have gone better," said Atherton. "We also presented what we referred to then as the best overall schedule in the history of the Series. Today, we are enjoying the most successful season ever - and announcing similar news and programs that will only build upon the very positive momentum we are experiencing." Worldwide Leader in Alternative Fuels The American Le Mans Series was the first major racing series in the world to adopt multiple alternative fuel initiatives relevant to the consumer as well as the race teams. This season, Series' participants raced an E10 ethanol-enriched gasoline blend (10 percent ethanol, 90 percent gasoline) with the exception of Audi, which continued to develop its turbo diesel-powered race car, which uses a new zero sulfur "clean" diesel. Both fuels are considered "street legal", which means they are virtually the same as consumers would use in their automobiles. With a push toward the use of new technologies and renewable fuels, the American Le Mans Series intends to develop additional alternative fuels, including the introduction of an E85 (85 percent ethanol, 15 percent gasoline) ethanol option and a bio diesel product suitable for Audi and perhaps Peugeot, which also competes with a diesel race car and is expected to race in next spring's Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. In addition, Atherton revealed that the Series is in discussions with several manufacturers to introduce a hybrid-powered race car. In keeping with his oft-proclaimed edicts of "the best is yet to come", Atherton indicated that the Series would maintain its global leadership in alternative fuel relevance and green motorsports initiatives by unveiling a major collaboration at the beginning of next year. Atherton stressed that the alliance will be unique and distinctive to the American Le Mans Series and build upon the Series' status as the only form of motorsports with the direct transfer of technology from the race cars to the production vehicles of tomorrow. "It's a very exciting time, and as a racing series, we couldn't be in a stronger leadership position," said Series President & CEO Scott Atherton. Click here for Hi-Res "We have been working very closely with several governmental and private organizations to confirm the American Le Mans Series' role in the future of leading-edge technologies for alternative fuels and green motorsports initiatives in general," said Atherton. "At a time when there is an urgent worldwide demand for innovation and new technologies for automobiles, the American Le Mans Series, working in conjunction with our many participating manufacturers, is uniquely positioned to be part of the solution. In brief, the factory teams competing in the Series are developing technologies on the race track today that will soon be in the cars that we all drive on the street. It's a very exciting time, and as a racing series, we couldn't be in a stronger leadership position." New Team/Manufacturers for the 2008 Grid Three new independent customer teams representing three different auto manufacturers will race in the American Le Mans Series GT2 class next season. Bill Riley and Lou Gigliotti will introduce two Corvette C6's to next season's GT2 grid. The production-based Corvette will feature the standard Corvette C.6 engine which produces approximately 430 horsepower versus the 500-plus horsepower of its GT1 class Z06 engine counterpart. Joel Feinberg of Primetime Race Group will run a Dodge Viper factory-supported customer team with the intent of running multiple teams beginning at Sebring in 2008. The third new team is a Ford GT operated by Kevin Doran who intends to run the endurance races and provide cars to other top flight independent programs. Homologation to ACO (Automobile Club de l'Ouest) specifications will occur immediately following the season in order that all cars will be available to participate in the American Le Mans Series Winter Test, January 28-30 at Sebring International Raceway. The new teams bring three U.S.-based auto manufactures to the grid, reinforcing the American Le Mans Series position as the world's leader in auto manufacturer participation. It is Ford's first production car foray into the American Le Mans Series. At Petit Le Mans, eight (8) different auto and a dozen engine manufacturers will compete head-to-head. In its nine-year history, 16 different chassis and 14 different engine marquees have won at least one Series race. "The American Le Mans Series, like Le Mans," said Atherton, "has always embraced both the factory-backed teams and the top level private/independent race teams. Lately, much of the news has been focused on new manufacturers and factory teams, but today we confirmed three new independent teams - all bringing exciting new programs into the Series. Private, non-factory affiliated teams have always been the core of the Series, and today, we add three new member with top-flight programs. I can't wait to see the Ford GT, Viper and C6 Corvette mix it up with the Ferraris, Porsches and Panoz. It's going to be great!" A new three-year agreement with SPEED highlighted the announcement of the American Le Mans Series' 12-race schedule for 2008. Click here for Hi-Res 12-Race Schedule for 2008 Features Three-Year SPEED Agreement A new three-year agreement with SPEED highlighted the announcement of the American Le Mans Series' 12-race schedule for 2008. The USA's leading motorsports network that now boasts nearly 70 million households plus five million in Canada, will serve as the Series' core network for telecasts, ancillary programming and exciting new ventures in e-programming. SPEED's marquee programming properties include both endurance classics - the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring (March 15) and Petit Le Mans (October 4). Next year's season begins with the tradition-rich 56th annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring (March 15). April sees a return to three straight street courses at St. Petersburg (April 5), Long Beach (April 19) and Houston (April 26). The American Le Mans Series returns for its third consecutive season to Miller Motorsports Park outside Salt Lake City (May 18) before select teams head to France in June for the 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 14-15). The Series kicks off the official second half of its season July 12 at Lime Rock Park then moves a week later, July 19, to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. August sees three races. One of the world's classic road courses, Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI hosts Round Eight of the American Le Mans Series on August 9 before drivers head to the only stop outside U.S. borders, Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville (near Toronto), Canada on August 24. A week later sees the Labor Day weekend return to Detroit for the second annual Detroit Sports Car Challenge on Belle Isle on August 30. The season concludes in grand fashion with the hallmark 11th annual Petit Le Mans October 4 at Road Atlanta, followed by the season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on October 18. The American Le Mans Series once again will participate in doubleheader weekends with the Champ Car World Series at Long Beach, Houston and Road America and with the Indy Racing League at St. Petersburg, Mid-Ohio and Detroit. "When we announced last year's schedule, I said that if we could come back and duplicate it in '08, we would be overjoyed," said Atherton. "Thankfully, that statement was an example of: Be careful what you wish for - you might just get it! Again, I believe we have the strongest overall schedule in American racing. We touch nearly all the important business markets and race at the best road courses and street circuits in North America. The fact that we have announced virtually the same schedule this year is the hallmark of a maturing, stable, successful series. We could not be more pleased." To hear the entire State of the Series address, go to www.americanlemans.com. 2008 American Le Mans Series Schedule March 15, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, Sebring, FL April 5, Acura Sports Car Challenge, St. Petersburg, FL April 19, Grand Prix of Long Beach, Long Beach, CA April 26, Lone Star Grand Prix presented by MSR Houston, Houston, TX May 18, Utah Grand Prix, Salt Lake City, UT July 12, Northeast Grand Prix/Lime Rock, Lakeville, CT July 19, Acura Sports Car Challenge/Mid-Ohio, Lexington, OH August 9, Generac 500/Road America, Elkhart Lake, WI August 24, Grand Prix of Mosport, Bowmanville, ON August 30, Detroit Sports Car Challenge, Detroit, MI October 4, Petit Le Mans, Braselton, GA October 18, Monterey Sports Car Championships, Monterey, CA

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09/12: Corvette Racing's Future Depends on Aston Martin
Corvette Racing will confirm its continued participation in the American Le Mans Series--as soon as the Aston Martin Racing team does the same. GM road racing manager Steve Wesoloski even suggested that questions about Chevrolet's 2008 plans should be directed at Prodrive (which runs the Aston team) boss David Richards.

"As soon as they announce they are coming back, we'll announce that we'll be back," he said. "I think you should ask that question to David Richards and George Howard-Chappell [who also runs Aston racing]."

Wesloski and Corvette program manager Doug Fehan denied they are trying to goad their rival into returning, and they distanced themselves from a Corvette ad in the Mosport ALMS race program that clearly took a swipe at Aston. A picture of a Corvette passing a solitary team member, which just happened to be Howard-Chappell, bore the words: "Corvette: Turning participants into spectators." Wesoloski insisted that Chevrolet's Canadian subsidiary created the ad and had no understanding of the image's significance. (AutoWeek.com)
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08/30: Detroit Grand Prix Street Course Acts More Like a Permanent Course for Race Car Set-Up; Porsche LMP2 and GT2 Teams Look for Success at Belle Isle on Saturday
DETROIT – August 30 – Having already clinched the team championship in LMP2, Porsche entries in both the prototype and production-based classes hope to use the fast Detroit street circuit at Belle Isle to pursue remaining titles for the 2007 American Le Mans Series championship.

Uwe Brettel, president of Porsche Motorsport North America, considers 2007 a break-out year for Porsche and the American Le Mans Series because of the quality of racing the fans have seen at the circuits and on television.

“It looks like we will win the drivers, engine, and chassis manufacturers championship in LMP2, but it is most important that the fans have seen quality entries, close racing, and interesting story lines that will convince them to continue to watch the series in person and on television. In LMP2, we could not have asked for a better season, not only winning in class, but overall with the Porsche RS Spyder, while the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and the Ferrari 430 competition has yielded some of the best racing of all time in GT2,” said Brettel.

The Detroit Sports Car Challenge presented by Bosch, Round 10 of the 2007 American Le Mans Series, is set for 3: 15 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 1 from the Belle Isle circuit in Detroit. Coverage of the Series' first visit to Detroit will be aired on SPEED from 9:30 PM. ET on Saturday to 12:30 AM Sunday. XM Satellite Radio will air the American Le Mans Radio broadcast from noon to 3 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 2 on XM channels 144 and 145. Live timing and scoring, as well as radio commentary, will be available all weekend on www.americanlemans.com

As for the course this weekend at Belle Isle, LMP2 points leader Timo Bernhard (Germany), driver of the number seven Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder with teammate Romain Dumas (France), doesn’t think the lack of long straights will effect the high speeds these cars can run.

“I only know this circuit from a track plan,” said Bernhard. “But you can clearly see that there are hardly any straights but loads of very long corners with large radii. This makes things rather difficult to overtake slower vehicles when you are forced to leave the ideal line on a slippery part of the track, but
for a non-permanent track, the 14-corner circuit is wide and flowing and allows high cornering speeds.”

"There's no really added pressure for Penske for that race. We will try to go up there and try to do what we've been doing all the time. Being organized by Roger Penske, it's going to be a first-class event. There's absolutely no doubt. Ever since I met Roger last year, he's always been talking about the Detroit Grand Prix and all the work he's putting into it. I can't wait and I'm sure it's going to be a massive event," said Ryan Briscoe (Australia), driver of the number six Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder along with teammate Sascha Maassen (Germany).

After nine rounds of the 2007 American Le Mans Series, the Penske Racing Porsches have scored seven overall victories and have eight LMP2 class wins in a row, including the Bernhard/Dumas win last week at Mosport International Raceway in Canada. Bernhard/Dumas lead the drivers championship with a 21-point advantage over their teammates Maassen/Briscoe (Australia) – they are the only drivers who have a chance for the championship as the Mazda and Acura drivers have been eliminated. Porsche leads the PMP2 engine and chassis manufacturers competition as well, and could clinch those titles this weekend.

Dyson Racing, the other team entering two Porsche RS Spyders, will field Andy Wallace (Great Britain) and Butch Leitzinger (USA) in the 16 Porsche, and Chris Dyson (USA) and Guy Smith (Great Britain) in the #20 RS Spyder racer.

Chris Dyson, who is also the Dyson Racing team manager, pointed out that the Detroit race gained credibility when he found out who was organizing the race.

"Roger Penske has gotten involved with the event and that really speaks to how well the event should be run. They've basically taken the old Belle Isle layout, which had a huge fan following and was a pretty good layout, and improved it. I was at the Detroit Auto Show in January and there was a pretty positive response. It should be a good event on the schedule," said Dyson.

In the GT2 class for modified production sports cars, defending class champion Joerg Bergmeister (Germany) is determined to reduce the 16-point gap to the leading Ferrari team with his teammate Johannes van Overbeek (USA) at the wheel of their Flying Lizards Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.
Ralf Kelleners (Germany) and Tom Milner (USA) hope to continue their podium run in their Rahal letterman Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR as they have finished in the top three in four of the last five events.
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06/27: Dyson Racing Returns to its Roots
Dyson Racing team owner Rob Dyson bought a Porsche 962 race car in 1985 on the advice of long-time friend Bob Aiken. Dyson went on to win his first race that same year at Lime Rock Park—the first of many wins for the Dyson/Porsche partnership.

After claiming 12 victories, 19 podium finishes and four consecutive Porsche Cups with Porsche prototypes, the team entered a phase with new manufacturers after the 1991 season. Now in its 32nd year of racing, Dyson Racing has renewed its historical relationship with Porsche and Round Six of the 2007 American Le Mans Series season brings the Dyson/Porsche partnership back to where it all started—Lime Rock Park.

The Dyson Racing team considers Lime Rock Park its "home track" as the team is headquartered less than two hours away in Poughkeepsie, New York. The team's track record at Lime Rock is as impressive as it is historical with 10 top-three, 11 top-five and 15 top-10 finishes since 1985. (ALMS.com)
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05/30: Advancement in Technology Produces New Chassis for Honda Performance Development
Wirth Research, a leading-edge engineering company based in Cherwell Innovation Centre, Oxfordshire, is celebrating after its pioneering chassis system has allowed the Acura Motorsports team get off to a flying start in their first year of competing in the 2007 American Le Mans Series (ALMS).

The Acura Motorsports team produced sensational displays to secure a class win at the classic Sebring 12 hour race, two overall pole positions and two podium finishes in the first four races of the 2007 season.

During the demanding 12 hour street circuit races of Sebring, the biggest surprise was not only the power of the new Acura engine but the performance and reliability of the all-new Acura ARX-01a chassis. (azom.com)
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05/15: Porsche RS Spyder – Street Successes to Long Track Trek in Salt Lake City?
--ALMS GT2 Porsche teams looking to crack the Ferrari hold on class podium’s top step--

SALT LAKE CITY – May 15, 2007 – After three races preparing cars for the bumpy, tight street courses in St. Petersburg, Long Beach and Houston, Porsche teams in the American Le Mans Series have to completely change their race setup to run on the smoothest, longest road racing track in North America for this weekend’s Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park.

The Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park is set for 7:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday, May 19, and will run for two hours, 45-minutes. The race will be broadcast on CBS Sports on a tape-delayed basis at 1 p.m. EDT (two-hour broadcast) on the Sunday, May 20. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA's Live Timing and Scoring will be available at www.americanlemans.com during the race, while Porsche driver and team information is available on www.porschemotorsport.com.

The course, a 24-turn, 4.5-mile road circuit which is less than a year old, gives the drivers many places to pass, but requires a much different approach than the street courses of March and April for both the LMP2 class Porsche RS Spyder prototypes and the Porsche 911 GT3 RSRs in the GT2 class, according to Uwe Brettel, president of Porsche Motorsport
North America.

“The suspension settings, gearing, and even pit stop and tire strategy from the last three races go right out the window for this weekend, and the teams that have good data from last year or have tested earlier this season at Miller will have an advantage,” said Brettel.

On the prototype side, the Penske Porsche RS Spyders have had success on the street circuits despite constant pressure from the three factory-backed Acuras. Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) held off the late charge of the Herta/Franchitti Acura to score a four-tenths of a second overall victory for the second week in a row on April 21 at the Lone Star Grand Prix of
Houston – the first time in American Le Mans Series history an LMP2 car has won overall twice in a row. The week before, their number seven RS Spyder won overall at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

The team RS Spyder of Sascha Maassen (Germany) and Ryan Briscoe (Australia) finished third in LMP2 (fourth overall) in Houston, solidifying their hold on second place in the class points. Maassen/Briscoe won the class in March through the streets of St. Petersburg. Defending LMP2 titleholder Sascha Maassen, with former co-driver and co-LMP2 champion Lucas Luhr, won the Salt Lake City event in 2006 in their number six Penske Porsche RS Spyder enroute to their LMP2 championship run.

Bernhard/Dumas lead the LMP2 Driver Championship standings with 75 points after four events, while Maassen/Briscoe have 58 points, and the leading Acura drivers have 49 points. Porsche now leads the LMP2 class manufacturer’s championship points over Acura, 79 to 65. The back-to-back wins also marked the only two times the Audi R-10 LMP1 car has been outdistanced by LMP2 competitors.

The Dyson Racing Porsche RS Spyders, which have been just outside the battle for the top spots in LMP2 since the beginning of the season, broke through at Long Beach with a third place finish overall at Long Beach, and showed they could run with the Acuras at Houston. Dyson racers finished fifth and sixth in LMP2 at Houston, just ahead of the Fernandez/Diaz Acura. The Chris Dyson (USA)/Guy Smith (England) team car was fifth after Dyson spent more than 50 minutes leading Diaz around the track in some of the best nose-to-tail racing of the season. Sixth was the Andy Wallace (England)/Butch Leitzinger (USA) Dyson Porsche, which also had a good battle with the same Acura (Leitzinger with Fernandez) near the end of the event.

In GT2, the Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR team cars have finished second to the winning Ferrari at all four events so far this season, with the Jorg Bergmeister/Johannes van Overbeek number 45 racer second at Sebring, and St. Petersburg, and Houston and the number 44 team car of Patrick Long and Darren Law second in Long Beach. Both cars will be seeking their first win of the season in Salt Lake City.

“We have been so close to winning each of the four races,” said Bergmeister, the defending ALMS GT champion and a Porsche factory driver.

“We believe small improvements in the car and a mistake-free drive can put us on top in Salt Lake City,” he said.

With its experience in Grand-Am at Miller, plus its fine third-place finish in Houston, the number 71 Tafel Racing Porsche of Robin Liddell/Wolf Henzler, which has lead during parts of three races, hopes to top the podium this weekend, while the team number 73 Porsche of Jim Tafel and Dominik Farnbacher also hope to better their best finish (fifth at Sebring) for 2007. Team owner Jim Tafel, whose family owns the horse the won the Kentucky Derby early in May, will be keeping an eye on the Preakness, which is scheduled to run about 70 minutes before the ALMS event.

The number 18 Rahal Letterman Racing Porsche, with Ralf Kelleners and Tom Milner, Jr. at the wheel, has had bad luck in the first few laps of both Sebring and Long Beach, and was headed for a second-place finish in class in St. Petersburg when the car crashed with just nine minutes left in the event. As a new team this year, Rahal Letterman is just beginning to feel comfortable in the ALMS series, and is looking to Salt Lake City as their break-out event, as is the new Boston-based Team Trans Sport Racing entry of Tim Pappas and Terry Brocheller, which looks to improve on their best finish (sixth at Houston).

The Porsche 911 GT3 R/RS/RSR family of race cars has won the American Le Mans Series GT/GT2 drivers and manufacturers class championship every year but one since the series inception in 1999. Last year was no exception, as Jorg Bergmeister won the championship, and with the aid of his co-driver Patrick Long and his Petersen/White Lightning Porsche GT3 RSR, helped Porsche win the manufacturers title.
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04/20: Dumas Quick Again Friday Morning in Houston

Romain Dumas led the way Friday morning at Houston in the first practice for the Lone Star Grand Prix.

The theme of LMP2 dominance has carried over from Long Beach last weekend in the opening practice for the Lone Star Grand Prix in Houston. Romain Dumas picked up where he left off in California by posting the fastest lap Friday morning for Porsche and Penske Motorsports at JAGFlo Speedway at Reliant Park. The Frenchman set a time of 1:02.791 in the Porsche RS Spyder he will share with Timo Bernhard.

The duo were overall victors at Long Beach and lead the P2 drivers championship heading into the American Le Mans Series' fourth round. Dumas was 0.103 seconds ahead of Bryan Herta in the Andretti Green Racing Acura and 0.432 second better than Butch Leitzinger in the first of Dyson Racing's Porsche RS Spyders.

Dumas was last year's pole sitter and already is a full 2 miles an hour quicker than last year's qualifying time.

"The track seems a lot faster, maybe it's just the car," Dumas said. He and Bernhard failed to finish the race in 2006 as their Porsche suffered a drivetrain failure. "For sure the track is a little bit different but I don't know if it's a lot safer. The changes are all good. It is easier to see coming out of the chicane and makes driving easier. There are no advantages for each car, the track is for everyone the same. We will continue to work on the car and find a good balance to be fast and work through the bumps."

Oliver Gavin turned in the best GT1 time in Corvette Racing's No. 4 Corvette C6.R.

P2 cars held the first five positions on the timing sheet. Allan McNish was the leading LMP1 driver for Audi and the diesel-powered R10 TDI. The Scot's time of 1:03.940 in the car he will share with Dindo Capello was more than a second behind Dumas and a half second better than the sister car of Emanuele Pirro and Marco Werner.

Oliver Gavin was quickest in GT1 for Corvette Racing in the No. 4 Corvette C6.R. The English star was 0.443 seconds ahead of Johnny O'Connell in the sister car.

In GT2, Dirk Muller put Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing's Ferrari F430 GT on the class point with a time of 10.744. He led Mika Salo and the Houston-based Risi Competizione Ferrari by 0.03 seconds and the Tafel Racing Porsche of Wolf Henzler by another 0.2 seconds. (ALMS.com)

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04/12: Two-Time Class Champs Pass on 2007 24 Hour to Focus on American Le Mans Series
LONG BEACH, Calif., April 11, 2007 – Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Racing publicly declared today that it will, regretfully, relinquish its invitation to compete in the 75th Annual 24 Heures du Mans. On Tuesday, team manager and official entrant Dale White (Bozeman, MT, USA) made the two-time Le Mans class-winning (2003 and 2004) team’s decision known to the Automobile Club De L’Ouest (ACO), official sanctioning body of the race. The judgment to forgo the honor of racing at Le Mans, made by White and team owner Michael Petersen (Las Vegas, Nev., USA), was difficult and followed long and serious deliberation. However, a sequence of early season challenges led to the decision to focus on the GT2 championships in the American Le Mans Series. (theautochannel.com)
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04/10: Grand Prix of Long Beach News & Notes
The Grand Prix of Long Beach marks the third round of the 2007 American Le Mans Series season and the Series' first appearance at the 1.968-mile, 11-turn street circuit on the pristine southern California waterfront. Long Beach becomes the 24th different circuit and seventh different street course to hold an American Le Mans Series event. Two more street circuit events are on the 2007 schedule: Houston on April 21 and the Series' first appearance in Detroit at Belle Isle on September 1.

Twenty-one drivers entered in the Long Beach Grand Prix have recorded at least one class victory in the eight previous Series events: Olivier Beretta (2007 St. Petersburg GT1, 2006 Houston GT1, 2000 Adelaide GTS), David Brabham (2002 Washington P900 and 2003 Miami GTS), Ryan Briscoe (2007 St. Petersburg P2), Rinaldo Capello (2007 St. Petersburg P1, 2006 Houston P1, 2000 Adelaide GTP, 2002 Trois Rivieres P900), Duncan Dayton (2003 Trois Rivieres P675), Chris Dyson (2003 Miami P675), Clint Field (2006 Houston P2, 2002 Washington LMP675), Jon Field (2002 Washington, 2003 Trois Rivieres P675), Oliver Gavin (2007 St. Petersburg GT1, 2006 Houston GT1, 2003 Trois Rivieres GTS), Klaus Graf (2006 Houston GT2), Sascha Maassen (2007 St. Petersburg P2, 2002 Washington, Trois Rivieres, Miami, 2003 Trois Rivieres and Miami GT), Jan Magnussen (2002 Washington P900), Chris McMurry (Trois Rivieres 2002 P675), Allan McNish (2007 St. Petersburg P1, 2006 Houston P1, 2000 Adelaide GTP), Jaime Melo (2007 St. Petersburg GT2), Dirk Muller (2000 Adelaide GT), Johnny O'Connell (2002 Washington and Miami GTS), Emanuele Pirro (2002 Miami P900), Mika Salo (2007 St. Petersburg GT2), Andy Wallace (2003 Miami P675) and Marco Werner (2003 Trois Rivieres P900).(ALMS.com)
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03/14: Indy-Car Racers Give ALMS a Go in Sebring's 12 Hours
Andretti Green Racing, an organization whose roots go back a decade, found itself dealing with elements it never had encountered — like those illuminated spheres attached to the front of the team's new prototype sports cars.

"There are a lot of things we don't know much about, like getting the headlights aligned the right way," says driver Bryan Herta, who has spent much of his career in open-wheel racing.

"That was one of those moments that caught us by surprise because we have nothing to fall back on. You don't have to worry about those types of things in an Indy car." (USAToday.com)
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03/07: Rahal, Lieb Among Latest Sebring Additions

Graham Rahal will drive the Rahal Letterman Racing Porsche in GT2 at Sebring for his father Bobby, who co-owns the team with David Letterman.

The grid for the 55th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring continues to grow stronger as the opening race for the 2007 American Le Mans Series approaches. Graham Rahal and Marc Lieb were some of the additions announced Monday, seven days before the start of race week at Sebring International Raceway.

Rahal, one of the hottest young prospects in all of motorsports, will make his second straight appearance at Sebring as he fills out the roster for Rahal Letterman Racing, co-owned by his father and 1987 Sebring race-winner Bobby Rahal. Eighteen-year-old Graham will join full-time team drivers Ralf Kelleners and Tom Milner in the team's Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the highly competitive GT2 class. Last season the younger Rahal made his Series debut with Alex Job Racing in a GT2-class Porsche. He, Mike Rockenfeller and Klaus Graf recorded a sixth-place class finish in a day of ups and downs.

"I may be young, but everyone in racing understands the significance of Sebring and what winning this event means on a driver's resume," Graham Rahal said. "One thing my Dad and I have tried to do over the last couple of seasons is to get as much practical experience as possible driving in different cars and series. This isn't the first time I have raced for my dad (Formula BMW USA in 2004), but it is the first time I have raced for his team at this level and hopefully I can help make RLR's American Le Mans Series debut successful."

Marc Lieb has been named the third driver for the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche in GT2.

Lieb will try to add a Sebring win to an impressive record that already includes a class win at Le Mans in 2005 and two Le Mans Series and FIA GT championships. As in 2006, the Porsche factory driver will help pilot the No. 45 Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche (a new Type 997), this time with Johannes van Overbeek and two-time and class champion Jorg Bergmeister. Lieb, van Overbeek and Jon Fogarty finished just 5.2 seconds behind the GT2-winning Panoz Esperante GTLM in the closest finish in the race's 54-year history.

"It will be great to have Marc back with us at Sebring," van Overbeek said. "Jorg, Marc and I all know one another's styles fairly well by now and we like driving together. Starting the season at Sebring is always an eye-opener. This race is a tough one on drivers, cars and crew; add a new car to the mix and it's going to be quite a weekend!"

In addition, Jaime Melo and Johnny Mowlem officially were added to the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F430 GT with Mika Salo. Emmanuel Collard will drive one of Penske Racing's Porsche RS Spyders in LMP2 with Sascha Maassen and Ryan Briscoe. Helio Castroneves will join Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas in the other Penske entry.

The 2007 American Le Mans Series opens with the 55th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 17 at Sebring International Raceway. The green flag will fall shortly after 10 a.m. with SPEED providing live coverage. The race also will be broadcast by American Le Mans Radio with IMSA Live Timing & Scoring available at (americanlemans.com).
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02/27: Fellows takes on New Role at Corvette Racing
This morning, Corvette Racing ended the speculation regarding Ron Fellows by confirming that indeed the popular American Le Mans Series driver would be taking on a different role within the GM Racing program. The rumors and hints, especially when General Motors announced a special edition Corvette in his honor, were made official today

Fellows is not leaving Corvette Racing -- his home for the past eight years since the formation of the ALMS by Don Panoz -- instead, he is taking on two new roles. He will now be the third driver for the No. 3 Corvette Racing team plus he will serve as "Corvette ambassador" which will include his technical input. (motorsport.com)
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02/20: Kanaan In, Danica Out for Sebring?
Tony Kanaan has replaced Danica Patrick in Andretti Green Racing’s lineup for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, team officials announced Monday. Kanaan, Dario Franchitti and Bryan Herta will drive the No. 26 XM Satellite Radio Acura LMP2 for the race March 17 at Sebring International Raceway. Previously, the plan had been to team Patrick with Franchitti and Herta.

“Dario, Tony and Bryan have a long history together and have a great chemistry together, which should be beneficial to us as we prepare for the Twelve Hours of Sebring,” AGR CEO Kim Green said in a statement. “Our program is coming along nicely.” (SpeedTV.com)
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02/12: EPIC, Series Partner in Ethanol Effort
The American Le Mans Series continues its tradition of excellence and leading edge technology with its decision to use ethanol-enriched fuel for the 2007 racing season. The organization has partnered with the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) to make E10, "the official ethanol-enriched fuel" of the Series.

Four different classes of competition are showcased in the American Le Mans Series, featuring open-top prototypes and sophisticated production-based GT cars. The competition is held at road racing venues across North America, as well as selected temporary street circuits in major urban markets. All cars in each class will be using gasoline enriched with 10 percent ethanol for the entire season.

"We are proud to be associated with one of the fastest growing brands of motorsport in North America," said Tom Slunecka, executive director of EPIC. "With television broadcasts in the U.S., Latin America and Europe, this partnership offers an incredible platform to market the performance and environmental benefits of ethanol, in a variety of engine types, from multiple manufacturers. This will also be the first time that ethanol-enriched fuel will be used in a 12-hour endurance race."

"At a time when alternative fuel initiatives are in the daily headlines, we could not be more pleased to unite with an organization such as EPIC to aid in spreading the awareness of renewable energy and the benefits of ethanol in the most demanding environment in motorsports: American Le Mans Series sports car racing," said Scott Atherton, President and CEO of the American Le Mans Series.

The American Le Mans Series was founded in 1999 by Georgia-based entrepreneur Don Panoz. It features top manufacturers such as Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, Corvette, Ferrari, Mazda, Panoz, Porsche and Saleen.

Four different classes of competition are showcased in the American Le Mans Series, featuring open-top prototypes and sophisticated production-based GT cars. The competition is held at road racing venues across North America, as well as selected temporary street circuits in major urban markets. All cars in each class will be using gasoline enriched with 10 percent ethanol for the entire season.

"We are proud to be associated with one of the fastest growing brands of motorsport in North America," said Tom Slunecka, executive director of EPIC. "With television broadcasts in the U.S., Latin America and Europe, this partnership offers an incredible platform to market the performance and environmental benefits of ethanol, in a variety of engine types, from multiple manufacturers. This will also be the first time that ethanol-enriched fuel will be used in a 12-hour endurance race." (ALMS.com)
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02/03: Planetlemans Talks To Adrián Fernández
It could be just another day at the office at Fernández Racing Headquarters. With a few weeks to go until the opening of the American Le Mans 2007 Series the Mexican lead driver and team owner is relaxed and found some time to share with us his views on the upcoming challenge.

PLM- Adrián, the last few years you have been involved in IRL, Nascar, GrandAm, why did you choose now for the ALMS?

AF- It was actually a great opportunity brought to us through the Acura relationship. The cars are very attractive, the series is very good and the long standing relationship with the Honda family made the choice pretty simple. We have learned a lot through our GrandAm experience to be competitive in Endurance and our main sponsor Lowe's is also very committed to our team since we are Latin American and they are now expanding their market in that region. (planetlemans.com)
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01/27: Porsche RS Spyder secures fastest time on the final test day
The Porsche teams are well prepared for the season-opener of the American Le Mans Series.
At the final day of winter tests on the Sebring International Raceway on Wednesday, which
serves as the traditional dress rehearsal for the Sebring 12 hour race on 17th March, the
#16 RS Spyder run by Dyson Racing Team with support from Porsche set the fastest
lap time.

For the Weissach-developed sports prototype, which received aerodynamic improvements
over the last months, this marked the third quickest time in total on the airfield circuit in
Florida. On day one and two, the fastest lap times went to Helio Castroneves (Brazil) and
Ryan Briscoe (Australia) with the RS Spyders of Penske Motorsports. With this, Ryan Briscoe
celebrated a successful start to his new job as Porsche works driver.

"I was able to become very well accustomed to the RS Spyder and can hardly wait for the
first race," he declared after setting the best time in his #6 RS Spyder. "The car reacts very
well to all the changes we undertook and our top times show this. These are great
foundations for a successful season."

"The car is incredible"

Sascha Maassen (Belgium), who will attempt to defend his title this season, was also
confident on the final test day after 31 laps. "The car runs without problems, it's fast and
handles well - that's what it's all about, especially in Sebring," said the reigning champion.

Already on the morning of the third test day, Emmanuel Collard (France) immediately
undercut the previous day's best time. "The car is incredible," he enthused, "you feel it
everywhere in the fast and slower corners. We are simply quicker."

Timo Bernhard (Germany) only came for a brief winter test session. The German shares the
cockpit of the Penske Motorsports #7 RS Spyder with Romain Dumas (France) this season.
He summarised his impression afterwards: "The new car is in another world."

Positive conclusion

After three days of testing with three best times for the RS Spyder, Dieter Steinhauser came
to a positive conclusion: "We were able to implement everything we had planned and
experienced no major technical problems. Again today we concentrated on tyre testing and
on the set-up," said the head of motorsport development and project leader for the RS
Spyder.

He was also impressed with the Dyson Racing team who had only just taken delivery of the
new RS Spyder from Porsche two weeks prior: "It was an excellent start for the team. They
made good progress and are even now in the position to turn the potential of the RS Spyder
into results on the race track." Dyson Racing field two RS Spyders this season with support
from Porsche. The second sports prototype for the US-based customer team is currently
being built in Weissach and is expected to leave Germany for the USA early February.

Fastest in the GT2 category on Wednesday was the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR run by Tafel
Racing with Wolf Henzler (Germany) and Robin Liddell (Great Britain) at the wheel.

Statistics
The quickest times on the third test day

1. Dyson Racing Team, Porsche RS Spyder (No. 16/LMP2), 1:46.983 min.
2. Fernandez Racing, Lola Acura (No. 15/LMP2), + 0.023
3. Penske Motorsports, Porsche RS Spyder (No. 7/LMP2), + 0.183
4. Andretti Green Racing, Courage Acura (No. 26/LMP2), + 0.403
5. Highcroft Racing, Courage Acura (No. 9/LMP2), + 1.405
6. Intersport Racing, Lola AER (No. 37/LMP2), + 1.498
7. Tafel Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (No. 71/GT2), + 14.695
8. Flying Lizard Motorsports, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR (No. 45/GT2) + 14.497
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01/20: Stellar GT2 Field Ready for Sebring Preview
The GT2 class of the American Le Mans Series provided fantastic competition during the 2006 season. Believe it or not, 2007 is shaping up to be even better. The first taste of this year's field comes Monday on the first day of the third annual American Le Mans Series Winter Test at Sebring International Raceway.

Porsche, Panoz and Ferrari all will be represented January 22-24 at the site of the season-opening Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. It is a reunion of sorts as each marque finished on the same lap a year ago after 12 hours of intense racing. Next week's three-day test is ripe with significant "firsts" for each:
 

Porsche is debuting its new 997 RSR racer in North America, the next generation of the highly successful 911 GT3 RSR. Six GT2 Porsches will be present for the Winter Test.
 

Porsche posted five GT2 victories in 2006, and Ferrari won four times.

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Corvette Racing to Defend American Le Mans Series Championships in 2007
DETROIT -- Corvette Racing officials announced today that America's premier production sports car team intends to return to the American Le Mans Series in 2007 to defend its GT1 manufacturers, team and drivers championships. Corvette Racing also plans to race for its sixth GT1 class title in seven years at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

"The Corvette C6.R race program continues Chevrolet's tradition of racing production-based vehicles to improve the breed," said GM Racing director Mark Kent. "The continuous exchange of information and the constant transfer of technology between the racing and production programs ensure that lessons learned on the track benefit every Corvette on the highway." (whowon.com)
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01/14: Driver Defection to Force Aston Martin Pull Out?
Aston Martin's plans to return to the American Le Mans Series could have been dealt a fatal blow by the announcement this week that all four of the drivers who raced for them in 2006 have secured other opportunities for the coming year.

After a competitive, if at times controversial, season up against Corvette Racing in the GT1 class, hopes of the team, already reportedly struggling to find a sufficient budget, returning to the United States may have been permanently dashed by the decision of Pedro Lamy, Stephane Sarrazin, Darren Turner and Tomas Enge to confirm drives elsewhere for the coming season. (crash.net)
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01/06: Kumho Signs Third Team for ALMS Season
Kumho Tire USA will supply race tires to Intersport Racing for the upcoming 2007 American Le Mans Series season.

Intersport, which runs an AER-powered Lola in the ALMS LMP2 class, will race on Kumho tires for the first time at the Mobil One Twelve Hours of Sebring on Mar. 17. (tirereview.com)
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12/19: Dyson Racing to Campaign two Porsche RS Spyders in 2007 American Le Mans Series
ATLANTA - December 18 - Dyson Racing, located in Poughkeepsie, New York, with Porsche
Motorsports roots going back to the mid '80s, will race two 2007 Porsche RS Spyder
prototypes in the upcoming American Le Mans Series season.

The team, which has been a force in the American Le Mans Series since the series started
in 1999 and a winner of two ALMS championships, is also a veteran Porsche squad dating
back to the early days of the Porsche 962. From 1985 until the end of 1991, Dyson Racing
Porsche 962s scored 10 overall wins in the IMSA Camel GT series and the team's drivers
took home four Porsche Cup North America trophies awarded to North America's top non-
factory Porsche driver.

Hartmut Kristen, head of Porsche Motorsport worldwide, was pleased that a private team of
Dyson's caliber has decided to embrace the RS Spyder program.

"When we announced our ALMS participation in Atlanta in April 2005, it was our target to
have the RS Spyder being raced by customer teams in 2007. So having the Dyson team as a
customer is exactly what we were going for. We will continue our development work together
with the Penske Motorsports team and we are going to do all the testing with them. The
results of this work and the new developments will be made available to our customer teams
as well. This is a very clear arrangement. The RS Spyders for Penske and Dyson are exactly
the same 2007 models, and the engines we are providing to the teams are identical as well,"
said Kristen, who indicated that Porsche will provide a factory race engine engineer and a
Porsche RS Spyder race engineer to the Dyson team.

Dyson Racing had previously announced their drivers for the 2007 season - Chris Dyson,
Butch Leitzinger, Andy Wallace and Guy Smith, with an additional announcement still to come
on the team's extra drivers for the opening 12-hour event at Sebring. Dyson expects to take
delivery of one car in time for the ALMS winter test at Sebring in late January, with the
second car due to arrive in February.
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12/12: Early Le Mans Invitees Have Strong Series Flavor
Ten entries from the American Le Mans Series are among the first 24 invitees to the 75th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world's most prestigious auto race. The twice-around-the-clock event is scheduled for June 16-17 at the Circuit de la Sarthe.

American Le Mans Series teams have enjoyed remarkable success at Le Mans with at least two class victories each year since the Series' formation in 1999. Series teams also have posted six overall race wins and 19 class championships, numbers that could grow again once the 2007 race is in the history books. (ALMS.com)

- Performance Balancing Could Come Back to Bite the ALMS
When the definitive history of sports car racing is written, the 2006 American Le Mans Series will be remembered as the season that witnessed the arrival of the revolutionary turbodiesel Audi R10 and a final, belated disappearance of its all-conquering predecessor, the R8. Right now, this year is recalled for politicking that followed the organizer’s cynical efforts to manipulate the results.

Attempts at “performance balancing” by the ALMS and sanctioning body IMSA were aimed at preventing domination by any one marque. That meant Audi in the LMP1 division and the Chevrolet Corvette C6.Rs in GT1.

Indeed, this rule tinkering had the desired effect of spicing up the racing and keeping things open. The fans that flocked to the tracks and turned on their TVs in ever greater numbers were no doubt grateful for that, but the political fallout from the first attempts at performance balancing could have far-reaching consequences for the series. Right now, neither Audi nor Chevy, two of the championship’s most ardent supporters, have yet to confirm their return in 2007. (AutoWeek.com)
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11:03: Herta Leaves IndyCar for American Le Mans Series
Bryan Herta of Valencia will drive for Andretti Green Racing in the American Le Mans Series, the team announced Tuesday at the Specialty Equipment Market Association Show in Las Vegas.

"I look back on my 13 years as an IndyCar driver and have a lot of great memories," said Herta, a Hart High of Newhall graduate. "Now, it's on to the next chapter of my career."

Herta has been driving for Andretti Green Racing in the Indy Racing League's IndyCar Series since 2003 and won two races. (LA DailyNews.com)
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10/31: Alex Job Racing Closes ALMS Chapter
Alex Job Racing closed the American Le Mans season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and will take a leave of absence from the series in ’07. The team has run every race in the ALMS series since its inception.

Since 1999 Alex Job Racing has amassed 39 wins, 46 pole positions, 79 podiums, and entered 94 cars in the American Le Mans Series. The team also posted three series championships, and two 24 Hour of Le Mans wins. The team boasts six, 12 hours of Sebring victories with a record of 18 consecutive years participating in the March classic. (planetlemans.com)
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10/20: Rahal/Letterman to Field ALMS Team
NCRL-
It was announced that the Rahal/Letterman Racing team (RLR) will have a team in the 2007 American Le Mans Series. 

They plan to run a new Porsche 911 GT3 RSR in the GT2 category. 

A full announcement on the RLR GT2 program including sponsorship and driver line-up is forthcoming.
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09/12: Van Der Steur Targets Radical Shakedown
Braselton, Ga. – Everyone knows that feeling every child gets at Christmas as they wait to open gifts under the tree. It's the same as what Gunnar van der Steur is feeling right about now. He knows what he is getting – he's seen it in fact – but he is still a few days away from playing with his new toy.

He is a customs clearance away from the Radical SR9 LMP2 chassis that van der Steur Racing will campaign in the last two rounds of the American Le Mans Series with a debut set for Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. "The complete and entire new car is waiting (at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia)," van der Steur said. "Who knows how long it will take."

It could be two days or it could be a week, he added. Naturally he's hoping for the former as the team has a one-day shakedown scheduled for Virginia's Summit Point Raceway on September 13. Then the plan is to bring the car to the pre-Petit Le Mans test on Sept. 23 and 24 in advance of the 1,000-mile/10-hour classic. The SR9 will be mated with a 2.0-liter, twin-turbo AER powerplant.

The Radical will make its competition debut at Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta.
Those laps will be van der Steur's first in a Radical LMP2. But he already has gotten tremendous feedback from team driver Ben Devlin and Tim Greaves, who will be the third driver at Petit. Both Devlin and Greaves drove an AER-powered Radical at Donnington Park two weeks ago. The car qualified second in P2 but went out with an accident mid-race. Devlin was able to drive the car considerably during testing and practice and had a glowing report for van der Steur.

"It was very stable, very predictable," van der Steur relayed. "There is a tremendous amount of mechanical grip. They were all of the things we were hoping to hear."

The 1,000-mile/10-hour Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda CX-7, Round 9 of the American Le Mans Series, is scheduled for 11:45 a.m. EDT on Saturday, September 30. The race will be broadcast live on SPEED Channel and MotorsTV in Europe. American Le Mans Radio will have live coverage at americanlemans.com, which also will feature IMSA Live Timing & Scoring. (ALMS.com)
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08/15: Pit Crews Ready for Klein Tools Semifinal Round
Braselton, Ga. – The race to the championship of the second annual $100,000 Klein Tools Pit Crew Challenge continues this week at Road America. Eight of the best teams and crews in the American Le Mans Series will fight it out for the right to advance to the final round in October.

The semifinals are set for 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. CDT on Saturday, August 19 as part of the Generac 500 at Road America weekend, the seventh round of the American Le Mans Series. The top five teams from Saturday's round receive prize money with the top four moving on to the championship at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

The Klein Tools Pit Crew Challenge puts the focus squarely on one of the most important facets in American Le Mans Series competition – the pit stop. After each car pulls into its pit box – at speed, no less. A Klein Tools Pit Crew Challenge stop involves teams racing against the clock in efforts to complete a full driver change, simulated refueling and four-tire change before the car storms out of its pit box.

The first two preliminary rounds were held at Lime Rock Park and Portland. Corvette Racing's No. 4 crew posted the fastest stop at Lime Rock (47.451 seconds), and the No. 23 Alex Job Racing team was quickest in Portland (48.570). The preliminary results were as follows:

Lime Rock preliminary
No. 4 Corvette Racing
No. 009 Aston Martin Racing
No. 44 Flying Lizard Motorsports
No. 2 Audi Sport North America

Portland preliminary
No. 23 Alex Job Racing
No. 21 BMW Team PTG
No. 31 Petersen/White Lightning
No. 3 Corvette Racing

The winner of the semifinal round will receive $10,000. The runner-up earns $5,000 with $2,500 going to third place, $1,500 to fourth place and $1,000 to fifth place.

The Generac 500 at Road America, Round 7 of the 2006 American Le Mans Series, is scheduled for 2 p.m. CDT on Sunday, August 20. The race will be televised live by SPEED at 3 p.m. EDT, and MotorsTV will broadcast the race live to Europe from 9 p.m. to midnight CET. American Le Mans Radio and IMSA Live Timing & Scoring will be available at americanlemans.com.
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08/11: Titan Rivals Contest GT1 Championship
Braselton, Ga. — It's no surprise that the biggest auto manufacturer rivalry in the American Le Mans Series has produced one of the tightest championship races in Series history. Just past the halfway point in the 2006 season, Corvette Racing and Aston Martin Racing have each stood toe-to-toe in the battle for GT1 supremacy.

The Chevrolet contingent represented the American sports car icon by claiming two of the three GT1 podium spots at three of the Series events (Houston, Mid-Ohio and Portland), while the Brits answered as the Union Jack presided over two thirds of the other three Series victory stands (Sebring, Lime Rock and Salt Lake City). To date, Corvette Racing has posted four wins to Aston Martin Racing's two.

"The competition is very tight, and when you have two top teams racing each other, it's fantastic," said Corvette Racing driver Olivier Beretta. "It's a great thing for the fans, media, television and the Series, but it makes life difficult for everyone involved with the two teams."

Among the championship standings, GT1 features the closest automobile manufacturer race and the second-closest races for the driver, team and tire manufacturer championships.

In both the team championship and automobile manufacturer championship standings, Corvette Racing and Chevrolet reside in first place with 115 points while Aston Martin Racing and Aston Martin occupy second place with 104 points. Within the driver championship race, Corvette Racing's Beretta and Oliver Gavin have posted a GT1-leading total of 106 points each. Behind them are Aston Martin's duo of Tomas Enge and Darren Turner, the Utah Grand Prix champions who both have 94 points. Rounding out the other drivers still alive in the championship race are Corvette's Ron Fellows and Johnny O'Connell (both with 90 points) and Aston Martin's Stephane Sarrazin (88 points) and Pedro Lamy (72 points), who teamed for the win at the New England Grand Prix.

Sarrazin, Enge, Turner & Piccini
Given that as much as 89 possible total points remain through the final four races (20 each for Road America and Mosport, 26 for Petit Le Mans and 23 for Laguna Seca), the championship may not be decided before the season finale.

"It's still pretty close," said Turner, who won the GT1 pole at the New England Grand Prix. "We've got four races to go, and everything is up in the air."

Beretta and Gavin set the initial pace by winning four of the first six races; however, following victories at Sebring, Houston and Mid-Ohio, Beretta and Gavin had a pair of disappointing fourth-place finishes before they reclaimed the victory stand at the Portland Grand Prix.

"The last race was very important for us," commented Beretta, who clocked the fastest GT1