A Brief History of the World David Soares on the ALMS As international sportscar racing winds down to the last race of the fifth ALMS season, there have been lamentations in some quarters about thin fields followed by the one-size-fits-all American knee-jerk reaction: Blame the French. I feel compelled to take a contraire view of current events and raise my glass to Messieurs Panoz, Atherton, and Plassart for the collaboration between IMSA and the ACO. Why we play Boules with the French… There is a reason that Dr. Panoz and company play Boules with the ACO: Le Mans is the biggest and longest-running sportscar race on the planet and the top finishers at Sebring AND Petit Le Mans get GUARANTEED invitations to la Sarthe in June. Pardon my French, but these automatic invitations are e-ticket, prime cut, the invitation to the dance. The new-look ACO under the leadership of Jean Claude Plassart has had the good sense to allow P1 cars to be grandfathered under the 2003 regulations in the ALMS through 2005. They are working with IMSA to let manufacturers come up with a competitive formula so that barn doors like the Cadillac CTS and the BMW M3 can have a class of their own. Even bigger than Black Jack Pershing’s “Lafayette, nous voila,” is the rescheduling of the Test Day from late April or early May, where it has been since the beginning of time, to two weeks before the race in June. This allows the ALMS to take advantage of their TV package and schedule races between Sebring and the 24 Hours and go on the offensive in bringing up their ratings. A matter of choice… Given these factors, I don't see IMSA as “subservient” to the ACO -- I think that all are all playing Boules together for sound business reasons. Now is not the time for Grand Am-style go-it-alone thinking. If people want to cheap-out and run DP's, more power to them. They get to run in the Rolex 24. Top-rank racing is a business. Manufacturers have been drawn to the farce that is Formula 1 because it has a TV package that lets them flog their tin on international “ empTV “ every other week. If there is an alternative March through October time slot that offers a cost-effective, well-marketed, entrant and fan friendly environment they will come. It was only five years ago that we saw a Le Mans starting grid featuring Audi, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Chrysler, BMW, Nissan, Porsche, Panoz-Ford, and even Ferrari. They all “get” this kind of racing, they just need a program featuring more than one race meeting a year. The package is even more attractive with multi-class racing where four or five entrants can claim a “win” every race. Ford fallout or forging ahead… Now that the Ford Motor Company has thumbed its nose at Karting-with-Bernie (and maybe put a spine in some others as well) perhaps we'll go back to the Glory Days of big-time sportscar championships and Clashes of the Titans at La Sarthe every June. When the manufacturer teams come back they'll want to go after all those automatic entries available at Sebring and PLM and voila, full fields of highly competitive cars. Ford has already committed its Aston Martin brand to the series and we’ll see what else they announce at “ Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca ” in October. This was a tough year for the ALMS. I think that the ACO has been darned accommodating but also realize that Panoz took a chance that no one thought would succeed. The recent announcements benefit both. Let’s can the negativity and Keep the Faith. PÈtanque! |
David Soares |
