Darkness, Darkness Shake, Rattle and Roll An Audi won overall, Liddell helped Field to yet another class win, a Corvette finally won GTS after failing to do so since the start of the GM program and an Alex Job Porsche clinched another GT championship. OK, that’s the race results and as a brief introduction to David Lister’s superb images of the goings on, the fact is that the big story at Laguna Seca was the race in to darkness. A few years ago such an idea would have been met with considerable resistance but track honcho Gill Campbell knew that something had to be done to shake up the format and have the final race of the ALMS mean something other than another long haul for the teams. Show biz kids It isn’t often that dedicated fans and the occasional spectator get to be part of something significant and historical, however, that is exactly what happened at the famous Monterey peninsula circuit for the season ending tour featuring the ALMS. While the pundits argue whether or not the race was a success, the verdict is in from those in attendance and the chorus is a resounding, “Let’s do this again”. That could be a problem as pressure from those tosspots that live on the hillside in the multi million dollar domes never cease to complain about unacceptable levels of noise emanating from the circuit. Keep in mind that there are only a handful of events that fall under the open exhaust rule so if there is to be a second running of the night time spectacle, get those letters of support in the mail directly to Laguna Seca. If you build it, he will come It took some adjusting for the teams and spectators alike with regards to the new timetable of featuring the major race for late Saturday opposed to the long tradition of running on Sunday. By mid day it appeared that the numbers of those paying would be down from previous years but an hour before race time there was a steady stream of spectators with chairs and coolers in tow. The crowd obviously had read up on the event and timed their arrival. Official and unofficial estimates place the paid gate about 20 to 25 % up from last season. This has to be encouraging to both the management of Laguna Seca and to the ALMS. While sports cars have a long tradition and a core support group on the Monterey peninsula, there is no doubt that there have been serious problems. The days when IMSA and the Can Am packed them in back in the 70’s and 80’s are long gone. There have been brief blips of life that have burned themselves in to the memory such as the long awaited return of the FIA GT Series in 1997 but overall it has been a long dry spell. Thee introduction of the night format has a special appeal and could do for Laguna Seca what Petit Le Mans has done for Road Atlanta. For the sake of continued fan support and that of the manufacturers, let’s hope so. |
Kerry Morse |
