To Laguna Seca for the final round of the 2008 ALMS...........by any standards it has
been a very successful year for the Braselton based organisation, with the strongest and
most diverse grids in Sportscar racing, some might say in any form of motor sport.
Works supported efforts from Audi, Porsche, Accura, Peugeot, Corvette,
Ferrari......petrol, diesel, hybrid, E85......crowd figures on the up in a generally
depressed market............everything is fine and dandy............well it would be in a
normal world but in October 2008 the world does not pass for normal, at least we should
hope not.
It is true to say that the ALMS "Green" initiatives have been inspired in their timing but
will that be enough to keep the ship afloat? Make no mistake, if titans like General
Motors are in danger of disappearing then nothing is safe and that is no longer a motor
industry problem, every aspect of the business and financial world is under threat as we
stagger into a recession.
The ALMS is positioned like the small mammals at the end of dinosaur age, will they
take over the world with evolutionary inspired changes or will they get crushed in the
collapse of the giants that surround them?
Whatever.............I hear some of you say.............but racing does not exist in a
vacuum.
Well it would be churlish and a waste of an opportunity not to salute the high level that
the ALMS reached in 2008. So first up is a fantastic set of images from David Lister that
on a grey, miserable morning, have managed to bring a little bit of California Dreaming to
Surrey.
Shock and Awe photography........
John Brooks, October 2008
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