Only 16 cars for St Pete. Bad ALMS rumors

[alpine951]

Entry list is only 16 cars.  No Vici 911's.  Heard on another board Krohn let go 1/2 their people and two other teams may have just filed Chapter 11..  Robin Miller reported on SPeed the other day Honda is cancelling the P1 program and moving the people into IRL. 

[F-Troop Mom]

Guess this is the first year I won't be wishing I was there.....

[KTJeffries]

These grids are going to be hard to handle. This is the type of economy that ruin a great series like the ALMS lets just hope it doesnt.

Also, Robin Miller is an IRL guy, not an ALMS guy. Dave Dispain had Marshall Pruett on his show Sunday and Pruett kinda laughed at the notion explaining that in the ALMS Acura isnt paying the bill, the teams/sponsors are, unlike in the IRL and more or less refuted everything Robin Miller said.

It wont make a big difference but I really think Champion/Audi Sport NA will be in the ALMS this year after LeMans...and although there are small grids now, there is some strong manufacturer support.

[GGoose]

KT understand that there may be strong manufacturer currently but if the economy continues to shlog along at its current rate or deteriorates even further the face of motor sports as we know it will change dramatically. The first thing out the door will be support of the manufacturer's racing efforts. I don't know if you remember many years ago the same thing happened in NASCAR, the U.S. automakers were sucking wind so they cancelled the vast majority of their in house R and D, pared down the engine shops and race related parts production to nothing and gave very limited support to even the largest teams. They pretty much said that we cant afford to supply you with parts, technology and money, so they just gave them money only and shut down everything else. Keep in mind this happened during a fairly good economy so it was easy to switch gears and go after bigger sponsors, it also took the R and D into the private sector and created many new business's. These new entities gave many people a chance to build a great company in a stable environment and prosper for many years. Unfortunately this is a totally different deal now that will have sweeping changes to the sport we all love REGARDLESS of what type of racing it is, another year or 2 of this recession could set all forms of racing back 20 to 25 years and alter the face of racing beyond recognition............ Lets hope not!   

[La Bomba Racing (Bo)]

Looks like the Patron GT3 Challenge series boy's will run alongside the LMP and GT cars in five races this year.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20090327/ALMS/903279975

[pureadrenalin]

I missed the race yesterday, was it seriously a 10 car race?!?!?! If so, that is terrible. I'm kinda wondering if going to a LMS style format wouldn't be ideal. 6/6hr rounds with petit and Sebring as the longer events. All races on classic courses, all would run into the dark.

[dangerousdave]

17 started, 12 finished.


I should add the only 22 started in the IRL race and 12 finished there as well.

[BillBones]

Entry list is only 16 cars.  No Vici 911's.  Heard on another board Krohn let go 1/2 their people and two other teams may have just filed Chapter 11..  Robin Miller reported on SPeed the other day Honda is cancelling the P1 program and moving the people into IRL. 

The rumored Krohn layoffs affect their Grand-Am operations.  The green Ferrari is run by Risi.  Vici reportedly is trying to put together sponsorship to put their cars on the track.  Tafel has filed bankruptcy in Georgia, another victim of the economic downturn.

Robin Miller is so busy sucking off the IRL he'll say anything.

But it's going to be a rough season for ALMS.  20 will probably be good for most races from Mid-Ohio, with some European teams for Petit and Laguna.