The
American Le Mans Series (
ALMS) is a
sports car racing series based in the
United States and
Canada. It consists of a series of
endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the
24 Hours of Le Mans. Teams compete in one of four classes: LMP1 and LMP2 for
Le Mans Prototypes, and GT1 and GT2 for
Grand Touring cars. Race lengths vary from 1 hour, 40 minutes to 12 hours.
History
The series was created by Georgia-based businessman
Don Panoz and ran its first season in 1999. Panoz created a partnership with the
Automobile Club de L'Ouest (ACO), the organizers of the
24 Hours of Le Mans, to begin a 10-hour race in the spirit of Le Mans, dubbed the
Petit Le Mans. The inaugural Petit Le Mans took place in 1998 as a part of the
Professional SportsCar Racing series, in which Panoz was an investor. For 1999, the series changed its name to the American Le Mans Series, and adopted the ACO's rulebook.
The partnership with the ACO allows ALMS teams to earn automatic entries in the Le Mans 24 Hours. This was a practice that began with the inaugural Petit Le Mans, a practice that continues today, where 1st and 2nd place teams in each class earn entries to the next year's 24 Hours. The ALMS race at
Adelaide in 2000 also received automatic entries. Invitations were extended to the series champions beginning in 2003, for the 2004 race. The ACO has always given high consideration to teams competing in ALMS races, and many ALMS teams have seen success in the 24 Hours.
Old ALMS Logo.
The series began with eight races in
1999, beginning with the
12 Hours of Sebring, and ending at
Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The schedule expanded to 12 races in
2000, including two races in Europe, and one in Australia. In subsequent years, the European races disappeared, with the creation of the short-lived
European Le Mans Series, and later the
Le Mans Series. The series also began to move away from the
rovals, road courses in the infield of large
superspeedways, at
Charlotte Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, and
Texas Motor Speedway. Lately, the series has visited more temporary street courses, many in conjunction with the
Indy Racing League, at cities such as
St. Petersburg, Florida and
Long Beach, California. The series has raced at
Laguna Seca,
Mosport,
Road Atlanta and
Sebring in every year of its existence.
The series was the first motorsport racing series in North America to be recognized by the
United States Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA), the
United States Department of Energy and the
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International) to be recognized as a "Green Racing Series", and is planned to hold an all-new series implemented on series races dedicated to the environment by holding their first-ever
Green Challenge during the
2008 Petit Le Mans and would continue at least up to the entire
2009 season.
Overview
The American Le Mans Series uses essentially the same rules as the
24 Hours of Le Mans. As with the 24 Hours, the cars are divided into four classes. Purpose-built race cars with closed fenders compete in the
Prototype classes (LMP1 and LMP2) and modified production sports cars compete in the
Grand Touring classes (GT1 and GT2, formerly GTS and GT). Each car is driven by multiple drivers (2 or 3, depending on the length of the race), and all cars compete together simultaneously.
The team points champions and runners-up in each class at the end of the season receive an automatic invitation to the next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Additionally, privateer teams (teams that are not supported by manufacturers) compete for the IMSA Cup as well as special prizes for each race. Factory teams will compete in all four classes in 2009, with
Acura and
Audi in LMP1,
Acura and
Mazda in LMP2,
Chevrolet in GT1, and
Aston Martin,
BMW,
Ferrari, and
Porsche in GT2. Other manufacturers include
Dodge,
Ford and
Panoz.
Cadillac and
Chrysler factory teams have competed in the past.
Green Challenge
In January, the American Le Mans Series announced it would hold its first "Green Challenge" competition during Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October, ahead of the Challenge being implemented at all ALMS races during the 2009 season. In conjunction with the
Department of Energy, the
Environmental Protection Agency and
SAE International , the Series has unveiled the Green Challenge's rules and regulations. Two class leading vehicles ran low
CO2 or green engines during the 2008 season - the GT1
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R with a E85
cellulosic ethanol powered 7.0 litre V8 and the LMP1
Audi R10 TDI with a 5.5 litre
turbodiesel V12.
Past champions
See also
