Flash.(Briefs)

Not so fast

Plans to open the American Le Mans Series to four-door cars (AW, July 26) have met with criticism from the teams the new cars would go up against. ALMS organizers want a new class similar in rules and performance to the GT category to be in place for 2006. But top GT team owners Alex Job and Giuseppe Risi claim the new division would be to the detriment of the series. Job, whose Porsche team has taken the GT title for the past two seasons, said, "We need more cars and manufacturers, but my concern is that it makes no marketing sense pitching four-door cars against high-value GT cars.''

Risi said he would "think carefully about supporting a series where they were going up against saloon cars.''

ALMS boss Scott Atherton pointed out that a similar gulf existed in the GTS class. "A Corvette costs $45,000, a Ferrari 550 Maranello more than $200,000, but no one is suggesting that doesn't make for a great spectacle.''

Ownership change

Dubai royal family member Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum is close to buying a controlling stake in Jordan Grand Prix. His company, Grand Prix International, is negotiating to buy out Merrion Capital, a consortium of Irish investors that acquired 49.9 percent of the stock in Jordan last year from Warburg Pincus, the venture capital firm. Team namesake Eddie Jordan is also ready to sell most of the remaining stock to GPI, but will retain a minority holding and stay on with the company as a consultant for at least two years. The deals, which include the team's factory at Silverstone, have been reported to be worth [pounds sterling]40 million (about $73.6 million), though Jordan declared ...