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BATTLE ROYAL; Spectacular Racing Is On Tap In The ALMS.(Motorsports)
Byline: GARY WATKINS
Audi, Porsche, Chevrolet, BMW, Ferrari, Aston Martin: Some of the world's top sports car manufacturers will be on the grid in this year's American Le Mans Series. Factor in Panoz and Lexus, not to mention specialist race car constructors such as Lola and Courage, and it's apparent why some are predicting a classic season from the moment the 10-race championship kicks off with the Sebring 12 Hour.
The engaging contests include the continuing "David vs. Goliath'' confrontation between Audi and the Lola-equipped Dyson Racing team in the LMP1 prototype division. But don't forget the multi-marque squabble in GT2 involving Porsche, Ferrari, Panoz, BMW and (later in the season) Lexus.
The big news before Sebring was Audi's commitment to run seven of the races with its radical new R10 LMP1 prototype. The German manufacturer, which won the premier class title every year since joining the ALMS full time in 2000, had stated its new turbodiesel racer would be on the grid for Sebring as a way to get ready for Le Mans. What Audi didn't say was that it would return nearly full time to the series to try to make it seven championships in a row.
It was vital the ALMS got its reigning champions back. Had it not, the LMP1 class would have been thin. Dyson Racing, top dog the past three years in the lightweight LMP675 (now LMP2) class with its Lolas, was the only top team to have committed to a full program until the Audi board gave the green light to its program late in February.
Audi's campaign will have two phases. Joest Racing will be back on the ALMS grid at Sebring for the first time since 2003, after which the battle will be passed to Audi's representative in the series since then, Champion Racing. Champion will have to use two old R8 prototypes until round five at the new Miller Motorsports Park in Utah in mid-July.
The R10 project's primary focus is the Le Mans 24 Hour in June. The diesel fleet, which numbers three chassis at this time, will be pounding the test tracks of Europe between Sebring and the French enduro, which rules them out of the Houston and Mid-Ohio events in May. The Lime Rock round just two weeks after Le Mans is a little too close for comfort.
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