GuyIncognito

Grand Am won this battle because NASCAR has deeper pockets and connections than Dr. Panoz

that said, I do agree. KISS.

the top prototype class with DP, P2, and Delta Wing is going to be a real BOP cluster****.

otherwise I agree with what they're doing, particularly on the GT side.

ProCoach

Too many classes, in both Prototype AND GT. And where is GX, when the dust settles?

Now we have "classes" within "categories." Sheesh!

I wouldn't want to be in pushing match between a light and fragile P2 car and a heavy, slab-sided DP "hammer." LMP-C? Game on!

Don't see how they're going to be able to speed up the DP's without crippling what makes an LMP2 quicker than the LMP-C's.

I also remember how hard it is on-track negotiating track position between the quick-in-a-straight GT cars and the quick-in-the corner P2 and P-C's.

Disappointed that they've missed the KISS opportunity... That's what killed ALMS, besides the P1 costs.

GTgears

I also would not be surprised if we saw them add in P1 for just Sebring and Petit.

Alpine951

That question was asked and the response was that P! cars have a place ...in WEC.

DB_NC_95C2

I don't see them adding a P1 for Petit since it's no longer a WEC race. Sebring maybe to try to lure a manufacturer or two as a 'spring tune up to beat up this year's new P1'.

I won't be watching GrandAm or ALMS or the new series any more than I did last season (which is a big zero).

I'm really glad that I took in several Petits in order to see the big boys bring their P1s to race on US soil. I fear we've seen the last of them.

I'm finally going to LaSarthe in 2014 to see (hopefully) Porsche kick Audi in the butt. I've been waiting for Weissach to return to go for overall win.

Audi: overweight, underpowered, overpriced VWs with all wheel drive and 'look at me' styling

CCA

Sheez, three classes is all they need and fans can follow, especially new to the sport fans.
P1 - Open cockpit composit framed race cars
P2 - Closed cockpit tube framed cars like the DPs, but with a little more latitude in design, so they don't all look alike
GT - Uni-body production based race cars

It's pretty simple to make the series a success; just listen to us.

ProCoach

pontifex4

More classes means more manufacturers and shops get a spot on the podium...

Not that it makes for a better experience. Just saying.

stuttgart46

Playing Devil's advocate, I'm going to agree with this structure at least to let teams get adjusted to the new series. I will miss P1 a ton but we haven't really had quality P1 racing here in a while. The Audi and Puegot parades over the last few years have been a joke.
It would be nice to see the DP cars transform into P2 cars instead of the other way around if we are only going to have 1 prototype class in the future.

chartersb

Compare lap times for the two series at their 2012 common tracks: Mid Ohio and Road America. Forget the P1 times and you find that P2 and LMPC are[B] both[/B] faster than Grand Am DP cars. P2 by over 8 secs per lap at RA. The ALMS GT cars are faster than Grand Am GT and the GTC cars run within sight of the GA GT cars. They are going to have to speed up the DP cars a lot to run at the front or slow down the ALMS P2 and PC classes. Since the DP cars are spec racers, it may be easier to open their tech limits than to slow down the ALMS cars. Or don't change any of it and see what the race fans like.

Streak

We don't have any American P1's. I wish we did but I can see why they just scrapped it. Without a huge factory effort there isn't a P1 field.

Damn shame too since the Porsche P1 is due to roll out in 2014 and we'll never see it

Anyone could see they would keep their POS DP cars as the top dogs. Are they going to speed up the DP's or slow down the LMP's?

I like that they kept the GT's series intact. It will be confusing but the thought of not seeing the ALMS spec Porsches kept me awake at night in a puddle of my own tears.

Turb-OH Brad

Rumor has it that Grand Am/ALMS is in talks with the ACO to allow Daytona Prototypes to run the 24 hours at La Sarthe.

I really hope that they speed up the DPs rather than slow the ALMS prototypes.

Brinkley

Turb-OH Brad,
I like your avatar!

GuyIncognito

we'll see it assuming there's a WEC round in North America...

or, just make a field trip to LeMans

NaroEscape

What I was hoping for (class names are for example purposes):

P1 - Some version of ALMS P cars. Most likely not current P1 since there really isn't any racing here anyway, so lets say they are current P2 cars.
P2 - Grand Am DP cars
GT1 - ALMS GT cars
GT2 - combined Grand Am GT and ALMS GTC cars

I know, 4 classes is too much, but in this scenario, it would be easy to follow (ALMS P cars look nothing like DP cars, and ALMS GT cars are not the same as GA GT cars)

Unfortunately, this classing would not happen - GA took over ALMS. In what I laid out, all ALMS classes are ABOVE GA glasses....France family would never let that happen...

Combining DP and LMP cars is stupid. As someone pointed out, LMP cars are fragile high performance machines. DP cars are medium performance tanks that can run over other cars without getting a scratch. And if you dumb down the LMP2 cars....well...why bother running them?

ALMS was all about advancing technology - if you can't compete, step UP your game and make your car better!
Grand Am was all about parity - if you can't compete, the faster cars will be handicapped to bring everyone DOWN to the lowest common denominator.

The series is now in the hands of Grand Am people....