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ALMS finishes off season at Laguna Seca

Many of the championships had already been wrapped up by the time the ALMS arrived at Laguna Seca for the last race of the season, but there were still a few battles to be won and you can always bet that none of the teams will back down in the name of competition. We were at the race as part of the Audi Mileage Marathon and were able to bring you a huge gallery of high resolution images that can be found in the gallery below. The race airs on NBC today at 2:00 p.m. EST, so you can still watch the race on television. However, If you want to know what happened, go ahead and follow the jump to read about the results of the race.
posted : 10/21/2008 @7:37:31 PM
Preview: ALMS at Laguna Seca

As part of the final leg of the Audi Mileage Marathon, we made a stop today at Laguna Seca in Monterey for the final ALMS race of the season. Acura was the top story yesterday, taking the two overall top spots with David Brabham capturing pole followed by Luiz Diaz in the Lowe's Fernandez Racing entry. Audi was the fastest of the LMP1 cars, although qualifying a disappointing 9th overall. In GT2, Dirk Werner took the top spot in the Farnbacher Loles Racing Porsche GT3 RSR, making Porsche the favorite to win the overall manufacturers' championship for the season. The Ferraris will have to win the race and have Porsche finish no better than sixth to take the points lead. Finally, in GT1 it was only the two sister Corvettes battling for position, with Jan Magnussen claiming the faster time. The race is scheduled to run today from 2:45 to 6:45 PM PST, and you can watch the race tomorrow on NBC from 2:00 PM to 4 PM EST.
posted : 10/21/2008 @7:32:42 PM
Audi R10 driver Emanuele Pirro stepping down after 15 years

After 15 years of hustling factory Audi race cars around tracks the world over, Emanuele Pirro will have his last run in the R10 TDI this weekend at the American Le Mans Series' final race at Laguna Seca. The Italian driver first hooked up with Audi in 1994 running in the Italian and German Touring Car Championships where he won titles three years in a row. Later he moved over into sports cars where he has spent the last decade driving the R8 and R10 TDI. Over that span, he and his teammates have conquered the 24 hours of Le Mans five times including the first victory by a diesel-powered car in the 2006 R10. Pirro's most recent victory came just two weeks ago at the Petit Le Mans where he teamed with Alan McNish and Dindo Capello to storm back from two laps down to defeat the Peugeot 908 HDi. Pirro is also an avid pilot, so he'll probably be getting more of his thrills in the air now. It's not known if Pirro is retiring completely from competition or just leaving his team, but he will continue to be a brand ambassador for Audi, a task at which he should excel. Having met the man on several occasions, I can say first hand that he is very warm, friendly and personable and almost always has a big smile on his face.
posted : 10/18/2008 @7:28:37 PM
BMW M3 could campaign in 24 hours of Le Mans

When it comes to racing, diversity is key. Who doesn't love to root for their favorite brand to win against its fiercest rivals? We hope that BMW gets its latest M3 certified by the FIA in time for a showdown against with the Corvette and others in Le Mans GT racing, which will institute a new set of rules for the 2010 season. There's more than one way to get horsepower from a V8 engine, as clearly demonstrated by these two diametrically opposed class competitors. Team Corvette's brute strength and low-down grunt would go up against finesse and high-strung reviness from BMW. Kinda reminds us of the classic Ford versus Ferrari feuds of the '60s. In any case, BMW now needs to work with the FIA to get its racer properly sanctioned and approved, as it has already done for the American Le Mans racing series. Git 'r done, folks.
posted : 10/13/2008 @10:24:53 PM
Late night winner at 2008 Petit Le Mans

The 10th anniversary of the Petit Le Mans occurred this weekend at Road Atlanta, and the annual endurance event that occurs before the season-ending race of the American Le Mans Series at Laguna Seca did not disappoint. Peugeot arrived ready to take up its diesel-powered feud with Audi in the LMP1 class that recently concluded overseas in the European Le Mans Series with the German brand on top. The LMP2, GT1 and GT2 classes were also hotly contested, and the most drama came from Helio Castroneves, who arrived at the track to drive an LMP2 Porsche for Penske after having been in handcuffs the day before facing tax evasion charges.
posted : 10/13/2008 @9:15:56 PM
Record qualifying time puts Peugeot on pole at Petit Le Mans

It was a record setting day yesterday at Road Atlanta, with all four classes setting qualifying records including a blistering 1:06.242 by Stephane Sarrazin in his Peugeot 908 HDi to take the top overall spot. Peugeot has continually proved that it has a fast car, taking the last two pole positions at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but it was Audi on top at the end of that race. Allan McNish will be putting plenty of pressure on the Peugeot team, who qualified just .085 seconds behind the Peugeot in his Audi R10 TDI. In P2, Penske racing not only captured pole with a record qualifying time of 1:07.061, but also grabbed the top three spots. It was all Corvette Racing in GT1, but it will be a close race between the two Corvette who were separated by only .047 seconds. Finally, Risi Competizione qualified first in GT2 for the second straight year. Coverage of the event starts today at 11:00 AM EST on SPEED TV today, with the green flag waving at 11:15. A NASCAR race splits up the coverage from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. EST, but you can still watch the race on AmericanLeMans.com (as well as look up live timing and scoring) or listen in on XM channel 166.
posted : 10/13/2008 @4:40:05 PM
Le Mans organizers to ban V10s and V12s from LMP1 in 2011

The latest in a string of reports on Le Mans Series rule changes could stand to really shake things up in the prototype classes in a few years. ACO, the French racing organizers which coordinate the European Le Mans Series and its headline event, are reportedly planning on banning V10s and V12s from the top-tier LMP1 class by 2011. In their place, LMP1 would adopt the rules currently in place for LMP2, which means 3.4-liter V8s and 2.0-liter turbos. LMP2, meanwhile, would switch exclusively to production-based engines. Both Audi and Peugeot, who have dominated the series with their 12-cylinder turbodiesels, are reportedly in favor of the change in formula despite the need to send their engine development programs back to the drawing board.
posted : 10/3/2008 @6:56:51 PM
Venturi to set up shop at Le MansThe reborn Venturi Automobiles may have changed the historic automaker's focus from performance cars to green technology, but back in the day – conceived, as it was, as a French rival to Ferrari – Venturi pulled off some noteworthy performances at Le Mans. Following that tradition, Venturi has now announced that it will establish a new factory in the French town of La Sarthe, home to the famous 24 hour race. The plant will shift the company's center out of Monaco where it is currently based, and be used to build a new electric city vehicle to be unveiled next week together with Michelin at the Paris motor show, as well, presumably, as the Fetish supercar which is now nearing production.
posted : 10/2/2008 @3:39:59 PM
ALMS could scrap GT1 class as Corvette drops to GT2

GT1-class racing is one of the most hotly contested in Europe, with cars like the Aston Martin DBR9 and Maserati MC12 competing among others for top honors in the Le Mans Series and FIA GT Championship. Here in the American Le Mans Series, however, officials are considering the possibility that they'll have to shut down the class altogether. This season, the Corvettes have had the category all to themselves, which has made the class uninteresting, with predictable outcomes. Bell Motorsports announced their intention to run Aston Martins to compete with the Corvettes for GT1 victory, but that may be another case of too little too late. Itching for a good fight, GM is reportedly dropping down to the paradoxically more competitive GT2 series. Not anxious to run another season of an empty GT1 roster, ALMS could very well cut the class out altogether.
posted : 10/2/2008 @3:26:30 PM
Le Mans organizers target diesels with new rules

Diesel power has emerged as the dominating fuel in Le Mans series endurance racing, with Audi and Peugeot competing neck-and-neck for top honors. But that's about to change, if the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) has anything to say about it. ACO, the body that organizes the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the LMS championships in Europe and North America, has announced new rules aimed at reducing the performance of the diesel racers to level the playing field with the gasoline-fueled competitors. The new regulations would include air restrictors reduced in diameter by 10% and a decrease in allowable turbo boost on the oil-burners. The move is also aimed at impeding laps times in the name of safety, with a 3 minute 30 second La Sarthe lap time as the target, where the Peugeot 908s lapped the circuit in the low 3:08s this year. Additional rule-book amendments include the banning of tire warmers, a reduction in the permissible size of rear wings and the allowance of only one wheel gun for each pit crew, all in an effort to reduce costs and raise lap times.
posted : 9/24/2008 @10:23:03 PM
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