The Other ALMS

[HORNDAWG]

.................................. Asian LeMans Series ................................
Well the JLMC is no longer but the ACO have taken over what was and plan to build something out of the ashes. So with that in mind I guess it is time to start something on it.
The revamped Kruse team to become "IMS/Racing for Thailand". One of the teams that could possibly be a candidate for the Asian LeMans Series with the oversubsciption of the LMS.(?) link

Other possible players in the new ACO Asian Le Mans Series. link

Want Le Mans '08 entry:
Creation AIM
Charouz Lola (Malaysian rumours)
YGK Courage
Tokai Courage
Dome

Asia/Pacific manufacturers:
Acura
Mazda
MG

Old cars (but I'm sure they would be allowed in some capacity):
Hitsoyama Zytek
Courage Mugen
Goh Audi R8
(Thanks courageous)


Also to my mind the new Asian Aston Martin series would probably make a good support race for this.

And could even suck in some of the Australian GT cars or even some Kiwi stuff if only for a race or two depending on where the races may actually take place.

[HORNDAWG]

Well with the release of the ALMS'09' schedule we see that the prep for this series is out well in advance of it, in fact it goes back to Le Mans.

Additional growth was reflected in the announcement of the 2009 schedule. The core schedule remains virtually the same as it has for the last several years, creating an environment of stability and traditional dates. Chief Operating Officer Tim Mayer also announced two opportunities for teams to participate in post-season Le Mans races in Japan and China. In a partnership announced by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) in June at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Japan begins a Le Mans-style series in 2009. Up to 10 teams from the American Le Mans Series will be invited to join teams from Europe's Le Mans Series as well as Asian teams in two November events - Nov. 1 and Nov. 8 - held respectively in Mt. Fuji, Japan and Shanghai, China.

[apc_monk]

Mmm, will these last those or be canceled again? I really hope they can get an Asian LMS series going, the market potential for some of the manufactures is just huge. Especially with the industrial revolution that China is powering through.

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by apc_monk

Mmm, will these last those or be canceled again? I really hope they can get an Asian LMS series going, the market potential for some of the manufactures is just huge. Especially with the industrial revolution that China is powering through.

Well they have got well out in front of it this year and have announced there will be travel incintives etc.
Also there will be 4 races at the Mt. Fuji and Shanghai events (2 each). This is also being put forth by the ALMS as it was a vision of Don Panoz to start this back with The Race of a Thoasand Years. But then, 9/11, and travel became quite complicated and put a squash on it. More details on it at about 17:30 of the podcast.

[John Dagys]

It's going to be tough to get American teams to commit to this, I think. The idea is once again great, but with the current financial situation, many teams will just be happy to get through the American Le Mans Series season.

We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Any word on the format of these races? I know Tim (Mayer) mentioned 4 races total, but that was news to me. We all thought it was going to be 2 x 1000km races for the championship. Now if there's two on each weekend, they surely can't be 1,000km events?!

[HORNDAWG]

Originally Posted by John Dagys

It's going to be tough to get American teams to commit to this, I think. The idea is once again great, but with the current financial situation, many teams will just be happy to get through the American Le Mans Series season.

We'll have to wait and see what happens.

Any word on the format of these races? I know Tim (Mayer) mentioned 4 races total, but that was news to me. We all thought it was going to be 2 x 1000km races for the championship. Now if there's two on each weekend, they surely can't be 1,000km events?!

I would agree that it will more than likely be formatted with shorter races. Maybe the events will be 1000k in total with both races, at each?