Thread: GT Class To Carry ALMS In 2010

Unlike what is the norm for sportscar racing, it may well be that the slowest cars in the 2010 American Le Mans Series will garner the majority of interest when the new season opens this March with the Sebring 12 Hours.

With numbers amongst the prototypes continuing to drop and the top manufacturers focusing their main concern on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the biggest prize sportscar racing has to offer, the GT (GT2 in Europe) class will be called upon to carry the torch this year.

10 years ago this probably wouldn't of been likely, for one thing it wasn't until 2001 that a non-Porsche 911 GT3 RSR appeared at the Le Mans classic (that being the Callaway C12R entered by Aspen Knolls/MCR), however that has changed significantly over the past decade both at Le Mans and in the ALMS.

For one thing, America's most popular sportscar, the Chevrolet Corvette (in ZR1 form) is included thanks to the Pratt & Miller folks. The marque enters its first full season in the "baby" GT class after competition shrank considerably in the GT1 division. The cupboard in GT2 is far from bare, led by the Flying Lizard Porsche, and the Risi Competizione's Ferrari 430. These two cars have been the cars to have both in ALMS and Le Mans competition in recent years, with the Ferraris more common in the fold in the last few years.

Another marque that came on strong late in 2009 was the BMW M3's entered by Rahal-Letterman Racing. Although it has not seen duty at the 24 Hours, the entry was quick in qualifying and took class honors in a few events late last year in ALMS. Even Ford is a darkhorse, with the Doran GT40R being run by Robertson Racing. Even though the back of the pack has been common for this entry, they did make a good impression when they took a surprise class pole position for last year's Petit Le Mans.

The big unknown will be the other newbie to GT, the Rocketsports-entered Jaguar XKR. The team won three Trans-Am titles with the car, but will be hard pressed to challenge the front runners.

With the ongoing battles on and off the track in the prototype division (Peugeot blocked a move to allow the Audi R15 to enter the Sebring race for instance), the eyes will be on the GT class to carry the weight of the American Le Mans Series into the future.

DrumsofThunder's ALMS GT Forecast:

It will be interesting to see how the Corvette Team reacts to a full season of intense competition in its own class, after having basically raced against itself in GT1. This fact seem to hurt them when competition popped up at the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2 straight losses in 2007-08 to Aston Martin), and they'll have to get over this quick if they expect to battle for a class title in 2010.

The Risi and Flying Lizards teams have to be viewed as the favorites for the ALMS GT crown based on their dominance in recent years. The Risi Ferrari may just have the edge on the F-L Porsche, based on its success in the biggest events (multiple class titles at Sebring, Le Mans, and Petit). Flying Lizard in contrast has struggled to hit the top step of the podium in these pursuits so far.

BMW, like Corvette are the second-tier at the start of the 2010 campaign, but like the Vettes could jump onto tier A with a strong start to the season at Sebring.

Ford and Jaguar don't figure to threaten for the title, but either could steal a podium in the right situation at some point in the year.

DrumsofThunder's GT Class Championship Pick: Risi Competizione Ferrari 430

I like your forecast, DrumsofThunder, and I think you are right on target for the most part. My money is on Vette surprising a lot of people this year.

My favs have always been the Ferrari's. I would really like to see them do well this year. I wonder how Raul-Letterman's BMW will do this year.