 | |
| Country |  United States Canada |
|---|---|
| Inaugural season | 1999 |
| Folded | 2013 |
| Prototype Classes | P1, P2, PC |
| GT Classes | GT, GTC |
| Drivers | Varies over season |
| Teams | Varies over season |
| Tire suppliers | Michelin,Dunlop,Falken,Yokohama,Bridgestone |
| Last Drivers' champion | LMP1:Klaus Graf &Lucas Luhr GT:Jan Magnussen &Antonio García LMP2:Scott Tucker LMPC:Mike Guasch GTC:Cooper MacNeil &Jeroen Bleekemolen |
| Last Makes' champion | LMP1:HPD-Honda GT:Chevrolet |
| Last Teams' champion | LMP1:Muscle Milk Pickett Racing GT:Corvette Racing LMP2:Level 5 Motorsports LMPC:CORE Autosport GTC:Flying Lizard Motorsports |
| Official website | http://www.alms.com |
TheAmerican Le Mans Series (ALMS) was asports car racing series based in theUnited States andCanada. It consisted of a series ofendurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American Le Mans' headquarters was inBraselton, Georgia, adjacent toRoad Atlanta.
In 2014, the series merged with the Grand-AmRolex Sports Car Series[1][2] to form theWeatherTech SportsCar Championship.[3]
The series was created byBraselton, Georgia-based businessmanDon Panoz and ran its first season in 1999.[4] Panoz created a partnership with theAutomobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), the organizers of the24 Hours of Le Mans, to begin a 10-hour race in the spirit of Le Mans, dubbed thePetit Le Mans. The inaugural Petit Le Mans took place in 1998 as a part of theProfessional SportsCar Racing series, in which Panoz was an investor. For 1999, the series changed its name to the American Le Mans Series, and adopted the ACO's rulebook.
The partnership with the ACO allowed ALMS teams to earn automatic entries in the Le Mans 24 Hours. This was a practice that began with the inaugural Petit Le Mans, a practice that continues today, where 1st and 2nd place teams in each class earn entries to the next year's 24 Hours. The ALMS race atAdelaide in 2000 also received automatic entries.[5] Invitations were extended to the series champions beginning in 2003, for the 2004 race.[6] The ACO has always given high consideration to teams competing in ALMS races, and many ALMS teams have seen success in the 24 Hours.
The series began with eight races in1999, beginning with the12 Hours of Sebring, and ending atLas Vegas Motor Speedway. The schedule expanded to 12 races in2000, including two races in Europe, and one in Australia. In subsequent years, the European races disappeared, with the creation of the short-livedEuropean Le Mans Series, and later theLe Mans Series. The series also began to move away from therovals, road courses in the infield of largesuperspeedways, atCharlotte Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, andTexas Motor Speedway. In its later years, the series visited more temporary street courses, many in conjunction with theIndy Racing League, at cities such asSt. Petersburg, Florida andLong Beach, California. The series raced atMazda Raceway Laguna Seca,Mosport,Road Atlanta andSebring in every year of its existence. From 2011 until the series folded, ALMS competed on a street circuit through theInner Harbor coinciding with theGrand Prix of Baltimore,Maryland over the USLabor Day weekend.
The series was the first motorsport racing series in North America to be recognized by theUnited States Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA), theUnited States Department of Energy and theSociety of Automotive Engineers (SAE International) as a "Green Racing Series", and held an all-new series implemented on series races dedicated to the environment by holding their first-everGreen Challenge during the2008 Petit Le Mans and would continue this at least up to the entire2009 season.[7]
In 2010 the American Le Mans Series signed its first title sponsorship agreement, withTequila Patrón becoming a presenting sponsor for three seasons.[8]
On September 5, 2012, the series announced that they would fully merge in 2014 withGrand-Am Road Racing under the banner of theTUDOR United SportsCar Championship, with theInternational Motor Sports Association.[9]
The American Le Mans Series used essentially the same rules as the24 Hours of Le Mans. Like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, there were three primary classes, though there were two extra "Challenge classes" using standardized cars. Purpose-built race cars with closed fenders competed in thePrototype classes P1, P2, andPC (Prototype-Challenge) and modified production sports cars competed in theGrand Touring classes GT (GTE-Pro and GTE-Am combined, formerlyGT2) along with GT-Challenge or GTC. The former GT1 category was abandoned after 2009 season. In 2012, the "Le Mans" (LM) was dropped from the names of the prototype categories.
Each car is driven by multiple drivers (2 or 3, depending on the length of the race), and all cars compete together simultaneously. P1 generally contains factory teams while P2 contains privateer teams. In ACO-sanctioned racing all of the drivers are professional in GTE-PRO, while in GTE-Am, 1 or 2 amateurs are allowed to race with a professional driver in support. However, since ALMS uses only one GTE category and combines the PRO/AM classes, there are no limitations for drivers.
The two "Challenge" classes wereformula-based, and were designed for privateers or rookies to have an easier time entering the series. The Challenge classes used theOreca FLM09 (P) and thePorsche 911 GT3 Cup (GT), though there were reports that the ACO would open the Challenge class to other manufacturers in 2013 or later.[10]
The team points champions and runners-up in each class at the end of the season received an automatic invitation to the next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In January 2008, the American Le Mans Series announced it would hold its first "Green Challenge" competition during Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October, ahead of the Challenge being implemented at all ALMS races during the 2009 season. In conjunction with theDepartment of Energy, theEnvironmental Protection Agency,Environment Canada andSAE International,[11] the Series unveiled the Green Challenge's rules and regulations.[12] Two class leading vehicles ran lowCO2 or green engines during the 2008 season – the GT1Chevrolet Corvette C6.R with an E85cellulosic ethanol powered 7.0 litre V8 and the LMP1Audi R10 TDI with a 5.5 litreturbodiesel V12. Currently, theMichelin Green X Challenge awards invitations to the24 Hours of Le Mans for the 1st and 2nd-place winners in the Prototype and GT categories for the entire season.
The Challenge measures "Green" (based on fuel-type and other factors influencing emissions), "Speed" (overall speed), and "Efficiency" (based on fuel-economy). A formula is used to produce a score based on the three categories. The car with the lowest score at the end of the race wins the Challenge for that race.
The series' first season in 1999 was covered byNBC andCNBC. Since 2000Speed Channel broadcast the majority of ALMS races, including the12 Hours of Sebring andPetit Le Mans, while some of the series' other races were broadcast onABC,NBC andCBS. For the 2012 season, all races were webcast onESPN3.com. The Long Beach Grand Prix, Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock, and Grand Prix of Mosport were broadcast live onESPN2, while the ALMS at Monterey, Road Race Showcase at Road America and ALMS at VIR had delayed highlights on the same channel. The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Challenge was broadcast live onABC, while the 12 Hours of Sebring, Baltimore Grand Prix, and Petit Le Mans had delayed highlights on the same network.[13]
In 2013,Speed Channel reacquired broadcasting right to 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans; the rest of the races were broadcast onESPN2 andABC with webcast onESPN3.com.[14]
