Australian ALMS Round Cancelled

RaceTime · 8 Jun 2001, 05:35 (Ref:102432)

8th June 2001
Asia Pacific Le Mans Series

AUSTRALIA OUT AS SITE FOR LE MANS SERIES SEASON-ENDING EVENT

There will not be a race in Australia this year for the American and
European Le Mans Series, series founder Don Panoz has announced.

"We've simply run out of time," said Panoz, who had spent the majority of the last week in Australia trying to finalise arrangements for the event.

"We can't keep the stakeholders of our series including the teams and the sponsors waiting any longer because it is not fair to them. We've elected at this time to not hold an Australian event in 2001.

³With the Le Mans 24 Hour being held next weekend in France, we really had to have everything finalised for the teams to start making travel arrangements.²

Panoz was forced to try and relocate an event that had been scheduled for December in Adelaide, South Australia, after the South Australian government canceled the event earlier this year.

The inaugural event, held in December of 2000, attracted a crowd of more than 141,000.

Panoz and his Australian partner, Dean Rainsford, received offers from
several locations around the country to hold a replacement event. While there was not sufficient time to finalize arrangements for an event in 2001, Panoz did not rule out a possible Australian race in the future.

The Australian race was to have been part of the new Asia Pacific Le Mans Series and would have been an invitational event featuring the top racing teams from both the American and European Le Mans Series.

The elimination of Australia is not expected to affect the Nov. 11 Asia Pacific Le Mans Series race that will be held at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Panoz said that additional details of that event will be issued soon.

mtpanorama · 8 Jun 2001, 06:32 (Ref:102438)

This is a good and a bad thing for Australian motorsport.

I went to adelaide last year and whilst it was great to see the cars and be amongst it, it was actually a very unexciting race. The Audi's walked it in by laps from the nearest cars, and the series seems to be heading in the same direction this year.

The good thing to come out of it I suppose is that with no race this year maybe someone might be able to get the money out of the NSW gov. that they were planning to spend on tha ALMS event and put it to better use improving some of the exsisting motorsport facillities that we have.
But i cant really see that happening because Bob Carr is never going to go and stand on the mountain at bathurst when he can spend the money and sit in a nice box at Homebush and say what a wonderful place the Olympic site is.

DNQ · 8 Jun 2001, 06:59 (Ref:102442)

Sad. Let's hope they organise a race at Lakeside for 2002

Crash Test · 8 Jun 2001, 07:12 (Ref:102448)

Lakeside- shoot! That would be exciting

Now how many rounds will there be in the series??

Ray Bell · 8 Jun 2001, 09:15 (Ref:102477)

The way the Adelburgians ran it, it was a fantastic event. Finished about 10pm, then they partied till New Years eve finished... great idea, the crowd were there for the start, drifted off, then came back for the finish, very smart.

The support events got a run they wouldn't have otherwise, so that made it a bonus for them, too.

If the pressure is to run more events at Bathurst, why not do something the same on the mountain? Or is Carr, as you say, totally divorced from the bush?

Just imagine the education the once-a-year racegoers would get at that sort of an event there, and how many people from interstate would be able to turn up while they're on their holidays!

RaceTime · 8 Jun 2001, 09:40 (Ref:102486)

Quote:

Originally posted by DNQ
Sad. Let's hope they organise a race at Lakeside for 2002

Will never happen - too short. For International Race Meetings tracks have to be a minimum length - think it is 3.5km but would have to check - that was why Sandown was extended - too short at 3.1 km.

Ray Bell · 8 Jun 2001, 10:36 (Ref:102492)

Of course, Bathurst qualifies...

Lakeside had plans for extensions a couple of years ago, but they naturally came to nothing... in fact, going back to about 1966, there were plans to drive the circuit out into the carpark area below the dam and then back into Hungry... old Sid had some nice dreams.

I recall one night Bill Patterson talking about Sid planning to put an airstrip into the place somewhere, and when asked where it would go, Bill waved his hand in the direction of the VIP box and said "Over the back. Everything will go over the back.. you know Sid..."

RaceTime · 8 Jun 2001, 10:42 (Ref:102494)

Doubt if Bathurst would ever qualify on safety grounds

Crash Test · 8 Jun 2001, 11:24 (Ref:102515)

I know they shaved a bit of the tops of the humps (oh well, the 2nd one shouldn't be a problem anymore...) but I doubt the FIA Safety folks would be too appreciative of the rest of the track. I know it is someone's house, but the end of Mountain Straight seems to be a bit of a drama in my eys. Surely there would be a better alternative to a concrete wall with some tyres in front of it. The again, the brakin area into Griffins is up hill, so a brake-less car can scrub off a bit of speed...

Lakeside- their grand plans from the late 80s, early 90s finished just after they built some banking for a Nascar syled oval over the back of the Dunlop Bridge. They had some more grand plans a few years ago, which I think they still want to bring into relisation one day, but that needs $1.5 million....

Ray Bell · 8 Jun 2001, 11:28 (Ref:102519)

That last Grand Plan was just too tight...

Don't think ALMS work to the same standard as F1, so Bathurst might stand a chance.

Crash Test · 8 Jun 2001, 11:37 (Ref:102524)

Yeah that's true....look at some of the tracks they race on in the states...

What sort of lap time do you think an Audi would be capable of? Sub 2 minute??

RaceTime · 8 Jun 2001, 11:49 (Ref:102529)

Ray,
Not thinking of F1 requirements - ALMS is an International series so has different rules to standard races.
Comments were made a couple of years ago about Bathurst and its suitability for high speed, high downforce cars - that's why no F/Holden/F3's will ever run at Bathurst - too dangerous. Not just the corner, but primarily Conrod.

mtpanorama · 8 Jun 2001, 11:53 (Ref:102531)

Quote:

I know it is someone's house, but the end of Mountain Straight seems to be a bit of a drama in my eys.

That is my old bosses house, dig a giant sand trap in front of it while he is in there so he cant get out and that will solve that safety problem.

I cant see too much of a problem with the Mount, if they can race at Leguna Seca in the US the mountain isnt that bad

Ray Bell · 8 Jun 2001, 11:57 (Ref:102533)

What on earth is wrong with Conrod?

And could it be fixed with a chicane or something?

RaceTime · 8 Jun 2001, 12:02 (Ref:102534)

Not saying anything is wrong with Conrod but the length and speed they get up to is going to be great for Mark Webber to drive a Mercedes down - once!

Chcicane - don't think so and hope not - just remember that some airplanes can take off at 60 km/h - what would an open wheeler with winges be doing down Conrod?

Crash Test · 8 Jun 2001, 12:05 (Ref:102538)

Didn't they originally ban open wheelers(except for FFords)/sports cars after crashes like Beven Gibson's?

RaceTime · 8 Jun 2001, 12:20 (Ref:102541)

Somewhere round here I have a piece of paper that shows wha categories are licensed for each track - have to try and find it and see what IS actually licensed for the Mountain.

Ray Bell · 8 Jun 2001, 12:21 (Ref:102545)

First, Conrod isn't that long now it's been altered to fit the Chase in, something like half the length of the shortest bit of Mulsanne, I think.. though it is downhill, but then it has a slow corner entering it.

As for banning openwheelers, that never really happened. Gibson died in 1969, in 1970 there was a race for ANF1 and for Sports Cars (he was in an Elfin 400 Sports Car), and in 1971 Niel Allen set the outright record in the only F5000 to ever run there. But he was followed home by a string of other potent racers.

1973 saw the last Easter meeting, still open to all comers, so there was only the Hardie Ferodo for several years. Then, when they decided to run second string events, I guess they applied and there were clampdowns by the mighty Confederation. Note that I'm guessing, but the lack of continuity would undoubtedly be the reason rather than any fatal accidents.

DAVID PATERSON · 9 Jun 2001, 09:11 (Ref:102823)

Getting back to Lakeside, why on earth do they keep coming up with these grand plans for additions, alterations and extensions. Why don't they just try maintaining the bloody place. That's all we want and it won't cost near as much as any of their pipe dreams.

Ray Bell · 9 Jun 2001, 09:26 (Ref:102834)

Absolutely correct, David. The money spent on fending off (or attempting to fend off) Queensland Raceway could have been put to much better use.

I'm afraid there has been too much small thinking since Sid handed over control to others.

Crash Test · 9 Jun 2001, 11:37 (Ref:102885)

Pre-1999, Lakeside was considered "too fast and dangerous"....amazing that since safety and hairpins of QR turned up everyone wants to get back to Lakeisde..."oh well, we are racing drivers after all".

If they did get their $1.5 million it would turn it into one fine race track...although their most recent grand plan didn't seem terribly well thought out- they had a tunnel under the last turn, a rather flood prone area....

DAVID PATERSON · 9 Jun 2001, 12:01 (Ref:102899)

I can't think of a worse place to put a tunnel, what about an overpass.

QR is an excellent place for driver training, Lakeside is downright scary for a newbie. Maybe we need both, but Lakeside really suits both me and my car.

Ray Bell · 9 Jun 2001, 14:39 (Ref:102992)

Under the Eastern Loop, or under the run from Eastern Loop to Shell, more or less where the pit exit comes off, would be ideal

Crash Test · 10 Jun 2001, 00:37 (Ref:103168)

Hmmm, but then the exit road from the tunnel on the inside of the track would be out in no mans land...I've seen so many cars go through there at full pelt over the years. At the start of the year, a guy driving a Torana, had a big one under the bridge, was KOed, but he kept his foot on the deal, went through the Eastern Loop, over the pit entry wall, and full speed into the wall on the entry to the final turn.... Luckily he lived to race another car the next weekend

There were also plans to stick a tunnel near where the bridge is and join it up with the driver training complex, that would be ok, but I've heard grumblings over the years that all of the soil is a bit dodgy, so building any tunnel anywhere might not be possible..

Ray Bell · 10 Jun 2001, 03:15 (Ref:103200)

Hmm... he (the driver of the Torana) would have known all about it if Sid's embankment was still there at Hungry... it was the reason the corner got to be called Hungry, by the way, it ate lots of cars...

Ever seen the pic of about three cars parked into it during the 1964 ATCC?