[ALMS] ALMS 2012 Discussion

[Jonerz]

Originally Posted by The Badger

You know what I mean .....

A small little airline , from Slovenia , who are almost broke , doesnt beneifit from ALMS coverage , get real .

Never said they would, in fact I'd have a hard time justifying sponsorship to ELMS teams, especially if we're not guaranteed a spot at Le Mans.

On that note, success at Petit could bring a Le Mans bid which would help selling sponsors to those who have real sponsors in the former ELMS.

Chris

[Chiana]

You never know, it could actually be a double LM entry if you win your class, as well as take ELMS championship OR runner-up spot.. particularly if you have two cars on your disposal. Risk worth taking, even if it potentially ends the sponsorship with Slovenian airline company or whatnot

[The Badger]

Missing the point ..... maybe the sponsorship coverage is pulled , from deviating from the original arena of contest ..... no sponsor , no check .....

Hey look ..... If I had a company who delt with port-a-potties in Europe , I might be doing good business within Europe , doesnt mean I need to see my name plastered across a continent far outta my business arena ..... now , is that so hard to understand ?

Please understand ..... Ive been speaking with a European P2 team owner , and this is his issue , so , accept it ..... this is his issue , and I fully understand it .

I wont mention the sponsor , cuz then the team would be obvious ..... he is worried that the market doesnt do anything for his sponsor (and so far his sponsor doesnt want to go to America) or his team as the sponsor forks out the cash ..... Is that really so difficult to understand ?

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Chiana

even if it potentially ends the sponsorship with Slovenian airline company or whatnot

Are you for real , many teams depend on external sponsorship , that pays the fees , travel , drivers , food ..... loose your sponsor , and loose your cash flow ..... you wont be going anywhere .

As I said above , some teams are having issue with this already ..... some of the sponsors dont need advertising on the other side of the world .

Is that really so difficult to understand ?

[Jonerz]

No one is misunderstanding your point, Badger. I simply brought up the fact that Le Mans' numbers are likely what used to sell sponsors on getting behind a team for an ELMS season. So Petit could be used as the means to the ends of getting a crucial Le Mans invite for some teams.

I'm not disagreeing that a lot of teams won't bother with the trek to Georgia, I have stated as much.

Chris

[Chiana]

Originally Posted by Chiana

So bit of a conflicting schedule for Baltimore here... the alms.com, and in fact every other source I've read says that the distance is 2 hours (which now seems to be the standard time for our street events), however the official Baltimore GP page says it's 3h 15 minutes...

Now, I'm pretty sure that's just a silly error and we'll get two hours of running - well assuming the organizers won't screw up scheduling like they did on Friday last year - but I always wonder about these things. You know last season Long Beach was supposed to be 1h40min just as in previous years but then a few weeks prior the event they suddenly changed it to two hours without really announcing it.

Dunno about the race timeslot as the full schedule hasn't been released yet, but it's probably gonna end way before sunset again. Hopefully Reliant Park returns to the calendar again next year so we could have some yummy night time running on street circuits again

Okay so that indeed was just an error on Baltimore GP page as the official IMSA weekend schedule now confirms that it's the regular 2 hour race window. Also the same exact timeslot for the race, ie 4:30 to 6:30 PM.

Some bold scheduling from the organizers thou, for example LMPC qualifying is supposed to start 5:48PM on Friday, but when you remember how well things started off last year you kind of doubt their ability to keep up with such strict schedules...

[Purist]

It's a different crew organizing things this year. Also, last year, there was a game the night before track activities were scheduled to begin. That may not be the case again this year, which would certainly help.

[WolfsburgRS]

Originally Posted by Purist

It's a different crew organizing things this year. Also, last year, there was a game the night before track activities were scheduled to begin. That may not be the case again this year, which would certainly help.

Yup - and that game meant they couldn't create the chicane until after the light rail service ended for the attendees. This year they're doing away with the chicane too, so hopefully there will less of that last minute construction. Barriers are already in place for a good majority of the circuit.

[joeb]

Originally Posted by WolfsburgRS

Yup - and that game meant they couldn't create the chicane until after the light rail service ended for the attendees. This year they're doing away with the chicane too, so hopefully there will less of that last minute construction. Barriers are already in place for a good majority of the circuit.

No Chicane this year? that is awesome. It looked pretty mickey mouse watching on tv last year.

[Purist]

Here's the piece about the changes at Baltimore.

http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...ayout-revised/

[MitchZ06]

But I seem to remember even with the chicane the cars got a bit of a jump going across the tracks, with a full throttle run they'll no doubt get air...

[Purist]

I'm sure they've been doing a LOT of grinding on Pratt Street since last year. Also, I would imagine that there will be some sort of cover over the tracks to smooth that out quite a bit for the weekend.

No chicane on the front straight should get speeds up 10-15-mph heading into Turn 1, and that heavier braking, coupled with less accordion effect coming on to the straight, should aid overtaking noticeably. It looks like the old Turn 5/6 flick is gone, so going into the complex before passing the pits should be much more apt as an overtaking zone. Also, that left/right they had last year was criticized by a lot of people as being a very hazardous place.

[FordCosworthPanoz]

From John Dagys no PR1 at Baltimore due to damage.

Team will return to the series at VIR.

[FstrthnU]

Originally Posted by FordCosworthPanoz

From John Dagys no PR1 at Baltimore due to damage.

Team will return to the series at VIR.

Damn man, has Marino always had luck this bad? That is 4 TIMES this year his car crashes/DNS's before he gets to drive it!

[HJJ]

http://www.autoextremist.com/fumes1/

Interesting idea...