This coming Saturday we’ll get our first full-blown observation of what Baltimore Racing Development is hoping to bring to Charm City, in addition to the Indy Racing League. The infamous 12 Hours of Sebring, 10:30am ET this Saturday! This is going to be a fantastic race, highly competitive and enlightening. As of March 15th there were 36 cars scheduled to take the grid on Saturday; 7 P1 cars, 3 P2 cars, 14 GT2 cars (one of the best GT2 entry lists ever at Sebring!), 6 LMPC cars and 6 GTC cars! Would anyone like to make an argument of how there isn’t enough participation in the 2010 American Le Mans Series? I’d say 36 entries are pretty good and 14 GT2 cars….yes sir!
So why is this race such a great event? Well, we’d have to say for several reasons. First we might look at the heritage this race was born from; the 24 hours of Le Mans, first contested in 1923. A group of auto enthusiasts, who regarded cars as much more than just a mode of transportation, formed what came to be known as the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) in 1906. They devised a 10.73 mile road circuit through the city of Le Mans, in the Sarthe region of France. Thus, endurance auto racing came to be.
Today, endurance racing teams from around the world work year round to make it to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. While the 12 Hours of Sebring may not be quite as prestigious as Le Mans, it certainly bares the closest resemblance to it here in the US as thousands of spectators and fans are already pouring into Sebring. The weather is expected to be bright and sunny for this 12 hours worth of adrenaline rush guaranteed to weed out the weak and hold on a pedestal the likes of only the greatest. For those teams in the ALMS actually competing to make it to Le Mans, their task is more than great. Every race counts as each Series’ class champion, in addition to class winners of the Petit Le Mans at the end of the season, each receive the honor of invitation to the following 24 Hours of Le Mans. Where drivers become legend we’re reminded of names like Phil Hill, Bruce McClaren, A.J. Foyt and Tom Kristensen, and though perhaps not-takers-of-the-checkered-flag-though-just-as-distinguished-drivers- Mario Andretti and Michael Schumacher.
To be a part of this kind of heritage is really an incredible thing. How thrilling would it be for BRD and Baltimore to see a street race of this caliber here in the city in 2011!
The secret of racing; keep your eyes focused on where you want to go. In other words, visualize your future and make it happen!
Jason Schiavone
www.baltimoreracingdevelopment.com
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Filed in: ALMS.
Love the retro poster for the race, really appropriate considering its history.
That is some inspirational stuff. Never knew that opinions could be this varied. Thanks for all the enthusiasm to offer such helpful information here.
I really liked your blog! great
Great post. I’ve been looking for this exact information for a while now. Bookmarked!
Who caught the race on Saturday? I’m pretty sure I accurately predicted the Risi F430 and BMWs to be most successfull.
Paul, Sam?
SCHWING!!!!!!!!
Hi Sam, thanks for the thought!
It seems there’s a lot of support for Porsche. They’ll make it exciting with the Ferraris but you failed to mention the M3′s! Don’t count them out.
Agreed that the GT2 race will be quite competitive this year. I’m going with Patrick Long and Porsche. Flying Lizard and Risi Competizione should make for an interesting race, although I don’t think the other teams should be discounted. The F430 GTs are running wider tires this year and have more power due to the larger diameter air restrictor. (albeit a bit heavier) Pratt & Miller and the GT2 spec C6.R will be a worthy competitor.
As far as the prototypes, all I know is that the Aston Lola B09/60 has some beautiful lines.
I really liked your blog! nice
note for the Corvette info:
use the whole link including the last five digits, 14525, http://www.americanlemans.com/primary1.php?cat=news|14525
this link is cool too…
http://photos.americanlemans.com/sites/default/files/images/Corvette_C6R_ZR1_1.jpg
Good morning,
Paul, you make a great point; all 36 teams that participate in the 12 Hours of Sebring, may not participate in every ALMS race of the season. I think this is unfortunte and should be a requirement of teams. I did mention that many teams use this event as preparation for the 24 Hours of Le Mans along with the Petit Le Mans. (For those unaware, teams are not required to participate in every event and so sometimes miss a race for various reasons. So while 36 teams are scheduled to compete this coming weekend, all 36 teams may not be competing in every race of the season.)
However, the ALMS is only 10 years old, and growing, so; 1- races at Sebring would have been a part of another league prior, right? and 2- after several years of a weakend economy, 36 cars is a step in the right direction!
Paul also mentions a time when the 12 Hours of Sebring, 24 Hours of Daytona and 24 Hours of Le Mans were all in the same series. I agree, these made for awesome events and highly competitive racing. Maybe one day they’ll again be combined but I don’t think the set up we have now is so bad. Given the economic down-time we’ve experienced, even if all three races were in one league there would still be less participation than we’ve seen in the past.
Finally, the new Vettes. I’ve already made it known I’m cheering for BMW but the Corvettes do look pretty cool. As Paul mentioned, if the powerplants, which are big 7.0liter, probably 700Hp motors, hold up, they’ll be tough to beat….take a look at this link..
http://www.americanlemans.com/primary1.php?cat=news|14525
Other thoughts on the 12 Hours of Sebring this weekend or what type of endurance race BRD could bring to Baltimore???
Looking forward to this weekends race a great deal. Sebring 12 Hour is an amazing race and I just hope we have a competitive run in all the classes. Your statement in the article ….. would anyone like to make an argument of how there isn’t enough participation in the 2010 American LeMans “Series” is a subject worth debating though.
For starters, 36 cars will start the 12 Hours of Sebring, not the entire ALMS series. Using past history as an accurate barometer, several teams race in this wonderful event and will precede to move i.e. race in other series and/or not race in another single race all season long. ALMS starting car counts will dimish by 10/20 % by all accounts after the Florida test.
36 cars starting in this years race is a nice number considering last years race was an all-time low of 26 cars. BUT ….. When compared to the starting grids 5 / 10 / 15 years ago, 36 is still a very small number in comparison.Up from last year, NO DOUBT but when compared to some fairly recent Sebring starting grids, it is still way to LOW. Heck, 58 cars took the field 10 years or so ago.Like I have lamented in the past, when the Daytona 24 Hour race / Sebring 12 Hour / and 24 Hours of LeMans were part of the same series, the starting grids were triple of the current numbers of cars starting in both ALMS and GA. Some early Daytona & Sebring races had to put a minium qualifying speed in order to make the race. Several teams who struggled in practice and qualifying, went home without running. I was there when some of the starting grids hovered around 100 cars too…. awesome awesome stuff.
This years race … GT2 race will be a great one IMHO. I like Rahal / Milner or one of the Porsche’s as my early favorite(s). Rooting for the new Vettes of course. Just hope the powerplant will survive this incredible test of men and machine.