Road Atlanta set to recieve Petite Le Mans

Beginning Thursday, September 29, and through Saturday, American LeMans Series mixes it up with the big boys from across the water in the American version of the grand daddy of all sports car racing, 24 hours of Le Mans.

Petite Le Mans is a twelve hour timed event, with the same classes as usual in ALMS, P-1 or LMP 1, P-2 or LMP 2, Gt 1 and Gt 2. All class battles will step it up a notch to recieve the European teams into the already competitive mix.


Pictured above is the Saleen entry in the GT1 class, shown here with Jeff Mowlem at the wheel. This car is the main competition for the twin Corvette CR-6's- that is when the factory Aston Martin's DBR9 race car is not in the field.



Pictured at left are Champion Audi's No. 1 car, driven by Emanuel Pirro passing slower traffic on-track, pictured behind Pirro is the Panoz entry in the GT 2 class.

Champion Audi has dominated recent contests in ALMS, but this weekend's 12 hour event and estimated 1000 mile distance, the competition steps up in intensity as do the conditions. In ALMS, the two car team of Dyson Racing has risen to the lofty challenge of matching Champion Audi's speed, now for the overtake...that's another story!










After struggling last season and earlier this season, the Dyson Racing LMP-1 entries can hold their own against the Champion Audi cars. James Weaver (pictured in the Thetford Lola, center) found several ways to DNF this year, but rebounded with a victory.

A1 Grand Prix: Nation's Cup

JOLLY GOOD to be back, it was an unofficial snafu that led to the creation of another webpage to hold all of my prolificy...yea that's it...

THE A1 GRAND PRIX, The World Cup of Motorsports has been created over the past few years as an off-season F-1 style racing series. It's inaugural race will take place September 25, 2005 at the historic Brands Hatch raceway in England.

What a dramatic first step for the series, but, of course it's far from the first step. That historic race will take place due to the dedication, tenacity and vision of Shiekh Maktoum Hasher Maktoum Al Maktoum, a crown prince and heir to the throne in Dubai where the series is based. With his idea, and a once-in-a-lifetime group of engineers, they have created a Nation's Cup, where teams from each nation that wants to participate have been given two identical cars. Teams from nations then blend their own prospective teams and drivers, test and race in, essentially, a spec series, or one inwhich all cars a equal.

The series has some heavyweights from the world's established racing teams, and some hot young and old talent in the driver's seat.
Team USA: Scott Speed
Team Ireland: Ralph Firman
Team Australia: Will Davison
Team Malaysia: Alex Yoong
Team Netherlands: Jos Verstappen
Team South Africa: Tomas Scheckter
Team Brazil: Nelson Piquet Jr.
And others, all of which have competed at a high level already, and were chosen for their obvious talent.

The most recent testing was conducted over three days at the Paul Ricard High Tech Test Track in France. Team USA topped the speed charts over Team Brazil, France and Great Britain.

Picturd above is Team USA's car, emblazoned with the stars and stripes and the words, "We The People" and driven by Scott Speed. Among other drivers in contention for a seat with Team USA is Jeff Simmons, veteran of Toyota Atlantic Series.



Pictured at right is Team Pakistan's entry,
driven by Adam Khan.

Below is Team Irelands A1GP car driven
by Ralph Firman, and Team Australia's car, driven by Will Davison.



This racing series' first race is scheduled for
September 25, 2005 once again, at England's
Brands Hatch. Over the season which will end in Febuary in the US at Laguna Seca, A1GP will be broadcast live via ESPN from such incredible circuits as Estoril, Portugal, Sepang Circuit, Malaysia, and Lauzitz' Eurospeedway in Germany. Most of the tracks A1 will race on are Formula 1 tracks, and it's no surprise that F1 has given it's venerable seal of approval of the series.














We live and breathe racing, people, even them rednecks turning left all the time, NASCAR.
But know we are an open wheel enthusiast, and kart racer here in Katy Texas...

U S A

-Katykarter