This weekend marks the end of an era for the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron.
The last Petit Le Mans to feature the ALMS, before its assets are integrated and merged into the new-for-2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship, will take place this Saturday at Road Atlanta.
It will additionally be run with heavy hearts following the loss earlier this week of British rising star Sean Edwards, a Porsche driver killed in a training accident in Australia.
We’ll still take a look through the field in the prototype and GT classes to see who stands the best shot of scoring a win in the ALMS swan song.
GT is wide open after 2012 Petit winners Extreme Speed Motorsports have moved to P2.The 2011 winner was AF Corse, an Italian team that mainly competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, ahead of Flying Lizard Motorsports’ Porsche RSR. Neither are in GT this year.
GT (11)
- Corvette Racing: Swan song for the venerable Corvette C6.R, which surprisingly has only one prior Petit win (2010). Rolex DP champion Jordan Taylor joins ALMS points leaders Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen in No. 3 as they seek to close out the title, while Oliver Gavin, Tommy Milner and Richard Westbrook offer ample support in the No. 4.
- BMW Team RLL: Winless since Lime Rock but you’d expect the Z4 to do better at Road Atlanta, a track where handling plays a greater role than outright power. The car is at a straight line speed disadvantage to some of its rivals. Slightly altered driver lineups with Joey Hand unavailable on DTM duty; the No. 56 of Bill Auberlen, Dirk Mueller and John Edwards is a more likely winner than the sister No. 55 of Maxime Martin, Jorg Mueller and Uwe Alzen.
- Risi Competizione: Ferrari has this going for it – it’s won Petit two years running – but Risi’s Petit luck has been awful the last three years. A late fuel stop cost them the win and GT title in 2010; in 2011, the team didn’t start due to an accident, and in 2012, they missed the race altogether. The only redemption for Olivier Beretta, Matteo Malucelli and new recruit Robin Liddell will be a win for the No. 62 F458, as they can play spoiler.
- SRT Motorsports: The factory Vipers made their first significant gains as an organization at Petit a year ago (pictured) and should be considered one of the favorites. Either of the No. 91 (Dominik Farnbacher, Marc Goossens, Ryan Dalziel) or No. 93 (Jonathan Bomarito, Kuno Wittmer, Tommy Kendall). The No. 91 is the pace setter of the two and the No. 93 the sentimental choice, having not yet won a race this year despite two poles from Bomarito.
- CORE autosport: New to Petit from a GT standpoint but the No. 06 Porsche is a top sleeper in the hands of factory shoe Patrick Long, emerging talent Colin Braun and ALMS debutante/Porsche junior driver Michael Christensen.
- Team Falken Tire: Resilient squad will run its last race with its 2010-spec Porsche, a new livery, and as solid a lineup as there is in Wolf Henzler, Bryan Sellers and Nick Tandy. Third at Sebring and can achieve a similar result with a bit of luck.
- Paul Miller Racing: Unlucky Porsche squad of late, but one that always seems to overachieve in the endurance races. A steady lineup with Porsche factory driver Marco Holzer, Bryce Miller and Emmanuel Collard.
- Team West/AJR/Boardwalk Ferrari: Townsend Bell’s made a handful of miracles on the Yokohama-shod No. 23 F458 and Johnny Mowlem’s as good a shoe to replace him with Bell in Fontana on IndyCar TV duties for NBCSN. Leh Keen and Bill Sweedler are good alongside, but the car will likely need attrition to score a top-six result.
GTC (9)
- Alex Job Racing: Presumptive favorites in class as Cooper MacNeil seeks another GTC class crown, joined by brothers Jeroen and Sebastiaan Bleekemolen in the No. 22 WeatherTech-sponsored entry.
- Flying Lizard Motorsports: Spencer Pumpelly seeks a home race victory in the No. 45 with co-drivers Nelson Canache and Madison Snow, while the sister No. 44 is a podium contender in the hands of Dion von Moltke, Seth Neiman and Brett Sandberg.
- Dempsey Racing: Like Pumpelly, Andy Lally’s an Atlanta-based ace seeking to deliver Patrick Dempsey his first ALMS victory and with Joe Foster back as third driver in the No. 27. Team adds a second car with Charlie Putman, Charles Espenlaub and Darren Law a possible podium finisher in the No. 10.
- TRG: One car to round out the season but Damien Faulkner, Ben Keating and Craig Stanton seek the third straight win for the No. 66.
- JDX Racing: A win would be no less than what Jeremy Dale’s No. 11 team deserves for its effort throughout the year, and Jan Heylen, Mike Hedlund and Jon Fogarty are as good a lineup as can be assembled in GTC.
- NGT Motorsport: Racing with heavy hearts and a revised driver lineup for its two cars. Still, the No. 30 of Henrique Cisneros, Kuba Giermaziak and Mario Farnbacher won its class last year; the No. 31 of Nicolas Armindo, Christina Nielsen and Angel Andres Benitez is an unknown quantity.