DYSON

Dyson and Porsche have split!! Article on Speed website.

I wonder what Dyson's going to run. The article doesn't say (or if it does I missed it).

Mazda? Without much warning, BK closed up shop last Friday. (By the way, that's a total guess as I haven't asked anyone at Mazda yet.)

dude wtf....BK closed up shop? Dyson and Porsche split...I'm def out of the loop in road racing.

Mazda is a good guess. Mazda has a good car, but B-K Motorsports just wasn't good enough and didn't have the budget. At Road Atlanta in 2007 the Mazda MZR-R's qualifying time was faster than Audi or Porsche. The MZR-R engine is supposedly the most powerful in P2. If Dyson + Lola could tweak the chassis and switch to Michelin tires they would have a competitive car.

I just heard about this...

also Penske is going to Grand Am...does this mean they are pulling out of ALMS? Is Porsche done with the RS Spyder?

I know that Penske is going to Grand-Am, but I don't know if he has officially canceled the ALMS project. I'll ask someone who would know. I hope this doesn't mean that LMP2 is gutted for '09. On the other hand, seeing Penske vs. Ganassi vs. Childress in Grand-Am will be pretty cool.

They say ALMS is "world class" but they can't even get a full field of cars every year. Something needs to happen in American road racing on the "professional" level.

yeah, the only LMP2 cars left are the 2 Acura teams...the other 2 are going to LMP1

GT1 is essentially gone as well. The Corvettes are only running GT1 for a couple of races, running GT2 the rest of the year (which will be interesting).

I wonder, does it pay for ALMS to follow Grand-Am's lead: one class for prototypes and one for production-based cars?

I think that would make more sense. Since they aren't getting big fields for either LMP class and GT1 was just a matter of which Corvette. I think the toned down Corvette in GT2 with the Porsches, Ferraris, Astons, ect has the potential to be the most interesting of all the classes.

maroon92 wrote: yeah, the only LMP2 cars left are the 2 Acura teams...the other 2 are going to LMP1

I can't recall where I read it, but am I recalling correctly that the factory Acura teams are going to LMP1, while the privateer Acura teams will remain in LMP2?

In my mind the ALMS is just a mind deal, full of promise, always wanting to please the fans, but never delivering. I don't know if it's the constant rule changes, the manufacturers, etc....but it sucks as a fan. We get one good season of racing in like 3-4 years and it was only in P2 and GT2. Now P2 is going to be completely dismantled, P1 is a mystery, GT1 is a joke, and GT2 is the only class that is consistently packed and full of excitement.

Grand-Am always delivers with exciting races, quality fields, etc. Yea it may be a huge form of spec racing, but it is exciting to watch although the cars may not be that pretty to look at.

Road Racing fans really were spoiled from the mid to late 80s all the way up to the end of the WSC era at the end of the 90s. Lately we've been getting ripped off in my opinion....I mean in the US at least.

I like the ALMS, always have. I've been a fan since the first race I saw ('99). I'm annoyed that there's not a Houston race anymore, but that isn't their fault.

While it seems that they're headed to a two-class system, it seems to throw a wrench in using the ACO rules.

I haven't been able to get into GrandAm, despite even knowing a couple of GrandAm guys. Something about their prototypes bugs me that I can't put my finger on.