Porsche GT cars in ALMS getting blown away by new M3s

Does Porsche plan to do anything about getting faster cars to keep up with the BMW M3s in the ALMS races, which by the way, shouldn't have been allowed in the first place. Those M3s are running with modified M5 engines and clearly pull away on the straight-aways --- seems pretty unfair to me.

I don't know this for a fact, but I have some decent sources that say Porsche will have very few entries in the ALMS. Most teams will be in Grand-Am, where they have a chance of winning.

Greg I saw something similar. It would make sense for the the GT3RS teams to pull out of ALMS if they aren't competitive. What makes even less sense is why the ALMS would stretch the rules to let the four Bimmer cars compete, and then lose the 10 to 20 cars that made up most of the GT field. Except for one or two events, the best racing was in the GT class. I thinki Dr. Don may come to regret the rules committee's decision. And just when I thought the ALMS might save sportscar racing, again politics will bring the sport to its knees. At this rate Greg, maybe PCA will get a tv package, and you'll be one the tube.

After watching the M3's blow off the GT3R's at Sears Point this past season, I sent an e-mail to ALMS complaining about the unfair BMW advantage. I got a very nice response which, to sum it up, said that ALMS rules followed the rules from the French governing body for LeMans and that the American series didn't really have much they could do about it. Don't know for sure if this was disingenuous, but it's possible D. Panoz may not have total control over the cars that race in the series. ALMS said they welcomed input and would forward my comments to the powers that be for whatever that's worth. Mike

I thought that I heard that the GT3rs's will be getting a bump in displacement to 3.8L or some other power increase. Has anybody else heard this?

If BMW can put V8 M5 engines in their M3 GT cars, is there a reason why Porsche can't use the GT2 as a base car for the GT ALMS class? The reason why these V8 M3s were finally accepted, from what I heard, is that as long as BMW makes it a production car, which it is, but for 280K, then it's okay. Well, the GT2 is 100K less and is also for sale. Are turbos not allowed in the ALMS GT class?

Ben I believe turbocharging does kick you up to the GTS category. BTW Ben, As a kid I lived at 19850 Lanark Lane and went to Fruitvale School. By chance are you near there? That was so long ago most of the area was orchards, and all the wondrous applications of Silicon hadn't been dreamed up. I drove thru Saratoga after a weekend at Laguna two years ago, what a difference.

Hi Mike, Too bad for the turbo --> GTS class rule. Maybe it's different from the Speedvision World Challenge, where S4 bi-turbos are allowed to compete in the GT class. I guess Porsche will have to think of something else if they want to stay competitive. I do live right by where you described. Saratoga Ave/85 freeway in the new Bellgrove housing complex. Ben

Those two series have absolutely nothing in common and you can't compare the two. The ALMS follows rules set by the ACO, and Porsche has been able to find many loopholes in the past, buy they got upset when BMW beat them to the punch. Here is the website if you want to read up on the rules for ALMS. http://www.lemans.org/course/auto200...icles_21.shtml The BMW's at Daytona last year were under a different set of rules and since the BMW's used an engine (M5) that was in production it was allowed. I agree it is time for Porsche to up the ante but I think we won't see it for another year as 2002 GT3RS's are probably being readied for delivery as Daytona is only a few months away. Greg

Sorry for the second post but I was just on Speedvision and saw this article. Might level the field. Read this article. http://www.speedvision.com/pub/artic...d/011129a.html

Greg, Thanks for the info! I guess we'll see what comes of this. Yes, the World Challenge guys (the ones in charge) will do all sorts of stuff to make the cars as equal as possible, despite all the different configurations. Ben

Ben, That series is one of my favorite. You get to see all types of cars and the sprint race format is more exciting IMO than endurance races, the standing starts don't hurt either. Greg

Greg has answered well so not much to add (like usual) except this, the m3s at Daytona and the Grand Am are completely differnet from the ALMS ones. They do use an M5 motor, while the factory M3s in the ALMS use a purpose built V8 race motor. Panoz sets no rules for his series, they all come from France. I hope the new rules will keep some of the teams in the ALMS next year. They need to. Hey Steve Weiner, are your guys at AJR staying in the ALMS?? E. J.

EJ I saw something yesterday, in Autoweek I think, that says AJR's going to a protoype next year - LMP675 as I recall. Too bad, they field a strong GT team. M in C

Agreed. The Speedvision World Challenge GT races are one of my favorites to watch. Watching the standing starts (went to Laguna Seca in Sept) in real life was awesome!

Peterson motorsports (the team Wollock was driving for before his death) will also be out of the ALMS. Their 996 GT3RS's and all their equipment is for sale. I have seen several GT3R's for sale in rennlist in the 150-180K range, must not be much of a market for them .

I just read this last night too. Too bad. They were a great asset for Porsche. Greg, I saw Peterson's team ad in Autoweek too. Crazy. I have seen some RS cars in the 140s. Amazing. E. J.

Hang loose guys......looks like BMW may re-think their entries Something about added weight and reducing inlet diameter......lol That should level the playing field