Let the ALMS Season Begin!

It’s hard to imagine that the green flag on the American Le Mans Series season is right around the corner. One week from today, we’ll know the the winners of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

 

This year’s once-around-the-clock endurance racing classic features one of the strongest entries seen in years, much in part thanks to the Series’ class overhaul for 2010. With a comprehensive car-by-car preview to be published on SPEEDtv.com early this week, I’ll spare you with the detailed analysis and instead highlight a few key points heading into Saturday’s race.

• For the first time in 11 years, an Audi will not be on the grid. A ten-time Sebring overall winner, the German manufacturer has been deeply rooted in a political scuffle with arch rival Peugeot. Initially, Audi had asked for special dispensation to run an evolutionary model of its diesel-powered Audi R15 TDI after its 2009-spec prototype was deemed illegal for this year. Approval had to be given by all LMP1 teams competing at Sebring, but Peugeot didn’t budge. In an ironic turn of events, Audi’s 2010-spec “R15 Plus” has been testing in Florida this weekend and will take part in a five-day test at Sebring after the 12-Hours, electing to still forgo the race despite having a fully 2010 ACO legal prototype.

• As part of its category overhaul, five classes - LMP1, LMP2, LMPC, GT2 and GTC - will all compete this weekend. With P1 and P2 combining into a single LMP division starting at Long Beach, four classes will be featured for the bulk of the season. LMPC and GTC, new cost-effective Challenge categories, have been added for the season, too. This has resulted in the influx of new teams to the Series, with over 30 full-season entries registered and at least 35 for Sebring.

• GT2 goes from strength to strength with a strong field of 13 cars from six manufacturers. Porsche, Ferrari, BMW, Corvette, Ford and Jaguar are all represented in what is most competitive category this season. With the arrival of Scott Sharp’s Extreme Speed Motorsports squad and the full-season debut of Corvette Racing and Jaguar RSR, last year’s close battles are expected to be even closer.

With plenty more story lines to examine and more yet to unfold, be sure to follow SPEEDtv.com’s extensive team coverage from Sebring all week long. We’ll be providing  daily notebooks, features, driver blogs, photo galleries and videos starting on Tuesday. Also be sure to tune into SPEEDtv.com Friday for live streaming video coverage of qualifying and the 58th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, live on SPEED, at 10 a.m. ET. Don’t miss it!