We’ve been coming here with the ALMS since 2007 and the event has become an established part of the calendar. For the ALMS, the event has evolved and, while the schedule was a bit controversial back at the beginning, it has become accepted. It’s just the price to a part of racing in Southern California.
But might that be changing? Can USCR return next season and be a part of the show? Only 35 cars are allowed to start the race – surely the combined series next season will consist of more than 35 entries? Split races? That would surely be tough to fit into the already jammed event schedule.
Returning may be especially tough considering a couple of rumors that are doing the rounds right now. First off, there is one story doing the rounds that the promoters of Long Beach are looking at going back to their roots – namely F1 [See Gordon Kirby’s blog – here]. This is a bit of a stunner. F1 last raced at Long Beach in 1983 and that was a very long time ago, not just in years. Things have changed and I just can’t see Long Beach being up to current F1 spec anymore. Maybe the story is actually about the promoters bringing in F1 at a different venue in Southern California, or maybe it’s nothing, but there have been stories coming from some very connected people about this.
Another problem about the future is something we’ve previously wrote about at Sebring – the cost of competing come 2014. For the ALMS teams, adding in the 24 hours at Daytona as well as likely a 6-hour race at Watkins Glen – while the Grand Am teams will be adding both Sebring and Petit – makes a significant increase in track time and a corresponding increase in the costs to compete. With that, there are reports that the 2014 schedule may be limited to only ten events. Will Long Beach make the cut in 2014 if that is the case?
Even with all of that background, we’ve still got a race to run. The schedule should be familiar to those following the sport – two hours on track very early on Friday morning, followed much later by qualifying early that evening. Then, as has become typical, Saturday will consist of a two-hour race in the early evening.
In the week heading into the race, there was a total entry of 34 cars, with the majority being production-based cars. Both GT and GTC have ten entries, but that count in GTC could be changing. As of the writing of this, The Lizards cars are both listed with the notorious TBD brothers driving, as is one of the TRG entries. Those entries should be considered significant – ones that should be capable of having good results in the race. As it stands, the AJR pairing of MacNeil and Bleekemolen cannot be discounted in this race, pretty much no matter who enters..
In GT, Corvette was very strong at Sebring and now it appears as if they may have been too strong for the rules makers. Heading into Long Beach, the Corvette will be faced with more weight (15 kg) and also with a more restrictive fuel fill restrictor. Whether this will make a big difference for the ‘Vettes at Long Beach remains to be seen. For this short race, and the fact that there should be only one stop required, it is likely that the weight will be felt more than the fuel restrictor.
Risi was oh so close at Sebring – they’ve typically been strong at Long Beach in the past, but this year their chances may just ride on how fast Matteo Malucelli can come to grips with the circuit. Also figuring to be strong is the BMW effort, which was very impressive at their debut at Sebring with the Z4.
Unknown factors entering Long Beach are Falken and the Vipers. Falken has been strong on the street circuits in the past and they showed improved pace at Sebring. Could the team pull a surprise win in front of their corporate management? As for the Vipers – they were greatly improved at Sebring, but the tight confines of Long Beach will likely prove to be a totally different challenge for the team.
As for the prototypes, the numbers are still down across the board. PC has an entry of seven cars, while P2 has four and P1 three.
PC always puts on a good show, but this race will likely be remembered for being the last race for CORE in the class as they move to GT at the next race. Bennett/Braun will go all out to get one last win in the class, while the others will be working hard to win but also to chase the season championship. PR1 Mathiasen will have points-leader Mike Guasch in the car again and, as of press time, he too was due to be partnered by TBD.
The big question surrounding P2 is who will be partnering Scott Tucker in his two entries. Thus far, his two entries are listed with TBDs also. As of yet, there has been no official announcement regarding the future of the team in ALMS competition. The feeling is that the team will continue full season, now that they have ESM to battle against, but Scott still has his opinion on how the regulations should be addressed for this season and into the future. Consider an announcement about full time competition his version of a bargaining chip. [Update – Tucker will be joined by Ryan Briscoe and Marino Franchitti for the remainder of the season]
As for ESM – well they survived their first attempt in P2 competition. It wasn’t pretty, but they’ll improve as they get acclimated with their HPDs. Whether they’re ready to challenge Level 5 quite yet remains to be seen.
In P1, most would put the battle down to Pickett Racing vs Rebellion. Dyson is entered, but, as indicated at Sebring, the team has yet to come to grips with the Michelin tires. It’s obvious that the Lola/Michelin combo works – just look at Rebellion; it’s just going to take some time for Dyson to ‘unlearn’ from their experiences of last season. The team tested post Sebring – maybe they made a break through?
As for Rebellion and Pickett – well it appeared as if Pickett’s team had a small advantage on pace at Sebring, but got hung up on race craft. Graf got stung by some on-track incidents and, combined with losing a tire after a stop, these put them in a deep hole from which they never recovered. Give full credit to Rebellion – they ran strong and clean and fully earned their ‘first in the gas class’ finish at Sebring. It should be an interesting race between Rebellion and Pickett throughout the season, with hopefully Dyson improving enough to be a part of the battle.
Thankfully, entering into race week, the forecast looks good – none of that “R” word is mentioned in the long term forecast. An abundance of sun will also be joined by an abundance of In-n-Out burgers as DSC NA again travels to So-Cal. All that remains is to see if our names are on that “list” that appears to be so important with the old guard at the track.
Gary Horrocks
