Motorsports: ALMS, Grand-Am announce combined class structure, LMP1 is out

Filed under: Motorsports, Racing

Other than the announcement back in September that the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series and the American Le Mans Series were merging, there have been precious few details as to how the newly combined series would shake out. Today, both entities helped clear things up a bit by announcing some of the new classification changes that will go into effect for the 2014 Rolex 24, changes that are confirmed through the 2015 season.

The names for the new classes (or the new series as a whole) have yet to be released, but the breakdown goes like this:

• The ALMS P1 prototype class (pictured above) has been eliminated
• Grand-Am Daytona Prototype and ALMS P2 classes will be merged
• Nissan Deltawing will compete in this merged class
• ALMS Prototype Challenge will remain a separate class
• Grand-Am and ALMS GT classes will continue to run separate cars and classes
• The future of the Grand-Am's new GX class sounds unsure after this year, with it either becoming part of the ALMS GT class or becoming its own separate class

Right off the bat, this suggests we will no longer see LMP1 cars like the Audi R18 TDI or Lola racecars in the US, though we still don't know what sort of rule changes there will be for the Prototype and GT classes (and we wouldn't be surprised to see these competitors end up in a different class). Despite losing the LMP1 cars (which currently runs hybrid and diesel racecars), both organizations look to include more "green technologies." We already know the new ALMS GX class will feature 2014 Mazda6 with a Skyactiv-D diesel engine under the hood.

For more information about the newly combined road racing series, check out the press release by scrolling below.

Continue reading ALMS, Grand-Am announce combined class structure, LMP1 is out

ALMS, Grand-Am announce combined class structure, LMP1 is out originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 04 Jan 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kevin Paul Lepage William Ashton Lewis Jr