I think this is positive for sports car racing in U.S.A
Quote:
Official announcement of the merger was made today. Here’s what we found out:
• A merger was first discussed five years ago, but the time wasn’t right.
• Ed Brown (ALMS Sponsor) got the ball rolling again at the Daytona 24 this year
• Don Panoz and Jim France did the deal on the golf course six months ago ..... read in the pub
• 2013 will see the two series running separate schedules
• 2014 will see a combined series beginning at Daytona, then going to Sebring
• No official name for the new series has yet been decided
• The likely number of races is 12
• Jim France insisted during discussions that the link with Le Mans must remain
• The class structure is yet to be decided, but will not feature LMP1
• ALMS GT is part of the package, as is Grand-Am GT
• Nissan DeltaWing is part of the package
• The process of determining the technical regs is only just beginning
"So, much still to be discussed and announced over the coming months; but what was striking about the announcement was the air of optimism and positivity. This was to be expected, of course, but we probably didn’t expect Jim France to describe himself as ‘a lifelong sportscar fan’; nor for him to recall a conversation with his late father, who told him that “We don’t know how big sportscar racing can be.”
The board of the new organisation will be as follows:
Chairman - Jim France
Vice Chairman - Don Panoz
Lesa France Kennedy (NASCAR Vice Chair/Executive Vice President)
Ed Bennett (Grand-Am President/CEO)
Scott Atherton (ALMS President/CEO)
Karen Leetzow (NASCAR Vice President/Deputy General Counsel)
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