2011 ALMS P2s Could Be Start of Something Big

The Cup Chase has begun. We'll know who the 2010 IndyCar champ is in less than 10 days and the F1 battle is still wide open with four races still to run after this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.

But the biggest event left on the docket is the 13th annual Petit Le Mans, a 1,000-mile/10-hour endurance race at Road Atlanta, the last of this year's American Le Mans Series nine-race season.  Interest will be especially high thanks to championships at stake and invitations to next year's 24 Hours of Le Mans classic. 

Especially in the LMP2 class, which in 2011 should see a strong showing of both new prototype chassis and production-based engines that could make ALMS the most exciting series that sadly not enough fans know about. 

But that could be temporary.

Following rules set by the Automobile Club de L'Ouest (ACO), the organizers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Don Panoz-owned American Le Mans Series LMP2 class will feature production-based engines with a minimum of 30 hours and a maximum price tag of $515,000 for chassis/powerplant packages for 2011.

That's darned affordable; at least for that special breed of sportsman who writes checks and chases sponsorship and funding year after year, hoping to stay in the black while operating a professional sports car team.

With new rules for the traditionally faster LMP1 class, to eliminate their occasional performance advantage, the P2s will be probably be the cars that are fighting for the overalls wins most often in 2011. 

And new rolling stock for everyone means one of the most level playing fields you could ask for with the promise of great competition and perhaps even a little drama as the better teams, chassis and engines separate themselves, and then what, if anything, the slower teams do to close the gap.

The list of probable manufacturer participants is one a series like IndyCar would kill for.  Roush Yates is building a race-prepped 3.2-Liter Ford EcoBoost V6 for the LMP2 class and Honda has announced a similar twin-turbo 2.8-liter engine.  BMW, Nissan and Toyota will also be competing, either here in North America with ALMS or across the ponds in the European and Asia Le Mans series.

Roush Yates is even mulling over a killer version of its new 5.0-liter Mustang V8 for one of the sexy new prototypes.  And they're not the only big V8 manufacturer that might be represented on a starting grid next season.

Riley Technologies is about to unveil its first-ever LMP2 chassis and it's already been pegged as a competitor to Honda for the title next season.  Lola is building both open and closed cockpit prototypes and Dome, Oak, Oreca, Radical and Zytec are in production with their own designs; some for one particular production-based engine, others for any and all.

This year's Petit Le Mans will be wonderful because the P1 Peugeots and Audis will be back among 45 prototype and GT cars in four different classes at one of America's most beautiful, challenging and fan-friendly road courses.

But watch out for new interest in American Le Mans racing next year, starting with our first look of the LMP2 rolling stock at the ALMS at the Winter Test and then with the season-opening 12 Hours of Sebring.

Compared with the downright homely Grand-Am Daytona Prototypes the new LMP2s will be the best looking, advanced and aiming-toward-green sports cars in any series, anywhere.  And a variety of different looking, relatively affordable race cars powered by a multitude of different, affordable production-based engines could provide a model that other series will soon emulate.

-Bill Tybur

Read more of Bill Tybur's thoughts on fantasy racing at FMFL

Photo Credit: cobofoto