in briEF - Mundo Motorizado

NASCAR
BIFFLE FASTEST
Roush Ford driver Greg Biffle set the pace over two days
of NASCAR Sprint Cup testing at Daytona last week. The
first day was marred by a multi-car crash triggered by
contact between Dale Earnhardt Jr and Marcos Ambrose.
LE MANS/ALMS
Grand-Am raises Le Mans idea
Discussions in early stages over possibility of Daytona Prototypes joining French classic. By GARY WATKINS
The prospect of Daytona
Prototypes racing in the Le
Mans 24 Hours has been raised
by officials involved in the newfor-2014
unified US sportscar series.
Grand-Am is understood to be
pushing for the inclusion of its
closed-top prototypes in the
Le Mans field from 2014. The idea
follows up on statements about its
desire to forge a strong relationship
and links with the Automobile
18 autosport.com January 17 2013
Club de l’Ouest at Le Mans following
its recent buy-out of the American
Le Mans Series.
Grand-Am has yet to confirm
that it wants DPs at Le Mans, but
ALMS boss Scott Atherton, who
will be part of the management team
of the unified series, admitted that
there had been discussions on
the matter at the same time as
playing them down.
“It has been raised, but I wouldn’t
Could these line
up at Le Mans?
put it in the category of a firm
discussion,” he said. “We have
so much on our plate, it is a
topic for a later date.”
The ACO has denied that it has
received a firm approach about DPs
joining the Le Mans grid.
Sporting manager Vincent
Beaumesnil said: “There is a
determination on both sides to
retain a strong relationship. You can
imagine that many things have been
discussed, but there has been no
request and there is no decision.”
It is unclear whether Grand-Am
wants DPs at Le Mans as a separate
class or whether it is pushing for
them to race at the same level as
LMP2 machinery, as they will in
the as-yet-unnamed unified series.
News of the possibility of DPs
racing at Le Mans comes at the
same time as doubts are rising about
the viability of the P2 class in the
ALMS this season.
There are no confirmed P2 entries
for the ALMS at present. The Level 5
Motorsports squad, which won the
US P2 titles in 2011-12, is refusing to
“There is a determination
on both sides to retain
a strong relationship”
Le Mans organiser ACO
commit to the category with its pair
of HPD ARX-03bs so long as there
is no opposition.
It is believed that team boss Scott
Tucker is already in the process of
downscaling Level 5’s workforce as
a result, but team manager Dave
Stone insisted that there was
no final decision.
“The problem right now is that
no one is committed to P2,” he said.
“If no one else is racing, there is no
point in being there.”
Conquest Racing, which ran Level
5 close for the title in 2012, also has
no firm programme following the
move of driver David Heinemeier
Hansson, who provided much of
the funding for the team’s assault
last season, to OAK Racing for
an FIA World Endurance
Championship programme.