portest

2008 American Le Mans Series season

The 2008 American Le Mans Series season is the tenth season for the IMSA American Le Mans Series. It is a series comprised of Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) and Grand Tourer (GT) race cars divided into four classes: LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2. It began March 15, 2008, and will end October 18, 2008 after eleven races.

The Audi Sport North America team wrapped up its title defence of LMP1 class Teams Championship with three races in hand after the Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio in August. Drivers Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr also secured the Drivers Championship after the Detroit Sports Car Challenge. It was a record fifth ALMS drivers title for Luhr and a fourth for Werner. The Petit Le Mans saw the drivers title for GT1 decided with Jan Magnussen and Johnny O'Connell taking the title while Jörg Bergmeister and Wolf Henzler likewise secured the GT2 drivers championship. It was O'Connell's fourth GT1 title and Bergmeisters third GT2 title. The P2 class remains in doubt because of a protest against the Porsche teams. If the portest is dismissed Romain Dumas and Timo Bernhard will become champions.

Schedule

Rnd	Race	Length	Circuit	Date
1	Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring	12 Hours	Sebring International Raceway	March 15
2	Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg	1 Hour 55 Minutes	Streets of St. Petersburg	April 5
3	Tequila Patrón American Le Mans Series at Long Beach	1 Hour 40 Minutes	Long Beach street circuit	April 19
4	Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix	2 Hours 45 Minutes	Miller Motorsports Park	May 18
5	Northeast Grand Prix	2 Hours 45 Minutes	Lime Rock Park	July 12
6	Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio	2 Hours 45 Minutes	Mid-Ohio	July 19
7	Generac 500 at Road America	4 Hours	Road America	August 9
8	Grand Prix of Mosport	2 Hours 45 Minutes	Mosport International Raceway	August 24
9	Detroit Sports Car Challenge	2 Hours 45 Minutes	Belle Isle street circuit	August 30
10	Petit Le Mans	1000 miles or 10 Hours	Road Atlanta	October 4
11	Monterey Sports Car Championships	4 Hours	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	October 18

The Lone Star Grand Prix was originally scheduled to take place on April 26. However, following the merger of the Champ Car World Series and Indy Racing League, the Champ Car Grand Prix of Houston event was initially cancelled. The American Le Mans Series race, as well as the support races, were later cancelled on March 3.

Season results

Overall winner in bold.

Rnd	Circuit	LMP1 Winning Team	LMP2 Winning Team	GT1 Winning Team	GT2 Winning Team	Results
Rnd	Circuit	LMP1 Winning Drivers	LMP2 Winning Drivers	GT1 Winning Drivers	GT2 Winning Drivers	Results
1	Sebring	#1 Audi Sport North America	#7 Penske Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	Results
1	Sebring	Rinaldo Capello Tom Kristensen Allan McNish	Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas Emmanuel Collard	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Ron Fellows	Jörg Bergmeister Wolf Henzler Marc Lieb	Results
2	St. Petersburg	#2 Audi Sport North America	#7 Penske Racing	#4 Corvette Racing	#71 Tafel Racing	Results
2	St. Petersburg	Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas	Olivier Beretta Oliver Gavin	Dominik Farnbacher Dirk Müller	Results
3	Long Beach	#2 Audi Sport North America	#9 Highcroft Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#71 Tafel Racing	Results
3	Long Beach	Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	David Brabham Scott Sharp	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	Dominik Farnbacher Dirk Müller	Results
4	Miller	#2 Audi Sport North America	#7 Penske Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	Results
4	Miller	Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	Jörg Bergmeister Wolf Henzler	Results
5	Lime Rock	#2 Audi Sport North America	#9 Highcroft Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	Results
5	Lime Rock	Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	David Brabham Scott Sharp	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	Jörg Bergmeister Wolf Henzler	Results
6	Mid-Ohio	#2 Audi Sport North America	#7 Penske Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#71 Tafel Racing	Results
6	Mid-Ohio	Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	Dominik Farnbacher Dirk Müller	Results
7	Road America	#2 Audi Sport North America	#9 Highcroft Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#87 Farnbacher-Loles	Results
7	Road America	Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	David Brabham Scott Sharp	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	Dirk Werner Richard Westbrook Bryce Miller	Results
8	Mosport	#2 Audi Sport North America	#9 Highcroft Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#62 Risi Competizione	Results
8	Mosport	Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	David Brabham Scott Sharp	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	Jaime Melo Mika Salo	Results
9	Belle Isle	#37 Intersport Racing	#26 Andretti Green	#4 Corvette Racing	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	Results
9	Belle Isle	John Field Clint Field Richard Berry	Franck Montagny James Rossiter	Olivier Beretta Oliver Gavin	Jörg Bergmeister Wolf Henzler	Results
10	Road Atlanta	#1 Audi Sport North America	#5 Penske Motorsports	#3 Corvette Racing	#62 Risi Competizione	Results
10	Road Atlanta	Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello Emanuele Pirro	Ryan Briscoe Hélio Castroneves	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Ron Fellows	Jaime Melo Mika Salo	Results
11	Laguna Seca					Results
11	Laguna Seca					Results

Teams championships

For races under three hours, points are awarded to the top 10 finishers in the following order:

20-16-13-10-8-6-4-3-2-1

For races between four hours and eight hours, points are awarded in the following order:

25-21-18-15-13-11-9-8-7-6

For races longer than eight hours, points are awarded in the following order:

30-26-23-20-18-16-14-13-12-11

Cars failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance are not awarded points. Unlike the Le Mans Series where teams with multiple entries have each entry number scored separately to the championship, teams with multiple entries only score the points of their highest finishing entry in each race.

LMP1 standings

Pos	Team	Chassis	Engine	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Rd7	Rd8	Rd9	Rd10	Total
1	Audi Sport North America	Audi R10 TDI	Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	30	20	20	20	20	20	25	20		30	205
2	Intersport Racing	Lola B06/10 Lola B06/10 Lola B07/17	AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8 AER P32C 3.6 L Turbo V8 Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10	23		10	16	16	13	18		20		116
3	Peugeot Sport Total	Peugeot 908	Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	20									26	46
4	Autocon Motorsports	Creation CA07 Lola B06/10	Judd GV5 5.0 L V10 AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8	18		13			10					41
5	Team LNT	Ginetta-Zytek 07S	Zytek 4.5 L V8										20	20

LMP2 standings

Pos	Team	Chassis	Engine	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Rd7	Rd8	Rd9	Rd10	Total
1	Penske Racing	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8	30	20	16	20	16	20	21	13	10	26	192
2	Patrón Highcroft Racing	Acura ARX-01B	Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8	20	16	20	2	20	16	25	20	16		155
3	Dyson Racing	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8	26	10	8	10	6	8	18	4	6	20	116
4	Andretti Green Racing	Acura ARX-01B	Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8	16	8	10	4	8	4	9	10	20	14	103
5	Lowe's Fernandez Racing	Acura ARX-01B	Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8		4	6	8	10	13	7	16	2	13	79
6	de Ferran Motorsport	Acura ARX-01B	Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8				13	4		8	8	13	18	64
7	B-K Motorsport	Lola B07/46	Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4		6	3	3		3	13	2	4		34
8	Penske Motorsports, Inc.	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8										30	30
9	Horag Lista Racing	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8	18										18
10	Van der Steur Racing	Radical SR9	AER P07 2.0 L Turbo I4		3									3

GT1 standings

Pos	Team	Chassis	Engine	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Rd7	Rd8	Rd9	Rd10	Rd11	Total
1	Corvette Racing	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0 L V8	30	20	20	20	20	20	25	20	20	30		225
2	Bell Motorsports	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12	23						21	13	13			70

GT2 standings

Pos	Team	Chassis	Engine	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Rd7	Rd8	Rd9	Rd10	Total
1	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	30	16	16	20	20	16	21	13	20	26	198
2	Tafel Racing	Ferrari F430GT	Ferrari 4.0 L V8	20	20	20	13	10	20	18	10	6	23	170
3	Risi Competizione	Ferrari F430GT	Ferrari 4.0 L V8	23	8	6	4	13	8	13	20	13	30	138
4	Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6		13	8		16	10	25	16			88
5	Flying Lizard Motorsports 44	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	26	4	4	8			9	4	10	16	81
6	VICI Racing	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	16		3	2		2	8			11	42
7	Panoz Team PTG	Panoz Esperante GT-LM	Ford (Élan) 5.0 L V8		6		10	8	4		8	1		37
8=	Corsa Motorsports	Ferrari F430GT	Ferrari 4.0 L V8		10	10	3							23
8=	Primetime Race Group	Dodge Viper Comp. Coupe	Dodge 8.3 L V10	18							1	4		23
10	JMB Racing	Ferrari F430GT	Ferrari 4.0 L V8										18	18
11	Drayson-Barwell	Aston Martin DBRS9 Aston Martin V8 Vantage	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 Aston Martin 4.5 L V8						1		3		12	16
12	LG Motorsports	Chevrolet Corvette C6	Chevrolet 6.3 L V8		3	1	6							10
13	Black Swan Racing	Ford GT-R Mk.VII	Ford 5.0 L V8					3		6				9
14	Robertson Racing	Ford GT-R Mk.VII	Ford 5.0 L V8									3		3

Drivers championship

For races under three hours, points are awarded to the top 10 finishers in the following order:

20-16-13-10-8-6-4-3-2-1

For races between four hours and eight hours, points are awarded in the following order:

25-21-18-15-13-11-9-8-7-6

For races longer than eight hours, points are awarded in the following order:

30-26-23-20-18-16-14-13-12-11

Cars failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance are not awarded points. Drivers failing to drive for at least 45 minutes in the race are not awarded points, with the exception of the Long Beach round where drivers need only 30 minutes minimum.

LMP1 standings

Pos	Driver	Team	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Total
1=	Marco Werner	Audi Sport North America	26	20	20	20	20	20	25	20		171
1=	Lucas Luhr	Audi Sport North America	26	20	20	20	20	20	25	20		171
3	Emanuele Pirro	Audi Sport North America		16	16	10^†	13	16	21	16		108
4=	Jon Field	Intersport Racing	23		10	16	16		18		20	103
4=	Clint Field	Intersport Racing	23		10	16	16		18		20	103
6	Richard Berry	Intersport Racing	23			16	16		18		20	93
7	Rinaldo Capello	Audi Sport North America	30				13	16		16		75
8	Frank Biela	Audi Sport North America		16	16	10^†						42
9	Chris McMurry	Autocon Motorsports	18		13			10				41
10=	Allan McNish	Audi Sport North America	30									30
10=	Tom Kristensen	Audi Sport North America	30									30
12=	Bryan Willman	Autocon Motorsports	18					10				28
12=	John Faulkner	Intersport Racing						13	15			28
12=	Ryan Lewis	Intersport Racing						13	15			28
15	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport North America	26									26
16	Marcel Fässler	Audi Sport North America							21			21
17=	Nicolas Minassian	Peugeot Sport Total	20									20
17=	Stéphane Sarrazin	Peugeot Sport Total	20									20
17=	Pedro Lamy	Peugeot Sport Total	20									20
20	Tony Burgess	Autocon Motorsports	18									18
21	Gregor Fisken	Intersport Racing							15			15
22	Michael Lewis	Autocon Motorsports			13							13

† - Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro were both penalized three championship points for their entry making avoidable contact during Round 4.

LMP2 standings

Pos	Driver	Team	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Total
1=	Timo Bernhard	Penske Racing	30	20	16	20	16	20	21	6	10	159
1=	Romain Dumas	Penske Racing	30	20	16	20	16	20	21	6	10	159
3=	Scott Sharp	Patrón Highcroft Racing	20	16	20	2	20	16	25	20	16	155
3=	David Brabham	Patrón Highcroft Racing	20	16	20	2	20	16	25	20	16	155
5	Patrick Long	Penske Racing		10^†	13	16	13	10	15	13	8	98
6	Sascha Maassen	Penske Racing		10^†	13	16	13	10	15	13		90
7=	Butch Leitzinger	Dyson Racing	26	2	8	10	6	6	18	3	3	82
7=	Marino Franchitti	Dyson Racing	26	2	8	10	6	6	18	3	3	82
9=	Chris Dyson	Dyson Racing	23	10	4	6		8	11	4	6	72
9=	Guy Smith	Dyson Racing	23	10	4	6		8	11	4	6	72
11=	Adrian Fernández	Lowe's Fernández Racing		4	6	8	10	13	7	16	2	66
11=	Luis Díaz	Lowe's Fernández Racing		4	6	8	10	13	7	16	2	66
13	Franck Montagny	Andretti Green Racing					8	4	9	10	20	51
14=	Gil de Ferran	de Ferran Motorsport				13	4		8	8	13	46
14=	Simon Pagenaud	de Ferran Motorsport				13	4		8	8	13	46
16	James Rossiter	Andretti Green Racing							9	10	20	39
17=	Bryan Herta	Andretti Green Racing	16	8	10	4						38
17=	Christian Fittipaldi	Andretti Green Racing	16	8	10	4						38
19=	Gerardo Bonilla	B-K Motorsport		6	3	3		3	13	2	4	34
19=	Ben Devlin	B-K Motorsport		6	3	3		3	13	2	4	34
21	Emmanuel Collard	Penske Racing	30									30
22	Andy Lally	Dyson Racing	26									26
23	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing	16				8					24
24	Stefan Johansson	Patrón Highcroft Racing	20									20
25=	Didier Theys	Horag Lista Racing	18									18
25=	Fredy Lienhard	Horag Lista Racing	18									18
25=	Jan Lammers	Horag Lista Racing	18									18
28	Ryan Briscoe	Penske Racing									8	8
29	Raphael Matos	B-K Motorsport Andretti Green Racing						4				4
30=	Gunnar van der Steur	Van der Steur Racing		3								3
30=	Robbie Pecorari	Van der Steur Racing		3								3

† - Sascha Maassen and Patrick Long were both penalized three championship points for their entry making avoidable contact during Round 2.

GT1 standings

Pos	Driver	Team	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Total
1=	Johnny O'Connell	Corvette Racing	30	16	20	20	20	20	25	20	16	187
1=	Jan Magnussen	Corvette Racing	30	16	20	20	20	20	25	20	16	187
3=	Oliver Gavin	Corvette Racing	26	20	16	16	16	16	18	16	20	164
3=	Olivier Beretta	Corvette Racing	26	20	16	16	16	16	18	16	20	164
5=	Chapman Ducote	Bell Motorsports	23						21	13	13	70
5=	Terry Borcheller	Bell Motorsports	23						21	13	13	70
7	Ron Fellows	Corvette Racing	30									30
8	Max Papis	Corvette Racing	26									26
9	Antonio García	Bell Motorsports	23									23

GT2 standings

Pos	Driver	Team	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Total
1=	Jörg Bergmeister	Flying Lizard Motorsports	30	2	16	20	20	13	21	13	20	155
1=	Wolf Henzler	Flying Lizard Motorsports	30	2	16	20	20	13	21	13	20	155
3=	Dominik Farnbacher	Tafel Racing	14	20	20	13	10	20	18	10	2	127
3=	Dirk Müller	Tafel Racing	14	20	20	13	10	20	18	10	2	127
5=	Johannes van Overbeek	Flying Lizard Motorsports	13	16	13	16	4	16	15	2	16	111
5=	Patrick Pilet	Flying Lizard Motorsports	13	16	13	16	4	16	15	2	16	111
7	Dirk Werner	Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport		13			16	10	25	16		80
8=	Mika Salo	Risi Competizione		1	2		13	8	13	20	13	70
8=	Jaime Melo	Risi Competizione		1	2		13	8	13	20	13	70
10	Seth Neiman	Flying Lizard Motorsports	26	4	4	8			9	4		55
11	Richard Westbrook	Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport					16	10	25			51
12	Harrison Brix	Risi Competizione		8	6	4	6	6	11		8	49
13	Darren Law	Flying Lizard Motorsports	26	4		8			9			47
14=	Jim Tafel	Tafel Racing	20				2	3	7	6	6	44
14=	Tom Milner, Jr.	Panoz Team PTG		6		10	8	4		8	1	37
14=	Tom Sutherland	Panoz Team PTG		6		10	8	4		8	1	37
17	Alex Davison	Flying Lizard Motorsports Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport	26		8							34
18	Rob Bell	Tafel Racing Risi Competizione	14						11		8	33
19=	Marc Lieb	Flying Lizard Motorsports	30									30
19=	Patrick Friesacher	Risi Competizione		8	6	4	6	6				30
21	Marc Basseng	Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport VICI Racing		13	8				8			29
22	Bryce Miller	Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport							25			25
23	Alex Figge	Tafel Racing					2	3	7	6	6	24
24=	Tracy Krohn	Risi Competizione	23									23
24=	Niclas Jönsson	Risi Competizione	23									23
24=	Eric van de Poele	Risi Competizione	23									23
24=	Gunnar Jeannette	Corsa Motorsport		10	10	3						23
24=	Johnny Mowlem	Corsa Motorsport		10	10	3						23
24=	Joel Feinberg	Primetime Race Group	18							1	4	23
24=	Chris Hall	Primetime Race Group	18							1	4	23
31=	Pierre Ehret	Tafel Racing	20									20
31=	Allan Simonsen	Tafel Racing	20									20
31=	Craig Stanton	VICI Racing	16		3	1						20
31=	Nathan Swartzburgh	VICI Racing	16		3	1						20
35	Lonnie Pechnik	Flying Lizard Motorsports			4					4	10	18
36=	Pierre Kaffer	Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport								16		16
36=	Uwe Alzen	VICI Racing	16									16
38	Richard Lietz	Flying Lizard Motorsports	13									13
39=	Nicky Pastorelli	VICI Racing				2		2	8			12
39=	Francesco Pastorelli	VICI Racing				2		2	8			12
41=	Martin Ragginger	Flying Lizard Motorsports									10	10
41=	Lou Gigliotti	LG Motorsports		3	1	6						10
41=	Doug Peterson	LG Motorsports		3	1	6						10
44=	Tim Pappas	Black Swan Racing					3		6			9
44=	Anthony Lazzaro	Black Swan Racing					3		6			9
46	Bryan Sellers	Panoz Team PTG								8		8
47	Eric Curran	LG Motorsports				6						6
48=	Paul Drayson	Drayson-Barwell						1		3		4
48=	Jonny Cocker	Drayson-Barwell						1		3		4
50=	David Robertson	Robertson Racing									3	3
50=	Andrea Robertson	Robertson Racing									3	3
50=	David Murry	Robertson Racing									3	3
53	Ruben Carrapatoso	VICI Racing				2						2

Partial season entries

Team Cytosport, following a partnership with Charouz Racing System and Team Jota to run in the Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans, plans to return to the ALMS at Mid-Ohio
Although Team ECO attempted to run their diesel-powered Radical SR10 LMP1 at Sebring, homologation problems have forced the team to delay their debut until Mid-Ohio.
Autocon Motorsports will run a partial schedule, skipping most street circuit rounds, to concentrate on their bid for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Their car will be upgraded to full CA07 specification by Le Mans.

Green Challenge

On June 24, 2008, the ALMS has announced for a new challenge called the Green Challenge. The challenge, integrated with the series races, and which will debut at this year's Petit Le Mans, and continuing with the entire full season in 2009, emphasizes on targeting the series for "green racing." The ALMS was the first motorsport racing series in North America to be recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA), the United States Department of Energy and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International) to be recognized as a "Green Racing Series", and these three will take part organizing the challenge. All the teams will be eligible for the Green Challenge. The point system will be the same as the regular ALMS scoring system, but teams start out with the most possible points a team in the ALMS have during the season, and the points are deducted based on the performance of the vehicle. The lowest points at the end of the season would be the Green Challenge season champion.