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American LeMans
ALMS: Catching Up With Alex Job
AJR team owner discusses rules and the future of both GTC and his Florida-based organization
John Dagys  |  Posted September 03, 2010   Chicago, IL
Veteran GT team owner Alex Job could have big plans for 2011, including a possible move back into the GT(2) category. (John Dagys)
The 2010 season has been an up and down adventure for Alex Job Racing. The three-time ALMS GT2 champions made its series return this year, initially fielding three GTC-class Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars.

Starting the season off with an impressive 1-2-3 finish at Sebring and a win at Long Beach, it appeared the Florida-based team would be the shoe-in for the GTC title. But everything changed mid-season when Juan Gonzalez pulled the plug on his two-car entry that was fielded by AJR.
AJR's No. 23 car of Mitch Pagerey and Bill Sweedler recorded a third place finish at Mosport, keeping Sweedler third in the GTC drivers' championship. (John Dagys)

Gonzalez’s departure put a dent in AJR’s operation, especially as Job had turned away potential business earlier in the year to concentrate on the three-car squad. Now left with a single entry for season-long drivers Romeo Kapudija and Bill Sweedler, the veteran team owner is trying to finish out the year on a high note, despite some challenges along the way, notably with the rulebook.

With the three specifications of Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars having undergone balance of performance adjustments no less than three times this season, Job feels the 2010 car is currently at a slight disadvantage to the GRAND-AM and World Challenge machines.

“Had the rules been at the beginning of the year with what they are now, I would have chosen a Rolex-spec car,” Job said. “There were still brand-new ’09 Rolex-spec cars available at a better price with more equipment. I would have gone that route but I was assured that the 2010 car would have been the performance baseline. So I felt politically, with Porsche, and with the series that the 2010 car would be the way to go.”

The major change, Job feels, came in May when IMSA allowed the GRAND-AM and World Challenge variants to use Porsche’s 3.8-liter flat-six power plant, the same as the 2010-spec car. Fitted with a different exhaust and camshaft to the 2010 car, though, Job says those cars can produce slightly more top-end speed.

Job feels last month’s move to put restrictors on all three variants, aimed at slowing down the class as a whole, would have been a good opportunity to make possible power adjustments to compensate.

But as IMSA’s rule book states, a performance adjustment cannot be made unless the average green flag stint time variation is more than 0.5 percent. According to IMSA’s Scot Elkins, the 2010 car has yet to meet that criteria. Additionally, the 2010 car has won all but one race this season, although amid the rise of Black Swan Racing, which has dominated the class since its arrival in April.
Adding new manufacturers to the GTC field would help raise the category to new levels, Job says. (DPPI/FIA GT3)

“Supposedly, our car is better aerodynamic-wise, but when you get pulled anywhere from four to six car lengths on the straightaways at Mid-Ohio and Road America, my view is that you need to do something,” Job said.

The potential good news is that it appears the current GRAND-AM and World Challenge cars may be phased out or eliminated for next year, leaving the 2010 and new 2011-spec Porsches as the only 911 GT3 Cup models racing.

But those won’t likely be the only cars in GTC competition next year, as the Series plans to announce the addition of other potential cars later this month. What would that mean to a class that’s all made up of Porsches? Job feels it would be a return to the Series’ roots to some degree.

“Personally I think it’s good,” Job said of GTC expansion. “It needs to be more than just a Porsche spec class. The way I look at GTC right now, it will essentially turn into what the old GT2 was. If you think about it, GT1 is gone, so GT2 is now GT. Essentially it’s what GT1 was because it’s now the battle of the works teams.

“So GTC, in my view, will develop into what GT2 was six, eight years ago. And by bringing in makes, it certainly will have a chance to go more towards that. What we’ll have to find out, since GTC is not an ACO class, is to see what the long term commitment is to that concept. It’s a three-year plan right now.”

What could 2011 look like for AJR? Job says he’s working on a few options that could include GTC and GT, or a combination of the two. He hasn’t also completely ruled out a LMPC entry, either, although admits that it’s looking doubtful at this stage.

However the cards unfold, AJR is here to stay, and that’s good news for one of the series’ stalwarts.

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