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GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: DTM In America Series Alive, Gaining Momentum
Marshall Pruett learns GRAND-AM has rekindled its interest in adding a sprint race element to its road racing offerings with a US-based DTM series.
BMW and Audi have expressed an interest in seeing an American DTM series come to life, and it could only take one of the German giants to commit for others to follow suit. (Photo: LAT)
I can’t’ blame you if you thought plans for GRAND-AM’s DTM in America series had been dropped over the past 18 months.
I broke the news of GRAND-AM and ITR, the DTM’s sanctioning body, working on the formation of a series to run alongside the Rolex Series back in 2010, and while talks continued into 2011, the concept appeared to fall by the wayside as more pressing items moved to the top of the list.
Now, with the unified GRAND-AM and American Le Mans Series endurance racing organization less than a year from holding its first race, SPEED.com has learned that GRAND-AM has rekindled its interest in adding a sprint race element to its road racing offerings with a domestic DTM championship.
“I think the good news is the fact that we’re continuing to have the conversation with ITR,” GRAND-AM CEO Ed Bennett told SPEED.com. “It’s been a good relationship; we certainly have a lot of respect for the platform. I think it says a lot about where the DTM series is and hopefully with GRAND-AM in the future. We believe that as a platform, sports cars are on the rise around the world and more specifically in North America.”
With GRAND-AM and the ALMS focused on delivering a single series in 2014, establishing the DTM in America could become more of a 2015 or 2016 initiative. With GRAND-AM set to become the sole provider of a professional US-based endurance racing series next year, it’s encouraging to see Bennett and his staff looking at how to offer its current and future manufacturers a sprint racing alternative akin to the latter day Trans-Am series.
“I think [2014’s unified series] is perfect as an endurance series; you have a lot of marquee endurance races like the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans, so you’ve got the endurance platform and DTM is more of a sprint race format at 70 to 75 minutes,” Bennett explained. “It's a differentiation. I'm not sure what the manufacturers’ strategies for the different brands in terms of what they're trying to perpetuate from a performance standpoint forward, what they’re looking to develop more from a technology standpoint, or if they can convert their race car development technology to road cars.
“But it would provide two different paths for them, depending on what they’re trying to accentuate with their brand. For some brands, that may be different. Sprint racing is a right fit for some, for other brands, the endurance series is the right place for them.”
Keeping GRAND-AM’s endurance racing brand identity separate from what it wants to establish with the DTM in America is also a consideration during the planning stages.
Losing GRAND-AM/ALMS manufacturers to its DTM series would not be regarded as a positive outcome, but the DTM could be a prime option for new manufacturers to work with the Daytona Beach-based organization, or even to manufacturers competing in multiple classes once the unified series gets under way.
“I think it would be properly differentiated, hopefully it wouldn’t be… they wouldn't necessarily be competitive with each other; it's a different product,” said Bennett.
As one of the three manufacturers involved with the DTM, Audi could be the catalyst to bring the DTM in America concept to reality.
Speaking with Audi Motorsport boss Wolfgang Ullrich, the good doctor told me they’ve been pushing hard to establish the German series in North America. And with no official plans to race in the unified series, throwing its weight behind a US-based DTM championship could be a smart choice while the 4-Rings waits to see what kind of future prototype regulations GRAND-AM comes up with.
“I can just say that the American market is very important for Audi,” said Ullrich. “The DTM is a high level touring car series that's been very successful in Europe at present. We have the intention to cooperate with other motorsport authorities internationally to find a way to run these cars based on this new technical rulebook in other countries as well.”
Ullrich cited the recent move by Japan’s Super GT championship to adopt DTM rules for its GT500 class starting in 2014 as an encouraging step forward. It’s also one he’d champion American manufacturers to adopt.
I broke the news of GRAND-AM and ITR, the DTM’s sanctioning body, working on the formation of a series to run alongside the Rolex Series back in 2010, and while talks continued into 2011, the concept appeared to fall by the wayside as more pressing items moved to the top of the list.
Now, with the unified GRAND-AM and American Le Mans Series endurance racing organization less than a year from holding its first race, SPEED.com has learned that GRAND-AM has rekindled its interest in adding a sprint race element to its road racing offerings with a domestic DTM championship.
“I think the good news is the fact that we’re continuing to have the conversation with ITR,” GRAND-AM CEO Ed Bennett told SPEED.com. “It’s been a good relationship; we certainly have a lot of respect for the platform. I think it says a lot about where the DTM series is and hopefully with GRAND-AM in the future. We believe that as a platform, sports cars are on the rise around the world and more specifically in North America.”
With GRAND-AM and the ALMS focused on delivering a single series in 2014, establishing the DTM in America could become more of a 2015 or 2016 initiative. With GRAND-AM set to become the sole provider of a professional US-based endurance racing series next year, it’s encouraging to see Bennett and his staff looking at how to offer its current and future manufacturers a sprint racing alternative akin to the latter day Trans-Am series.
“I think [2014’s unified series] is perfect as an endurance series; you have a lot of marquee endurance races like the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans, so you’ve got the endurance platform and DTM is more of a sprint race format at 70 to 75 minutes,” Bennett explained. “It's a differentiation. I'm not sure what the manufacturers’ strategies for the different brands in terms of what they're trying to perpetuate from a performance standpoint forward, what they’re looking to develop more from a technology standpoint, or if they can convert their race car development technology to road cars.
“But it would provide two different paths for them, depending on what they’re trying to accentuate with their brand. For some brands, that may be different. Sprint racing is a right fit for some, for other brands, the endurance series is the right place for them.”
Keeping GRAND-AM’s endurance racing brand identity separate from what it wants to establish with the DTM in America is also a consideration during the planning stages.
Losing GRAND-AM/ALMS manufacturers to its DTM series would not be regarded as a positive outcome, but the DTM could be a prime option for new manufacturers to work with the Daytona Beach-based organization, or even to manufacturers competing in multiple classes once the unified series gets under way.
“I think it would be properly differentiated, hopefully it wouldn’t be… they wouldn't necessarily be competitive with each other; it's a different product,” said Bennett.
As one of the three manufacturers involved with the DTM, Audi could be the catalyst to bring the DTM in America concept to reality.
Speaking with Audi Motorsport boss Wolfgang Ullrich, the good doctor told me they’ve been pushing hard to establish the German series in North America. And with no official plans to race in the unified series, throwing its weight behind a US-based DTM championship could be a smart choice while the 4-Rings waits to see what kind of future prototype regulations GRAND-AM comes up with.
“I can just say that the American market is very important for Audi,” said Ullrich. “The DTM is a high level touring car series that's been very successful in Europe at present. We have the intention to cooperate with other motorsport authorities internationally to find a way to run these cars based on this new technical rulebook in other countries as well.”
Ullrich cited the recent move by Japan’s Super GT championship to adopt DTM rules for its GT500 class starting in 2014 as an encouraging step forward. It’s also one he’d champion American manufacturers to adopt.
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