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GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: Split Races Being Considered For 2014
Unified North American sports car championship could see a select number of split Prototype/GT races, according to series bosses Ed Bennett, Scott Atherton...
Series bosses are evaluating the possibility of having separate Prototype and GT races at select events in 2014. (Photo: John Dagys)
With the merger between the American Le Mans Series and GRAND-AM likely to result in increased grids, series bosses are already preparing for the possibility of separate races at select events in 2014 due to space constraints.
Speaking to SPEED.com, both Ed Bennett and Scott Atherton, President and CEOs of GRAND-AM and ALMS, respectively, feel open to the concept of split Prototype and GT races on a single weekend, a concept previously used in the Rolex Sports Car Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at some of the series' shorter circuits.
"With the schedule and the [venues] you go to, there are limitations in terms of how many cars you can have," Bennett said. "It's like the situation at Lime Rock last year for the Continental Series. We had to have the GS in one race and the STs in another.
"Depending on the venue and what the limitations are, you have to look at those options."
Last year's Rolex Series and ALMS events at Lime Rock drew 26 and 29-car fields, respectably, presumably making a race at the 1.5-mile bullring difficult if all four categories of the new championship ran together.
Other venues, such as the street circuits at Long Beach, Detroit and Baltimore, could also face similar challenges.
"We all agree that it would be a great problem to have," Atherton said. "Those problems are so much easier to solve than the other extreme.
"I would hate to take the dynamics of multi-class racing out of the equation, because I think that is something that is so fundamental to what we represent in the motorsports landscape.
"Should there be an occasion where there should be a prototype-only race or a GT-only race, I think the chances of that happening are pretty good. But I think it would be one or two [races].
"We'd make it something special and position it that way."
ALMS/IMSA COO Scot Elkins confirmed the unified series will not have to follow the FIA's guidelines for maximum starting fields, resulting in the possibility of accommodating larger grids at many of the circuits on the calendar, should it fit within the organization's own safety standards.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
Speaking to SPEED.com, both Ed Bennett and Scott Atherton, President and CEOs of GRAND-AM and ALMS, respectively, feel open to the concept of split Prototype and GT races on a single weekend, a concept previously used in the Rolex Sports Car Series and Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at some of the series' shorter circuits.
"With the schedule and the [venues] you go to, there are limitations in terms of how many cars you can have," Bennett said. "It's like the situation at Lime Rock last year for the Continental Series. We had to have the GS in one race and the STs in another.
"Depending on the venue and what the limitations are, you have to look at those options."
Last year's Rolex Series and ALMS events at Lime Rock drew 26 and 29-car fields, respectably, presumably making a race at the 1.5-mile bullring difficult if all four categories of the new championship ran together.
Other venues, such as the street circuits at Long Beach, Detroit and Baltimore, could also face similar challenges.
"We all agree that it would be a great problem to have," Atherton said. "Those problems are so much easier to solve than the other extreme.
"I would hate to take the dynamics of multi-class racing out of the equation, because I think that is something that is so fundamental to what we represent in the motorsports landscape.
"Should there be an occasion where there should be a prototype-only race or a GT-only race, I think the chances of that happening are pretty good. But I think it would be one or two [races].
"We'd make it something special and position it that way."
ALMS/IMSA COO Scot Elkins confirmed the unified series will not have to follow the FIA's guidelines for maximum starting fields, resulting in the possibility of accommodating larger grids at many of the circuits on the calendar, should it fit within the organization's own safety standards.
John Dagys is SPEED.com’s Sportscar Racing Reporter, focusing on all major domestic and international championships. You can follow him on Twitter @johndagys or email him at
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