Not to be outdone by the recent plethora of Open Wheel Racing “Stars” competing in the recently held Grand Am season finale at Miller Motorsport Park, the series rival; ALMS *American Le Mans Series) will have its own gala of celebrity drivers...
Thus, the list of drivers joining 2008 Indy Car Champion Scott Dixon, who’ll be co-driving with Gil De Ferran and Simon Pagenaud in De Ferran’s Acura LMP2 entry at this year’s Petit Le Mans race at Road Atlanta on October 4th, will include:
Tony Kanaan and Marco Andretti will co-drive with Frank Montagny aboard Andretti Green Racing’s LMP2 Acura entry, while Kanaan will also drive with Montagny at the season finale at Laguna Seca.
Roger Penske will enter a third LMP2 Porsche RS Spyder for his two Indy Car stars Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe, with the Indy Car team members as the crew for this extra entry designed to help Penske’s regular ALMS drivers retain their American Le Mans Series driver’s and team crowns in a hotly contested battle against their Acura brethren.
And speaking of Acura based LMP2 contestants, Highcroft Racing’s David Brabham and Scott Sharp who are battling to defeat Penske for the driver’s and manufacturer’s titles, have enlisted the services of Dario Franchitti for the event, who’ll now be racing against his brother Marino, who drives one of Rob Dyson’s LMP2 Porsche RS Spyders, with five Porsche Spyders racing at Road Atlanta.
Meanwhile, according to Indy Racing Revolution, 2008 Firestone Indy Lights Champion Rafael Matos will also be competing, but I’ve yet to discover who or what he’ll be racing in.
And while all of the media attention seemingly is focused upon the heated LMP2 category, don’t forget that there’s two significant changes in the Big Brother LMP1 category, as Peugeot will be bringing two of its extremely fast LMP1 908 APHFI turbo diesel coupes to challenge the Audi R10’s for overall victory, while Corsa Motorsports will debut its brand new Hybrid Prototype...
