43rd season of the racing series organized by IMSA
The 2013 American Le Mans Series was the fifteenth and final season of the International Motor Sports Association GT Championship being labeled as the American Le Mans Series, before merging up with the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series in 2014.
As the IMSA and Grand-Am merger was announced on September 5, 2012, between NASCAR Holdings (Grand-Am's owner) and Panoz Motorsports, the 2013 season was the transition season as both series were now held under the NASCAR Holdings banner. As such, this is the 43rd season of the series dating back to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship.[1]
It began on March 16 with the 61st running of the 12 Hours of Sebring and ended with the 16th running of the Petit Le Mans on October 19. At the seventh round in Baltimore, Muscle Milk Pickett Racing successfully defended their 2012 Prototype One championship.
The calendar was announced October 18, 2012.[2] The race at the Circuit of the Americas near Austin, Texas, was previously announced in June 2012,[3] and a combined event with the Rolex Sports Car Series at Road America was announced on September 28, 2012.[4] The event at Mid-Ohio, a joint weekend with the IndyCar Series, was not renewed. The event at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca was initially scheduled on May 18. However, with this date conflicting with the 24 Hours Nürburgring, the series opted to move the event up one week to May 11. The event was also shortened from 6 hours to 4 hours.[5]
| Rnd | Race | Length | Circuit | Location | Date |
| 1 | 61st Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring | 12 Hours | Sebring International Raceway | Sebring, Florida | March 16 |
| 2 | American Le Mans Series at Long Beach | 2 Hours | Long Beach Street Circuit | Long Beach, California | April 20 |
| 3 | American Le Mans Monterey | 4 Hours | Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca | Monterey, California | May 11 |
| 4 | American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix | 2 Hours 45 Minutes | Lime Rock Park | Lakeville, Connecticut | July 6 |
| 5 | Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix | 2 Hours 45 Minutes | Canadian Tire Motorsport Park | Bowmanville, Ontario | July 21 |
| 6 | Orion Energy Systems 245[6] | 2 Hours 45 Minutes | Road America | Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin | August 11 |
| 7 | Grand Prix of Baltimore | 2 Hours | Baltimore street circuit | Baltimore, Maryland | August 31 |
| 8 | International Sports Car Weekend | 2 Hours 45 Minutes | Circuit of the Americas | Austin, Texas | September 21 |
| 9 | Oak Tree Grand Prix[7] | 2 Hours 45 Minutes | Virginia International Raceway | Alton, Virginia | October 5 |
| 10 | Petit Le Mans | 1,000 mi (1,600 km) or 10 Hours | Road Atlanta | Braselton, Georgia | October 19 |
| Entry List |
| Entrant/Team | Car | Engine | Tyre | No | Drivers | Rounds |
| P1 |
 DeltaWing Racing Cars | DeltaWing | Élan (Mazda) 1.9 L Turbo I4 | B | 0 |  Andy Meyrick | 1, 3–6, 8–10 |
 Olivier Pla | 1 |
| Katherine Legge | 3–6, 8–10 |
 Audi Sport Team Joest | Audi R18 e-tron quattro | Audi TDI 3.7 L Turbo V6
(Diesel) | M | 1 |  Marcel Fässler | 1 |
| Benoît Tréluyer | 1 |
| Oliver Jarvis | 1 |
| 2 |  Lucas di Grassi | 1 |
 Tom Kristensen | 1 |
| Allan McNish | 1 |
| Muscle Milk Pickett Racing | HPD ARX-03c | Honda LM-V8 3.4 L V8 | M | 6 | Klaus Graf | All |
| Lucas Luhr | All |
| Romain Dumas | 1, 10 |
| Rebellion Racing | Lola B12/60 | Toyota RV8KLM 3.4 L V8 | M | 12 | Nick Heidfeld | 1–3, 10 |
| Neel Jani | 1–3, 10 |
| Nicolas Prost | 1, 10 |
| 13 | Mathias Beche | 1 |
 Congfu Cheng | 1 |
 Andrea Belicchi | 1 |
| Dyson Racing Team | Lola B12/60 | Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4
(Isobutanol) | M | 16 | Guy Smith | 1–4, 7, 9 |
| Chris Dyson | 1–4, 7, 10 |
| Butch Leitzinger | 1 |
 Tony Burgess | 5–6, 8, 10 |
| Chris McMurry | 5–6, 8, 10 |
| Johnny Mowlem | 9 |
| P2 |
| Greaves Motorsport | Zytek Z11SN | Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 | D | 41 | Tom Kimber-Smith | 1 |
| Christian Zugel | 1 |
| Eric Lux | 1 |
| Extreme Speed Motorsports | HPD ARX-03b | Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Turbo V6 | M | 01 | Scott Sharp | All |
| Guy Cosmo | 1–6 |
 David Brabham | 1, 10 |
| Anthony Lazzaro | 7–10 |
| 02 | Ed Brown | All |
| Johannes van Overbeek | All |
| Anthony Lazzaro | 1 |
| Rob Bell | 10 |
| Level 5 Motorsports | HPD ARX-03b | Honda HR28TT 2.8 L Turbo V6 | M | 551 | Scott Tucker | All |
| Ryan Briscoe | 1–2, 4, 7–10 |
| Marino Franchitti | 1, 3, 5, 10 |
| Simon Pagenaud | 6 |
| 552 | Scott Tucker | 1–8 |
| Ryan Hunter-Reay | 1 |
| Simon Pagenaud | 1 |
| Marino Franchitti | 2, 4, 6–9 |
| Ryan Briscoe | 3 |
| Mike Conway | 5 |
 Ricardo González | 6 |
| Guy Cosmo | 7–10 |
 Stefan Johansson | 9 |
| Jonny Kane | 10 |
| Peter Dumbreck | 10 |
| PC |
| Starworks Motorsport | Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 | C | 5 | Ryan Dalziel | 8 |
| John Pew | 8 |
| BAR1 Motorsports | Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 | C | 7 | Rusty Mitchell | All |
| Tomy Drissi | 1–5, 7–8, 10 |
| Chapman Ducote | 1 |
| James French | 6, 9–10 |
| 8 | Kyle Marcelli | All |
| Chris Cumming | All |
| Stefan Johansson | 1, 10 |
| RSR Racing | Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 | C | 9 | Bruno Junqueira | 1–8, 10 |
| Duncan Ende | 1–6, 10 |
 Alex Popow | 1, 7 |
| David Heinemeier Hansson | 8 |
| Gustavo Menezes | 10 |
| Performance Tech Motorsports | Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 | C | 18 | Tristan Nunez | All |
| Charlie Shears | 1–3, 5–8, 10 |
| David Heinemeier Hansson | 1 |
| Ryan Booth | 4, 9 |
| 8 Star Motorsports | Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 | C | 25 | Oswaldo Negri Jr. | 10 |
| Sean Rayhall | 10 |
| PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports | Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 | C | 52 | Mike Guasch | All |
| David Cheng | 1, 4–6, 10 |
| David Ostella | 1 |
| Luis Díaz | 2–3 |
| Dane Cameron | 5, 7–10 |
| DragonSpeed | Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 | C | 81 | Mirco Schultis | 1, 3–6, 8–9 |
| Patrick Simon | 1 |
| Pierre Kaffer | 1 |
 Renger van der Zande | 3–6, 8–9 |
| CORE Autosport | Oreca FLM09 | Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 | C | 05 | Jon Bennett | All |
| Colin Braun | 1–7 |
| Mark Wilkins | 1, 10 |
| Tom Kimber-Smith | 8–10 |
| GT |
| Corvette Racing | Chevrolet Corvette C6.R | Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 | M | 3 |  Antonio García | All |
| Jan Magnussen | All |
| Jordan Taylor | 1, 10 |
| 4 | Oliver Gavin | All |
| Tommy Milner | All |
| Richard Westbrook | 1, 10 |
| Team Falken Tire | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | F | 17 | Wolf Henzler | All |
| Bryan Sellers | All |
| Nick Tandy | 1, 10 |
| Team West/AJR/Boardwalk Ferrari | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | Y | 23 | Townsend Bell | 1–9 |
| Bill Sweedler | 1–4, 7–10 |
| Leh Keen | 1, 5–6, 10 |
| Johnny Mowlem | 10 |
| Paul Miller Racing | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | M | 48 | Bryce Miller | All |
| Marco Holzer | All |
 Richard Lietz | 1 |
| Emmanuel Collard | 10 |
| BMW Team RLL | BMW Z4 GTE | BMW 4.4 L V8 | M | 55 | Bill Auberlen | 1–9 |
 Maxime Martin | 1–7, 9–10 |
| Jörg Müller | 1, 10 |
| Joey Hand | 8 |
| Uwe Alzen | 10 |
| 56 | Dirk Müller | All |
| Joey Hand | 1–2, 5, 7, 9 |
| John Edwards | 1, 3–4, 6, 8, 10 |
| Bill Auberlen | 10 |
| Risi Competizione | Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 | Ferrari 4.5 L V8 | M | 62 |  Olivier Beretta | 1–4, 6–10 |
| Matteo Malucelli | 1–4, 6–10 |
| Gianmaria Bruni | 1 |
| Robin Liddell | 10 |
| SRT Motorsports | SRT Viper GTS-R | SRT 8.0 L V10 | M | 91 | Dominik Farnbacher | All |
| Marc Goossens | All |
| Ryan Dalziel | 1, 10 |
| 93 | Kuno Wittmer | All |
| Jonathan Bomarito | All |
| Tommy Kendall | 1, 10 |
| Aston Martin Racing | Aston Martin Vantage GTE | Aston Martin 4.5 L V8 | M | 97 | Darren Turner | 1 |
| Stefan Mücke | 1 |
| Bruno Senna | 1 |
| 007 | Paul Dalla Lana | 1 |
| Billy Johnson | 1 |
 Pedro Lamy | 1 |
| CORE Autosport | Porsche 997 GT3-RSR | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | M | 06 | Patrick Long | 3–10 |
| Tom Kimber-Smith | 3–7 |
| Colin Braun | 8–10 |
| Michael Christensen | 10 |
| GTC |
| Dempsey Racing/Del Piero | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | Y | 10 | Michael Avenatti | 1–3 |
| Bob Faieta | 1–2 |
| Andrew Davis | 1, 3 |
| Darren Law | 10 |
| Charles Espenlaub | 10 |
| Charles Putman | 10 |
| 27 | Patrick Dempsey | All |
| Joe Foster | 1–2, 10 |
| Andy Lally | 1, 3–10 |
| JDX Racing | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | Y | 11 | Mike Hedlund | All |
| Jan Heylen | All |
| Jon Fogarty | 1, 10 |
| Alex Job Racing | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | Y | 22 | Cooper MacNeil | All |
| Jeroen Bleekemolen | All |
 Dion von Moltke | 1 |
| Sebastiaan Bleekemolen | 10 |
| NGT Motorsport | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | Y | 30 | Henrique Cisneros | 1–9 |
| Sean Edwards | 1–2, 5–9 |
| Marco Seefried | 1 |
| Nick Tandy | 3 |
| Nicolas Armindo | 4 |
| 31 |  Kuba Giermaziak | 1, 9 |
 Carlos Gómez | 1 |
| Mario Farnbacher | 1 |
| Eduardo Cisneros | 9 |
| Nicolas Armindo | 10 |
| Christina Nielsen | 10 |
| Angel Benitez Jr. | 10 |
| Flying Lizard Motorsports | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | Y | 44 | Pierre Ehret | 1, 3 |
| Brett Sandberg | 1, 10 |
| Alexandre Imperatori | 1 |
| Dion von Moltke | 2–10 |
| Brian Wong | 2 |
| Seth Neiman | 4–10 |
| 45 | Nelson Canache Jr. | All |
| Spencer Pumpelly | All |
| Brian Wong | 1 |
| Seth Neiman | 3 |
| Madison Snow | 10 |
| TRG | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | Y | 66 | Ben Keating | All |
 Damien Faulkner | All |
| Craig Stanton | 1, 10 |
| 67 | Marc Bunting | 7 |
| Norbert Siedler | 7 |
| 68 | Al Carter | 1, 7 |
| Kévin Estre | 1, 7 |
| Carlos de Quesada | 1 |
| Bret Curtis | 2 |
| Craig Stanton | 3–4 |
| Andrew Novich | 3 |
| David Ostella | 4 |
| Alex Popow | 5 |
| Ryan Dalziel | 5 |
| Jeff Courtney | 6 |
| Madison Snow | 6 |
| Competition Motorsports | Porsche 997 GT3 Cup | Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 | Y | 99 | David Calvert-Jones | 1–2 |
| Sascha Maassen | 1 |
| Lawson Aschenbach | 1 |
| Ted Ballou | 2–3 |
| Cort Wagner | 3 |
- On September 17, 2012, it was announced that the DeltaWing prototype had been cleared for entry into the ALMS for 2013.[8]
- On October 26, 2012, Porsche announced that it would cease development of the 911 GT3-RSR (Type 997), which had competed in the series since 2005, to focus its efforts on developing its next generation 911 GT3-RSR (Type 991) race car set to debut in 2014. As a result, the development partnership with Flying Lizard Motorsports was discontinued. Porsche will, however, continue to provide support for customer teams continuing to compete with the 911 GT3-RSR (Type 997).[9]
- On November 15, 2012, Flying Lizard Motorsports announced that they would transition to competing in the GT Challenge category. On that date they confirmed a full-season campaign for their #44 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup entry to be piloted by team principal Seth Neiman and 2-time 24 Hours of Daytona GT class champion Spencer Pumpelly.[10]
- On December 2, 2012, BMW announced that they would stop racing with the M3 GT2 in favour of the BMW Z4 GTE model.[11]
- On December 5, 2012, Rebellion Racing announced that they would contest the full season with a single Lola B12/60 Toyota P1 Prototype. The team will also enter a second car for at least the 12 Hours of Sebring.[12]
- On December 6, 2012, CORE Autosport confirmed their return to the PC category with drivers Colin Braun and Jon Bennett piloting their No. 05 entry. Braun and Bennett will be joined by Mark Wilkins for the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. The driver lineup for the team's second entry (No. 06) is still pending.[13]
- On December 19, 2012 Paul Miller Racing announced that Porsche works driver, Marco Holzer, would join Bryce Miller in competing for the GT championship in the team's 911 GT3-RSR (Type 997). The team also announced the switch to Michelin tires, having previously competed on Dunlop tires.[14]
- On January 18, 2013, Risi Competizione announced their return to the GT class. They will field one Ferrari 458 Italia, with drivers yet to be announced.[15]
- On January 22, 2013, CORE Autosport announced that it would field a Porsche 997 GT3-RSR in GT, in addition to their PC effort. Patrick Long and Tom Kimber-Smith will drive it.[16]
- Extreme Speed Motorsports will switch to P2 fielding two HPD ARX-03b prototypes, retaining drivers Scott Sharp and Johannes van Overbeek in the No. 01 and Ed Brown and Guy Cosmo in the No. 02.[17]
Results and standings
[edit]Overall winners in bold.
Points were awarded to the top ten cars and drivers which complete at least 70% of their class winner's distance. Teams with multiple entries only score the points of their highest finishing entry in each race. Drivers were required to drive a minimum of 45 minutes to earn points, except for the Long Beach event which required only 30 minutes. Drivers are required to complete a particular amount of the minimum number of laps in order to earn points. The number of laps vary depending on the course size.
| Points System[18] |
| Race Distance | Position |
| 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
| Less than four hours | 20 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Between four and eight hours | 22 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 |
| More than eight hours | 24 | 20 | 17 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 |
Teams with full season entries are awarded points in the team championships. Teams which participated in a partial season or on a race-by-race basis are not included in these championships.
[19]
[19]
- 1: Car was scored in 1st place in the race results, but was subsequently penalized for a late-race avoidable contact incident, resulting in the team being awarded points and winnings as the 3rd-place finisher. The points and earnings for the 2nd and 3rd place cars were elevated to 1st and 2nd, respectively.
All teams utilize the Oreca FLM09 chassis with Chevrolet LS3 engine.
[19]
[19]
All teams utilize variations of the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup.
[19]
Driver championships
[edit]Drivers who participated in races but failed to score points over the course of the season are not listed.
[19]
[19]
Drivers in the PC category are allowed to drive for more than one car during an event. If a driver is in each car for a minimum of two hours each, he is allowed to score the points from whichever car he chooses.
[19]
[19]
[19]
French
Deutsch
CORE Autosport 
DragonSpeed 
Rebellion Racing 
Tony Burgess 
Nicolas Prost 
Guy Smith 
Ryan Briscoe 
Ricardo González 
Stefan Johansson 
Bruno Junqueira 
Renger van der Zande 
David Heinemeier Hansson 
Alex Popow 
Jan Heylen 
Damien Faulkner 
Dion von Moltke