In Brief, October 2010

July 7th 2014

• Two new street circuits may feature in next year’s American Le Mans Series. The ALMS could join the IndyCar series on the streets of Baltimore next summer and a race in Oklahoma City is also a possibility. ALMS boss Scott Atherton refused to comment on rumours, but said the series will expand from this year’s nine races “ideally to 10 events”.

• The Porsche 911 hybrid GT racer that starred in the Nürburgring 24 Hours will race in the Petit Le Mans and Zhuhai Six Hours Intercontinental Le Mans Cup events this autumn. The 911 GT3 R Hybrid will compete on an invitational basis and not be eligible for points.

• The FIA GT2 European Championship should go ahead in 2011 after being canned for this season. Series promoter Stephane Ratel, who split GT2 away from his new FIA GT1 World Championship, has proposed up to ﬁve three-hour events for GT2, GT3, GT4 and national-level GT machinery.

• Five-time Le Mans winner Emanuele Pirro won the RoC Legends race at the Portimao circuit in the Algarve on August 8. “I’ve come to many Race of Champions events before but to ﬁnish on top feels great,” said the Italian. Team Portugal drivers Filipe Albuquerque and Alvaro Parente earned a place in the RoC Nations Cup World Final in Düsseldorf’s ESPRIT arena on November 27 after beating Italy, Spain and Monaco.
Emanuele Pirro interview, p72

• The Middle East has taken steps to help nurture a new generation of young motor sport talent by releasing an ‘FIA Middle East Strategy document’ called Driving Motorsport Forward Together. The document was compiled by FIA vice-president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and will help provide low-cost entry into the sport.

• The ‘Motors Live at MIRA’ event previewed in last month’s On the Road column has been rescheduled for July 2011, due to this year’s date “simply not proving practical”. The event, scheduled to take place on September 11/12, would have been the ﬁrst time the proving ground opened its doors to the paying public. People who had bought tickets should receive a full refund by the end of August.