Baltimore was a tight fit, apparently…
The American Le Mans Series comes away from Baltimore with points tight and a few dents to pound out to be pretty for the Virginia debut. Coming into Virginia International Raceway, with only one other race to follow, the points separating 1st and 2nd are not enough to guarantee anyone a comfort zone. All the classes could get shaken up at VIR which means tense racing and a good show for fans.
But first, the shake up at Baltimore…
It didn’t take long. First turn from the start and everyone backs up in a tight bunch leaving several prototypes nose to tail like a stalled train. The streets of Baltimore offered no forgiveness for run off. The course was enclosed by buildings and barricades and in that first turn it was full of bumpers. A few laps and cracked carbon fiber later the racing settled down… a bit.
The raceway offered plenty of real estate between the barricades but with little forgiveness for run off the racing was often tight with touches and pushes. A perfect illustration of the challenge of Baltimore was the podium finish for Dempsey Racing in the Prototype Challenge class. Their car was damaged in practices and they scrambled to get it on the grid. They were caught with a crunch in the first turn congestion but still managed a third place for the class.
Heat was also an issue in the city. Buildings, concrete and pavement hold heat and the overall temperature was multiplied. Take that into account for the #48 Porsche GT3 as they were running well out of the first lap stack up in turn one. However, the cockpit cooling system went down and forced an unscheduled stop for a driver change.
More stories like this from Baltimore are online at the ALMS website.
Looking ahead, the streets of Baltimore are a contrast to the narrow track but open spaces at Virginia International Raceway for the next event. Across the classes with only two races remaining this first run at VIR should offer up some hot laps and tense racing for every advantage. Early practice visits have shown speeds that exceed the track records so we can expect some blistered tires and hot brakes for the sanctioned event. See photos of testing at VIR HERE.
IndyCar was on tap in Baltimore as well. Ryan Hunter-Reay took the win and sits less than 20 points off the lead behind Will Power.
Virginia International Raceway may not get IndyCar but they do get many other series for the ALMS weekend, including the USF2000 series which ran at Baltimore and is a feeder series for IndyCar. The Playboy Mazda MX-5 series and the IMSA GT3 Cup will also run before the ALMS main event. The schedule is full, the paddock is open and the points are in contention for Virginia International Raceway.
The final race for the ALMS season is at Road Atlanta. VIR is the last chance for teams and drivers to position themselves for the run to the championship. The season has been as diverse as the styles on the tracks and as the season squeezes closer to the end the racing can only get hotter. We’ll look forward to it at Virginia International Raceway.