2006 American Le Mans Series

Among the biggest announcements prior to the start of the 2006 season was that Audi would continue their involvement in the ALMS with their new R10 TDI diesel engined LMP1 with the car making its international racing debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring in preparation for Le Mans. Audi followed up this announcement with plans for a single Audi R8 to go on a farewell tour for the first few races after Sebring, and then be replaced by two new R10 TDI after Le Mans for the rest of the ALMS season.

Fellow LMP1 competitors Dyson Racing also announced an upgrade from their troublesome Lola EX257s to brand new B06/10s with the new AER Turbo V8 engine unit. As part of their purchase, Dyson in turn sold off their EX257s. Occasional ALMS entrant Autocon Motorsports bought one chassis, while former Intersport partner Highcroft Racing bought the other, leading to an enlarged LMP1 field for 2006.

In LMP2 the teams of Miracle Motorsports, B-K Motorsports, Intersport Racing, and Penske Racing all planned to make a return to the series. Penske's initial one-car effort towards the end of 2005 was expanded to two cars for 2006, while the four other teams kept their efforts the same.

In GT1, the field appeared to be shrinking. Corvette Racing's commitment was certain, but Aston Martin Racing, now running Pirelli tyres instead of Michelin, was only able to promise Sebring in the beginning, later stating they'd also run Houston and Mid-Ohio in preparation for Le Mans. Their involvement for the rest of the season was left as merely a rumor. ACEMCO Motorsports's future in ALMS was also uncertain, with the team scrounging for cash to be able to continue racing. Former GT1 team Carsport America finally folded following the 2005 season, with their Dodge Viper GTS-R greatly outdated. The involvement of Maserati in the series was also pulled due to the cancelling of the project by the corporate heads since it never reached its initial plans, and the continued restrictions put in place by IMSA.

The GT2 class was also more of the same, with returning favorites Flying Lizard Motorsports, J3 Racing, Petersen/White Lightning, Panoz Motorsports, and Alex Job, although Alex Job's effort was now brought down to a single entry due to his expanded involvement in Grand-Am. Risi Competizione, who had run the Maserati in 2005, promised to return to GT2 with Ferrari's upcoming replacement to the Ferrari 360, the new F430.

The ALMS also created a new class of competitors, known as GT2S, designed to allow racing cars based on production vehicles which had seats for four in a coupe or sedan body style. Cars of this type were now allowed by ACO rules, but IMSA agreed that these cars would not be eligible for Le Mans entry even if they won Petit Le Mans or the season championship. These cars however would be competitively equal to the GT2 class and would compete accordingly with them. The long time BMW factory supported effort of Team PTG announced their return of the BMW M3 to the series, while Lexus announced their intentions to bring a new purpose built racing car built off of the IS. Rumors also speculated that Cadillac could bring their CTS-V SpeedGT program to the series. However, come the beginning of the season, neither Lexus nor Cadillac showed, leaving the BMW M3 as the only true GT2S competitor. The GT2S notion was shelved midseason.

From the standpoint of the 2006 schedule, two major changes were made. First, to replace the earlier round at Road Atlanta held soon after Sebring, a new temporary street circuit near Houston's Reliant Park was announced in cooperation with Champ Car. The round at Infineon Raceway was replaced with Miller Motorsports Park, a new racing facility near Salt Lake City.

More information Rnd, Race ...

Rnd	Race	Length	Circuit	Location	Date
1	54th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring	12 Hours	Sebring International Raceway	Sebring, Florida	March 18
2	Lone Star Grand Prix	2 Hours 45 Minutes	Reliant Park	Houston, Texas	May 12
3	American Le Mans at Mid-Ohio	2 Hours 45 Minutes	Mid-Ohio	Lexington, Ohio	May 21
4	New England Grand Prix	2 Hours 45 Minutes	Lime Rock Park	Lakeville, Connecticut	July 1
5	Utah Grand Prix	2 Hours 45 Minutes	Miller Motorsports Park	Grantsville, Utah	July 15
6	Portland Grand Prix	2 Hours 45 Minutes	Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon	July 22
7	Generac 500 at Road America	2 Hours 45 Minutes	Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin	August 20
8	Grand Prix of Mosport	2 Hours 45 Minutes	Mosport	Bowmanville, Ontario	September 3
9	Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda CX-7	1000 Miles or 10 Hours	Road Atlanta	Braselton, Georgia	September 30
10	Monterey Sports Car Championships	4 Hours	Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca	Monterey, California	October 21
Sources:[1][2]

Close

For 2006 the series planned to expand to new markets. The Grand Prix of Utah would be held at the brand new Miller Motorsports Park, 25 minutes away from Salt Lake City. At 4.5 miles, it became the longest circuit on the ALMS calendar.^[3]

The series returned to Texas for the first time since 2001, with a 1.7 mile street circuit at Reliant Park in Houston. This would be a joint event with Champ car, similar to the deal the ALMS had with CART for the Grand Prix of Miami in 2002 and 2003.^[4]

Sonoma was dropped from the calendar as the series saw no benefits to having races at both Laguna Seca and Sonoma as they are both in Northern California. The Grand Prix of Atlanta was dropped as the series didn't want two events on the same circuit.

There had also been plans to add the Long Beach Street Circuit to the calendar, but this failed to materialize.^[5]

Overall winner in bold.

More information Rnd, Circuit ...

Rnd	Circuit	LMP1 Winning Team	LMP2 Winning Team	GT1 Winning Team	GT2 Winning Team	Results
		LMP1 Winning Drivers	LMP2 Winning Drivers	GT1 Winning Drivers	GT2 Winning Drivers
1	Sebring	#2 Audi Sport North America	#37 Intersport Racing	#4 Corvette Racing	#50 Multimatic Motorsports	Results
		Rinaldo Capello Tom Kristensen Allan McNish	Clint Field Liz Halliday Jon Field	Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta Jan Magnussen	Scott Maxwell David Brabham Sébastien Bourdais
2	Reliant Park	#2 Audi Sport North America	#37 Intersport Racing	#4 Corvette Racing	#23 Alex Job Racing	Results
		Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello	Clint Field Liz Halliday	Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta	Mike Rockenfeller Klaus Graf
3	Mid-Ohio	#2 Audi Sport North America	#7 Penske Racing	#4 Corvette Racing	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	Results
		Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello	Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas	Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta	Johannes van Overbeek Wolf Henzler
4	Lime Rock	#2 Audi Sport North America	#7 Penske Racing	#009 Aston Martin Racing	#31 Petersen/White Lightning	Results
		Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello	Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas	Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy	Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Long
5	Miller	#1 Audi Sport North America	#6 Penske Racing	#007 Aston Martin Racing	#62 Risi Competizione	Results
		Frank Biela Emanuele Pirro	Sascha Maassen Lucas Luhr	Darren Turner Tomáš Enge	Jaime Melo Mika Salo
6	Portland	#2 Audi Sport North America	#37 Intersport Racing	#4 Corvette Racing	#62 Risi Competizione	Results
		Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello	Clint Field Liz Halliday	Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta	Jaime Melo Mika Salo
7	Road America	#1 Audi Sport North America	#6 Penske Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#31 Petersen/White Lightning	Results
		Frank Biela Emanuele Pirro	Sascha Maassen Timo Bernhard	Ron Fellows Johnny O'Connell	Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Long
8	Mosport	#2 Audi Sport North America	#7 Penske Racing	#009 Aston Martin Racing	#62 Risi Competizione	Results
		Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello	Lucas Luhr Romain Dumas	Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy	Stephane Ortelli Johnny Mowlem
9	Road Atlanta	#2 Audi Sport North America	#6 Penske Racing	#007 Aston Martin Racing	#31 Petersen/White Lightning	Results
		Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello	Sascha Maassen Timo Bernhard Emmanuel Collard	Tomáš Enge Darren Turner	Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Long
10	Laguna Seca	#2 Audi Sport North America	#7 Penske Racing	#009 Aston Martin Racing	#62 Risi Competizione	Results
		Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello	Lucas Luhr Romain Dumas	Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy	Mika Salo Stephane Ortelli
Source:[12]

Close

Points are awarded to the top 10 finishers in the following order:^[13]

• 20-16-13-10-8-6-4-3-2-1

Exceptions were for the 4 Hour Monterey Sports Car Championships was scored in the following order:

• 23-19-16-13-11-9-7-6-5-4

And for the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Petit Le Mans, which award the top 10 finishers in the following order:

• 26-22-19-16-14-12-10-9-8-7

Entries failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance are not awarded points. Drivers failing to drive for at least 45 minutes in the race are not awarded points.

LMP1 Drivers' Championship

More information Pos., Driver ...

Pos.	Driver	Team	SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
1	Rinaldo Capello	Audi Sport North America	1	1	1	1	3	1	2	1	1	1	204
1	Allan McNish	Audi Sport North America	1	1	1	1	3	1	2	1	1	1	204
2	James Weaver	Dyson Racing Team	2	2	2	Ret	2	4	3	3	Ret	4	119
3	Butch Leitzinger	Dyson Racing Team	2	2	2	Ret	2	4	3	3	Ret		106
4	Frank Biela	Audi Sport North America	Ret				1	2	1	4	5	2	99
4	Emanuele Pirro	Audi Sport North America	Ret				1	2	1	4	5	2	99
5	Chris Dyson	Dyson Racing Team	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	4	3	5	2	Ret	4	73
6	Guy Smith	Dyson Racing Team	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	4	3	5	2	Ret		60
7	Michael Lewis	Autocon Motorsports	Ret		3	2	6		6	Ret	Ret	6	50
8	Andy Wallace	Dyson Racing Team	2								Ret		48
		Highcroft Racing				Ret	5	5	4
9	Duncan Dayton	Highcroft Racing	Ret			Ret	5	5	4		3		45
10	Chris McMurry	Autocon Motorsports	Ret	Ret	3	2		6	6	Ret	Ret		41
11	Stefan Johansson	Zytek Engineering									2	5	33
11	Johnny Mowlem	Zytek Engineering									2	5	33
12	Nicolas Minassian	Creation Autosportif									4	3	32
12	Harold Primat	Creation Autosportif									4	3	32
13	Tom Kristensen	Audi Sport North America	1										26
14	Haruki Kurosawa	Zytek Engineering									2		22
15	Bryan Willman	Autocon Motorsports	Ret	Ret			6	6			Ret	6	21
16	Memo Gidley	Highcroft Racing									3		19
16	Vítor Meira	Highcroft Racing									3		19
17	Jamie Campbell-Walter	Creation Autosportif									4		16
18	Marco Werner	Audi Sport North America	Ret								5		14
19	John Graham	Autocon Motorsports								Ret		6	9
-	Gregor Fisken	Highcroft Racing	Ret										0
-	Rick Knoop	Highcroft Racing	Ret										0
Pos.	Driver	Team	SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
Source:[14]

Close

LMP1 Teams Championship

Teams only scored points for their highest finishing entry in each race. Only full season entries were classified

More information Pos., Team ...

Pos.	Team	No.	SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
1	Audi Sport North America	1	Ret				1	2	1	4	5	2	215
		2	1	1	1	1	3	1	2	1	1	1
2	Dyson Racing Team	16	2	2	2	Ret	2	4	3	3	Ret	4	125
		20	Ret	3	Ret	Ret	4	3	5	2	Ret
3	Autocon Motorsports	12	Ret	Ret	3	2	6	6	6	Ret	Ret	6	60
4	Highcroft Racing	9	Ret			Ret	5	5	4		3		50
NC	Zytek Engineering	15									2	5	0(33)
NC	Creation Autosportif	88									4	3	0(32)
Pos.	Team	No.	SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
Source:[14]

Close

LMP2 Drivers' Championship

More information Pos., Driver ...

Pos.	Driver	Team	SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
1	Sascha Maassen	Penske Racing	2	3	2	2	1	2	1	2	1	2	184
1	Lucas Luhr	Penske Racing	2	3	2	2	1	2	2	1	2	1	184
2	Clint Field	Intersport Racing	1	1	3	3	2	1	3	3	4	3	166
2	Liz Halliday	Intersport Racing	1	1	3	3	2	1	3	3	4	3	166
3	Timo Bernhard	Penske Racing	Ret	5	1	1	3	3	1	2	1	2	155
3	Romain Dumas	Penske Racing	Ret	5	1	1	3	3	2	1	2	1	155
4	Jon Field	Intersport Racing	1						3		4	3	71
5	Guy Cosmo	B-K Motorsports	5	2	4	Ret					5	4	67
5	James Bach	B-K Motorsports	5	2	4	Ret					5	4	67
6	Emmanuel Collard	Penske Racing	2								1		48
7	Michael Vergers	Barazi-Epsilon	4										27
		Team Bruichladdich Radical										5
8	Mike Rockenfeller	Penske Racing									2		22
9	William Binnie	Binnie Motorsports	3										19
9	Alan Timpany	Binnie Motorsports	3										19
9	Rick Sutherland	Binnie Motorsports	3										19
9	Fredy Lienhard	Horag Racing									3	Ret	19
9	Didier Theys	Horag Racing									3	Ret	19
9	Eric van de Poele	Horag Racing									3		19
10	Gunnar van der Steur	Van der Steur Racing		4	5	Ret					Ret	Ret	18
10	Ben Devlin	Van der Steur Racing		4	5	Ret					Ret	Ret	18
11	Juan Barazi	Barazi-Epsilon	4										16
11	Elton Julian	Barazi-Epsilon	4										16
12	Raphael Matos	B-K Motorsports	5										14
12	Elliot Forbes-Robinson	B-K Motorsports									5		14
13	Stuart Mosely	Team Bruichladdich Radical										5	11
-	Patrick Long	Penske Racing	Ret										0
-	Andy Lally	Miracle Motorsports	Ret										0
-	James Gue	Miracle Motorsports	Ret										0
-	Andrew Davis	Miracle Motorsports	Ret										0
-	Tim Greaves	Van der Steur Racing									Ret		0
-	Adam Pecorari	Van der Steur Racing										Ret	0
Pos.	Driver	Team	SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
Source:[15]

Close

LMP2 Teams Championship

Teams only scored points for their highest finishing entry in each race. Only full season entries were classified

More information Pos., Team ...

Pos.	Team	No.	SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
1	Penske Racing	6	2	3	2	2	1	2	1	2	1	2	200
		7	Ret	5	1	1	3	3	2	1	2	1
2	Intersport Racing	37	1	1	3	3	2	1	3	3	4	3	166
3	B-K Motorsports	8	5	2	4	Ret					5	4	67
NC	Binnie Motorsports	41	3										0(19)
NC	Horag Racing	27									3	Ret	0(19)
NC	Van der Steur Racing	19		4	5	Ret					Ret	Ret	0(18)
NC	Barazi-Epsilon	33	4										0(16)
NC	Team Bruichladdich Radical	76										5	0(11)
NC	Miracle Motorsports	10	Ret										0
Pos.	Team		SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
Source:[15]

Close

GT1 Drivers' Championship

More information Pos., Driver ...

Pos.	Driver	Team	SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
1	Oliver Gavin	Corvette Racing	1	1	1	4	4	1	2	2	3	2	176
1	Olivier Beretta	Corvette Racing	1	1	1	4	4	1	2	2	3	2	176
2	Stephane Sarrazin	Aston Martin Racing	2	4	4	1	2	4	4	1	2	1	163
3	Tomáš Enge	Aston Martin Racing	3	3	3	3	1	2	3	3	1	4	159
4	Ron Fellows	Corvette Racing	4	2	2	2	3	3	1	4	4	3	152
4	Johnny O'Connell	Corvette Racing	4	2	2	2	3	3	1	4	4	3	152
5	Pedro Lamy	Aston Martin Racing	2	4	4	1		4	4	1	2	1	147
6	Darren Turner	Aston Martin Racing	3	3	3	3	1	2	3		1	4	146
7	Jan Magnussen	Corvette Racing	1								3		45
8	Max Papis	Corvette Racing	4								4		32
9	Jason Bright	Aston Martin Racing	2										22
10	Nicolas Kiesa	Aston Martin Racing	3										19
11	Andrea Piccini	Aston Martin Racing					2						16
12	Tom Weickardt	Konrad Motorsports	5	Ret									14
12	Terry Borcheller	Konrad Motorsports	5										14
12	Jean-Philippe Belloc	Konrad Motorsports	5										14
13	Peter Kox	Aston Martin Racing								3			13
-	Paolo Ruberti	Konrad Motorsports	Ret	Ret									0
-	Fabio Babini	Konrad Motorsports	Ret										0
-	Jamie Davies	Konrad Motorsports	Ret										0
-	Franz Konrad	Konrad Motorsports		Ret									0
Pos.	Driver	Team	SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
Source:[16]

Close

GT1 Teams Championship

Teams only scored points for their highest finishing entry in each race.

More information Pos., Team ...

Pos.	Team	No.	SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
1	Corvette Racing	3	4	2	2	2	3	3	1	4	4	3	189
		4	1	1	1	4	4	1	2	2	3	2
2	Aston Martin Racing	007	3	3	3	3	1	2	3	3	1	4	186
		009	2	4	4	1	2	4	4	1	2	1
3	Konrad Motorsports	25	5	Ret									14
		26	Ret
Pos.	Team	No.	SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
Source:[16]

Close

GT2 Drivers' Championship

More information Pos., Driver ...

Pos.	Driver	Team	SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
1	Jörg Bergmeister	Petersen/White Lightning	7	4	7	1	2	2	1	6	1	2	147
2	Johannes van Overbeek	Flying Lizard Motorsports	2	2	1	2	3	4	5	3	5	6	141
3	Patrick Long	Petersen/White Lightning		4	7	1	2	2	1	6	1	2	137
4	Wolf Henzler	J3 Racing	9										114
		Flying Lizard Motorsports		2	1	2	3	4	5		5	6
5	Scott Maxwell	Multimatic Team Panoz	1	6	2	6	5	9	8	Ret	3	Ret	86
5	David Brabham	Multimatic Team Panoz	1	6	2	6	5	9	8	Ret	3	Ret	86
6	Bill Auberlen	BMW Team PTG	Ret	Ret	4	3	6	3	2	5	6	8	84
6	Joey Hand	BMW Team PTG	Ret	Ret	4	3	6	3	2	5	6	8	84
7	Mika Salo	Risi Competizione		3	6		1	1				1	82
8	Mike Rockenfeller	Alex Job Racing	6	1	Ret	9	4	7	3	8		3	80
9	Jaime Melo	Risi Competizione	3	3	6		1	1					78
9	Seth Neiman	Flying Lizard Motorsports	4	5	3	8	8	5	Ret	7	7	4	78
10	Darren Law	Flying Lizard Motorsports	4		3		8	5			7	4	63
11	Gunnar Jeannette	Multimatic Team Panoz	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	7	6	9	4	4	5	53
11	Tommy Milner	Multimatic Team Panoz	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	7	6	9	4	4	5	53
12	Marc Lieb	Flying Lizard Motorsports	2							3	5		49
13	Stéphane Ortelli	Risi Competizione							7	1	Ret	1	47
14	Sébastien Bourdais	Multimatic Team Panoz	1								3		45
14	Maurizio Mediani	Risi Competizione								2	2	7	45
15	Klaus Graf	Alex Job Racing	6	1	Ret	9	4						44
16	Lonnie Pechnik	Flying Lizard Motorsports	4	5		8			Ret	7	7		41
16	Anthony Lazzaro	Risi Competizione	3								2		41
16	Marcel Tiemann	Alex Job Racing							3	8	8	3	41
17	Justin Marks	BMW Team PTG	Ret	Ret	5	4	9	8	6	Ret	9	Ret	37
17	Bryan Sellers	BMW Team PTG	Ret		5	4	9	8	6	Ret	9	Ret	37
18	Toni Vilander	Risi Competizione				Ret			4	2			26
19	Jon Fogarty	Flying Lizard Motorsports	2										22
19	Marino Franchitti	Risi Competizione									2		22
20	Johnny Mowlem	Risi Competizione								1			20
21	Ralf Kelleners	Risi Competizione	3			Ret					Ret		19
22	Marc Gené	Risi Competizione				5			4				18
23	Andy Lally	Multimatic Team Panoz									4		16
24	Lawrence Tomlinson	Team LNT	5										14
24	Richard Dean	Team LNT	5										14
24	Tom Kimber-Smith	Team LNT	5										14
25	Robin Liddell	Alex Job Racing						7			8		13
26	Graham Rahal	Alex Job Racing	6										12
26	Mario Dominguez	Risi Competizione				5			7				12
26	Boris Said	BMW Team PTG									6		12
27	Tim Bergmeister	Petersen/White Lightning	7										10
27	Niclas Jönsson	Petersen/White Lightning	7										10
28	Jeroen Bleekemolen	Spyker Squadron	8										9
28	Mike Hezemans	Spyker Squadron	8										9
28	Dominik Farnbacher	Farnbacher Loles Racing	Ret										9
		Alex Job Racing									8
29	Tim Sugden	J3 Racing	9										8
29	Jim Matthews	J3 Racing	9										8
29	Ian James	BMW Team PTG	Ret								9		8
30	Spencer Pumpelly	J3 Racing	10										7
30	Jep Thornton	J3 Racing	10										7
30	Mark Patterson	J3 Racing	10										7
30	Andrea Bertolini	Risi Competizione										7	7
-	Peter Kox	Spyker Squadron	11										0
-	Donny Crevels	Spyker Squadron	11										0
-	Martin Jensen	BMW Team PTG	Ret	Ret									0
-	Pierre Ehret	Farnbacher Loles Racing	Ret										0
-	Lars-Erik Nielsen	Farnbacher Loles Racing	Ret										0
-	Jan Vonka	Vonka Racing	Ret										0
-	Mauro Casadei	Vonka Racing	Ret										0
-	Bo McCormick	Vonka Racing	Ret										0
-	Bruno Junqueira	Multimatic Team Panoz	Ret										0
-	Markus Palttala	Risi Competizione									Ret		0
Pos.	Driver	Team	SEB	HOU	MOH	LIM	UTA	POR	ROA	MOS	ATL	LAG	Pts.
Source:[17]

Close