North America's two biggest sports car series are merging into a single championship, beginning at the 2014 24 Hours of Daytona.
Bill France, founder of Grand-Am, Don Panoz, founder of the American Le Mans Series, Scott Atherton, CEO of the ALMS, and Bill Bennett, CEO of Grand-Am, got together today in Daytona, Florida, to announce the news.
Marquee events 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans will therefore all feature on the same calendar. The details though are still unclear.
"The possibilities here are amazing," added Atherton. "This is day one, stand back, we don't know how big this is gonna get."
So far, it was only stated that the roots with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) would not be severed – although the relationship to the growing World Endurance Championship (WEC) has not yet been defined –, and that the rules are expected to be set in everyone's best interest: the fans, the manufacturers, and the teams from both series.
Bill France, founder of Grand-Am, Don Panoz, founder of the American Le Mans Series, Scott Atherton, CEO of the ALMS, and Bill Bennett, CEO of Grand-Am, got together today in Daytona, Florida, to announce the news.
Marquee events 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans will therefore all feature on the same calendar. The details though are still unclear.
"The possibilities here are amazing," added Atherton. "This is day one, stand back, we don't know how big this is gonna get."
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| Photo: ALMS.com |
So far, it was only stated that the roots with the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) would not be severed – although the relationship to the growing World Endurance Championship (WEC) has not yet been defined –, and that the rules are expected to be set in everyone's best interest: the fans, the manufacturers, and the teams from both series.