The 2006 American Le Mans Series season was the 36th season for the IMSA GT Championship, with the eighth as the American Le Mans Series. It was a series for Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) and Grand Touring (GT) race cars divided into 4 classes: LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2. It began March 18, 2006, and ended October 21, 2006 after 10 races.
Pre-season 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 Former GT1 team Carsport America finally folded following the 2005 season, with their Dodge Viper GTS-R greatly outdated.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.
Schedule
Rnd RaceLength CircuitLocation Date 1 54th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring12 Hours Sebring International RacewaySebring, Florida March 18 2 Lone Star Grand Prix2 Hours 45 Minutes Reliant ParkHouston, Texas May 12 3 American Le Mans at Mid-Ohio2 Hours 45 Minutes Mid-OhioLexington, Ohio May 21 4 New England Grand Prix2 Hours 45 Minutes Lime Rock ParkLakeville, Connecticut July 1 5 Utah Grand Prix2 Hours 45 Minutes Miller Motorsports ParkGrantsville, Utah July 15 6 Portland Grand Prix2 Hours 45 Minutes Portland International RacewayPortland, Oregon July 22 7 Generac 500 at Road America2 Hours 45 Minutes Road AmericaElkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 20 8 Grand Prix of Mosport2 Hours 45 Minutes MosportBowmanville, Ontario September 3 9 Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda CX-71000 Miles or 10 Hours Road AtlantaBraselton, Georgia September 30 10 Monterey Sports Car Championships4 Hours Mazda Raceway Laguna SecaMonterey, California October 21Sources:
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.
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.
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. Entry list
Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) TeamChassisEngineTyreNo.DriversRnds. Audi Sport North AmericaAudi R10 TDIAudi TDI 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)1 Frank Biela1, 5–10 Emanuele Pirro1, 5–10 Marco Werner1, 9Audi R10 TDI(1, 5-10) Audi R8(2-4)Audi TDI 5.5L Turbo V12 (Diesel)(1, 5-10) Audi 3.6 L Turbo V8(2-4)2 Rinaldo CapelloAll Allan McNishAll Tom Kristensen1 Highcroft RacingMG-Lola EX257AER P07 2.0L Turbo I49 Duncan Dayton1, 4–7, 9 Gregor Fisken1 Richard Knoop1 Andy Wallace4–7 Memo Gidley9 Vítor Meira9 Autocon MotorsportsMG-Lola EX257AER P07 2.0L Turbo I412 Chris McMurry1–9 Bryan Willman1–2, 6, 9–10 Michael Lewis1, 3–5, 7–10 John Graham8, 10 Zytek EngineeringZytek 06SZytek 2ZG408 4.0L V815 Stefan Johansson9–10 Johnny Mowlem9–10 Haruki Kurosawa9 Dyson Racing TeamLola B06/10AER P32T 3.6L Turbo V816 James WeaverAll Butch Leitzinger1–9 Andy Wallace1, 9 Chris Dyson1020 Guy Smith1–9 Chris Dyson1–9 Group BioLola B2K/10GBL Hybrid Turbo Diesel?32 Harri Toivonen1* Adam Sharpe1* Creation AutosportifCreation CA06/HJudd GV5 S2 5.0L V1088 Nicolas Minassian9–10 Harold Primat9–10 Jamie Campbell-Walter9
Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) TeamChassisEngineTyreNo.DriversRnds. Penske RacingPorsche RS SpyderPorsche MR6 3.4L V86 Sascha MaassenAll Lucas Luhr1–6 Emmanuel Collard1, 9–10 Timo Bernhard7–97 Romain DumasAll Timo Bernhard1–6 Patrick Long1 Lucas Luhr7–10 Mike Rockenfeller9 B-K MotorsportsCourage C65Mazda R20B 2.0L 3-Rotor8 Guy Cosmo1–4, 9–10 James Bach1–4, 9–10 Raphael Matos1 Elliot Forbes-Robinson9 Miracle MotorsportsCourage C65AER P07 2.0L Turbo I410 Andy Lally1 James Gue1 Rachel WelterWR LMP04Peugeot 2.0L Turbo I4?18 Frédéric Hauchard1* Olivier Porta1* Van der Steur RacingLola B2K/40(2-4) Radical SR9(9-10)Nissan (AER) VQL 3.0L V6(2-4) AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4(9-10)19 Ben Devlin2–4, 9–10 Gunnar van der Steur2–4, 9–10 Tim Greaves9 Adam Pecorari10 Horag RacingLola B05/40Judd XV675 3.4L V827 Fredy Lienhard9–10 Didier Theys9–10 Eric van de Poele9 Barazi-EpsilonCourage C65AER P07 2.0L Turbo I433 Michael Vergers1 Juan Barazi1 Elton Julian1 Intersport RacingLola B05/40AER P07 2.0 L Turbo I437 Clint FieldAll Liz HallidayAll Jon Field1, 7, 9–10 Binnie MotorsportsLola B05/42Zytek ZG348 3.4L V841 William Binnie1 Allen Timpany1 Rick Sutherland1 Team Bruichladdich RadicalRadical SR9AER P07 2.0L Turbo I476 Stuart Moseley10 Michael Vergers10
Grand Touring 1 (GT1) TeamChassisEngineTyreNo.DriversRnds. Aston Martin RacingAston Martin DBR9Aston Martin 6.0 L V12007 Tomáš EngeAll Darren Turner1–7, 9–10 Nicolas Kiesa1 Peter Kox8009 Stephane SarrazinAll Pedro Lamy1–4, 6–10 Jason Bright1 Andrea Piccini5 Corvette RacingChevrolet Corvette C6.RChevrolet LS7.r 7.0L V83 Ron FellowsAll Johnny O'ConnellAll Max Papis1, 94 Oliver GavinAll Olivier BerettaAll Jan Magnussen1, 9 Konrad MotorsportsSaleen S7-RFord 7.0L V825 Jean-Philippe Belloc1 Tom Weickardt1 Terry Borcheller126 Paolo Ruberti1–2 Fabio Babini1 Jamie Davies1 Tom Weickardt2 Franz Konrad2
Grand Touring 2 (GT2) TeamChassisEngineTyreNo.DriversRnds. BMW Team PTGBMW M3 GTRBMW 3.2L I621 Bill AuberlenAll Joey HandAll Ian James1 Boris Said922 Justin MarksAll Martin Jensen1–2 Bryan Sellers1, 3–10 Ian James9 Alex Job RacingPorsche 996 GT3-RSRPorsche 3.6 L Flat-623 Mike Rockenfeller1–8, 10 Klaus Graf1–5 Graham Rahal1 Robin Liddell6, 9 Marcel Tiemann7–10 Dominik Farnbacher9 Petersen/White LightningPorsche 996 GT3-RSRPorsche 3.6 L Flat-631 Jörg BergmeisterAll Tim Bergmeister1, 8* Niclas Jönsson1, 9* Patrick Long2–10 Flying Lizard MotorsportsPorsche 996 GT3-RSRPorsche 3.6 L Flat-644 Seth NeimanAll Lonnie Pechnik1–2, 4, 7–9 Darren Law1, 3, 5–6, 9–10 Craig Stanton7*45 Johannes van OverbeekAll Marc Lieb1, 8–9 Jon Fogarty1 Wolf Henzler2–7, 9–10 Multimatic Motorsports Team PanozPanoz Esperante GT-LMFord (Elan) 5.0 L V850 Scott MaxwellAll David BrabhamAll Sébastien Bourdais1, 951 Gunnar JeannetteAll Tommy MilnerAll Bruno Junqueira1 Andy Lally9 Farnbacher Loles RacingPorsche 996 GT3-RSRPorsche 3.6 L Flat-655 Dominik Farnbacher1 Pierre Ehret1 Lars-Erik Nielsen1 Vonka RacingPorsche 996 GT3-RSPorsche 3.6 L Flat-656 Jan Vonka1 Mauro Casadei1 Bo McCormick1 Risi CompetizioneFerrari F430 GTCFerrari 4.0L V861 Toni Vilander4, 7–8 Ralf Kelleners4 Marc Gené7 Maurizio Mediani8–10 Anthony Lazzaro9 Marino Franchitti9 Andrea Bertolini1062 Jaime Melo1–3, 5–6 Ralf Kelleners1, 9 Anthony Lazzaro1 Mika Salo2–3, 5–6, 10 Mario Dominguez4, 7 Marc Gené4 Stéphane Ortelli7–10 Johnny Mowlem8 Markus Palttala9 J3 RacingPorsche 996 GT3-RSRPorsche 3.6 L Flat-678 Spencer Pumpelly1 Jep Thornton1 Mark Patterson179 Tim Sugden1 Wolf Henzler1 Jim Matthews1 Team LNTPanoz Esperante GT-LMFord (Elan) 5.0 L V880 Lawrence Tomlinson1 Richard Dean1 Tom Kimber-Smith1 Spyker SquadronSpyker C8 Spyder GT2-RAudi 3.8 L V885 Peter Kox1 Donny Crevels186 Jeroen Bleekemolen1 Mike Hezemans1 Team LexusLexus IS 350Toyota 3.5 L 2GR-FSE V6?? Chuck GoldsboroughNone Terry BorchellerNone Andy BrumbaughNone?? Townsend BellNone Jean-François DumoulinNone * Was on the entry list but did not participate in the event.
dp7 Racing announced plans to run a pair of Mercedes SLKs in the GT2 class but this failed to materialize.
Season results
Overall winner in bold.