ACO sportscar calendars for 2014

For your convenience, here's combined list for all ACO blessed series for 2014.

Yes USCC (I don't call it TUSCC) is run by NASC... IMSA, but there are still ACO eglible prototypes and GTs running in the series.

COMBINED RACE CALENDAR

January 25-26        USCC        Daytona        24 Hours                                        P (DP, LMP2, DW), PC, GTLM, GTD

March 15             USCC        Sebring        12 Hours                                        P (DP, LMP2, DW), PC, GTLM, GTD

April 12             USCC        Long Beach     1 Hour 40 Minutes                               P (DP, LMP2, DW), GTLM

April 19             ELMS        Silverstone    4 Hours                                         LMP2, LMPC, LMGTE(-AM), GTC/GT3

April 20             FIA WEC     Silverstone    6 Hours                                         LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE-PRO, LMGTE-AM

May 3                FIA WEC     Spa            6 Hours                                         LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE-PRO, LMGTE-AM

May 4                USCC        Laguna Seca    2+2 Hours                                       P (DP, LMP2, DW), GTLM + PC, GTD

May 18               ELMS        Imola          4 Hours                                         LMP2, LMPC, LMGTE(-AM), GTC/GT3

May 31               USCC        Detroit        1 Hour 40 Minutes                               P (DP, LMP2, DW), GTD

June 7               USCC        Kansas         45+45 Minutes                                   PC, IMSA Lites + PC, IMSA Lites

June 14-15           FIA WEC     Le Mans        24 Hours                                        LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE-PRO, LMGTE-AM, G56

June 29              USCC        Watkins Glen   6 Hours                                         P (DP, LMP2, DW), PC, GTLM, GTD

July 6               AsLMS       Inje           3 Hours                                         LMP2, CN, GT? (GTE, GT3, GT300), GT-AM

July 13              USCC        Mosport        2 Hours 45 Minutes                              P (DP, LMP2, DW), GTLM, GTD

July 20              ELMS        Red Bull Ring  4 Hours                                         LMP2, LMPC, LMGTE(-AM), GTC/GT3

July 25              USCC        Indianapolis   2 Hours 45 Minutes                              P (DP, LMP2, DW), PC, GTLM, GTD

August 10            USCC        Road America   2 Hours 45 Minutes                              P (DP, LMP2, DW), PC, GTLM, GTD

August 10            AsLMS       Fuji           3 Hours                                         LMP2, CN, GT? (GTE, GT3, GT300), GT-AM

August 24            USCC        Virginia       2 Hours 45 Minutes & 45+45 Minutes              GTLM, GTD + PC, IMSA Lites + PC, IMSA Lites

September 14         ELMS        Paul Ricard    4 Hours                                         LMP2, LMPC, LMGTE(-AM), GTC/GT3

September 20         USCC        CotA           2 Hours 45 Minutes                              P (DP, LMP2, DW), PC, GTLM, GTD

September 20         FIA WEC     CotA           6 Hours                                         LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE-PRO, LMGTE-AM

October 4            USCC        Road Atlanta   1000 Miles or 10 Hours                          P (DP, LMP2, DW), PC, GTLM, GTD

October 12           FIA WEC     Fuji           6 Hours                                         LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE-PRO, LMGTE-AM

October 12           AsLMS       Shanghai       3 Hours                                         LMP2, CN, GT? (GTE, GT3, GT300), GT-AM

October 19           ELMS        Estoril        4 Hours                                         LMP2, LMPC, LMGTE(-AM), GTC/GT3

October 26           AsLMS       Zhuhai         3 Hours                                         LMP2, CN, GT? (GTE, GT3, GT300), GT-AM

November 1           FIA WEC     Shanghai       6 Hours                                         LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE-PRO, LMGTE-AM

November 15          FIA WEC     Bahrain        6 Hours                                         LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE-PRO, LMGTE-AM

November 30          FIA WEC     Interlagos     6 Hours                                         LMP1, LMP2, LMGTE-PRO, LMGTE-AM

December 7           AsLMS       Sepang         3 Hours                                         LMP2, CN, GT? (GTE, GT3, GT300), GT-AM

LE MANS 24 HOURS & LM CLASSIC

February 13        ACO Entry Press Conference

June 1             Test Day

June 8             Scrutineering 1

June 9             Scrutineering 2

June 11            Free Practice, Qualifying I, Porsche Practice

June 12            Qualifying II-III, Group C Qualifying, Porsche Qualifying

June 14            Warm-Up, Group C Support Race, Porsche Support Race

June 14-15         82nd running of 24 Heures du Mans

July 4-6           Le Mans Classic

Edited by SonnyViceR, 04 February 2014 - 10:56.

Pardon me the messy class structure listing I just added there to the right but the AsLMS hasn't exactly been crystal clear about their format, and USCC has that weird split race crap going on

It's not weird. IMSA ran that format in the past. The thing with the PC cars or GTDaytona cars running with the IMSA Lites is a bit odd, but this format isn't something new. And at the end of the day, I think that is what is happening. IMSA is trying to bring back a bit of the history that the last 2 decades has buried. 

Edited by HaydenFan, 22 December 2013 - 19:08.

Confirmed open-for-everybody testing dates (testing is of course unlimited otherwise as well but these are officially sanctioned and in few cases mandatory)

January 3-5 for USCC - Daytona International Speedway (Roar Before the 24)

February 20-21 for USCC - Sebring International Raceway

March 28-29 for FIA WEC - Paul Ricard HTTT

April 1-2 for ELMS - Paul Ricard HTTT

June 1 for Le Mans 24 Hours - Circuit de la Sarthe

It's not weird. IMSA ran that format in the past. The thing with the PC cars or GTDaytona cars running with the IMSA Lites is a bit odd, but this format isn't something new. And at the end of the day, I think that is what is happening. IMSA is trying to bring back a bit of the history that the last 2 decades has buried. 

Yes yes and I'm not necessarily against split races as a format but

a) places like Lime Rock were abandoned (bar for CTSCC) primaly because of grid limits, but that's a nonsense excuse considering how many split events we have now...

b) If CTSCC has been able to have 70-80 car grids at places like Barber, how on Earth cannot circuit like Virginia have more than two classes at the same time. And other grid limits as well

c) 45 minute sprint races for LMPC, what the ****? and then no Mosport... and one less round

Road Atlanta has said in the past that when the grid gets past 50 cars it gets nearly impossible to accomodate them, yet now we have sth like 60 cars entered for it... yet Daytona, easily capable for 80 car field now has much lower maximum field size for no reason. C'mon make up your minds

But for USCC's merits, at least there is variety in format as well as race distances, unlike with FIA/ACO's sterile 6 hour tilkedromes and no merged grids or even shared events anywhere. For example, look at the Asian dates in fall. Both WEC and AsLMS go to Fuji and Shanghai, yet both are still held on separate weekends for no reason. No one gives a crap about the Asian series and the grid numbers are terrible, then why not have it on the same weekend as your world champiobship. WEC support bills are horrible anyway, ILMC ruled it on that front too. CER, Speed Euroseries and co. What did WEC have at Spa this year? Some crappy local Porsche Cup race with tiny grid and nothing else. Even worse at flyaways

Edited by SonnyViceR, 22 December 2013 - 19:26.

Yes yes and I'm not necessarily against split races as a format but

a) places like Lime Rock were abandoned (bar for CTSCC) primaly because of grid limits, but that's a nonsense excuse considering how many split events we have now...

b) If CTSCC has been able to have 70-80 car grids at places like Barber, how on Earth cannot circuit like Virginia have more than two classes at the same time. And other grid limits as well

c) 45 minute sprint races for LMPC, what the ****? and then no Mosport... and one less round

 

Road Atlanta has said in the past that when the grid gets past 50 cars it gets nearly impossible to accomodate them, yet now we have sth like 60 cars entered for it... yet Daytona, easily capable for 80 car field now has much lower maximum field size for no reason. C'mon make up your minds

 

But for USCC's merits, at least there is variety in format as well as race distances, unlike with FIA/ACO's sterile 6 hour tilkedromes and no merged grids or even shared events anywhere. For example, look at the Asian dates in fall. Both WEC and AsLMS go to Fuji and Shanghai, yet both are still held on separate weekends for no reason. No one gives a crap about the Asian series and the grid numbers are terrible, then why not have it on the same weekend as your world champiobship. WEC support bills are horrible anyway, ILMC ruled it on that front too. CER, Speed Euroseries and co. What did WEC have at Spa this year? Some crappy local Porsche Cup race with tiny grid and nothing else. Even worse at flyaways

Nothing to say on grid sizes without making a mess of the thread. Same with the LMP-Challenge class. Too much clout kept that class in the new series. 

There are three different options available

A) WEC and regional series having separate race meetings

B) WEC sharing the weekend with the regional series, ie separate races - like ELMS & WEC at Silverstone

C) WEC merging the grid with the regional series, ie both series having a go at the same race - like ILMC did with LMS in 2010-2011

Now option A is what is happening, with the exception and Silverstone and CotA (which is possibly subject to change).

Personally, option B isn't as good as C (it's weird having cars from roughly same categories racing in different races, and in smaller numbers), but for a poor unattended series like AsLMS it would make perfect sense. To act as a support event for the WEC on the same weekend at the same track, now exactly how is that worse than AsLMS having separate stand-alone weekend at Inje with 10 car grid and nobody in the stands. And as AsLMS isn't able to pay the bills for renting a circuit on their own, they are already acting as a support series for miscellaneous events, like the Sepang 1000km. Which is basically a club race, but still the headlining event at that meeting, even if the AsLMS won't admit it. With ELMS it's slightly different but next year they won't be getting any attendance as they axed their relationship with the WSBR by wanting longer races

Option C CAN work. Not with USCC anymore, as that's NASCAR playground now and those events are not on the same league, but there is no reason why the ELMS and AsLMS cannot merge grids with the WEC at least couple of times per season. If the circuil limits exceed, you can get rid of the regional series filler class entries (PC, GT3 etc - do pre-qualifying if you have to). And sure sure, we all saw that ACO's treating towards the regional series wasn't the best when ILMC took all the headlines at Silverstone 2010 & 2011, Spa 2011, Imola 2011, PLM 2011 & Sebring 2011 (+ the fiasco that was WEC Sebring 2012), but did the regional series really suffer from that? Three of the five races in the '11 Le Mans Series season were merged with the ILMC, yet the standalone events at Paul Ricard and Estoril were still very well attended. In fact much better in 2012 and 2013, and back then they didn't even have to rely on fnon ACO compliant filler classes.

Just to follow on from Sonny's post, Option1 doesn't like to work.

I thank you.

Neil

Another joint USCC/WEC Austin has now been confirmed (disappointing, was really hoping for Road America) but Interlagos has been moved to be the finale, meaning that there are now three races in November - in a 8 race series that starts in April - and a FFREAKING PLUS THREE MONTH GAP BETWEEN LE MANS AND THE NEXT ROUND... good riddance

Utter failure from the ACO.

Edited by SonnyViceR, 01 February 2014 - 08:48.

Two excuses have usually been given for the ludicrously large post LM gap

a) You need to have break after 24 hour race - maybe but teams taking part in the American series are usually racing 1-2 weeks later, also ILMC in 2011 had Imola in early July which was perfect

b) Logistics - well they can spin the wheel on that, including the time it apparently takes to ship these things via sea freight (funny how even WTCC appears to handle these things better) but the true issue is how the championship is constructed in the first place

I *think* part of WTCC's DHL sponsorship is some air freight.

Dat 3 month gap.

It's a bit similar to almost-three month gap in the 2011 ALMS season

Round 2) Long Beach - April 16

Round 3) Lime Rock - July 7

However there was Le Mans in between for some of the teams so june can be excused again

That's some pretty bad scheduling.

Gaps between WEC dates when one row equals one week:

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Paul Ricard Open Testing

Silverstone 6 Hours

Spa 6 Hours

Le Mans Test Day

Le Mans 24 Hours

CotA 6 Hours

Fuji 6 Hours

Shanghai 6 Hours

Bahrain 6 Hours

Interlagos 6 Hours

Edited by SonnyViceR, 01 February 2014 - 23:42.

I wonder if it's an effort to avoid clashes with the meat of the summer season in other series. By the end of the year you have more and more of the attention to yourself.

Sort of like how I stay inside from January to November and then spend all of the last month of the year having to fight off the skirts with a baseball bat. It's bulletproof.

It looks like they were going for a winter series where Le Mans is the finale. A bit like what the IRL originally wanted to do, and we all know how well that went.

Sort of like how I stay inside from January to November and then spend all of the last month of the year having to fight off the skirts with a baseball bat. It's bulletproof.

Going to the Boxing Days sales, grabbing all the dresses from the displays and holding them hostage is not really "having to fight the skirts off with a baseball bat".  Especially when the baseball bat part is actually security threatening you with such an implement unless you leave.

And yes, the gaps in the sportscar calendar are ludicrous.  Then again, they often have been these past five or ten years.  And they wonder why they have trouble growing an audience.

Neil

I *think* part of WTCC's DHL sponsorship is some air freight.

It really doesnt matter Ross. There are so many logistic companies out there that will carry stuff anywhere as long as you pay them, you would be surprised how many anonymous companies work under the big corporations umbrella.

I think they need a rethink on the World Championship. At the moment we have 1 24 Hour race, and the rest are all 6 Hours. Personally, that needs to change. I'd like to see a 12 Hour race, and even a 3 Hour/ 500km race - just to mix it up. But I can't see it happening.

Same here.

Im afraid it will stay the same as long as the ACO feels like it. They had no issues droppping Sebring and Petit Lemans just to make sure there would be only one big fish.

But in all due honesty, P1 entries are not helping either, The new cars are being rolled out later and later every year. The SPA race is basically a longer shakedown for Lemans and any race unfortunate enough to fall in the shedule before Lemans will have to deal with the old cars. Don't be surprised if the ACO decides to start WEC at Lemans in a couple years.

Even with the death of GT1 the ACO continues to over protect Lemans. Seriously! The race needs no protection at all, people went to race there when it was not a round of any championship. (Hang on... is the ACO still bitten that Ferrari skipped the race in 1972?) People continued to race there even when prototype racing was dead, GT cars always want to go there. Even Bernie stays clear of the Lemans weekend!

How on earth would a slightly longer championship with diferent races hurt Lemans?

Sorry, had to rant this.

Still, we do have ADAC 24h on Nürburgring and Total 24 of Spa Francorchamps to look forward too in this 3 month break

Edit: And some classic F1 races at A1-ring, Spa and Monza... Aaaaand a helluva lot of yankfight over the pond!

Edited by Richard T, 02 February 2014 - 13:18.

It really doesnt matter Ross. There are so many logistic companies out there that will carry stuff anywhere as long as you pay them, you would be surprised how many anonymous companies work under the big corporations umbrella.

 

But that's the point. If WTCC is getting subsidised freight, of course it's easier for them to fly cars. If you have to pay you're going to go by boat. The Macau GP is done by sea, there's basically no F3 cars in Europe for 2 months every fall

But that's the point. If WTCC is getting subsidised freight, of course it's easier for them to fly cars. If you have to pay you're going to go by boat. The Macau GP is done by sea, there's basically no F3 cars in Europe for 2 months every fall

But it's not subsidised. It would be if it was the WTCC paying from it's pockets. Unless you know the wording of the deal.

It's DHL that is taking part of the expensenses in return for exposure. The WTCC negotiated a cheaper deal for transportation.

What I tried to point out is that if you are paying too much for logistics these days then you are asking to be ripped off.

Even if the freight rate is identical, the DHL deal may be specificly for freight. So 1mil in free air freight which you have to use, vs 1mil in cash you could spend on anything. Ie ship the cars by boat, spend the million on PR and promotion.

SonnyViceR pointed WTCC does logistics better. I'm pointing out that may be a sponsorship thing rather than them being better at it/sportscar people worse.

I absolutely HATE the WEC calendar. There are many underlying problems in that championship made of good intentions, but it is the single biggest issue I have with that series. Utter garbage positioning of the races, core market areas not really presented throughout, terrible and useless Grade 1 tracks, lame promotion, boring 6 hour standard formats, zero standout races apart from the obvious one and so on. You have the biggest and best motor race in the world of course which does means a lot but that race shouldn't even be in the series for numerous reasons!

I expressed some of this to Allan McNish on MWM couple of weeks ago and sadly he and Hindy pretty much disagreed with me. I guess I'm just a fool

Also on the ELMS front, they too only have one race in the Summer before September... why oh why

Edited by SonnyViceR, 02 February 2014 - 14:15.

Even if the freight rate is identical, the DHL deal may be specificly for freight. So 1mil in free air freight which you have to use, vs 1mil in cash you could spend on anything. Ie ship the cars by boat, spend the million on PR and promotion.

 

SonnyViceR pointed WTCC does logistics better. I'm pointing out that may be a sponsorship thing rather than them being better at it/sportscar people worse.

Logistics work pretty much like other business:

a) you pay the 5 star rate and get 5 star service

b) you sit down and find a way to get 5 star service at a 3 star rate

Im sure Sonny was being generic when he wrote WTCC. He was simply pointing out that even the WTCC was doing better in getting it stuff around. Im not sure any series out there (maybe F1) actually has a logistics department, you simply sub hire.

My point was that being DHL doesn't make a difference, you can get crappy DHL service as well and there are more companies out there with the same ability. Such as the real companies under the DHL umbrella. The excuse that flyaway races are expensive on the sole argument that moving things costs too much makes no sense and the WTCC deal is an example of that.

Edited by Red17, 02 February 2014 - 14:16.

Shipping costs are a huge part of the calendars of any racing series. Anytime the cars go by anything other than the team's truck you're facing a massive headache. Overseas races only ever work if there's a large sanction fee and/or transport deal included. It's why they often disappear after a few years.

Yeah I was being generic about the WTCC. That championship has even less financially stable teams and more internationally packed calendar and they never claim to have issues with the logistics, unlike the WEC which cries it about it from time to time.

Just as I can be generic when I point out that even the former GT1 World Championship used to have air freight for (at least some of their) flyaway races. Admittely there were very, very, very few of them, but if SRO of all organizers can manage it...

Shipping costs are a huge part of the calendars of any racing series. Anytime the cars go by anything other than the team's truck you're facing a massive headache. Overseas races only ever work if there's a large sanction fee and/or transport deal included. It's why they often disappear after a few years.

As I said above, you can slash part of the costs and there is no shortage of offers these days, to me it looks like people at the top are not even trying.

There is also the added advantage that companies like DHL and UPS also do the papperwork, if they don't negotiate it.

In WEC's case you could save a lot on transportation by lining up races on the same side of the pond. You can save even more by avoiding those ridiculous decade long contracts and keeping the companies fighting for your money. Shipping a race machine overseas is never cheap, but you can make it less expensive by being smart. Series organisers are not being smart.

Even at a good rate, it's still very expensive. To the point where it makes the running costs of the event unattractive to the series and entrants. And the alternative, sea freight, is unworkable unless you want huge schedule gaps. 

Even at a good rate, it's still very expensive. To the point where it makes the running costs of the event unattractive to the series and entrants. And the alternative, sea freight, is unworkable unless you want huge schedule gaps. 

Then I really don't get your quote about the DHL deal, to me it sounded like you pointed ou that the WTCC is not an example as they worked out something of the ordinary. Shouldn't sanctions always look for the best deals? Or do you feel that status means you are not allowed to bargain?

Funny you mention the large gaps, that's precisely how the shedule looks like now, I wonder if the ACO actually told the teams to use the boat.

It has been announced that FOX Sports will air zero TV coverage of the LMPC/Lites weekend at Kansas, and there won't be radio (or seemingly anything else) either. Now since nobody - including the series - obviously cares, why on Earth did they shoehorn that craptacular roval in the schedule in the first place? What the **** are those idiots thinking, in every direction you see something wrong. USCC is turning out to be one of the biggest fiascos since the turn of the century

Edited by SonnyViceR, 07 March 2014 - 19:17.

Why would you expect coverage of a series that is on about a par with upper level club stuff?

Neil

If a LMPC car breaks down in Kansas and nobody is there to see it, did it happen?