2008 ALMS Season Review
- Kumho Track Services Team
- Team Car
- Team Car 2
- Jason Myers
- Support Team
- On the track
Kumho Tires' participation in the American Le Mans Series saw many exciting challenges for the 2008 season. Our history in the ALMS has mainly focused in the prototype class with Miracle Motorsports in LMP2, BK Motorsports in LMP2, Van der Steur Racing in LMP2, and Intersport Racing in both the LMP2 and LMP1 category. While we have had many victories and podium finishes with our teams over the years, including 1st at the Sebring 12 Hour in 2005, 3rd at Le Mans in 2006, and a class win at Le Mans in LMP2 in 2007, 2008 would see new partners and a new class for Kumho Tires, GT2.
Kumho Tires partnered with LG Motorsports and Vici Racing in GT2 to further the advancements in the tire technology thru racing. The GT2 class would be the most competitive in the series in recent history. Kumho Tires developed a package for each team to compete with the likes of Michelin, Dunlop, Hankook, and Falken. LG Motorsports built a new car with Riley Technologies, while Vici Racing decided on a proven package, the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. The inaugural race at Sebring saw LG Motorsports withdraw early with some overheating issues, while Vici Racing soldiered on and ran in the top 5 in class for most of the grueling endurance race. Late in the race, Vici would have issues with driveshafts. However, the team did a fantastic job of overcoming adversity and completing repairs in record time to finish the race with an impressive 6th in class.
The year continued with development for both teams, unfortunately LG Motorsports ran into funding problems and dropped out of the series prematurely. This left Kumho to concentrate on Vici Racing. The drivers for the team had a steep learning curve since they had rarely seen any American circuits on the schedule. This didn't stop them from recording consistent top 10 finishes against the series premier GT2 teams. Kumho Tires provided full service and engineering support to the team over the year and maintained an impressive schedule for new and improved tires at each race.
An opportunity presented itself to work with Intersport Racing midway in the season; Kumho Tires was a partner with the team in 2007. Intersport would campaign 2 LOLA cars for the year, and Kumho would run with the 2nd car for the last half of the season. This gave us a great benchmark to work with since the primary car would run on Dunlop Tires. As the season progressed, Kumho continued development on the LMP1 tire with very good results. The team was very pleased to have Kumho Tires on board to pick up where we left of in the previous season. A very serious crash occurred on the Intersport car at Mosport. John Faulkner contacted the wall at high speed and crashed the car beyond repair for the remaining race. The team did not participate in the next race at Detroit while they acquired a new chassis and prepared it for the famous Petit Le Mans 10 hour race.
The Intersport/Kumho LOLA was in a good position to battle for a podium spot late in the race when disaster struck again. During a yellow flag re-start, the Intersport driver had to take evasive action to avoid hitting another car and found himself in the middle of the track in a very precarious spot on a blind hill. A GT2 car came over the hill and with nowhere to go, hit the LOLA head on. The driver was not injured in the crash; however, this would end the year for Kumho in the LMP1 class with Intersport Racing. With so little time to prepare a new car for the last race on the schedule, the decision was made by the team to concentrate on the primary car and look to 2009 for a renewed partnership with Kumho Tires.
Kumho Tires would like to thank our partners for their support and dedication. We look forward to 2009
