The American Le Mans Series (ALMS)is preparing for its annual trip to the Western Coast of California, home of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, a staple in American motorsports since 1975.
34 cars across 5 classes, featuring nine auto and four tyre manufactures, will attack the streets of Long Beach for 2 hours in the second round of the 2013 American Le Mans Series.
The strongest pairing in LMP1 are Muscle Milk‘s Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr, the first repeat winners at Long Beach since the ALMS’ first round in 2007. Their main competition will come from a pair of Lolas from Dyson Racing and Rebellion Racing.
LMP2 will see Level 5 looking to continue their strong run of form at Long Beach, having won the last two events at the circuit, and also having won the previous round of the ALMS, the Twelve Hours of Sebring. Extreme Speed Motorsports will provide a new challenge for Level 5, both powered by Honda Performance Development.
The GT class sees 2012 class winners, and eventual GT champions, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner return to the streets of Long Beach, but face a tough task to repeat the victory this year. Multiple entries from BMW, Ferrari, Porsche and SRT will be hunting Gavin and Milner, including two Z4 GTEs run by BMW Team RLL and Ferrari 458 Italias of Team West/Alex Job Racing. The SRT Viper GTS-R makes its Long Beach debut at the hands of SRT Motorsports.
The Prototype Challenge class marks the debut of Continental tyres at Long Beach, a class of Oreca FLM 09 prototypes led by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, while Core Autosport will be looking to defend their victory of 2012.
Finally, ten Porsche 911 GT3s attack the GT Challenge class, headed by Alex Job Racing, who won in Sebring, past ALMS GT winners Flying Lizard Motorsports and Dempsey Del Piero Racing.
