Down Shift Magazine

After nine events and thousands of miles throughout North America, championships in the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón come down to one last race. The 15th annual Petit Le Mans powered by Mazda stands to be a winner-take-all affair in the ALMS’ P1 and P2 classes. It makes the 1,000-mile/10-hour classic at Road Atlanta that much more critical for a quartet of teams: Muscle Milk Pickett Racing, Dyson Racing, Level 5 Motorsports and Conquest Endurance.

Muscle Milk’s #6 P1 car running some test laps at the Sebring International Raceway this past spring in preparation for what quickly became a very exciting 2012 ALMS series. Photo by Richard Dole – www.dolephoto.com

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A factory-backed Viper will race on the world stage again. Based on the all-new 2013 Viper, the Viper GTS-R reemerges in 2012. The competition-spec 2013 Viper will compete this year as part of a two-car team in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), the same series that Viper dominated in 2000.

With the unveiling of the fifth generation Viper road car, Chrysler announced a return to ALMS racing with an all new Viper GTS-R race car based on the latest road car. | Click to Enlarge – 1920×1200

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The Lotus Evora GTE is a race car developed with a single minded aim to be successful in the new global motorsport GTE category, which includes the world famous Le Mans 24 Hours.

Making max power of 470 bhp @ 7500 rpm,  the 2,745 lb Evora GTE has been designed for GT2 and international endurance series around the globe.
 Developed under the expert eye of lead designer Nicola Scimeca, the car proved its reliability and competitiveness during the inaugural competition, the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours. | Click to Enlarge – 1920×1200

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An awesome shot of the extremely competitive AF Corse Ferarri F458 Italia which competed aggressively in the LM GTE Pro class at this year’s Le Mans.

After posting consistent lap times the #71 (LM GTE Pro) AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia driven by Robert Kauffman, Michael Waltrip and Rui Aguas was regrettably forced to retire due to a broken differential. Click to Enlarge – 1920×1200

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At this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans everyone’s eyes were either on the peculiar Nissan DeltaWing or the new rivalry between the Audi R18 e-tron Quattro and the Toyota TS030 hybrids…

The 80th time was the charm for environmentally friendly cars, as Audi’s R-18 e-Tron diesel-electric hybrid became the first car of its kind to win the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race. Click to Enlarge – 1920×1200

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On Saturday Mazda announced that they would be debuting their new SKYACTIV-D Clean Diesel engine for the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans with plans for Dempsey Racing  to be the first customer to use the new engine.

SKYACTIV-D Mazda’s Advanced New 2013 Le Mans Clean Diesel Racer

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This weekend marked the historic 80th running of the Le Mans 24 Hour…

The 2012 Number-One Audi R18 e-tron Quattro Hybrid earned the 1st victory for a hybrid powered car. Click to Enlarge – 1920×1200

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The Nissan DeltaWing may be listed on the results sheet as a retirement, but after being forced out of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the revolutionary car has undoubtedly won the hearts and minds of fans throughout the world.

Remarkably, the Nissan DeltaWing was completing 11 lap stints at LMP2 pace despite only having a 40 liter fuel tank and 300 horsepower. Click to Enlarge – 1920×1200

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