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2009 American Le Mans Series

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David Brabham (pictured) and Scott Sharp won the LMP1 class title for Patrón Highcroft Racing.

The 2009 American Le Mans Series season was the 39th season for the IMSA GT Championship, with it being the eleventh season with the American Le Mans Series moniker. It began on March 21, 2009, and ended on October 10, 2009 after ten events. The series was composed of Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) and Grand Tourer (GT) race cars divided into four classes: LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2. A fifth category, known as the Challenge class, was also added for select races and featured Porsche 997 GT3 Cup cars from the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge.[1] 2009 was also the final year for GT1, with Corvette Racing abandoning the class after Long Beach and switching over to much more competitive GT2 (renamed GT) class.

Season summary

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This was the first time that the Michelin Green X Challenge championship was used throughout a full ALMS season after its initial introduction at the 2008 Petit Le Mans. Two champions were determined by the entry which is the most efficient over the season within the LMP and GT categories.[2]

Patrón Highcroft Racing duo David Brabham and Scott Sharp won the main LMP1 standings, holding off De Ferran Motorsports pairing Gil de Ferran and Simon Pagenaud at the final round of the season at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Adrián Fernández and Luis Díaz won the LMP2 title, in the final season of Fernández Racing, who closed at the end of the 2009 season. In GT2, Flying Lizard Motorsports' Patrick Long and Jörg Bergmeister won six races en route to the championship title. Husband-and-wife Martin and Melanie Snow won the inaugural GT Challenge class title, that ran at half of the season's ten races.

Team changes

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Schedule

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The 2009 schedule remained mostly identical to the 2008 schedule, although the season was shortened in length. This was done to allow teams from the American Le Mans Series to participate in events for the new Asian Le Mans Series in November.[8] On December 18, 2008, it was announced that the Detroit race would be canceled.[9]

The Challenge class of cars only participated in five rounds in 2009: Utah, Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio, Road America, and Laguna Seca.[1][10]

Rnd Race Length Circuit Location Date
1 57th Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring 12 Hours Sebring International Raceway Sebring, Florida March 21
2 Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg 1 Hour 55 Minutes Streets of St. Petersburg St. Petersburg, Florida April 4
3 American Le Mans Series at Long Beach 1 Hour 40 Minutes Long Beach Street Circuit Long Beach, California April 18
4 Utah Grand Prix 2 Hours 45 Minutes Miller Motorsports Park Tooele, Utah May 17
5 Northeast Grand Prix 2 Hours 45 Minutes Lime Rock Park Lakeville, Connecticut July 18
6 Acura Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio 2 Hours 45 Minutes Mid-Ohio Lexington, Ohio August 8
7 Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase 2 Hours 45 Minutes Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin August 16
8 Grand Prix of Mosport 2 Hours 45 Minutes Mosport International Raceway Bowmanville, Ontario August 30
9 Petit Le Mans 1,000 mi (1,600 km) or 10 Hours Road Atlanta Braselton, Georgia September 26
10 Monterey Sports Car Championships 4 Hours Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California October 10

Season results

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Overall winner in bold.

Rnd Circuit LMP1 Winning Team LMP2 Winning Team GT2 Winning Team Challenge Winning Team Results
LMP1 Winning Drivers LMP2 Winning Drivers GT2 Winning Drivers Challenge Winning Drivers
1 Sebring Germany #2 Audi Sport Team Joest Mexico #15 Fernández Racing United States #62 Risi Competizione did not participate Results
Denmark Tom Kristensen
United Kingdom Allan McNish
Italy Rinaldo Capello
Mexico Adrián Fernández
Mexico Luis Díaz
Brazil Jaime Melo
Germany Pierre Kaffer
Finland Mika Salo
2 St. Petersburg United States #9 Highcroft Racing Mexico #15 Fernández Racing United States #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports did not participate Results
Australia David Brabham
United States Scott Sharp
Mexico Adrián Fernández
Mexico Luis Díaz
United States Patrick Long
Germany Jörg Bergmeister
3 Long Beach United States #66 de Ferran Motorsports Mexico #15 Fernández Racing United States #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports did not participate Results
Brazil Gil de Ferran
France Simon Pagenaud
Mexico Adrián Fernández
Mexico Luis Díaz
United States Patrick Long
Germany Jörg Bergmeister
4 Miller United States #66 de Ferran Motorsports Mexico #15 Fernández Racing United States #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports United States #57 Snow Racing Results
Brazil Gil de Ferran
France Simon Pagenaud
Mexico Adrián Fernández
Mexico Luis Díaz
United States Patrick Long
Germany Jörg Bergmeister
United States Martin Snow
United States Melanie Snow
5 Lime Rock United States #66 de Ferran Motorsports United States #20 Dyson Racing Team United States #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports United States #36 Gruppe Orange Results
Brazil Gil de Ferran
France Simon Pagenaud
United States Butch Leitzinger
United Kingdom Marino Franchitti
United States Patrick Long
Germany Jörg Bergmeister
United States Wesley Hoaglund
United States Bob Faieta
6 Mid-Ohio United States #66 de Ferran Motorsports Mexico #15 Fernández Racing United States #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports United States #57 Snow Racing Results
Brazil Gil de Ferran
France Simon Pagenaud
Mexico Adrián Fernández
Mexico Luis Díaz
United States Patrick Long
Germany Jörg Bergmeister
United States Martin Snow
United States Melanie Snow
7 Road America United States #9 Highcroft Racing Mexico #15 Fernández Racing United States #90 BMW Rahal Letterman United States #57 Snow Racing Results
Australia David Brabham
United States Scott Sharp
Mexico Adrián Fernández
Mexico Luis Díaz
United States Joey Hand
United States Bill Auberlen
United States Martin Snow
United States Melanie Snow
8 Mosport United States #9 Highcroft Racing Mexico #15 Fernández Racing United States #3 Corvette Racing did not participate Results
Australia David Brabham
United States Scott Sharp
Mexico Adrián Fernández
Mexico Luis Díaz
United States Johnny O'Connell
Denmark Jan Magnussen
9 Road Atlanta France #08 Team Peugeot Total United States #20 Dyson Racing Team United States #62 Risi Competizione did not participate Results
France Franck Montagny
France Stéphane Sarrazin
United States Butch Leitzinger
United Kingdom Marino Franchitti
United Kingdom Ben Devlin
Brazil Jaime Melo
Germany Pierre Kaffer
Finland Mika Salo
10 Laguna Seca United States #66 de Ferran Motorsports Mexico #15 Fernández Racing United States #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports United States #47 Orbit Racing Results
Brazil Gil de Ferran
France Simon Pagenaud
Mexico Adrián Fernández
Mexico Luis Díaz
United States Patrick Long
Germany Jörg Bergmeister
United States Guy Cosmo
United States John Baker

Note that the GT1 class only competed in two rounds. Johnny O'Connell, Jan Magnussen, and Antonio García won the 12 Hours of Sebring for Corvette Racing, while Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta won for Corvette at Long Beach.

Championships

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Points were awarded to the top ten cars and drivers which either finish the race or complete 70% of the winner's distance, except in the ALMS Challenge category where cars and drivers only have to complete 50% of their class winner's distance. Teams with multiple entries only scored the points of their highest finishing entry in each race. Drivers were required to drive a minimum of 45 minutes to earn points, except for the Long Beach event which required only 30 minutes. The GT1 category was only used for two events and no championships were awarded in that category.

Points System
Race Distance Position
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Less than three hours 20 16 13 10 8 6 4 3 2 1
Between four and eight hours 25 21 18 15 13 11 9 8 7 6
More than eight hours 30 26 23 20 18 16 14 13 12 11

Team championships

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Teams with full entries were awarded points in the team championships. Teams which participated in partial season or on a race by race basis were not counted as part of the championship.

LMP1 standings

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Pos Team Chassis Engine Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Total
1 United States Patrón Highcroft Racing Acura ARX-02a Acura AR7 4.0 L V8 18 20 16 16 16 16 20 20 16 21 179
2 United States de Ferran Motorsports Acura ARX-02a Acura AR7 4.0 L V8 0 13 20 20 20 20 16 16 12 25 162
3 United States Intersport Racing Lola B06/10 AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8 0 16 13 13 8 13 13 13 14 13 116
4 United States Autocon Motorsports Lola B06/10 AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8 0 10 0 10 0 8 0 13 18 59
5 United States Corsa Motorsports Ginetta-Zytek GZ09HS Zytek ZJ458 4.5 L Hybrid V8 10 13 10 10 15 58

LMP2 standings

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Pos Team Chassis Engine Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Total
1 Mexico Lowe's Fernández Racing Acura ARX-01B Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8 30 20 20 20 16 20 20 20 26 25 217
2 United States Dyson Racing Team Lola B09/86 Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4 0 16 16 16 20 13 16 16 30 0 143

GT2 standings

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Pos Team Chassis Engine Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Total
1 United States Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 20 20 20 20 20 20 10 8 18 25 181
2 United States Risi Competizione Ferrari F430GT Ferrari 4.0 L V8 30 0 16 13 16 8 8 16 30 0 137
3 United States BMW Rahal Letterman Racing BMW M3 GT2 BMW 4.0 L V8 0 16 13 4 13 13 20 2 26 11 118
4 United States Farnbacher-Loles Racing Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 13 4 1 16 10 6 1 10 23 18 102
5 United States Panoz Team PTG Panoz Esperante GT-LM Ford 5.0 L V8 23 13 6 10 6 4 0 6 12 15 95
6 United States Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Chevrolet LS7.R 6.0 L V8 16 13 20 20 21 90
7 United States Robertson Racing Ford GT-R Mk. VII Ford 5.0 L V8 14 6 2 1 2 1 4 1 11 0 42
8 United States Primetime Race Group Dodge Viper Comp. Coupe Dodge 8.3 L V10 0 0 4 2 3 2 3 0 14
9 United States Team Falken Tire Porsche 997 GT3-RSR Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 0 0 8 8

ALMS Challenge standings

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Gruppe Orange tied on points for the ALMS Challenge Team Championship, but Snow Racing broke the tie by having three wins over the season compared to Gruppe Orange's one.

Pos Team Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Total
1 United States Snow Racing 20 10 20 20 0 70
2 United States Gruppe Orange 0 20 13 16 21 70
3 United States Orbit Racing 0 16 16 10 25 67
4 United States P7 Racing 18 18
5 United States GMG Racing 0 13 13
6 United States Velox Motorsport 10 0 10

Driver championships

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Drivers who participated in races but failed to score points over the course of the season are not listed.

LMP1 standings

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Pos Driver Team Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Total
1= Australia David Brabham United States Patrón Highcroft Racing 18 20 16 16 16 16 20 20 16 21 179
1= United States Scott Sharp United States Patrón Highcroft Racing 18 20 16 16 16 16 20 20 16 21 179
3= Brazil Gil de Ferran United States de Ferran Motorsports 0 13 20 20 20 20 16 16 12 25 162
3= France Simon Pagenaud United States de Ferran Motorsports 0 13 20 20 20 20 16 16 12 25 162
5= United States Jon Field United States Intersport Racing 0 16 13 13 8 13 13 13 14 13 116
5= United States Clint Field United States Intersport Racing 0 16 13 13 8 13 13 13 14 13 116
7= United Kingdom Johnny Mowlem United States Corsa Motorsports 10 13 10 10 15 58
7= Sweden Stefan Johansson United States Corsa Motorsports 10 13 10 10 15 58
9= France Franck Montagny France Team Peugeot Total 26 30 56
9= France Stéphane Sarrazin France Team Peugeot Total 26 30 56
11= United Kingdom Allan McNish Germany Audi Sport Team Joest 30 23 53
11= Italy Rinaldo Capello Germany Audi Sport Team Joest 30 23 53
13= United States Bryan Willman United States Autocon Motorsports 0 10 0 0 8 13 18 49
13= United States Chris McMurry United States Autocon Motorsports 0 10 8 0 13 18 49
15= France Nicolas Minassian France Team Peugeot Total 20 26 46
15= Portugal Pedro Lamy France Team Peugeot Total 20 26 46
17= Germany Lucas Luhr Germany Audi Sport North America 23 20 43
17= Germany Marco Werner Germany Audi Sport North America 23 20 43
19 United States Chapman Ducote United States Intersport Racing 0 16 13 13 42
20 Canada Tony Burgess United States Autocon Motorsports 0 10 0 13 18 41
21 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti United States Patrón Highcroft Racing 18 16 34
22 Denmark Tom Kristensen Germany Audi Sport Team Joest 30 30
23 France Sébastien Bourdais France Team Peugeot Total 26 26
24 Germany Mike Rockenfeller Germany Audi Sport North America 23 23
25 Austria Christian Klien France Team Peugeot Total 20 20
26= France Nicolas Lapierre France Team Oreca Matmut AIM 18 18
26= France Romain Dumas France Team Oreca Matmut AIM 18 18
28 New Zealand Scott Dixon United States de Ferran Motorsports 0 12 12
29 United States Michael Lewis United States Autocon Motorsports 10 0 10

LMP2 standings

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Pos Driver Team Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Total
1= Mexico Adrián Fernández Mexico Lowe's Fernández Racing 30 20 20 20 16 20 20 20 26 25 217
1= Mexico Luis Díaz Mexico Lowe's Fernández Racing 30 20 20 20 16 20 20 20 26 25 217
3= United States Butch Leitzinger United States Dyson Racing Team 0 13 13 16 20 13 16 16 30 0 137
3= United Kingdom Marino Franchitti United States Dyson Racing Team 0 13 13 16 20 13 16 16 30 0 137
5 Germany Klaus Graf United States Team Cytosport 16 13 23 21 73
6= United States Chris Dyson United States Dyson Racing Team 0 16 16 13 0 0 10 0 55
6= United Kingdom Guy Smith United States Dyson Racing Team 0 16 16 13 0 0 10 0 55
8 United States Greg Pickett United States Team Cytosport 16 13 0 21 50
9 United Kingdom Ben Devlin United States Dyson Racing Team 0 30 0 30
10 Germany Sascha Maassen United States Team Cytosport 23 23
11= United States Gunnar van der Steur United States van der Steur Racing 13 0 0 0 13
11= United States Adam Pecorari United States van der Steur Racing 13 0 0 0 13

GT2 standings

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Pos Driver Team Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Total
1= United States Patrick Long United States Flying Lizard Motorsports 20 20 20 20 20 20 10 8 18 25 181
1= Germany Jörg Bergmeister United States Flying Lizard Motorsports 20 20 20 20 20 20 10 8 18 25 181
3= Brazil Jaime Melo United States Risi Competizione 30 0 16 13 16 8 8 16 30 0 137
3= Germany Pierre Kaffer United States Risi Competizione 30 0 16 13 16 8 8 16 30 0 137
5 Germany Wolf Henzler United States Farnbacher-Loles Racing 13 4 1 16 10 6 1 10 23 18 102
6= United States Tommy Milner United States BMW Rahal Letterman Racing 0 16 13 4 1 13 16 0 26 11 100
6= Germany Dirk Müller United States BMW Rahal Letterman Racing 0 16 13 4 1 13 16 0 26 11 100
8= Germany Dominik Farnbacher United States Panoz Team PTG 23 13 6 10 6 4 0 6 12 15 95
8= United Kingdom Ian James United States Panoz Team PTG 23 13 6 10 6 4 0 6 12 15 95
10= United States Johnny O'Connell United States Corvette Racing 16 13 20 16 21 86
10= Denmark Jan Magnussen United States Corvette Racing 16 13 20 16 21 86
12 United States Seth Neiman United States Flying Lizard Motorsports 18 8 8 6 4 2 3 14 13 76
13 Finland Mika Salo United States Risi Competizione 30 30 60
14 United States Johannes van Overbeek United States Flying Lizard Motorsports 18 6 4 4 14 13 59
15 United States Darren Law United States Flying Lizard Motorsports 18 8 8 2 3 4 14 57
16= United Kingdom Oliver Gavin United States Corvette Racing 10 6 13 20 6 55
16= Monaco Olivier Beretta United States Corvette Racing 10 6 13 20 6 55
18 Germany Marc Lieb United States Flying Lizard Motorsports 20 18 54
United States Farnbacher-Loles Racing 16
19 Germany Dirk Werner United States Farnbacher-Loles Racing 13 4 1 10 23 51
20= United States Joey Hand United States BMW Rahal Letterman Racing 0 0 3 3 13 3 20 2 0 0 44
20= United States Bill Auberlen United States BMW Rahal Letterman Racing 0 0 3 3 13 3 20 2 0 0 44
22 United States David Murry United States Robertson Racing 14 6 2 1 2 1 4 1 11 0 42
23 United States Andrea Robertson United States Robertson Racing 14 6 1 2 1 4 1 11 0 40
24 United States David Robertson United States Robertson Racing 14 2 1 2 1 4 1 11 0 36
25 Germany Johannes Stuck Germany T-Mobile VICI Racing 0 10 8 8 9 35
26 United Kingdom Richard Westbrook Germany T-Mobile VICI Racing 10 8 9 27
27= Italy Gianmaria Bruni Italy Advanced Engineering PeCom 26 26
27= Argentina Matías Russo Italy Advanced Engineering PeCom 26 26
27= Argentina Luís Pérez Companc Italy Advanced Engineering PeCom 26 26
27= Germany Jörg Müller United States BMW Rahal Letterman Racing 26 26
31= Switzerland Marcel Fässler United States Corvette Racing 20 20
31= United States Tom Sutherland United States LG Motorsports 13 7 20
31= United States Tomy Drissi United States LG Motorsports 13 7 20
34 Germany Pierre Ehret Germany Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport 18 18
35 United States Lou Giglotti United States LG Motorsports 0 10 0 7 17
36= United States Tracy Krohn United States Risi Competizione 16 16
36= Belgium Eric van de Poele United States Risi Competizione 16 16
36= Sweden Niclas Jönsson United States Risi Competizione 16 16
36= Spain Antonio García United States Corvette Racing 16 16
40= United States Joel Feinberg United States Primetime Race Group 0 0 4 2 3 2 3 0 14
40= United Kingdom Chris Hall United States Primetime Race Group 0 0 4 2 3 2 3 0 14
42= Austria Richard Lietz United States Farnbacher-Loles Racing 13 13
42= United States Matt Bell United States LG Motorsports 13 13
44 United States Bryce Miller United States Farnbacher-Loles Racing 10 1 11
45 United States Eric Curran United States LG Motorsports 0 10 10
46= Netherlands Nicky Pastorelli Germany T-Mobile VICI Racing 8 8
46= United States Bryan Sellers United States Team Falken Tire 0 0 8 8
46= United States Dominic Cicero United States Team Falken Tire 0 0 8 8
49 Austria Martin Ragginger Germany Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport 6 6

ALMS Challenge standings

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Driver points were awarded collectively, with all the drivers who have driven for a team being awarded the same number of points.

Pos Drivers No. Team Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Total
1 United States Martin Snow #57 United States Snow Racing 20 10 20 20 0 70
United States Melanie Snow 20 10 20 20 0
2 United States Nick Parker #02 United States Gruppe Orange 0 13 8 16 21 58
United States Donald Pickering 13 8 16 21
United States Carl Skerlong 0
3 United States Guy Cosmo #47 United States Orbit Racing 0 0 16 10 25 51
United States John Baker 0 0 16 10 25
4 United States Wesley Hoaglund #36 United States Gruppe Orange 0 20 13 13 0 46
United States Bob Faieta 0 20 13 13 0
5 United States Ed Brown #08 United States Orbit Racing 0 16 0 8 15 39
United States Bill Sweedler 0 16 0 8 15
6 United States Robert Rodriguez #69 United States P7 Racing 18 18
United States Galen Bieker 18
7 United States Bret Curtis #05 United States GMG Racing 0 13 13
United States James Sofronas 0 13
8 United States Shane Lewis #88 United States Velox Motorsport 10 0 10
United States Gerry Ventos 10
United States Mitchell Pagerey 0


References

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  1. ^ a b "Series provides advancement opportunity with addition of "Challenge Class"". American Le Mans Series. 2009-03-27. Archived from the original on March 29, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
  2. ^ "Green Challenge Rules and Regulations Set". American Le Mans Series. 2008-06-24. Archived from the original on January 22, 2009. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  3. ^ "Corvettes back in ALMS in 2009 with GT1 and GT2 programs".
  4. ^ "ALMS : Audi concentrates on European motorsport". Endurance-Info. 2008-12-05. Archived from the original on 2008-12-09. Retrieved 2008-12-05.
  5. ^ http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=313648[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ "American Le Mans Series :: World Class". Archived from the original on 2008-12-17. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
  7. ^ "American Le Mans Series – News". Archived from the original on 2009-07-25. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  8. ^ "Record Results and a Bold Five-Year Plan". American Le Mans Series. 2008-10-03. Archived from the original on 14 November 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
  9. ^ "2009 Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix Canceled". 18 December 2008.
  10. ^ "IMSA Competition Bulletin #09-21" (PDF). International Motor Sports Association. 2009-08-16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-12-04. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
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