Autoblog

You win some, you lose some. First Dyson announces it's dropping a division to start racing LMP2 in a Porsche RS Spyder, and now Petersen/White Lightning is switching from its two-time championship winning 911s to a Ferrari F430 GT. That 2,425 lb. Ferrari is essentially the same as the Risi Competizione car that won the GT2 Team Championship last year in its first season of racing.

After two consecutive ALMS Drivers' Championships, the team will be getting a higher level of factory support than ever before. By getting their car through the Ferrari Corse Clienti program, they will get a thoroughly sorted machine with lots of factory help, but they will still be able to compete for the independent championship. That would be their third in a row if the sophomore Ferrari performs as well as hoped.

The F430 GT will continue to wear the neon yellow, red and white paintjob on their No. 31 car when they go for the threepeat starting at the season-opener, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March. Petersen/White Lightning has campaigned 911s of one type or another in the American Le Mans Series since 1999, racking up 17 class wins including the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the Petit Le Mans twice as well.

So far it looks like GT2 will feature 5 Porsches, 4 Ferraris, 2 Panoz, and possibly those 2 Spykers. That would be a very entertaining field that might actually start to bring ALMS to the forefront of America's racing consciousness. Still more changes are expected before the New Year, so we'll keep you posted.

[Source: ALMS]

Thanks for the tip, Mr. ALMS Mike!