USA Diecast - The Split Years
1998 Shakeup
In 1998 the IMSA/PSCR series split in two, with the SCCA sanctioning half of the schedule, including the Daytona 24H, under the revived USRRC name. The SCCA had the nerve to call the prototype class "Can-Am", but karma got them back and the last few races were cancelled due to lack of interest. While most teams ran in both the USRRC and PSCR series, the grids were smaller and all classes raced simultaneously. Another very interesting development occurred in 1998 as a race to Le Mans rules set by the ACO was run at Road Atlanta. This race, which was called 'Petit Le Mans', unified the American PSCR/IMSA and European regulations for the first time ever since the early 1970's.
|
Place |
Car
Sponsor |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 2 | Porsche LMP1/98 'Mobil 1'
Michele Alboreto 
Stefan Johansson 
Jörg Müller  | 77
LMP1 | Trofeu
| 1305 |  |
1999
The 1999 PSCR schedule was dubbed the American Le Mans Series, and Sebring became the most second-most important race of the year. The factory teams of BMW and Audi debuted their new cars, and the margin of victory was the closest in Sebring history. Don Panoz, who had made a fortune developing the nicotine patch, founded the series and entered his upstart team. BMW and Panoz battled all year long, and the USA saw some of the best prototype racing ever.
The GT1 class was all but eliminated, except for the Audi R8C Coupes that ran under the 'LMGTP' classification, and the Sintura that raced at Laguna Seca. The GT2 class was renamed GTS, and GT3 was simply GT. The French ORECA viper team also joined the series, as wll as a GM factory Corvette squad. These two cars provide a showdown of 'American iron' in the GTS class that would be repeated in 2000.
The GT class was dominated by the Porsche 911 RSR, which had been racing since 1994. Late in the year the 911 GT3 debuted.
|
Place |
Car
Sponsor |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 1 | BMW V12 LMR 'Beck's'
Tom Kristensen 
J.J. Lehto 
Jörg Müller | 42
| Onyx
Le Mans | XGT005 |  |
|
| 42 | Minichamps | 80 42 9 418 137 |  |
| 40 | BMW V12 LMR 'Beck's'Yannick Dalmas  Pierluigi Martini Joachim Winkelhock | 43 | Onyx | XGT006 |  |
1 | Riley & Scott Mk III 'Yokohama'
Eric van de Poele 
Mimmo Schiattarella | 0
LMP | Spark
| SCRS 06 |  |
| 1 | BMW V12 LMR 'Beck's'J.J. Lehto Steve Soper  | 42 | Onyx | XGT011 | |
| 2 | BMW V12 LMR 'Beck's'Bill Auberlen  Joachim Winkelhock | 43 | Onyx | XGT012 | |
|
Place |
Car
Sponsor |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| Can-Am Class |
1 | Riley & Scott Mk III Ford
Elliot Forbes-Robinson
Butch Leitzinger
Andy Wallace
Rob Dyson | 20
Can-Am | Spark
| |  |
| 2 | Ferrari 333 SP
Allan McNish
Didier de Radigues
Max Angelelli
Wayne Taylor  | 7
Can-Am | Red Line
| RL107 |  |
| GT2 Class |
18 | Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
Ron Fellows 
Chris Kneifel
John Paul, Jr. | 2
GTO | Minichamps
| AC4 991402 |  |
46 | Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
Andy Pilgrim
John Heinricy
Scott Sharp | 4
GTO | Minichamps
| AC4 991404 |  |
2000
Grand-Am Formed
The USRRC fiasco was replaced by the Grand Amarican Road Racing Association, which has ties to NASCAR. They did an infinitely better job of making this privateer series sucessful. They created rules parity with the Sports Racing World Cup, so Daytona 24H became the 'privateer Le Mans'.
The first race of this series was dominated by two very non-privateer teams. Despite this contradiction, the race was incredible. The GTO Vipers and Corvettes finished within 90 seconds of each other, and beat out the prototypes for the overall win.
|
Place |
Car
Sponsor |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| GTO Class |
| 1 | Dodge Viper GTS-R
'Playstation'
Olivier Beretta 
Karl Wendlinger 
Dominique Dupuy | 91
GTO | Minichamps
| 430 001491 |  |
| | | Ixo
| GTM003 |  |
| Corvette Racing |
| 2 | Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
Ron Fellows
Justin Bell
Chris Kneifel | 3
GTO | Action
| ACT100265 |  |
| |
| Minichamps (Action Label)
| AC4001403 | |
24 | Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
Andy Pilgrim
Kelly Collins
Franck Freon | 4
GTO | Action
| ACT100267 |  |
| |
| Minichamps (Action Label)
| AC4001404 | |
| Chaimberlain Motorsport |
| 7 | Dodge Viper GTS-R
Toni Seiler 
Erik Messley
Walter Brun | 46
GTO | Minichamps
| 430 001446 |  |
| GTU Class |
| 10 | Porsche 911 (996) GT3-R 'Red Bull'
Philipp Peter
Hans Willems
Hans-Jörg Höfer
Luca Riccitelli | 7
GTU | Minichamps
| 430 006907 |  |
| 62 | Porsche 911 (996) GT3-R 'Texaco/Where the Money is'
Mike Brockman
Paul Newman
Michael Lauer
Gunnar Jeannette | 75
GTU | Minichamps
| 430 006975 |  |
10 | Porsche 911 GT3-R 'Brumos' | 59
GTU | Minichamps
| 430 006959 |  |
In 2000 the strength of the ALMS grew even greater, and there were two european dates at Silverstone and the Nurburgring. These 'ELMS' races were run before and after Le Mans, to take advantage of the cars being on the continent. The race at the renovated Mosport is considered an all-time classic.
|
Place |
Car
Sponsor |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| BMW Motorsport |
42 | BMW V12 LMR 'Original BMW Parts'
Jörg Müller
J.J. Lehto | 42
LMP | Minichamps
(BMW Dealer Edition) | ?? ?? ? ??? ??? | |
43 | BMW V12 LMR 'Original BMW Parts'
Jean-Marc Gounon
Bill Auberlen | 43
LMP | Minichamps
(BMW Dealer Edition) | ?? ?? ? ??? ??? | |
| Adelaide |
| Audi Sport Team Joest |
| 1 | Audi R8
('Crocodile Car')
Rinaldo Capello
Allan McNish
| 77
LMP | Minichamps
| 430 000977 |  |
| | | Ixo
| GTM001 |  |
2001
The Grand Am series soldiered on into 2001, and their main event - the 24 hours of Daytona - showed the weakness of their prototypes teams, as a GTO car took top honors again. But this time, the Corvettes led the way. A soon-to-be-gone Dale Earnhart finished his last race here. A shame, as he clearly enjoyed the run, and probably would have come back...
The GTO and GTU classes became GTS and GT respectively, which made them equivalent to the ALMS. Porsche 911 GT1s also were able to sneak into the GTS class, which is counterintuative, as the GTS class was for GT2 cars.
A geriatric Paul Newman took part yet again, using his walker to get from the paddock to the pits. Paul's age was balanced by Gunnar Jeanette, who at 18 was the youngest Daytona 24 Hours racer ever. Gunnar raced while in the middle of a semester of engineering school, which is a welcome change from the ususal spoiled-brat Eurotrash boy racer.
Champion had no luck fitting a Porsche turbo engine into the Lola Chassis. The whole car was gleefully scrapped at the end of the year in favor of a wonderful new Audi R8. Sadly, it was Bob Wollek's last race. He was killed at Sebring a few weeks later. Ironically, he was riding his bicycle when he was killed.
|
Place |
Car
Sponsor |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| GTS Class |
1 | Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
Ron Fellows
Chris Kneifel
Franck Fréon
Johnny O'Connell | 4
GTS | Minichamps
(Action US Label) | AC4 011402 |  |
| | | Action Performance
| ?? | |
| 4 | Chevrolet Corvette C5-R
Kelly Collins
Dale Earnhardt
Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Andy Pilgrim | 3
GTS | Minichamps
'Action' (US Label) | AC4 011403 |  |
| | | Action Performance
(Dirty Version) | ?? |  |
| | | Action Performance
| ?? | |
0 | Dodge Viper GTS-R
Stefano Zonca
David Gooding
Raffaele Sangiuolo
Milka Duno  | 114
GTS | Minichamps
| 430 011414 |  |
0 | Porsche 911 GT1
Larry Schumacher
James Holtom
John Brenner
Harry Bytzek | 01
GTS | Minichamps
| 430 016801 |  |
| Gunnar Racing |
0 | Porsche 911 GT1 'Texaco'
Gunnar Jeannette
Paul Newman
Wayne Jackson
Michael Brockman | 76
GTS | Minichamps
| 400 016876 |  |
| GT Class |
0 | Porsche 911 GT3-RS
Lucas Luhr 
Mike Fitzgerald
Randy Pobst
Christian Menzel | 31
GT | Minichamps
| 400 016931 |  |
0 | Porsche 911 GT3-RS
Peter Baron
Leo Hindery
Gian Luigi Buitoni
Kyle Petty | 43
GT | Minichamps
| 400 016943 |  |
0 | Porsche 911 GT3-RS
Stefano Buttiero
Philip Collin
Andrew Bagnall 
Tony Burgess | 57
GT | Minichamps
| 400 016957 |  |
| SRP Class |
| Champion Racing |
0 | Lola B2K Porsche 'Champion'
Dorsey Schroeder
Bob Wollek
Hurley Haywood
Sascha Maassen | 38
SRP | Spark
| SCLA 07 |  |
0 | Porsche 911 GT3-RS 'Van Halen' | 76
GT | Minichamps
| 400 016976 |  |
United We Race
Many cars at the 2001 Petit Le Mans had special livery to honor victims of September 11.
BMW M3 GTR
The most controversial car of the year was the rules-stretching E46 M3 GTR. The car had a non-stock V8 engine which had yet to appear in the road car. The lack of a commerial version made the car incur penalties that made it uncompetitive.
Ferrari GT's
After years of chanting, fasting, and prayer Ferrari made a decent GT car. The GTS-class 550 Maranello won many FIA GT races and the overall championship. Too bad there is a clause in Michael Schumacher's contract with satan that gives Mattel exclusive rights. This eliminates any hope of a decent 1:43 model.
The GT-class 360 Modena has not yet matched the success of 550, but the Prince of Darkness is said to be "open for offers" if any loyal tifosi are in a "Faustian" mood...
IMSA Strikes back
The lousy PSCR acronym was dropped at the end of the year, and the ALMS runs under the infinitely better IMSA name.
2002
Sebring 50th anniversary
Sebring had a first-rate entry for its anniversary. While it wasn't required for a slot at Le Mans, it certainly looked good on a team's resume'.
Daytona 2002
Prototypes were scarce, but the ol' Dyson vs. Doran show never gets, well... old.
|
Place |
Car
Sponsor |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| SRP Class |
| Doran-Lista Racing |
| 1 | Dallara Judd 'Lista'
Didier Theys
Fredy Lienhard
Max Papis
Mauro Baldi | 27
SRP | Spark
| SCDR04 | |
| Intersport Racing |
| 35 | Lola B2K Judd 'Banana Joe's'
Joel Field
Clint Field
Mark Neuhaus
Larry Oberto | 37
SRP | Spark
| SCLA 08 | |
| GT Class |
| 0 | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 73
GT | Minichamps
| 400 026973 | |
| 0 | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 66
GT | Minichamps
| 400 026966 | |
| 0 | Porsche 911 GT3-R | 44
GT | Minichamps
| 400 026944 | |
| 0 | Porsche 911 GT3-R 'Red Bull' | 7
GT | Minichamps
| 400 026907 | |
2003
Beer Goggles, anyone?
The NASCAR people who started the Grand-Am series went on a journey to hell in 2003. Paving the road were the good intentions of making a stable class of closed-cockpit prototype cars. They saw a future where competitiveness wasn't dictated by budgets but by talent, and that the small privateer could be competitive at a resonable price.
Who the fuck would want to watch that shit? I mean really. Sports cars are supposed to be a decadent waste of money in a world where many go without food or medical care. I deal with the problems of the real world all week. When I watch sports car racing on the weekends I don't want to hear people whine about budgets.
I won't even go into the fact that cars that are the ugliest closed-cockpit prototypes man has ever seen.
Daytona 2003
Every year in sports cars is a transition year, so low grid counts always have an excuse. Daytona 2003 was an especially bad scene, as the Daytona Prototypes were trounced not only on reliability but speed by the Porsche 996-GT3RS
Kudzu Redux
Jim Downing was involved in bringing this WR-built car to the ALMS. While it was not particularly sucessful, there are actually two different 1:43 models.
2004
American Le Mans Series
Prototypes were scarce in 2004, but the Dyson and Champion squads always put on a good show. European crossover was less due to the Le Mans Endurance Series ability to provide grid slots at the 24 Hours.
|
Place |
Car
Sponsor |
Car # Class |
Model |
Ref. # |
Image |
| 1 | Audi R8 'Canon'
Allan McNish
Frank Biela
Pierre Kaffer | 28
LMP1 | Minichamps
| 400 041328 |  |
| 8 | Porsche 911 GT3-RSR
Timo Bernhard
Sascha Maassen | 23
GT2 | Minichamps
| 400 046423 |  |
Grand American Road Racing Association
The series had a much brighter year with a large number of prototypes. Daytona was an especially memorable event. NASCAR stars Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt jr. put on a valiant effort in the closing minutes as they tried to bring home a victory with a completely broken suspension.
Milka Duno also scored a solid win against ample cometition, and became one of the few women who can claim to have won a race outright.
