Preview: Acura Sports Car Challenge

We head to Mid-Ohio for round six of the American Le Man Series this coming weekend. Nothing new, consider that the track has held an American Le Mans Series event every year since 2001. What is new are the storylines heading into the event; Acura's first ever outright win last week, the incredibly competitive GT2 class and the rise of the P2 class. For years, Audi had dominated the American Le Mans Series, but with the rise of Porsche and Acura, those seasons are likely behind them.

Penske Porsche No. 6 co-driver Sascha Maassen is still searching for his first win of the season, having been overshadowed by his teammates Timo Bernhard and Romain Dumas in the No. 7 car all season. With a win, Maassen would record at least one victory in each year of the American Le Mans Series, something only Jan Magnussen has done to this point. Unfortunately for him, the No. 6 has finished behind its sister car in every race this season, albeit generally only by a position or two.

Last year, this race was run at the end of March, with the Audi R10 taking the victory, one year after Porsche recorded its first ever overall win in the series at that very track. To no one's surprise, Jaime Melo and Mika Salo teamed up to win the GT2 category, one of their 8 wins that season (a GT2 record).

A few additional challengers will return to the American Le Mans Series this weekend, including the No. 12 Autocon Motorsports, which is arguably the only team in P1 that can consistently challenge the Audi team. Speaking of challenging Audi, Intersport Racing recorded a 2nd place finish in P1 at Lime Rock Park, and will be adding a second car this weekend, to be driven by Ryan Lewis and John Faulkner. In the GT2 category, VICI Racing will return with two cars. Corsa Motorsports will also be joining the action with their Ferrari F430.

Speed is crucial at this track, as the backstretch allows speeds of over 170 mph, so qualifying well will certainly be important. That being said, there are several good places to pass on this track (unlike at the street circuits on the schedule), so a bad qualifying session can be made up with a good run during the race.

A note about last year's race, you may remember that Thomas Enge was actually fired during the race by Peterson/White Lightning after a second altercation on the track with GT2 opponent Mika Salo. Hopefully, fireworks such as that can be avoided this time around between any competitors.

Also on the slate for this weekend at Mid-Ohio will be the IndyCar series, so certainly a huge weekend for Mid-Ohio considering that NASCAR is off until next weekend when the series heads to the Brickyard.