Gentleman Gil de Ferran plans 2010 IndyCar Team

The IndyCar Series and the American Le Mans Series are paired this weekend for a road racing extravaganza at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The announcement Friday that 2003 Indianapolis 500 Champion Gil de Ferran will move his team from ALMS to IndyCar in 2010 demonstrates the zero-sum game that racing has become.

Honda's Acura division is rumored to have plans to leave ALMS following the 2009 campaign. The de Ferran announcement is the latest evidence that the LMP era at Don Panoz's outfit is likely coming to an end. De Ferran Motorsports is the unquestioned Acura "works" team, sporting primary sponsorship from Sirius XM, the satellite radio conglomerate that is owned, in part, by Honda. Although Highcroft Racing and Fernandez Racing also run Acuras in ALMS, they have independent primary sponsorship from Tequila Patron and Lowe's, respectively.

The good news is that de Ferran, quintessential gentleman racer, is bringing what will likely be a high quality, two-car team to the Indy Racing League. The bad news, at least from the perspective of high-tech road racing fans in the United States, is that yet another permutation of the sport is on the brink of financial failure. The core problem with the highest levels of ALMS-type racing is that they rely almost completely on investment by auto manufacturers. Unfortunately, the auto industry is highly cyclical, and when the cycle turns downward, as it has for the past 20 months, manufacturers are forced to cut non-essential expenses such as sports car racing.

The writing first appeared on the wall of the ALMS's Georgia headquarters when Audi dropped out of the sport prior to this season. Honda is willing to race alone in the IRL because IndyCar racing is a spectator-supported sport. Although sports car racing does indeed have some very passionate spectators, they are too few in number. In addition, the high-tech aspect of the sport tends to translate into high cost, a fact the IRL must keep in mind as it works toward new technical specifications for the IndyCar Series.

The Republic encourages fans to attend the Mid-Ohio twin bill this weekend. Roggespierre has enjoyed IndyCar races at Michelle Trueman's fine road course in the past and hopes to do so again soon. Next year, Gil de Ferran will return with the Indy cars. Whether or not they are accompanied by the ALMS - and if so, then what kind of ALMS - is another question entirely.

Roggespierre