Will these colours be seen in the ALMS soon???
Courtesy of the Rolex Grand American Road Racing Series

It has been rumoured that Chip Ganassi could bring his team from the Grand Am Championship to the American Le Mans Series.

Internet rumour has it that Ganassi and Toyota wants to join the ALMS so they can compete with Japanese rivals Honda (Acura), Mazda and German rivals Porsche on the same race track.

It has been rumoured that Toyota have developed an engine for P2 and with Ganassi having strong links to the Japanese manufacturer, they would be the choice of team to head this operation.

The FMSC View

We will put this one as unlikely. If there is money to be had, Ganassi will follow it - no doubt. But there is little reason to suspect there is an ALMS venture on the cards.

For one, they are the defending Grand Am and Daytona champions and could take the title again this year.

An engine in development has been cited - this is more likely an engine for Lexus to use in the Grand Am as an upgraded engine for next year.

Toyota have made a couple of stalled efforts to join as Lexus in the ALMS and has not ever come to fruition. We suspect that Toyota has an GT2 and DP engine but not a LMP2 engine as rumoured.

Additionally, Toyota would want Le Mans glory in P1 - they want to win overall. They failed to do that in the 1990s and if there was to be money pumped in then it would have to be for a LMP1 effort.

And there is no sign of that.

Sam Tickell