By Sam Tickell
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Gil de Ferran making sure his crew all have a cool beverage
With some elements of motorsport seemingly choosing 'sports entertainment' rather then just sports, the American Le Mans Series again seems to be bucking the trend.
As we all know this is not the first trend they have bucked.
They are not a spec series and they embraced the 'green' revolution far before most other forms of the sports.
But the humanity and cooperation that is seen in the ALMS is a refreshing reminder of why we should love motorsport.
With the exception of the Corvette dual at Mid Ohio, the ALMS paddock is a happy place to be.
Rarely do we see the kind of thing seen in open wheelers - no Alonso vs Hamilton-esque tiffs here.
No walking up pit lane rants either.
Instead here, in the ALMS, we see teams helping other teams. At Road America Simon Pagenaud stalled in pit lane while waiting to on track for a practice session. He stalled outside the Penske pits and the car would not refire - so in an act of generosity, a member of the Penske crew helped get the car started and Pagenaud was able to practice as normal - without the need for pit lane theatrics.
This spirit runs deep within the ALMS with Gil de Ferran. After the two previous races, one could expect de Ferran to be angry and hostile - or depressed an sullen.
Rather he made sure all his crew had a drink and proceeded to pick up all the rubbish around the pit area and starting the long pack-up job.
Surely a guy you would hate to drive for...not.
And that cordial attitude is also shown to the fans who get unrivaled access to the paddock, cars and drivers.
A small fan having a look in the Robinson Ford GT
Rather then screens up round the cars or drivers shoving small children, drivers and team members take interest in the fans questions and will actively show them their car, their pride and joy.
So when one takes this into consideration, it is not hard to see why attendances are up at ALMS events and there are more manufacturers and sponsors entering the sport.
But it shows a disappointing picture of top level motorsport around the world. Increasingly as the curse of the spec series and restrictive rules blunt the technological innovation, driver skill and sheer beauty of the cars, motorsport has taken a 'WWE' approach to winning fans.
And while this can be fun for a short time, it soon grows old.
While other series concentrate on what happens off the track, ALMS concentrates on what happens on the track - which means we have received multiple late race passes for overall wins and class wins.
Tight, unpredictable racing.
Combine that with good grace and sports-person-ship and that never grows old.
Editors note:
With thanks to Danni OLaisip for some of the details in this story - and of course for providing us with the photos. Danni travelled to Road America and got some great shots of what we don't usually see in the media of events. What happens off track can make all the difference to how one enjoys a race weekend and how successful the series is in enticing fans to follow the sport. Check out Danni's gallaries from Road America and once again thanks Danni for all your work!