GT1-class racing is one of the most hotly contested in Europe, with cars like the Aston Martin DBR9 and Maserati MC12 competing among others for top honors in the Le Mans Series and FIA GT Championship. Here in the American Le Mans Series, however, officials are considering the possibility that they'll have to shut down the class altogether.

This season, the Corvettes have had the category all to themselves, which has made the class uninteresting, with predictable outcomes. Bell Motorsports announced their intention to run Aston Martins to compete with the Corvettes for GT1 victory, but that may be another case of too little too late. Itching for a good fight, GM is reportedly dropping down to the paradoxically more competitive GT2 series. Not anxious to run another season of an empty GT1 roster, ALMS could very well cut the class out altogether.

The only real question in the P1 class of the American Le Mans Series this year was which Audi driver pairing would capture the championship. Audi only faced one actual challenger all season long in the LMP1 class from the Intersport Racing team, and they weren't really in the same class, if you know what we mean. Going into this past weekend's Detroit Sports Car Challenge, the pairing of Lucas Luhr and Marco Werner were leading their teammates Marcel Fässler and Emanuele Pirro with an opportunity to clinch the drivers' championship. Some mishaps for the Luhr/Werner team early on, however, suggested the battle would go on until at least the Petit Le Mans next month. Luhr hit a tire wall hard on lap 13 and Fässler went on to cross the finish line third behind a pair of Acuras in the LMP2 class. But the Fässler/Pirro car was disqualified after the race for being underweight, leaving the LMP1 drivers' title to Luhr and Werner. Hopefully the entry of Acura and Corsa Motorsports' hybrid racer in the LMP1 class for 2009 will give Audi a real challenge. If only we could convince Peugeot to run the full ALMS schedule with its diesel-powered 908s, LMP1 would be as much fun as the P2 and GT classes.

Acura has announced at the Detroit Grand Prix that they will enter the LMP1 class in the American Le Mans Series in 2009, adding to its existing LMP2 effort. Honda's premium brand entered ALMS in the lighter LMP2 class at the beginning of 2007 with the Highcroft, Fernandez and Andretti-Green teams and won a single race that year. This year De Ferran motorsports has joined the lineup and Acura has four victories, including an overall win at Lime Rock in early July.

For 2009, De Ferran and Highcroft will run the all new ARX-02A LMP1 car, while Fernandez and possibly one other team will continue with the LMP2 program. No mention was made of AGR. The new car is being developed in cooperation with existing partner Wirth Research in the UK. Honda Performance Development president Erik Berkman declined to reveal any other details about the new car. However, with the currently dominant P1 cars in North America and Europe being the diesel powered Audis and Peugeots, and a production diesel joining the Acura lineup next spring, a diesel powered ARX-02A would seem a likely choice. The new car will debut at the 2009 12 Hours of Sebring in March, but Berkman said no decision has been made on a Le Mans run yet.