The 2008 American Le Mans Series season was the 38th season for the IMSA GT Championship, with the tenth season known as the American Le Mans Series. It was a series for Le Mans Prototypes (LMP) and Grand Tourer (GT) race cars divided into four classes: LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2. It began March 15 and ended October 18 after eleven races.

The Audi Sport North America team wrapped up its title defence of LMP1 class Teams Championship with three races in hand after the Sports Car Challenge of Mid-Ohio in August. Drivers Marco Werner and Lucas Luhr also secured the Drivers Championship after the Detroit Sports Car Challenge. It was a record fifth ALMS drivers title for Luhr and a fourth for Werner.

The Petit Le Mans saw the drivers title for GT1 decided with Jan Magnussen and Johnny O'Connell taking the title while Jörg Bergmeister and Wolf Henzler likewise secured the GT2 drivers championship. It was O'Connell's fourth GT1 title and Bergmeisters third GT2 title.

Schedule

The Lone Star Grand Prix was originally scheduled to take place on April 26. However, following the merger of the Champ Car World Series and Indy Racing League, the Champ Car Grand Prix of Houston event was initially cancelled. The American Le Mans Series race, as well as the support races, were later cancelled on March 3.^[1]

Season results

Overall winner in bold.

Rnd	Circuit	LMP1 Winning Team	LMP2 Winning Team	GT1 Winning Team	GT2 Winning Team	Results
		LMP1 Winning Drivers	LMP2 Winning Drivers	GT1 Winning Drivers	GT2 Winning Drivers
1	Sebring	#1 Audi Sport North America	#7 Penske Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	Results
		Rinaldo Capello Tom Kristensen Allan McNish	Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas Emmanuel Collard	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Ron Fellows	Jörg Bergmeister Wolf Henzler Marc Lieb
2	St. Petersburg	#2 Audi Sport North America	#7 Penske Racing	#4 Corvette Racing	#71 Tafel Racing	Results
		Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas	Olivier Beretta Oliver Gavin	Dominik Farnbacher Dirk Müller
3	Long Beach	#2 Audi Sport North America	#9 Highcroft Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#71 Tafel Racing	Results
		Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	David Brabham Scott Sharp	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	Dominik Farnbacher Dirk Müller
4	Miller	#2 Audi Sport North America	#7 Penske Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	Results
		Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	Jörg Bergmeister Wolf Henzler
5	Lime Rock	#2 Audi Sport North America	#9 Highcroft Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	Results
		Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	David Brabham Scott Sharp	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	Jörg Bergmeister Wolf Henzler
6	Mid-Ohio	#2 Audi Sport North America	#7 Penske Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#71 Tafel Racing	Results
		Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	Dominik Farnbacher Dirk Müller
7	Road America	#2 Audi Sport North America	#9 Highcroft Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#87 Farnbacher-Loles	Results
		Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	David Brabham Scott Sharp	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	Dirk Werner Richard Westbrook Bryce Miller
8	Mosport	#2 Audi Sport North America	#9 Highcroft Racing	#3 Corvette Racing	#62 Risi Competizione	Results
		Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	David Brabham Scott Sharp	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	Jaime Melo Mika Salo
9	Belle Isle	#37 Intersport Racing	#26 Andretti Green Racing	#4 Corvette Racing	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	Results
		John Field Clint Field Richard Berry	Franck Montagny James Rossiter	Olivier Beretta Oliver Gavin	Jörg Bergmeister Wolf Henzler
10	Road Atlanta	#1 Audi Sport North America	#5 Penske Motorsports	#3 Corvette Racing	#62 Risi Competizione	Results
		Allan McNish Rinaldo Capello Emanuele Pirro	Ryan Briscoe Hélio Castroneves	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen Ron Fellows	Jaime Melo Mika Salo
11	Laguna Seca	#2 Audi Sport North America	#26 Andretti Green Racing	#4 Corvette Racing	#71 Tafel Racing	Results
		Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	Franck Montagny Tony Kanaan	Olivier Beretta Oliver Gavin	Dominik Farnbacher Dirk Müller

Teams championships

For races under three hours, points are awarded to the top 10 finishers in the following order:

• 20-16-13-10-8-6-4-3-2-1

For races between four hours and eight hours, points are awarded in the following order:

• 25-21-18-15-13-11-9-8-7-6

For races longer than eight hours, points are awarded in the following order:

• 30-26-23-20-18-16-14-13-12-11

Cars failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance are not awarded points. Unlike the Le Mans Series where teams with multiple entries have each entry number scored separately to the championship, teams with multiple entries only score the points of their highest finishing entry in each race.

LMP1 standings

Pos	Team	Chassis	Engine	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Rd7	Rd8	Rd9	Rd10	Rd11	Total
1	Audi Sport North America	Audi R10 TDI	Audi TDI 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	30	20	20	20	20	20	25	20		30	25	230
2	Intersport Racing	Lola B06/10 Lola B06/10 Lola B07/17	AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8 AER P32C 3.6 L Turbo V8 Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10	23		10	16	16	13	18		20		13	129
3	Peugeot Sport Total	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP	Peugeot HDi 5.5 L Turbo V12 (Diesel)	20									26		46
4	Autocon Motorsports	Creation CA07 Lola B06/10	Judd GV5 5.0 L V10 AER P32C 4.0 L Turbo V8	18		13			10						41
5	Team LNT	Ginetta-Zytek 07S	Zytek 4.5 L V8										20		20
6	Corsa Motorsports	Zytek 07S	Zytek 2ZG408 4.0 L V8 Zytek 4.5 L V8											18	18
7	Creation Autosportif	Creation CA07	AIM (Judd) YS5.5 5.5 L V10											15	15

LMP2 standings

Pos	Team	Chassis	Engine	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Rd7	Rd8	Rd9	Rd10	Rd11	Total
1	Penske Racing	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8	30	20	16	20	16	20	21	13	10	26	18	210
2	Patrón Highcroft Racing	Acura ARX-01B	Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8	20	16	20	2	20	16	25	20	16		7	162
3	Dyson Racing	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8	26	10	8	10	6	8	18	4	6	20	13	129
4	Andretti Green Racing	Acura ARX-01B	Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8	16	8	10	4	8	4	9	10	20	14	25	128
5	Lowe's Fernández Racing	Acura ARX-01B	Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8		4	6	8	10	13	7	16	2	13	9	88
6	de Ferran Motorsports	Acura ARX-01B	Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8				13	4		8	8	13	18	21	85
7	Penske Motorsports, Inc.	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8										30	15	45
8	B-K Motorsport	Lola B07/46 Lola B08/86	Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4		6	3	3		3	13	2	4		6	40
9	Horag Lista Racing	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8	18											18
10	Van der Steur Racing	Radical SR9	AER P07 2.0 L Turbo I4		3										3

GT1 standings

Pos	Team	Chassis	Engine	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Rd7	Rd8	Rd9	Rd10	Rd11	Total
1	Corvette Racing	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0 L V8	30	20	20	20	20	20	25	20	20	30	25	250
2	Bell Motorsports	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12	23						21	13	13			70

GT2 standings

Pos	Team	Chassis	Engine	Rd1	Rd2	Rd3	Rd4	Rd5	Rd6	Rd7	Rd8	Rd9	Rd10	Rd11	Total
1	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	30	16	16	20	20	16	21	13	20	26	13	211
2	Tafel Racing	Ferrari F430GT	Ferrari 4.0 L V8	20	20	20	13	10	20	18	10	6	23	25	195
3	Risi Competizione	Ferrari F430GT	Ferrari 4.0 L V8	23	8	6	4	13	8	13	20	13	30	21	159
4	Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6		13	8		16	10	25	16			18	106
5	Flying Lizard Motorsports 44	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	26	4	4	8			9	4	10	16	11	92
6	Panoz Team PTG	Panoz Esperante GT-LM	Ford (Élan) 5.0 L V8		6		10	8	4		8	1		15	52
7	VICI Racing	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 3.8 L Flat-6 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	16		3	2		2	8			11		42
8	JMB Racing	Ferrari F430GT	Ferrari 4.0 L V8										18	9	27
9	Drayson-Barwell	Aston Martin DBRS9 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT2	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 Aston Martin 4.5 L V8						1		3		12	8	24
10=	Corsa Motorsports	Ferrari F430GT	Ferrari 4.0 L V8		10	10	3								23
10=	Primetime Race Group	Dodge Viper Comp. Coupe	Dodge 8.3 L V10	18							1	4			23
12	Black Swan Racing	Ford GT-R Mk.VII	Ford 5.0 L V8					3		6				7	16
13	LG Motorsports	Chevrolet Corvette C6	Chevrolet 6.3 L V8		3	1	6								10
14	Robertson Racing	Ford GT-R Mk.VII	Ford 5.0 L V8									3			3

Drivers championship

For races under three hours, points are awarded to the top 10 finishers in the following order:

• 20-16-13-10-8-6-4-3-2-1

For races between four hours and eight hours, points are awarded in the following order:

• 25-21-18-15-13-11-9-8-7-6

For races longer than eight hours, points are awarded in the following order:

• 30-26-23-20-18-16-14-13-12-11

Cars failing to complete 70% of the winner's distance are not awarded points. Drivers failing to drive for at least 45 minutes in the race are not awarded points, with the exception of the Long Beach round where drivers need only 30 minutes minimum.

LMP1 standings

Pos	Driver	Team	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Rd 10	Rd 11	Total
1=	Marco Werner	Audi Sport North America	26	20	20	20	20	20	25	20		23	25	219
1=	Lucas Luhr	Audi Sport North America	26	20	20	20	20	20	25	20		23	25	219
3	Emanuele Pirro	Audi Sport North America		16	16	10†	13	16	21	16		30	21	159
4	Jon Field	Intersport Racing	23		10	16	16		18		20		13	116
5	Richard Berry	Intersport Racing	23			16	16		18		20		13	106
6	Rinaldo Capello	Audi Sport North America	30				13	16		16		30		105
7	Clint Field	Intersport Racing	23		10	16	16		18		20			103
8	Allan McNish	Audi Sport North America	30									30		60
9=	Nicolas Minassian	Peugeot Sport Total	20									26		46
9=	Stéphane Sarrazin	Peugeot Sport Total	20									26		46
11	Frank Biela	Audi Sport North America		16	16	10†								42
12	Chris McMurry	Autocon Motorsports	18		13			10						41
13	Tom Kristensen	Audi Sport North America	30											30
14=	Bryan Willman	Autocon Motorsports	18					10						28
14=	John Faulkner	Intersport Racing						13	15					28
14=	Ryan Lewis	Intersport Racing						13	15					28
17=	Mike Rockenfeller	Audi Sport North America	26											26
17=	Christian Klien	Peugeot Sport Total										26		26
19=	Marcel Fässler	Audi Sport North America							21					21
19=	Christijan Albers	Audi Sport North America											21	21
21=	Pedro Lamy	Peugeot Sport Total	20											20
21=	Danny Watts	Team LNT										20		20
21=	Olivier Pla	Team LNT										20		20
24=	Tony Burgess	Autocon Motorsports	18											18
24=	Gunnar Jeannette	Corsa Motorsports											18	18
24=	Johnny Mowlem	Corsa Motorsports											18	18
24=	Stefan Johansson	Corsa Motorsports											18	18
28=	Gregor Fisken	Intersport Racing							15					15
28=	Jamie Campbell-Walter	Creation Autosportif											15	15
28=	Stephen Simpson	Creation Autosportif											15	15
28=	Liz Halliday	Creation Autosportif											15	15
32=	Michael Lewis	Autocon Motorsports			13									13
32=	Ryan Lewis	Intersport Racing											13	13

† - Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro were both penalized three championship points for their entry making avoidable contact during Round 4.

LMP2 standings

Pos	Driver	Team	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Rd 10	Rd 11	Total
1=	Timo Bernhard	Penske Racing	30	20	16	20	16	20	21	6	10	26	18	203
1=	Romain Dumas	Penske Racing	30	20	16	20	16	20	21	6	10	26	18	203
3=	Scott Sharp	Patrón Highcroft Racing	20	16	20	2	20	16	25	20	16		7	162
3=	David Brabham	Patrón Highcroft Racing	20	16	20	2	20	16	25	20	16		7	162
5	Patrick Long	Penske Racing		10†	13	16	13	10	15	13	8	23	8	129
6	Sascha Maassen	Penske Racing		10†	13	16	13	10	15	13		23	8	121
7=	Butch Leitzinger	Dyson Racing	26	2	8	10	6	6	18	3	3	20	11	113
7=	Marino Franchitti	Dyson Racing	26	2	8	10	6	6	18	3	3	20	11	113
9=	Chris Dyson	Dyson Racing	23	10	4	6		8	11	4	6	16	13	101
9=	Guy Smith	Dyson Racing	23	10	4	6		8	11	4	6	16	13	101
11	Franck Montagny	Andretti Green Racing					8	4	9	10	20	14	25	90
12=	Adrián Fernández	Lowe's Fernández Racing		4	6	8	10	13	7	16	2	13	9	88
12=	Luis Díaz	Lowe's Fernández Racing		4	6	8	10	13	7	16	2	13	9	88
14=	Gil de Ferran	de Ferran Motorsports				13	4		8	8	13	18	21	85
14=	Simon Pagenaud	de Ferran Motorsports				13	4		8	8	13	18	21	85
16=	Emmanuel Collard	Penske Racing	30									23		53
16=	Ryan Briscoe	Penske Racing Penske Motorsports, Inc.									8	30	15	53
18	Andy Lally	Dyson Racing	26									20		46
19	Hélio Castroneves	Penske Motorsports, Inc.										30	15	45
20=	Gerardo Bonilla	B-K Motorsport		6	3	3		3	13	2	4		6	40
20=	Ben Devlin	B-K Motorsport		6	3	3		3	13	2	4		6	40
22=	Tony Kanaan	Andretti Green Racing										14	25	39
22=	James Rossiter	Andretti Green Racing							9	10	20			39
24=	Bryan Herta	Andretti Green Racing	16	8	10	4								38
24=	Christian Fittipaldi	Andretti Green Racing	16	8	10	4								38
24=	Marco Andretti	Andretti Green Racing	16				8					14		38
27	Stefan Johansson	Patrón Highcroft Racing	20											20
28=	Didier Theys	Horag Lista Racing	18											18
28=	Fredy Lienhard	Horag Lista Racing	18											18
28=	Jan Lammers	Horag Lista Racing	18											18
28=	Scott Dixon	de Ferran Motorsports										18		18
32	Michel Jourdain Jr.	Lowe's Fernández Racing										13		13
33	Raphael Matos	B-K Motorsport Andretti Green Racing						4					6	10
34=	Gunnar van der Steur	Van der Steur Racing		3										3
34=	Robbie Pecorari	Van der Steur Racing		3										3

† - Sascha Maassen and Patrick Long were both penalized three championship points for their entry making avoidable contact during Round 2.

GT1 standings

Pos	Driver	Team	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Rd 10	Rd 11	Total
1=	Johnny O'Connell	Corvette Racing	30	16	20	20	20	20	25	20	16	30	21	238
1=	Jan Magnussen	Corvette Racing	30	16	20	20	20	20	25	20	16	30	21	238
3=	Oliver Gavin	Corvette Racing	26	20	16	16	16	16	18	16	20	26	25	215
3=	Olivier Beretta	Corvette Racing	26	20	16	16	16	16	18	16	20	26	25	215
5=	Chapman Ducote	Bell Motorsports	23						21	13	13			70
5=	Terry Borcheller	Bell Motorsports	23						21	13	13			70
7	Ron Fellows	Corvette Racing	30									30		60
8	Max Papis	Corvette Racing	26									26		52
9	Antonio García	Bell Motorsports	23											23

GT2 standings

Pos	Driver	Team	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Rd 5	Rd 6	Rd 7	Rd 8	Rd 9	Rd 10	Rd 11	Total
1=	Jörg Bergmeister	Flying Lizard Motorsports	30	2	16	20	20	13	21	13	20	26	6	187
1=	Wolf Henzler	Flying Lizard Motorsports	30	2	16	20	20	13	21	13	20	26	6	187
3=	Dominik Farnbacher	Tafel Racing	14	20	20	13	10	20	18	10	2	23	25	175
3=	Dirk Müller	Tafel Racing	14	20	20	13	10	20	18	10	2	23	25	175
5=	Johannes van Overbeek	Flying Lizard Motorsports	13	16	13	16	4	16	15	2	16	13	13	137
5=	Patrick Pilet	Flying Lizard Motorsports	13	16	13	16	4	16	15	2	16	13	13	137
7=	Mika Salo	Risi Competizione		1	2		13	8	13	20	13	30	21	121
7=	Jaime Melo	Risi Competizione		1	2		13	8	13	20	13	30	21	121
9	Dirk Werner	Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport		13			16	10	25	16			18	98
10	Seth Neiman	Flying Lizard Motorsports 44	26	4	4	8			9	4		16	11	82
11	Darren Law	Flying Lizard Motorsports 44	26	4		8			9			16	11	74
12	Jim Tafel	Tafel Racing	20				2	3	7	6	6	14		58
13	Marc Lieb	Flying Lizard Motorsports	30									26		56
14	Tommy Milner	Panoz Team PTG		6		10	8	4		8	1		15	52
15	Richard Westbrook	Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport					16	10	25					51
16	Harrison Brix	Risi Competizione Tafel Racing		8	6	4	6	6	11		8			49
17	Lonnie Pechnik	Flying Lizard Motorsports 44			4					4	10	16	11	45
18=	Bryce Miller	Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport							25				18	43
18=	Tracy Krohn	Risi Competizione	23									20		43
18=	Niclas Jönsson	Risi Competizione	23									20		43
18=	Eric van de Poele	Risi Competizione	23									20		43
18=	Pierre Kaffer	Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport JMB Racing								16		18	9	43
23	Marc Basseng	Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport VICI Racing		13	8				8			11		40
24	Alex Figge	Tafel Racing					2	3	7	6	6	14		38
25	Tom Sutherland	Panoz Team PTG		6		10	8	4		8	1			37
26=	Alex Davison	Flying Lizard Motorsports Farnbacher-Loles Motorsport	26		8									34
26=	Pierre Ehret	Tafel Racing	20									14		34
28	Rob Bell	Tafel Racing Risi Competizione	14						11		8			33
29	Patrick Friesacher	Risi Competizione		8	6	4	6	6						30
30	Ben Aucott	JMB Racing										18	9	27
31=	Paul Drayson	Drayson-Barwell						1		3		12	8	24
31=	Jonny Cocker	Drayson-Barwell						1		3		12	8	24
33=	Gunnar Jeannette	Corsa Motorsport		10	10	3								23
33=	Johnny Mowlem	Corsa Motorsport		10	10	3								23
33=	Joel Feinberg	Primetime Race Group	18							1	4			23
33=	Chris Hall	Primetime Race Group	18							1	4			23
33=	Nicky Pastorelli	VICI Racing				2		2	8			11		23
33=	Francesco Pastorelli	VICI Racing				2		2	8			11		23
39=	Allan Simonsen	Tafel Racing	20											20
39=	Craig Stanton	VICI Racing	16		3	1								20
39=	Nathan Swartzburgh	VICI Racing	16		3	1								20
42	Stéphane Daoudi	JMB Racing										18		18
43=	Uwe Alzen	VICI Racing	16											16
43=	Tim Pappas	Black Swan Racing					3		6				7	16
43=	Anthony Lazzaro	Black Swan Racing					3		6				7	16
46	Joey Hand	Panoz Team PTG											15	15
47	Richard Lietz	Flying Lizard Motorsports	13											13
48	Darren Turner	Drayson-Barwell										12		12
49=	Martin Ragginger	Flying Lizard Motorsports									10			10
49=	Lou Gigliotti	LG Motorsports		3	1	6								10
49=	Doug Peterson	LG Motorsports		3	1	6								10
52	Bryan Sellers	Panoz Team PTG								8				8
53	Andy Pilgrim	Black Swan Racing											7	7
54	Eric Curran	LG Motorsports				6								6
55=	David Robertson	Robertson Racing									3			3
55=	Andrea Robertson	Robertson Racing									3			3
55=	David Murry	Robertson Racing									3			3
58	Ruben Carrapatoso	VICI Racing				2								2

Partial season entries

• Team Cytosport, following a partnership with Charouz Racing System and Team Jota to run in the Le Mans Series and 24 Hours of Le Mans, plans to return to the ALMS at Mid-Ohio^[2]
• Although Team ECO attempted to run their diesel-powered Radical SR10 LMP1 at Sebring, homologation problems have forced the team to delay their debut until Mid-Ohio.^[3]
• Autocon Motorsports will run a partial schedule, skipping most street circuit rounds, to concentrate on their bid for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Their car will be upgraded to full CA07 specification by Le Mans.^[4]

Green Challenge

On June 24, 2008, the ALMS has announced for a new challenge called the Green Challenge. The challenge, integrated with the series races, and which will debut at this year's Petit Le Mans, and continuing with the entire full season in 2009, emphasizes on targeting the series for "green racing." The ALMS was the first motorsport racing series in North America to be recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (the EPA), the United States Department of Energy and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE International) to be recognized as a "Green Racing Series", and these three will take part organizing the challenge. All the teams will be eligible for the Green Challenge. The point system will be the same as the regular ALMS scoring system, but teams start out with the most possible points a team in the ALMS have during the season, and the points are deducted based on the performance of the vehicle. The lowest points at the end of the season would be the Green Challenge season champion.^[5]

References

External links

• American Le Mans Series