The 2010 American Le Mans Series season was the 40th overall season for the IMSA GT Championship, and the twelfth as the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón. It was also the first season in which the ALMS used a revised structure for its four classes, as well as the first year in a three-year sponsorship deal with Patrón.^[1] The season began with the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 20 and ended with the Petit Le Mans on October 2, completing nine total races.

The senior class, LMP, the new combination class of the old LMP1 and LMP2 classes, saw defending LMP1 champions Patrón Highcroft Racing with defending champion driver David Brabham and new teammate Simon Pagenaud took a 23-point victory in their Honda over Porsche driver Klaus Graf. The other carry over category GT (the former GT2 class) Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche duo of Patrick Long and Jörg Bergmeister successfully defended their class championship over Risi Competizione Ferrari driver Gianmaria Bruni. There was no GT1 category left in the series.

In the two spec-racer classes Scott Tucker of Level 5 Motorsports was the dominant driver in the LMP Challenge class, winning five of the nine races in the class' first full season. After debuting for half of the 2009 season, the new GT Challenge class saw the Black Swan Racing Porsche of Jeroen Bleekemolen and Tim Pappas claim the class victory.

Schedule

The 2010 American Le Mans Series season features nine events, dropping the St. Petersburg round from 2009. Laguna Seca will no longer end the season but is instead moved to May and has been extended from four hours to six hours; this will allow the Petit Le Mans to conclude the season. The Utah Grand Prix at Miller Motorsports Park has also had its date pushed back to July due to the move by Laguna Seca.^[2] The Petit Le Mans will also form part of the inaugural Intercontinental Le Mans Cup for LMP1s.^[3]

Regulation changes

Introduced on August 16, 2009, IMSA announced a new class structure for the 2010 season in order to address costs. Several previous classes will be retained, while some new classes will be added. Le Mans Prototypes, which previously ran in the LMP1 and LMP2 categories, will be combined into a single LMP category for much of the season.^[4] IMSA will modify the LMP1 and LMP2 rules through performance balancing in order to allow the two to compete equally in the new single category.^[5] However, the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans endurance races will not use this unified class, instead reverting to the 2009 regulations as used by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.^[4] The championship points payout for these two events have yet to be determined by IMSA.^[5]

A new Le Mans Prototype category will be established as a feeder system for young or amateur drivers. This category, known as Le Mans Prototype Challenge (LMPC), will borrow from the Formula Le Mans Cup series in Europe by utilizing a spec racing format. All teams will use Oreca FLM09 chassis, Chevrolet production V8s, and other standardized equipment.^[4] Along with the European Le Mans Series' (2010 season) Formula Le Mans, the ALMS LMPC makes up as its own class in the races throughout the season rather than racing as a support series.

With a lack of competitors in the former GT1 category, GT2 has been renamed to just GT and will be the premiere category for grand tourers in ALMS in 2010. The ALMS Challenge category, first established in 2009, will be expanded in 2010 and renamed as GT Challenge (GTC). The category will race for the full season for the first time. Porsche 911 GT3s from racing series other than the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge will also be accepted for the first time.^[4]

Season results

Note that the Sebring and Petit Le Mans events will be held under ACO regulations requiring the LMP class to be split amongst LMP1 and LMP2. The overall race winner, regardless of their LMP category, is listed here.

Class winners in the Petit Le Mans (LMP1, LMP2 and GT) receive an automatic entry to the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Overall winners in bold.

Rnd	Circuit	LMP Winning Team	LMPC Winning Team	GT Winning Team	GTC Winning Team	Results
		LMP Winning Drivers	LMPC Winning Drivers	GT Winning Drivers	GTC Winning Drivers
1	Sebring	#07 Team Peugeot Total	#55 Level 5 Motorsports	#62 Risi Competizione	#81 Alex Job Racing	Results
		Marc Gené Alexander Wurz Anthony Davidson	Scott Tucker Christophe Bouchut Mark Wilkins	Jaime Melo Gianmaria Bruni Pierre Kaffer	Butch Leitzinger Leh Keen Juan González
2	Long Beach	#1 Patrón Highcroft Racing	#99 Green Earth Team Gunnar	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	#81 Alex Job Racing	Results
		David Brabham Simon Pagenaud	Gunnar Jeannette Elton Julian	Patrick Long Jörg Bergmeister	Butch Leitzinger Juan González
3	Laguna Seca	#1 Patrón Highcroft Racing	#55 Level 5 Motorsports	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	#54 Black Swan Racing	Results
		David Brabham Simon Pagenaud Marino Franchitti	Scott Tucker Christophe Bouchut Mark Wilkins	Patrick Long Jörg Bergmeister	Tim Pappas Jeroen Bleekemolen Sebastiaan Bleekemolen
4	Miller	#1 Patrón Highcroft Racing	#55 Level 5 Motorsports	#62 Risi Competizione	#54 Black Swan Racing	Results
		David Brabham Simon Pagenaud	Scott Tucker Christophe Bouchut	Jaime Melo Gianmaria Bruni	Tim Pappas Jeroen Bleekemolen
5	Lime Rock	#6 Muscle Milk Team Cytosport	#99 Green Earth Team Gunnar	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	#63 TRG	Results
		Greg Pickett Klaus Graf	Gunnar Jeannette Elton Julian	Jörg Bergmeister Patrick Long	Henri Richard Andy Lally
6	Mid-Ohio	#16 Dyson Racing	#55 Level 5 Motorsports	#62 Risi Competizione	#54 Black Swan Racing	Results
		Chris Dyson Guy Smith	Scott Tucker Christophe Bouchut	Jaime Melo Gianmaria Bruni	Tim Pappas Jeroen Bleekemolen
7	Road America	#8 Drayson Racing	#99 Green Earth Team Gunnar	#90 BMW Rahal Letterman Racing	#54 Black Swan Racing	Results
		Paul Drayson Jonny Cocker	Gunnar Jeannette Elton Julian	Dirk Müller Joey Hand	Tim Pappas Jeroen Bleekemolen
8	Mosport	#6 Muscle Milk Team Cytosport	#99 Green Earth Team Gunnar	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	#88 Velox Motorsports	Results
		Romain Dumas Klaus Graf	Gunnar Jeannette Elton Julian	Patrick Long Jörg Bergmeister	Shane Lewis Lawson Aschenbach
9	Road Atlanta	#08 Team Peugeot Total	#95 Level 5 Motorsports	#4 Corvette Racing	#63 TRG	Results
		Franck Montagny Stéphane Sarrazin Pedro Lamy	Scott Tucker Burt Frisselle Marco Werner	Oliver Gavin Jan Magnussen Emmanuel Collard	Henri Richard Duncan Ende Andy Lally

Championships

Points were awarded to the top ten cars and drivers which complete at least 70% of their class winner's distance. Teams with multiple entries only score the points of their highest finishing entry in each race. Drivers were required to drive a minimum of 45 minutes to earn points, except for the Long Beach event which required only 30 minutes.

Starting with the Utah race, drivers are required to complete a particular amount of the minimum number of laps in order to earn points. The number of laps vary depending on the course size.^[6]

Team championships

Teams with full season entries are awarded points in the team championships. Teams which participated in a partial season or on a race-by-race basis are not included in these championships.

As long as they compete full season and comply with ACO regulations, the top LMP1, LMP2 and GT team at the end of the season receive an automatic entry to the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans.

LMP standings

Although combined into a single LMP class for seven events, the LMP1 and LMP2 category rules are utilized for the Sebring and Petit Le Mans races. The individual results and points for LMP1 and LMP2 are combined into the overall LMP standings.

Pos	Team	Class	Chassis	Engine	SEB	LBH	LGA	MIL	LRP	MDO	ROA	MOS	ATL	Total
1	Patrón Highcroft Racing	LMP2	HPD ARX-01C	HPD AL7R 3.4 L V8	26	20	25	20	16	16	13	16	30	182
2	Muscle Milk Team Cytosport	LMP2	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8	30	16	21	13	20		16	20	26	162
3	Drayson Racing	LMP1	Lola B09/60	Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5 L V10	30	8		16	0	0	20	10	26	110
4	Dyson Racing Team	LMP2	Lola B09/86	Mazda MZR-R 2.0 L Turbo I4	23	13	18	6	0	20	10	8	0	98
5	Intersport Racing	LMP1	Lola B06/10	AER P32T 4.0 L Turbo V8		6		10	13	10	0	0	30	69
6	Autocon Motorsports	LMP1	Lola B06/10	AER P32T 4.0 L Turbo V8		10	15	8	0	13	8	13	0	67

LMPC standings

All teams utilize the Oreca FLM09 chassis with Chevrolet LS3 engine.

Pos	Team	SEB	LBH	LGA	MIL	LRP	MDO	ROA	MOS	ATL	Total
1	Level 5 Motorsports	30	16	25	20	13	20	13	16	30	183
2	Green Earth Team Gunnar	26	20	18	16	20	13	20	20	16	169
3	Genoa Racing	23	13	21		10	6	0	13	18	104
4	Intersport Racing	18	10	15	0	0	10	10	6	26	95
5	PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports		0	0	13	16	16	16	8	23	92
6	Performance Tech	20	8								28

GT standings

Pos	Team	Chassis	Engine	SEB	LBH	LGA	MIL	LRP	MDO	ROA	MOS	ATL	Total
1	BMW Rahal Letterman Racing	BMW M3 GT2	BMW 4.0 L V8	26	13	21	16	16	13	20	13	20	158
2	Flying Lizard Motorsports	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	20	20	25	8	20	10	16	20	18	157
3	Risi Competizione	Ferrari F430 GTE	Ferrari 4.0 L V8	30	10	15	20	10	20	6	16	23	150
4	Corvette Racing	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R	Chevrolet 5.5 L V8	13	16	18	13	8	16	13	10	30	137
5	Extreme Speed Motorsports	Ferrari F430 GTE	Ferrari 4.0 L V8	16	4	13	4	6	8	8	6	26	91
6	Team Falken Tire	Porsche 997 GT3-RSR	Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6	0	6	9	2	3	3	1	4	12	40
7	Robertson Racing	Ford GT-R Mk. VII	Ford 5.0 L V8	11	1	6	0	0	0		0	0	18
8	Jaguar RSR	Jaguar XKRS	Jaguar 4.2 L V8	0	0	0	0	2	2		1	0	5

GTC standings

All teams utilize variations of the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup.

Pos	Team	SEB	LBH	LGA	MIL	LRP	MDO	ROA	MOS	ATL	Total
1	Black Swan Racing		3	25	20	16	20	20	16	26	146
2	Alex Job Racing	30	20	18	3	6	13	10	13	16	129
3	Velox Motorsports	18	10	11	10	13	8	13	20	23	126
4	TRG	16	2	21	16	20	6	8	0	30	119
5	WERKS II Racing	20	6	8	13			16		18	81
6	GMG Racing	14	16	0	4	10	16	0			60
7	Orbit Racing		8	13	8	8	10	0	10		57
8	911 Design		0	7	6		4	6		20	43

Driver championships

Drivers who participated in races but failed to score points over the course of the season are not listed.

LMP standings

Although combined into a single LMP class for seven events, the LMP1 and LMP2 category rules are utilized for the Sebring and Petit Le Mans races. The individual results and points for LMP1 and LMP2 are combined into the overall LMP standings.

Pos	Driver	Team	SEB	LBH	LGA	MIL	LRP	MDO	ROA	MOS	ATL	Total
1=	David Brabham	Patrón Highcroft Racing	26	20	25	20	16	16	13	16	30	182
1=	Simon Pagenaud	Patrón Highcroft Racing	26	20	25	20	16	16	13	16	30	182
2	Klaus Graf	Muscle Milk Team Cytosport	30	16	21	13	20		16	20	26	162
3	Jonny Cocker	Drayson Racing	30	8	0	16	0	0	20	10	26	110
4	Chris Dyson	Dyson Racing Team	23	13	18	6	0	20	10	8	0	98
5	Paul Drayson	Drayson Racing	30	8	0		0	0	20	10	26	94
6	Guy Smith	Dyson Racing Team	23	13	18	0	0	20	10	8	0	92
7	Marino Franchitti	Patrón Highcroft Racing	26		25						30	81
8	Greg Pickett	Muscle Milk Team Cytosport	30	16		13	20					79
9	Sascha Maassen	Muscle Milk Team Cytosport	30		21						26	77
10	Clint Field	Intersport Racing		6	0	10	13	10	0	0	30	69
11	Jon Field	Intersport Racing		6	0	10	13	0	0	0	30	59
12	Emanuele Pirro	Drayson Racing	30		0	16						46
13	Bryan Willman	Autocon Motorsports			15	8		13	8		0	44
14	Andy Meyrick	Dyson Racing Team	23		18						0	41
15	Ben Devlin	Intersport Racing									30	30
16	Tony Burgess	Autocon Motorsports			0	8			8	13	0	29
17	Lucas Luhr	Muscle Milk Team Cytosport									26	26
18	Tomy Drissi	Autocon Motorsports		10				13				23
19	Johnny Mowlem	Autocon Motorsports							8	13		21
20	Romain Dumas	Muscle Milk Team Cytosport								20		20
21	Timo Bernhard	Muscle Milk Team Cytosport							16			16
22	Pierre Ehret	Autocon Motorsports			15							15
23	Ken Davis	Autocon Motorsports		10								10

LMPC standings

Drivers in the LMPC category are allowed to drive for more than one car during an event. If a driver is in each car for a minimum of two hours each, he is allowed to score the points from whichever car he chooses.

Pos	Driver	Team	SEB	LBH	LGA	MIL	LRP	MDO	ROA	MOS	ATL	Total
1	Scott Tucker	Level 5 Motorsports	30	16	25	20	13	20	13	16	30	183
2	Gunnar Jeannette	Green Earth Team Gunnar	26	20	18	16	20	13	20	20	16	169
3	Elton Julian	Green Earth Team Gunnar	26	20	18		20	13	20	20	16	153
4	Christophe Bouchut	Level 5 Motorsports	30	16	25	20	0	20	0	16	20	147
5	Kyle Marcelli	Performance Tech	20	8								101
		Genoa Racing			21
		Intersport Racing				0	0	10	10	6	26
6	Christian Zugel	Green Earth Team Gunnar	26		18	16					0	89
		Genoa Racing					10	6	0	13
7	Andy Wallace	Genoa Racing	23									77
		Level 5 Motorsports			0	10	13	8	13	10
8	Mark Wilkins	Level 5 Motorsports	30		25						20	75
9=	Ricardo González	PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports						16	16	8	23	63
9=	Luis Díaz	PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports						16	16	8	23	63
10	David Ducote	Intersport Racing	18		15						26	59
11	Tom Sutherland	Genoa Racing	23	13	21							57
12	Brian Wong	Intersport Racing	18	10	15	0	0	10				53
13	Alex Figge	PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports				13	16					47
		Genoa Racing									18
14	Mitch Pagerey	Intersport Racing	18	10	15							43
15	Chapman Ducote	Intersport Racing							10	6	26	42
16	Frankie Montecalvo	Genoa Racing						6		13	18	37
17	J. R. Hildebrand	Genoa Racing	23	13								36
18=	Marco Werner	Level 5 Motorsports									30	30
18=	Burt Frisselle	Level 5 Motorsports									30	30
19	Ryan Lewis	PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports									23	23
20=	Joel Feinberg	Primetime-Braille Battery Race Group	20									20
20=	Tom Weickardt	Primetime-Braille Battery Race Group	20									20
21	Eric Lux	Genoa Racing									18	37
22	Tom Papadopoulos	PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports		0	0		16					16
23	Max Hyatt	PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports				13						13
24	Tom Sedivy	Genoa Racing					10					10
25	Gerardo Bonilla	Performance Tech		8								8

GT standings

Pos	Driver	Team	SEB	LBH	LGA	MIL	LRP	MDO	ROA	MOS	ATL	Total
1=	Jörg Bergmeister	Flying Lizard Motorsports	20	20	25	8	20	10	16	20	18	157
1=	Patrick Long	Flying Lizard Motorsports	20	20	25	8	20	10	16	20	18	157
2	Gianmaria Bruni	Risi Competizione	30	10	15	20	0	20	6	16	23	140
3=	Bill Auberlen	BMW Rahal Letterman Racing	26	13	8	16	16	13	0	13	20	125
3=	Tommy Milner	BMW Rahal Letterman Racing	26	13	8	16	16	13	0	13	20	125
4	Jaime Melo	Risi Competizione	30	10	15	20	0	20	6		14	115
5	Oliver Gavin	Corvette Racing	12	2	18	1	8	16	13	10	30	110
6	Jan Magnussen	Corvette Racing	13	16	11	13	0	0	10	10	30	103
7=	Dirk Müller	BMW Rahal Letterman Racing	23	8	21	10	13	6	20	0	0	101
7=	Joey Hand	BMW Rahal Letterman Racing	23	8	21	10	13	6	20	0	0	101
8	Olivier Beretta	Corvette Racing	12	2	18	1	8	16	13	8	16	94
9	Johnny O'Connell	Corvette Racing	13	16	11	13	0	0	10	8	16	87
10=	Scott Sharp	Extreme Speed Motorsports	0	4	13	4	6	8	3	6	26	70
10=	Johannes van Overbeek	Extreme Speed Motorsports	0	4	13	4	6	8	3	6	26	70
11	Toni Vilander	Risi Competizione				6		1		16	23	46
12	Dirk Werner	BMW Rahal Letterman Racing	26								20	46
13=	Ed Brown	Extreme Speed Motorsports	16	3	0	3	1	0	8	3	11	45
13=	Guy Cosmo	Extreme Speed Motorsports	16	3	0	3	1	0	8	3	11	45
14	Pierre Kaffer	Risi Competizione	30				10		4			44
15	Seth Neiman	Flying Lizard Motorsports	18	0	0	0	4	4	2	2	13	43
16	Emmanuel Collard	Corvette Racing	12								30	42
17	Bryan Sellers	Team Falken Tire	0	6	9	2	3	3	1	4	12	40
18	Darren Law	Flying Lizard Motorsports	18	0	0	0	4		2	2	13	39
19	Marc Lieb	Flying Lizard Motorsports	20								18	38
20	Antonio García	Corvette Racing	13								16	29
21	Mika Salo	Risi Competizione					10		4		14	28
22	Wolf Henzler	Team Falken Tire	0	6	9	2	3	3	1	4		28
23	João Barbosa	Extreme Speed Motorsports	16								11	27
24	Dominik Farnbacher	Extreme Speed Motorsports									26	26
25	Andy Priaulx	BMW Rahal Letterman Racing	23								0	23
26	Giancarlo Fisichella	Risi Competizione				6		1			14	21
27=	Tracy Krohn	Risi Competizione	14		7							21
27=	Niclas Jönsson	Risi Competizione	14		7							21
28	Richard Lietz	Flying Lizard Motorsports	18									18
29=	David Murry	Robertson Racing	11	1	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	18
29=	David Robertson	Robertson Racing	11	1	6	0		0	0	0	0	18
30	Andrea Robertson	Robertson Racing	11		6	0	0	0	0	0	0	17
31	Eric van de Poele	Risi Competizione	14									14
32	Marco Holzer	Flying Lizard Motorsports									13	13
33	Martin Ragginger	Team Falken Tire									12	12
34	Marc Goossens	Jaguar RSR			0	0	2	2	0	1	0	5
35	Patrick Pilet	Flying Lizard Motorsports						4				4
36	Paul Gentilozzi	Jaguar RSR						2	0	1	0	3
37	Ryan Dalziel	Jaguar RSR		0	0	0	2				0	2

GTC standings

Pos	Driver	Team	SEB	LBH	LGA	MIL	LRP	MDO	ROA	MOS	ATL	Total
1=	Jeroen Bleekemolen	Black Swan Racing		3	25	20	16	20	20	16	26	146
1=	Tim Pappas	Black Swan Racing		3	25	20	16	20	20	16	26	146
2	Shane Lewis	Velox Motorsports	18	10	11	10	13	8	13	20	23	126
3	Andy Lally	TRG	16	2	21	16	20		8	0	30	113
4	Henri Richard	TRG	16	2	21	16	20	6		0	30	111
5	Bill Sweedler	Alex Job Racing	26	13	9	3	6	13	10	13	16	109
6	Romeo Kapudija	Alex Job Racing	26	13	9	3	6	13	10		16	96
7=	Galen Bieker	WERKS II Racing	20	6	8	13			16		18	81
7=	Robert Rodriguez	WERKS II Racing	20	6	8	13			16		18	81
8	Lawson Aschenbach	Velox Motorsports	18		11					20	23	72
9=	Juan González	Alex Job Racing	30	20	18	0						68
9=	Butch Leitzinger	Alex Job Racing	30	20	18	0						68
10=	Bret Curtis	GMG Racing	14	16	0	4	10	16				60
10=	James Sofronas	GMG Racing	14	16	0	4	10	16				60
11	Jerry Vento	Velox Motorsports	18	10		10	13	8			0	59
12	Bryce Miller	Orbit Racing		8	13	8	8	10		10		57
13	Duncan Ende	TRG	16						8		30	54
14	Jan-Dirk Leuders	Alex Job Racing	26		9						16	51
15=	Doug Baron	911 Design		0	7	6		4	6		20	43
15=	Loren Beggs	911 Design		0	7	6		4	6		20	43
16=	Luis Díaz	Car Amigo AJR	23	4	15	0						42
16=	Ricardo González	Car Amigo AJR	23	4	15	0						42
17	Rene Villeneuve	TRG			21						20	41
18	Luke Hines	ORBIT			0	8	8	10		10		36
19	Leh Keen	Alex Job Racing	30									30
20	Sebastiaan Bleekemolen	Black Swan Racing									26	26
21	Patrick Kelly	Car Amigo AJR	23									23
22	John McMullen	Orbit Racing		8	13							21
23	Cory Friedman	WERKS II Racing	20									20
24	Kris Wilson	WERKS II Racing									18	18
25	Andy Pilgrim	GMG Racing	14									14
26	Vic Rice	Velox Motorsports							13			13
27	Mitch Pagerey	Alex Job Racing								13		13
28	Spencer Pumpelly	TRG						6				6

Team changes

• Scott Sharp has created a new racing team, Extreme Speed Motorsports, for the 2010 season, and will be entering two Ferrari F430s in the GT class.^[7]
• Rahal Letterman Racing have re-signed Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand, Tommy Milner and Dirk Müller for 2010.^[8]
• Acura confirmed in November 2009 that they would return for the 2010 season with Highcroft Racing.^[9]
• Simon Pagenaud will be joining Highcroft Racing for 2010.^[10] In addition, Marino Franchitti will join David Brabham and Pagenaud for three events at Sebring, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and Petit Le Mans.^[11]
• AutoCon Motorsports have signed Pierre Ehret to drive their LMP Lola at Sebring, Petit Le Mans, and Laguna Seca. They also confirmed that regular drivers Bryan Willman and Tony Burgess will return for 2010, although former lead driver Chris McMurry has retired.^[12]
• Intersport Racing has announced its LMPC lineup consists of Patrón GT3 Challenge drivers Mitch Pagery and Brian Wong.^[12]
• 2010 marked the withdrawal of the Dodge Viper from the series.

References

External links

• American Le Mans Series
• International Motor Sports Association