Multi-class sports car racing is already incredibly confusing. Many of the cars look the same and are only differentiated by varying tire compounds and engine specs.


It's doubly confusing in America because we have two competing sports car endurance series in the ALMS and Grand Am and they both have different class names. I'm willing to bet that a casual viewer has a brain aneurysm when trying to discern between all the classes. I mean look at all of these: P1, P2, LMPC, DP, GT, GTC, GX.


It's a mind fuck.

They are merging into one series for 2014 which you think would alleviate the confusion. It's only going to make it worse. Here's how they're doing it:

DP and P2 will be combined into one performance equalized class, possibly called DP2 or P2D2 or Racing Car Zone 1. It will also include the Nissan Deltawing

LMPC will be it's own class still. Remember that these cars look the same as P2 cars which look nothing like DP cars yet aren't as fast as either. (UPDATE: LMPC cars are actually slightly FASTER than DP cars, not the other way around. Apologies all around.)

The ALMS GT class will continue as its own class but the ALMS GTC class will combine with the Grand Am GT class even though all three classes of cars look exactly the same and have the same types of cars in them.

The Grand Am GX class will debut at Daytona this year and will then resurface exist in 2014 or 2015 as it's own class or as part of one of the GT classes with cars that look exactly the same as those in GTC and GT.


Got it? No? Neither do I. But it still isn't as bad as how Volkswagen names cars in China.


Photo Credits: Getty Images, JoeRacer via flickr