ALMS rumors from the paddock

Don Panoz spun off Mosport first. What will follow is hard to say. Sebring is a lease, and the leasehold is saddled with debt for a hotel and other cash-flow-poor property.

The hot rumor at Road America was a story that Duncan Dayton was leading a group of buyers that revolves around the Sebring lease. That scenario would have Don Panoz retaining Road Atlanta and the American Le Mans Series.

Is it already “The Last Harrah" for Petit Le Mans? Rumor has it that the 2012 WEC schedule will “be based on" the 2011 ILMC schedule, only Sebring will be retained. A Japan round at the Tilke-redesigned Fuji Speedway will replace Road Atlanta.

If Sebring is spun off by the Braselburgers, that leaves the series with no “hard" connection to the ACO. Might that be part of the plan? Does that reinforce the rumor that the IMSA of the future will diverge substantially from ACO rules, including even an “open" class?