Circuit Notes by Peter Hubbard: Clear Skies and Clean Racing Mark Alms Debut at COTA

The drama and headaches created by the windy, rainy weather during two days of practice and qualifying disappeared on Saturday, Sept. 21, resulting in a remarkably clean race for American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón, with no accidents and very few driving dropping out due to mechanical failures. As result, not a single yellow flag dropped on Saturday to interfere with the 2-hour, 45-minute race at Circuit of The Americas. Only three of the 33 drivers failed to finish due to mechanical issues. So the drama shifted to where it belonged—the competitive racing skills of the drivers, especially in the GT and GTC classes, which fielded the most teams.