Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Green flag in: 
 
 
  • RULES TO KNOW

  • New to the American Le Mans Series and feel a little overwhelmed? Don’t worry! Here are a few need-to-know rules that will help ease you into the best racing experience in the world.


    Time or Distance?     

    Series races are time-certain, i.e. they aren’t dependent on a number of laps or distance (except the 1,000-mile Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta). Standard-length races are two hours, 45 minutes. Some races are shorter (100 minutes at Long Beach), some are longer (four hours at Road America and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) and some are true endurance tests (Sebring 12 Hours). 

    Qualifying Sessions

    AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES AND ACO RULES

    Want to know more about the rules that govern American Le Mans Series competition. The list below from the ACO and IMSA can help.

    The field for an American Le Mans Series race is set in two qualifying sessions - one for GT cars and another for prototypes. Usually lasting between 20 and 25 minutes, each team nominates a driver to post his or her best single lap around the circuit. The clock runs throughout the session and does not stop for yellow- or red-flag conditions. Once qualifying is complete, the grid is set based on the best lap time for each entry, regardless of class position.

    Should qualifying be postponed for any reason (weather, unsafe conditions or lack of green-flag qualifying time), the field is set based on best times in all official practice sessions for that event.

    Who's The Winner?

    Overall wins are nice but what really matters are class victories. That’s what pays the points. And the longer the race, the more points that are at stake.

    How Points are awarded 

    In order to be eligible for points, drivers and teams must meet certain criteria. Chief among them is completing at least 70 percent of the overall leader’s distance, regardless of class. So if the overall leading car completes 110 laps in a race, every other entry in the field must finish 77 laps to earn points.

    In addition there are maximum and minimum requirements each driver must meet, depending on the venue. At Sebring, for instance, a driver cannot drive more than eight hours in the race. In a standard 2:45 race, the maximum is two hours. In a four-hour race, the limit is four hours. At the same time, there is a certain number of laps drivers must complete to receive points. For example, a driver at Sebring must complete 25 laps to be eligible for points. For shorter races, the number is usually 10 laps.

    The drive time for competitors stops and starts and at the pit-in and pit-out crossing lines.

    There are no points awarded for qualifying.

    Running at finish?

    Entries MUST take the checkered flag in order to be classified as a class winner. Doing so constitutes completing the race. Other positions are decided by the most distance covered in the least amount of time.

    Pit Stops

    Rules for American Le Mans Series pit stops are very specific. There are rules governing how many people can work on the car, when that work can be done and who does the work. Penalties can range to a stop-and-go penalty (in either the car’s pit stall or penalty box) to two-lap penalties and exclusions in extreme cases.

    Technical Inspections

    Following qualifying and a race, the top three cars from each class undergo technical inspections to make sure they conform with technical rules set by the ACO (the rule-making body for Le Mans) and IMSA (the Series’ sanctioning body). Scrutineers (the formal title of the inspectors) will check a car’s weight, ride height, internal air flow and other factors to make sure the car falls within the class technical rules. Cars found to be outside the rules are subject to having its qualifying times thrown out or exclusion from a race.