Weekend Motorsport Preview: Two Big Races

It is a slightly lighter weekend for racing this week. The American Le Mans Series goes to the streets of Long Beach, California, and Formula 1 heads to Bahrain. 

American Le Mans Series

This is the first real race of the ALMS season. The 12 Hours of Sebring brought a few cars from the World Endurance Challenge, like the Audi R18sAudi R18 e-tron quattroGermany, 2012 > present8 photos
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and Aston Martin VantagesAston Martin Vantage GTEUnited Kingdom, 2012 > present4 photos
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, as a pre-season warm-up for their series. There are 34 cars entered into the race, but 17 of those are from either the LMPC or GTC spec classes. The rest of the field is made up of seven prototypes and 10 GT cars.

With the United SportsCar Racing series starting next year, it is an odd time for prototype teams in the US. There are only three LMP1 cars entered this year, and that class will not exist next year. There are four LMP2 entries, but they are all HPD ARX-03bHonda HPD ARX 03bJapan, 2012 > present2 photos
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prototypes, which essentially makes the class a spec championship this year. 

GT is where the factory-backed teams live in the ALMS. CorvetteChevrolet Corvette C6.RUnited States of America, 2012 > present3 photos
, BMWBMW Z4 GTEGermany, 2013 > 2000 and ViperSRT Viper GTS-RUnited States of America, 2013 > present7 photos
all have factory-supported, two-car teams. The rest of the field in made up by two Ferrari 458sFerrari 458 Italia GTCItaly, 2011 > present5 photos
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racing for separate teams and two Porsche 911 RSRsPorsche 911 GT3 RSRGermany, 2012 > present6 photos
racing for separate teams.

The Long Beach Circuit is a tight, two-mile-long street circuit set in the city of Long Beach, California. 

The race will start at 7:15pm EDT (11:15pm GMT) on Saturday, April 20.

The IndyCar Series Grand Prix of Long Beach will be held there on Sunday at 4pm EDT (8pm EDT). 

Formula 1 

Now that we know McLaren's upgrades from China were not enough to get it to the top of the grid, the big question in China will be who will win out in the title fight between Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.

Red BullRed BullAustria, 2004 > present12 models
1049 photos
3 videos
had an atrocious weekend in China with bad qualifying for the team and worse qualifying for Mark Webber.

Kimi Raikkonen has been bending the LotusLotusUnited Kingdom, 1952 > present68 models
951 photos
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to his will to put it on the podium in two of the three races, while his teammate Romain Grosjean has struggled.

However, if it were not for his retirement in Malaysia, Fernando Alonso could be sitting on top of the points standings. He has been on the podium in every race he has finished. He is six points away from Raikkonen and nine points away from Vettel in the standings.

Raikkonen led Friday's practice session, and Mark Webber, Vettel and Alonso were behind him. But all of the drivers were focusing on figuring out the tire degradation instead of setting fast times. It is hard to make any predictions on qualifying from the practice results.

The Sakhir circuit covers 3.36 miles (5.412km) over 15 corners. It is a fast track with several long straights but low-speed corners. The heat could also be a factor.

The race begins at 8:00am EDT (12:00pm GMT).

NASCAR

NASCAR heads to the Kansas Speedway for a 267-lap, 400-mile race. It begins at 1pm EDT (5pm GMT) on Sunday