[Deschodt]

He was there from ALMS onwards, (and I think we should include thanking Don Panoz in there) - they brought really cool Euro style GT to america, with developments like the Panoz front engine batmobile (absolutely amazing car even if they never really dominated). I probably (cheerfully) lost 25% of my hearing because of that car ! Also, because american manufacturers joined in the game and did very well, my respect for the likes of Corvette and Ford increased immensely. I've really enjoyed ALMS/IMSA for the past 20 something years, attended whenever it was <3hrs from me (sears, laguna, Sebring, daytona) so I've got nothing but good thoughts for Mr Atherton and the philosophy of ALMS since the beginning ("for the fans" full access) - I got to shake hands (before selfies were a thing) with legends walking the paddock, like McNish, Auberlen, Wollek, etc !

When my European friends see my pictures taken at IMSA events they always comment on how lucky we are to get so close to the cars we can touch them... IMSA rules at the moment...