In addition to being the final round of the 2010 American Le Mans Series and the second port of call for the inaugural Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, Petit Le Mans will be a chance for some teams to earn a guaranteed place on the grid at Le Mans next June.

Who will be invited to next year's Le Mans 24 Hours?

Winning the different classes at Road Atlanta has long secured an entry for a certain number of teams for the following year’s Le Mans 24 Hours. In 2009, Peugeot Total, Dyson Racing, Risi Competizione all made sure of receiving an invitation to contest the 78th running of the world famous endurance race.

Meanwhile, the best-placed LMP and GT cars in the final ALMS standings are also sure of a having a place on the grid in La Sarthe. With only Saturday’s 10-hour race remaining, Patron Highcroft Racing and Flying Lizard top their respective points tables and only need to cover 70 percent of the race distance to earn the coveted letter from the ACO.

If Highcroft and Flying Lizard do succeed in wrapping up their respective title chases this weekend, that will give their rivals Cytosport, Dyson Racing, Risi Competizione and BMW-Rahal Letterman an added carrot to win Petit Le Mans….

For the record, the top two finishers in each class in the 2010 Le Mans Series have already qualified, namely Team-Oreca Matmut, Signature+, RML, Strakka Racing, Larbre Compétition, Atlas e-FX, Felbermayr-Proton and AF Corse. Meanwhile, the wins of OAK Racing and Imsa-Performance-Matmut in their respective categories of this year’s MICHELIN GREEN X Challenge have also given them a guaranteed entry for Le Mans next summer.

24 Hours of Le Mans, Petit Le Mans