GT convergence: no-go (for now)

I'm having a hard time believing that what sunk this deal was sonic vs electronic engine restrictors. I think that's an excuse and there's something bigger under the surface.

 

The 2 championships (FIA GT and the ACO) cater for different entrants - private team against factories.

It's mostly Ratel who manages the FIA GT championships (Blancpain) who opposed the convergence, probably because he would have lost part of his audience.

From what I read, the chassis rules are more or less the same, but the stumbling block are the engine rules. Some GT3 chassis have been used at Le Mans, for example.

I would like to know what are the practical differences between the 2. Does anyone knows?

I also think the cost of developing "different cars" for different rules are exaggerated. Corvettes, Ferrari, Porsche, Aston have cars that run in the 2 different configurations, and I cannot see why Bentley, AUDI, Lamborghini, Mercedes, or McLaren cannot do the same. I really can't.

 

I think it comes down to budgets...Corvette/Ferrari/Porsche/Aston can afford their GT2/GTE programs because they are blue chip sports car companies and have plenty of privateer customers for their GT-AM and GT3 cars. to the best of my knowledge, that can't be said for the rest of them, at least not now/not yet.

as to the engine differences, other than the restrictors placed on them by the sanctioning body, I'm not sure what the differences are-I know GT2 are allowed to replace pretty much everything but the block, I don't know how "stock" a GT3 motor has to be internally.

 

For parity between engines, some are really detuned.

The "balance of power" really affect cars like the Corvette or the Aston Martins, for example, and I can't guess how much a Viper has to be detuned to bring it to the lowest common denominator !

At Le Mans, for example, some cars literally cruise on the Mulsane straight, far from their full potential.