What's the most prestigious gt class?

WEC GTE pro, followed closely by ALMS GT.

the rest are mostly gentleman driver series.

 

not really...Aston Martin is demolishing WEC GTE pro this year; Ferrari has the lead in manufacturers points due to a large number of entrants in GTE am.

in ALMS the Ferraris aren't really competitive at all; viper, vette and a rather curious "Z4" rule there.

 

All of the GT categories are extremely competitive with very little separating
the top teams in qualifying especially in WEC GT Pro and ALMS GT.

It comes down to keeping the BOP fair and where the restrictor rules affect different
cars at different tracks. The AF Corse Ferraris usually romp at Le Mans but this year they
were affected by smaller restrictors, had numerous pit lane and on track cockup's and
got shuffled out of the order when the Le Mans organizers separate the field into three
groups during the many cautions. Whereas the winning Porsche had larger restrictors,
held pace throughout and were in the right place at the right times during the safety
car periods which became like musicial chairs this year.

Likewise, the Risi Competizione team has had horrible luck in ALMS this year. They ran
an absolutely brilliant race at Sebring, no penalties, no on track incidents and led most
of the way but still somehow managed to lose to the Corvette despite the Corvette having
numerous penalties and on track incidents. They're still trying to figure out how that
happened.

At least the AF Corse is still in the championship hunt in WEC with four races remaining,
there is still hope as they've come through with a win at Interlagos and second at COTA,
consistent points finishes are keeping them in it.

BHW

 

I think the prestige of the Track the track affects the perception a lot especially for the public.

A GT win at

Le Mans
Daytona
Sebring
Spa
Nurburgring


is sought after and an overall win at any of them is huge for manufacturers.

 

This...BH certainly knows his stuff....any relation to Jason?

 

Hi, I am asked that a lot. No relation to Jason but we are very good friends especially
after his unfortunate accident at PBIR a few years ago.

I stay in touch with Jason who is doing a lot of driver instruction and other events around
the country and his manager Alex Graas quite a bit and I consider both of them among my
racing family for sure.

BHW

 

ha! I always assumed you guys were related. unusual last name and typically when you see the same last name in racing it's not a coincidence

anyway nice analysis. the Sebring Corvette/Ferrari race was interesting. If I had to guess, Corvette beat Risi on in laps/out laps/driver changes/pit stops and over 12 hours that adds up. otherwise it comes down to the strength of their driver lineups...their fastest race laps were within 1/10th of each other.

 

Thanks for the answer...both Jason and Alex are great guys and I almost had Jason driving for me in the 2008 Rolex 24. Alex did a nice interview of me just before that race

 

As I was just recalling as well, one of the Risi drivers developed cramps late in the
race and had to make an unscheduled stop for a driver change which in the end scuttled
their victory. But, it just goes to show how close things are as the least little thing goes
wrong, another car is there to scoop the win. The days of twenty lap victories are long
over.

The same thing happened at Sebring in 1999 when the Dyson Team was trying to chase down
the BMW LMR V12. Both Butch Leitzinger and Elliot Forbes-Robinson developed cramps late
in the race and James Weaver had to serve double duty to try and catch Tom Kristensen
which in the end was only a 9 second deficit.

Jason and Alex are great guys. If we could only get Jason a break with a top GT team.

BHW

 

From a sporting point of view, WEC, ALMS and ELMS are more prestigious events that are contested by factory teams and professional racing drivers.

 

WEC P1...the rest is just trimmings. 2014 Porsche returns and endurance racing will return to normal!!!

 

they haven't built a GT2/GTE spec car. why? probably budget, but who knows.

 

Blancpain and FIA GT should merge IMO, then you might have a "sprint" series that is meaningful. right now they're just pro/am undercard series. the cars are also GT3 spec, so not the fastest cars in the world.

it will be interesting to see what happens between WEC and TUSCC in the next few years.

 

so you think a series with 6cyl Porsches, 8 cyl Merc-BMW-Ferrari-Mac, 10cyl Audi and Lambo, 12 cyl Aston would be fair and entertaining without BOP?.....Silly boy

 

Balance of performance has been the problem sports car racing organizers have
faced from the beginning. As pointed out, when there is such a diverse entry
of cars with even more diverse means of producing power, someone always
gets left out.

Restrictors have been the way to go for some time now. Try being in IMSA's shoes
during the height of the GTP era when the turbo Porsches, Fords and Chevys ran against
the normally aspirated Jaguars, there was always (ALWAYS) a beef until it was mandated
that the turbo cars had their boost set and could not be adjusted in the cockpit whenever
a driver needed some extra HP.

The fact is that the engines of the current Corvettes are so curtailed that the racing car has
less HP than the street version. Try finding a time in history when that ever happened.

I've thought since before the demise of GT-1 that there should be two categories of GT cars.
The premier GT class to be a Supercar formula in the mode of the FIA GT of the mid and late
90's featuring cars from Ferrari, Maserati, Pagani, Koenigsegg, Mercedes-Benz, McLaren, Porsche,
et.al. and let them have at it in a virtually unrestricted production class. If it's not on the
production cars, it can't race. And, bring back homologation so as to make it mandatory
that manufacturers must produce X-amount examples to be made available to privateers.

Then a second tier of GT cars as the current GTE class as it is now. This would be a show.

The costs of a Supercar formula as we saw in the FIA GT may be high but recalling the
manufacturer participation it brought was truly amazing. People who have attended Sebring for
decades still point to the FIA GT race there in 1997 as the coolest race they ever saw. Had it not
rained like a monsoon during the middle portion of the race, I'd have to agree.

Give manufacturers who produce the next "Enzo killer" the opportunity to prove it on the track
instead of on the cover of the magazines in front of the public. Think the paying public would
turn out?

BHW

 

I agree. I miss gt1...just think of LaFerrari/918/McLaren P1/Vanquish/proper ZR1 factory squads. giggity.

 

Exactly, but the ACO let GT-1 die as they would not address the lack of entry
into the class.

At the same time, they put up such a fight to allow the Maserati MC-12 into the
ALMS that it nearly threw the whole agreement between Panoz and the ACO off the
rails.

Not exactly sure the reason why the ACO puts up such a front against Supercars
as many point to the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans where the McLaren F-1 GT won overall
as one of the best races ever.

BHW