Over management. You think Alonso couldn't get it done? Too many chief's, not enough indians. BOP....same thing. Managed racing does not produced competition, It produces boredom.
Alonso not making the Indy 500 has nothing to do with Indycar, spec racing or anything else. It is 100% down to the team ****ing up time and time again. If you haven't already, read this explaining all the things they did wrong. https://www.apnews.com/a8653967a9714ac7a9a3ba576f712fff When it comes to BoP I am torn. I want to see the best car win, and not have the series constantly tinker with the performance of each car. On the other hand, F1 is a series where there is no BoP....and it is really boring! On the GT side, the cars are so different, that there does need to be something to keep the cars on a somewhat level playing field. Otherwise we get what BMW is doing, they are taking their toys and going home. They have been bitching about BoP and that their car wasn't competitive since it was released.
My statement was to Mclaren management failures. The people making the decisions failed miserably. The problem is in part to spec racing. Many think that since everyone has the same stuff, the setup should be relatively simple. I ran Formula Alantic cars back in the late 70's early 80's. There is a difference between spec and "spec". The continual controlling environment by sanctioning bodies continues to only dilute the sport and the quality of teams. Think the rules haven't been skewed in one manufacturers favor or a certain team? Think again. Everyone campaigns for an advantage. One only needs to follow the LeMans race and the disadvantage that Ferrari has been put under. It is why i think racing is under such difficulty attracting new fans and participants. One needs to allow teams to work for an advantage, not be punished for creating one.
***** about BoP. ***** about spec racing. Don't like BoP? Then the trade-off is spec type racing a-la Indy Cars and DTM. Don't like spec racing? What is the alternative in face of the fact that F-1 budgets now exceed half a billion dollars per year with no end in sight (and only one team gets to run out front race after race, year after year)? Go back to the old days is the common refrain. Someone was recently lamenting that drivers like Foyt, Andretti, Mears, the Unsers et.al no longer drive at Indy as reason they don't watch the 500 any longer. Really? So, what are these guys supposed to do, race into their 70s when they're so fat they can't squeeze into the cockpits any longer or just drive until they die? Racing is about change. Learn to deal with it. Do we like BoP at Le Mans? I can tell you Ferrari sure doesn't since they've been virtually shuffled out of the GTE Pro order for going on five yeas now. Come up with something better and submit it to the ACO. BHW
IMSA BoP needs to do a better job. Blancpain World Challenge America is doing a good job this season with their BoP. The Bentley, Ferrari, and Porsche have had some very close racing up there for wins with it coming down to who screws up and goes off track or has a mechanical failure determining current standings. Unlike IMSA with BMW always at the back except for the fluke of Daytona rain and pit-in calls vs staying out.
This article from Marshall Pruett on Ford leaving GTE/GTLM and possibly not joining hypercar or DPi was interesting, but there is one sentence towards the end that really caught my eye. Has anyone else seen this reported? I was under the impression that DPi as a top class at Le Mans would be based on the FIA adopting it as well. https://racer.com/2019/05/28/pruett-fords-gt-decision-a-harsh-reality-check/?fbclid=IwAR0cDUzJTSs5t1Stg7KYTcdwf0h-Cif_2YSTJ6OyZEyLRi15YPVsaWJMvxc
given Ford's financial problems right now I think it's likely they won't have a true factory supported sports car program. customer engines, perhaps. as for the ACO ditching WEC and aligning directly with IMSA, that makes sense...WEC has made some really dumb decisions, and no decisions where they were needed; IMSA has a cost effective and mostly competitive class structure that works. plus the likelihood of a lot of IMSA teams vying for invites to LM24 guarantees a full grid if WEC blows up.
I can't disagree with anything you said. The part that I am stuck on is, so much of the LM24 entry list is auto-invites from FIA championships. I am curious how that would change if they align directly with IMSA. Also wondering if that means we would see GT3 cars at Le Mans. I think that would mean IMSA would need to ditch Belle Isle if it is closer aligned with the ACO. Interesting times..
agree. remember, ALMS had auto invites back in the day so I suspect it would work just fine. I would prefer GT3 being adopted at LM24 as mentioned previously so that's a win/win IMO. would be a shame to lose Belle Isle but I'd make that sacrifice. maybe PWC/SRO Americas could take over IMSA's presence. the TransAm TA2 races there are good shows too.
I won't miss Belle Isle. Went once as a spectator back in the Grand Am days. Half the track isn't accessible and you can only see anything from the stands anyway. Most street races just turn into a giant cluster**** with just the smallest incident. PWC used to run with Grand-Am and Indycar at that time, so I could certainly see them coming back.
Getting back to Le Mans a minute, does anyone know our viewing selections this year? Last year, they decided to black out the live streaming aspect from the U.S. They were happy to take our money and deliver nothing without so much as an apology. What is on tap for this year? BHW
Barton...First I want to say that I respect your opinion even if we disagree. Now...let us look a few things that seemed to get ignored. 1. Racing has a BIG problem. It starts with the current mindset of corporate money. Like a dope addict, racing is addicted to money. It can't get enough and the win at all cost mentality is driving the sport further into the far reaches of the solar system. Since when did we need to spend a stratosphere budget only to ask for even more each and every year? Since when did every team have to have some form of a factory participating? At what point in a declining auto industry does the sport begin to realize you are running out of options? People like Napolis are few and far between. Gentlemen team owners have now become an endangered species. Instead of looking at the BoP or spec solution to this problem, its time to look at the real problem. Until the financial considerations are discussed in detail, the problem will only escalate. 2. The cost of stupidity. How many wonderful mindless racing series have come and gone? All because of one thing. Politics and money go hand in hand. For what reason does a well funded team need to politic for an advantage? For what reason does it have to constantly politic to keep competitors at a disadvantage? When do ALL competitors have a say in the rule making process? When do we decide that 2-3 well funded professional series that can provide competitors with sufficient funds to run a season without going broke is better than the current formula of under funded series seeking the same corporate monies as the top series? You are spread too thin! 3. The talent pool or...the lack there of. Top talented personal are being ignored for those with the big bank roll. Understandably so, but again most do not come to see rich daddy's son play with overpriced toys. Care to explain why many top talented drivers never even see a test ride in an F1 seat? In this day and age Sir Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark would never even get a sniff of a first class ride. Think its time to start evaluating the talent and not the bank book? One only needs to look backwards to understand that to move forwards, the sport is going to have take a hard look at itself if it wants to survive. Your fans aren't impressed and the rating and attendance indicate that. Think its time for a re-think?
My thoughts..as a slightly obsessive fan with no experience in the industry who is obsessed with sports car racing and makes it to a number of endurance events each year and is an aspiring photographer. 1. Global regulations are the answer here. Every meaningful series has adopted FIA or SRO regs for the classes they run. TCR, GT4, GT3, GTE, LMP3, LMP2, LMP1. Gone are the days of your local speed shop building a car and going racing. The only real options for sports car racing are to buy a customer car or rent a ride. The upside is that you see teams using the same cars to run IMSA and SRO and even other series. As far as Jim G, he is hugely ambitious and hugely wealthy. Even with this he has only been able to run in a few select races. The global regs are the reason for this. 2. Completely agree with this. There are only so many OEMs out there interested in sportscar racing that all the series are cannibalizing each other. We keep hearing about DPi as a global solution but so far only Cadillac is willing to sell a customer car ( i guess technically Nissan too). Is that really enough for a global solution? GTE is a good example of relying on only OEM factory money. 3. If you look at LMP2 and GT3 classes world wide they seem to be very strong with interest. I think the series should be using looking at this to see they can rely on customer programs, and maybe not rely on full factory programs. Just my humble opinions.
Ford withdrawing has almost nothing to do with their financial situation, at this point the development costs have already been booked, paid for and amortized. The continued running costs are a relative drop in the ocean. Instead, look at the personnel at the top. Raj Nair was the person who pretty much single handled forced the whole GT program through, both streetcar and race program, to the point that other non racing programs were sacrificed to pay for it. Then add in the Jim Hackett who is focussing on becoming a 'mobility company' and insistence that every program must pay for itself to the point that the product portfolio is starting to suffer, it's amazing that any involvement in racing is still being supported.
just to clarify, I didn't say the GT program was ending because of their financial situation; I said the likelihood of any similar replacement program (DPI, etc) was unlikely because of it. and yes you are correct, big changes in the executive offices have created a different vibe at Ford vs just a few years ago.
Looks like it's close to flag to flag on Motor Trend TV. At least that's what their online schedule indicates.
'On a Ferrari site are we?......did anybody notice? I'm not a Ferrari owner, but I did: GTE PRO Ferraris 4th, 8th, and 15th at the test yesterday???? GTE AM Ferraris 1st-5th, 8th, 9th, and 13th??? https://www.lemans.org/en/24-hours-of-le-mans/live-timing 'Wonder what the wonderful BoP for anybody/everybody (Race? What race?' Gotta orchestrate the "show" don'cha know) will bring....?
Ferrari may not win GTE Pro (again) but in GTE Am, there are like eight of them entered, five of which took the fastest times in the test yesterday. The only way Ferrari loses GTE Am is if they put the Ferrari F1 braintrust on the job there to screw up their strategy. BHW
Copy what Moto GP is doing and apply that to cars. It's the only interesting racing left. I watch F1 because it's such a pathetic joke now that it's actually humorous in a faintly dark way.
What's yer pernt? (it's pretty much the norm....). Fer instance, actual 2018 qualy times; 39.574 diff: the qualifying practice session of the 86th editionof the 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race, on June 14, 2018, at the Le Mans circuit, northwestern France. (Photo by Jean-Francois MONIER / AFP) (Photo credit should read JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER/AFP/Getty Images) The #8 Toyota (TS050 HYBRID) of Fernando Alonso, Kazuki Nakajima, and Sebastien Buemi will start the Le Mans 24 Hours from pole. The Japanese manufacturer locked out the front row with sister Toyota car #7. Jenson Button (SMP Racing) starts P7. Idec Sport Racing (P10) are the highest team on the grid in the LMP2 class. Porsche GT team (P31) lead the GTE Pro class. Dempsey-Proton Racing (P44) is the lead team in the GTE Am class. Starting Grid: Pos Class Driver Team Car Time Gap 1 LMP1 S.Buemi, K.Nakajima, F.Alonso Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota 3m15.377s 2 LMP1 M.Conway, K.Kobayashi, J.M.Lopez Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota 3m17.377s 2.000s 3 LMP1 A.Lotterer, N.Jani, B.Senna Rebellion Racing Rebellion/Gibson 3m19.449s 4.072s V V V V 58 GTE Am B.Keating, J.Bleekemolen, L.Stolz Keating Motorsports Ferrari 3m54.000s 38.623s 59 GTE Am P.Long, T.Pappas, S.Pumpelly Proton Competition Porsche 3m54.720s 39.343s 60 GTE Am M.Ishikawa, O.Beretta, E.Cheever MR Racing Ferrari 3m54.951s 39.574s
my point is those P1 cars are smokin' past the Ams basically you're putting IndyCars into a Gt race. crazy. I love it
