[ALMS09]12h of Sebring - official thread

[Tom206wrc]

OK, in exactly 18 days from today will start the week of the first 2009 American Le Mans Series round, the famous 12h of Sebring race !!! :D

It's time to create the thread of it then ;)


Usefull links:

http://www.americanlemans.com/
http://www.imsaracing.net

Pictures/News on http://www.motorsport.com


This will be the Le Mans pre-test for the duel AUDI vs PEUGEOT
Pitty Aston-Martin will only run LMS though :(

We will also discover what the new R15 TDI has in its guts
And for the new ACURA LMP1 it'll be the only occasion to compete against the "bigs" in ALMS :mark:

Among the line-up for the overall win
Audi:
Kristensen-Capello-McNish
Werner-Luhr-Rockenfeller

Peugeot:
Klien-Lamy-Minassian
Montagny-Sarrazin-Bourdais

Acura:
Brabham-Franchitti-Sharp
De Ferran-Dixon-Pagenaud


Can't wait the race to start :bounce:

[rob01]

i'd love to see Brabbams car kick ass!

[Tom206wrc]

Start of the great week next week :bounce:


For information Peugeot will be on the track this saturday for first private tests ;)

[F1boat]

I was cheering for Gil de Ferran in CART, I hope that he will bring the new Acura's first major victory. :) But I think that Audi will win again.

[Shifter]

Pity this hasn't been chatted up some more. ALMS has had some sterling races over the past couple of years and I'm really looking forward to this race, especially because Peugeot will be there with their beautiful 908.

[Tom206wrc]

At last we have entered the week of the 2009 12h of Sebring :bounce:

This afternoon are the first free practices ;)

[rob01]

i get the feeling your running around like an excited kid tom?!

looking forward to it. some shots from monday testing at Sebring...
http://www.planetlemans.com/2009/03/16/sebring-12-hours-the-first-shots-from-monday-testing/

love the look of the new GT2 Vantage. the Acura looks very aggressive, hope it does well.

i'm starting to think the Audi is a little boring compared with some cars, it just doesnt look as eye catching as some. of course its not about the way it looks though.

the BMW looks a little on the tame side too but hopefully its performance will make up for that!

[Shifter]

Satisfy my curiosity regarding your respective European countries: Here in the States, ALMS gets pretty good coverage, and the Euro-based LMS gets little-to-none, with Speed choosing to broadcast about 2 random events per year, and the picture quality then makes me wonder if they didn't bother to send for the DVD and instead downloaded it off the internet.

How closely can you European fans follow the ALMS? Eurosport?

[Mad_Hatter]

Unofficial Times Sebring ALMS Test 3 + 4:

1 - #2 Audi Sport Team Joest - Audi R15 TDI - 1.43.595
2 - #1 Audi Sport North America - Audi R15 TDI - 1:44.159
3 - #08 Team Peugeot Total - Peugeot 908 HDi FAP - 1:45.002
4 - #07 Team Peugeot Total - Peugeot 908 HDi FAP - 1:45.095
5 - #66 de Ferran Motorsports - Acura ARX-02a - 1:45.105
6 - #9 Patrón Highcroft Racing - Acura ARX-02a - 1:45.871
7 - #16 Dyson Racing Team - Lola B09/86 - 1:50.864
8 - #3 Corvette Racing - Chevrolet Corvette C6.R - 1:59.638
9 - #4 Corvette Racing - Chevrolet Corvette C6.R - 1:59.958
10 -#95 Pecom Racing Team - Ferrari F430 GT2 2:04.007
11 - #87 Farnbacher Loles Racing - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR -2:04.415
12 - #62 Risi Competizione - Ferrari F430 GT2 - 2:05.078
13 - #61 Risi Competizione - Ferrari F430 GT2 - 2:05.311
14 - #92 BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team - BMW E92 M3 - 2:05.329
15 - #90 BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team - BMW E92 M3 - 2:05.331
16 - #45 Flying Lizard Motorsports - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR - 2:05.522
17 - #21 Panoz Team PTG - Panoz Esperante - 2:06.213
18 - #28 LG Motorsports - Chevrolet Riley Corvette C6 - 2:06.242
19 - #44 Flying Lizard Motorsports - Porsche 997 GT3 RSR - 2:06.454
20 - #40 Robertson Racing - Doran Ford GT - 2:06.681
21 - #007 Drayson Racing - Aston Martin Vantage GT2 - 2:07.424
22 - #11 Primetime Race Group - Dodge Viper GT2 - 2:13.931

from planetlemans (http://www.planetlemans.com/2009/03/16/sebring-12-hours-monday-afternoon-test-results/). Did the LMP2 Acura not run today?

[F1boat]

The new Audi seems shockingly fast - as fast and it is ugly - I opened autosport.com to check the F1 news and when I saw the Audi, I felt like kicked in the gut. Still, great job for the Audi team, I am surprised that they have over a second to Peugeot, although Peugeot maybe is not revealing its true pace. Acura looks cool and I am happy for de Ferran :)

[chryby]

complete info (start list, schedule, TV SPORT5 broadcast LIVE):
http://www.sport5.cz/content/view/1775/325/

website http://www.sport5.cz will bring also online news from main race

[rob01]

Satisfy my curiosity regarding your respective European countries: Here in the States, ALMS gets pretty good coverage, and the Euro-based LMS gets little-to-none, with Speed choosing to broadcast about 2 random events per year, and the picture quality then makes me wonder if they didn't bother to send for the DVD and instead downloaded it off the internet.

How closely can you European fans follow the ALMS? Eurosport?

we get Motors TV on sky and cable, they usually show the ALMS races live or with delayed coverage later on the same day. obviously they use the feed from thye race provided by speed tv or whoever but they also interact with fans through the forum during the race(something bbc should do with f1), the same thing happens for LMS too and i think other live races such as V8 supercars and DTM.
i tend to only be able to follow it through internet sources and magazines such as Autosport.

just looking at some more photo's from the test, that GT2 Aston certainly gets my vote for best looking car and most professional looking GT2 racer out there.
seems only 1 LMP2 made it out for the test, the Lola Mazda of Dyson.

[wedge]

SpeedTV's coverage is absolutely fantastic. From Lee Diffey who is one of the best commentators in motorsport, always a pleasure hearing his voice whether it was WSB, Aussie V8s, endurance racing; fantastic insights from Calvin Fish (NBC should stick him in the booth instead of pitlane) all the way down to Marshall Pruett's insights on the website :up:

[chryby]

tuesday test results:
http://www.sport5.cz/content/view/1794/325/

[Tom206wrc]

Pitty Bourdais crashed the 908 #08 yesterday at start of session :(


Today two more free practices... ;)

[rob01]

Pitty Bourdais crashed the 908 #08 yesterday at start of session :(


Today two more free practices... ;)

just a single Peugeot in testing today, cracked tub is said to be the reason for just a single car.
the Acura's edge a bit closer to the dervs.

[chryby]

wednesday test result:
http://www.sport5.cz/content/view/1818/1/

[F1boat]

Is the qualifying today or tomorrow? Is there an online video coverage of it?

[chryby]

today schedule:

15:20 – 16:15 free practice
19:45 – 20:10 qualification (GT1 & GT2)
20:15 – 20:40 qualification (LMP1 & LMP2)

all times are in CET

[F1boat]

That's cool, any idea will the qualifying be showed online?

[slashman]

That's cool, any idea will the qualifying be showed online?

I think Speedtv is showing it..

Anybody know why only 1 LMP2 car has shown up? I thought there would be 4 or 5 of them..

[F1boat]

Ah, I was on my Dad's birthday party and missed it. Now I check - Acura on Pole. That's good news, I hope that Gil and Scott win this race! Go de Ferran!

[chryby]

qualification times:
http://www.sport5.cz/content/view/1831/325/

[harvick#1]

wow, that is a surprise that acura took Pole, though I see the Audi and Peugeot passing them before the first turn because of the torque

[F1boat]

I still hope that de Ferran and Dixon win this race.

[dj4monie]

Seems as this board is not where near as busy as 10tenths but that's okay...

The fuzzy one has made his picks and so has PLM, but eh I don't totally agree.

PLM and The Bear discount De Farran, I wouldn't and won't and they have faster drivers than Highcroft does.

They believe a Porsche will win GT2 and honestly is too close to call and I'll lean naturally for the Prancing Horse.

We will see how far up the table Fernandez gets.

GT2 finish -

#62, #87, #95

Because as long as Melo doesn't crash into anything they win...

[SportscarBruce]

AUGH

I woke up about an hour ago and am just catching up on the timeline of events thus far. Good thing I have the DVR and DVD recorders to fall back on.

Note to self: no drinking shots of tequila the night before endurance races. At my age the after effects are much longer. :p

What the hell is the problem with Peugeot? Don't they test in the heat? Or, for that matter, practice r&r repairs? Three years on and it still looks like an out of the box project. Meanwhile Acura looks like they're been racing P1 for years.

The weather looks absolutely beautiful, great crowd too.

Note to ALMS: Nice uniforms for the pit lane officials. Better than the squad of Michelin men stuff used by other series.

[SportscarBruce]

Wow! Super battle for P1 lead!

[Shifter]

Both these teams (Audi and Peugeot) are such unique studies in the art of speed it's amazing that the battle for the lead has been so extensive and fought for so long! 4h20m to go, Sarrazin ahead of Luhr.

Despite glum economic times Sebring is again throwing up a classic edition of the event!

[Shifter]

Ferrari / Ferrari / Panoz 1,2,3 in GT2 is interesting as well.

[SportscarBruce]

Wish I could have made it, I planned on PLM for this year not knowing the R15 was going to race the 12 Hours. Plus, I really like the hills and trees of Road Atlanta.

[SportscarBruce]

TOTAL BRAINFART

Marc Leib throws it away exiting Sunset with 40 minutes left.

[dj4monie]

I think I did pretty well on my picks....

Congrats to Risi, I knew they had returned to form by winning down the stretch last season and putting on a clinic at Petit.

They ran the '08 car and while the latest Porsche 997 seems to have a straight line advantage (of course they had one before). Seems Ferrari is going to hold on to any major developments until 2010, even though the '09 GT2 does have some aero dynamic changes.

PTG Panoz and the pairing of Fambacher and James looks to be strong as well.

The Porsche presence in the ALMS is strong however and I expect them to challenge all season long. I fully expect Vici to join FBL and Flying Lizard to challenge for podium finishes. It really depends on what drivers they have, but I can tell you Westbrook has a FIA GT ride, but their first race isn't until May, which means he's available to Vici for St Pete, Long Beach and most likely Utah.

BMW ran well for a new car and just stopped short of half way, so the cars should have no problems doing the next two races that clock in at 2:45 mins at St Pete and 2:00 at Long Beach where Dirk Muller now driving for BMW is defending champion.

Kaffer and Melo are a force to be dealt with however, when Corvette shows up it will not be easy for them to crack the Top 5 even.

I'm looking at LMP2 like I do GT1, YAWN...

Fernandez was never pushed, both MazLolas failed before halfway, they took extra time on pit stops to make sure they made it to the finish. If they were interested in finishing in the Top 5 or even challenge for a podium finish, they could have. After the #07 908 stopped on course, they picked up 4th overall with about 35 mins to the finish.

Dyson has a complete uphill battle on their hands. Both cars DNF'ed and didn't meet the 70% threshold, ie: no points. While Fernandez start out with a double digit point lead, Dyson will have to try and finish races to get points. Only accidents or failures will prevent Fernandez from finishing on the overall podium, let alone dominating LMP2 at least until Utah where some additional time for testing may get Dyson closer to the leading edge. I really don't expect Dyson to challenge for class victories until after Lime Rock...

GT1 - Non Starter BORING

Finally The Lion got all the way to the final hour before tactics played out and they end up several seconds short of a victory. Where the 908 had a clear handling and speed advantage in 2008, in 2009, they look to only have a straight line advantage now.

We won't see the 908's back until they run a mock test during the Spa 1000k LMS event. Audi will not run again until practice and qualifying for Le Mans.

What this leaves us is two brand new Acura LMP1 cars, one Lola from Autocon and one Lola from Intersport. Intersport does have a straight line advantage but will they be motivated to challenge for an entire event? Will they just battle Autocon (from Long Beach onward) for the final spot on the podium or have higher aspirations? I guess you know how I feel about Autocon, they'll be around if they stay out of trouble on pace alone, they aren't even close to the LMP2 cars....

So how will ALMS 2009 look going into back to back weekends on street tracks?

LMP:

Well, Acura have to prove their reliability, they did a trouble free 12 hour test before Sebring, yet only Highcroft was running at the finish and several laps down. In much shorter races, they should be able to run away and hide from LMP2 Acura, especially at St Pete which for a street course is fairly wide open and quick. But problems with the power steering for example could easily give an overall victory to the Fernandez Acura.

Fully Expect an Acura 1-2-3 at their home sponsored race. I just don't know how high the LMP2 car will finish since its complete sorted at this point.

GT:

Seems Mags/O'Connell are on some kind of roll vs the Ollies. That should continue, but so what?

A Ferrari has one this event 3 years in a row... I don't see how they won't win again. Flying Lizard was on pole for St Pete last year, but didn't win. Clearly there some issues with the new 997, while the Ferrari is fully sorted. I think FBL again will be the Porsche to beat, but I think Melo and Kaffer are just too quick too often for them to get beat unless they beat themselves.

BMW with Muller should challenge for the final podium stop until they get to terms on overall pace. They will be roughly a half second down to the top runners, so pit work will come into play here and if you remember Muller double stinted tires at the end and kept everybody behind him with his WTCC experience at Long Beach and won.

If Dunlop gives him a tire he can take that gamble with I will take a flying on BMW getting on the podium in only their 2nd race...

2009 will be fairly good, but a war in GT2. If I were the TV coverage I would give GT2 alot of face time because it deserves it.

[harvick#1]

well done to audi once again :D getting the better of Peugeot, too bad the next fight is a wait until Lemans :(

I was only able to see the first 7 hours but man did the Audi's and Peugeot fight each other, great battle

[dj4monie]

well done to audi once again :D getting the better of Peugeot, too bad the next fight is a wait until Lemans :(

I was only able to see the first 7 hours but man did the Audi's and Peugeot fight each other, great battle

No Tivo, DVR or Media Center PC????????? No Bit Torrents either?

No excuse not to see it all...

[SportscarBruce]

Great rundown DJ4m, I agree it was great to see BMW back in GT. If I were to add anything at this point (hesitant because I haven't watch the opening hours yet, they're only now being reviewed) it would be kudos to Panoz for making tangible progress on what was a backmarker entry. I felt the design had something lacking, perhaps because of the limitations encountered by any "cottage" designer who attempts to field a street-based design against the might of factory R&D. A saying I heard once during my hotrodding days that comes to mind, "you can't outengineer a factory in your driveway". However they pleasantly exceeded my expectations.

I hope this doesn't come across as pandering to a preferred series ownership faction but it is deserved;

Congratulations to Dr. Don Panoz for successfully bringing Le Mans sports car racing back to the US and making it last. This fan is eternally grateful. If I could I would shake your hand.

[SportscarBruce]

No Tivo, DVR or Media Center PC????????? No Bit Torrents either?

No excuse not to see it all...

np Harvick, I might consolidate and post up the highlight segments for the benefit of those who missed it. I'm always happy to help out a fan of another series who shows interest. But first I need to see if that software DJ suggested works out.

[F1boat]

I watched the first hour. I dunno why, but it didn't catch me as the Rolex 24 hours, although the cars looked brilliant, the LMP1 cars are truly on par with the F1 beasts in the "wow-factor".

[Lousada]

I started watching somewhere around 8 hours in. The Peugeots and Audis are great, but I thought the rest was a sad show. Only 25 cars total and 9 already out when I started watching. LMP2 and GT1 only 5 cars together pfff.

[F1boat]

I watch now the latest show and the racing is really good and the LMP1 cars really great, but I wonder why there are so few LMP 2 cars. Also, without Audi and the Pugs, who are Acura's rivals?

[wedge]

Great fight! Congratulations to Audi. I wonder if the #1 drivers would've made the fight even closer, Bourdais was struggling to match Montagny's lap times.

[harvick#1]

I went to a party at 5 pm, which left the last 5 hours. I was under teh live timing the whole time because my mac couldn't play the video speedtv was bringing on their site. but I got to see some of the live race at my folks house earlier in the day, must say the R15 looks badass when it races

[edv]

...Bourdais was struggling to match Montagny's lap times.
This should be the other way around. Seabass broke the track record multiple times. Montagny's final stint was a real letdown...up to 5 sec/lap slower than Bourdais.
Peugeot will beat Audi on the smoother tracks. Apart from LeMans, are they gonna compete at Spa?

[Shifter]

The really sad part is despite a good race, ALMS will now henceforth be the 'GT2 show'. :(

[AndyRAC]

It seems the puncture cost Peugeot the race. Audi don't half have some luck....

[SportscarBruce]

I started watching somewhere around 8 hours in. The Peugeots and Audis are great, but I thought the rest was a sad show. Only 25 cars total and 9 already out when I started watching. LMP2 and GT1 only 5 cars together pfff.

What the sport needs most is a World Championship of Makes. Not only is the US professional sports car category divided, the North American and European series meet at Le Mans, and with a few exceptions here and there that's it.

Imagine how F1 would look if the entries were divided by two global series. It would probably look like the last USGP.

Don Panoz put forth a huge effort towards re-creating the World Championship back in the earliest years of the ALMS, but race cancellations and non-committal entries put an end to it. It was a good idea then, it's a better idea today. Without a unifying, headline-catching, tension-building championship the scattered races with varying levels of participation will always dog sports cars.

I'm not only concerned about the sport, but feel the sport will never reach its fullest potential in terms of leading the way in green automotive technologies. The opportunity is there, no other motorsport is as well positioned to take the lead in this regard. F1 is essentially trapped by the high-winding 19,000 rpm pneumatic valvetrain spectacle it depends on as F1's sensory shock overload calling card. NASCAR? GM practically begged Brian France to consider E85 and was turned away, so their opportunity has come and gone. IRL has make some PR out of the ethanol connection, but their conversion was less of a leap as NASCAR's would have been, IRL's fuel systems were already corrosion-proof. Fuel and ignition remapping, some attention to combustion chamber temps, and that's about all it took. Until IndyCar rolls out the new formula their position as a alternative fuel series is pretty much all PR, and little actual progress.

As most fans focus upon the race day spectacle topics like this might seem a bit outside the lines, but if sports car racing ever found a way to bring itself together and firmly cement itself in public's mind as part of future transportation solution it'll quite possibly save the sport as a whole. Because if we care to admit it or not motorsports is on the verge of irrelevency..and ultimately extinction. Heck, more and more people don't even view the activity of driving as something to enjoy and excel at. If the passion of driving isn't kept alive the freedom, excitement and beauty these machines represent will be only a distant memory

[F1boat]

But how can the sportscar racing unite, when even in the US there are two major series?

[SportscarBruce]

But how can the sportscar racing unite, when even in the US there are two major series?

Due to the usual problems this isn't likely to happen. It should, but that's not enough when individual egos and financials pull the wagon in four different directions. No one gets anywhere, but no one gives in to the (take your pick) Americans, the French, the FIA. .

Castles make a kingdom only in the presence of leadership and shared common purpose. Without these things they're merely bunkers for the well-to-do, and are soon vacant.

[wmcot]

What ever happened to the much publicized Corsa Motorsports hybrid P1? I haven't heard anything since the end of last year.

Looks like it is time to combine P1 & P2 and have one prototype class and one GT class. P2 and GT1 are boring (even though it was nice to see Lowes'/Fernandez get the win.)

[F1boat]

Due to the usual problems this isn't likely to happen. It should, but that's not enough when individual egos and financials pull the wagon in four different directions. No one gets anywhere, but no one gives in to the (take your pick) Americans, the French, the FIA. .

Castles make a kingdom only in the presence of leadership and shared common purpose. Without these things they're merely bunkers for the well-to-do, and are soon vacant.

Do you think that Grand-Am and ALMS can continue to co-exist?

[SportscarBruce]

Do you think that Grand-Am and ALMS can continue to co-exist?

I believe they will continue to exist, which isn't bad for the drivers and teams that run in both series, or for that matter the track owners. But individual endeavors aside, I firmly believe the continued existence of two prototype racing series limits sports car racing's potential in every respect.

If F1 has broken up during the early 70's and mid-80's when such a possibility did indeed exist there is no way the sport would have reached the heights it now enjoys, and the same thing goes for NASCAR if Burton Smith had pulled the trigger on TRAC (Team Racing Auto Circuit) earlier this decade.

http://investing.businessweek.com/businessweek/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=1525920

O/T: Strange how TRAC still lives in name (don't bother with the series website though, it's a dead link) considering this threat of a rival stock car series was shelved once Texas got its second NASCAR date. Anyone have a guess as to why? Hmmmm.....

[F1boat]

Sportscar Bruce, thank you for the answer!

[Bob Riebe]

What the sport needs most is a World Championship of Makes. Not only is the US professional sports car category divided, the North American and European series meet at Le Mans, and with a few exceptions here and there that's it.


Single option racing IS the death of racing, but what is killing racing now is the manufacturers or privateers have no reason to compete and every reason to quit wasting money on a product that can be illegal tomorrow.

NASCAR the supposed current 800lb. gorilla, banned the Hemi back in the sixties.
Chrysler pulled out and Ford raced itself; why was it re-allowed?
Because the Chrysler boys went over to USAC stock cars and raced very happily there.
NASCAR had a choice allow the engine or become history.
The reason they had COMPETITION; NOW THEY HAVE NONE and can act like a 800lb gorilla.

The IMSA banned the turbo-Porsches in the late seventies, so Porsche moved over to the Trans-Am which was in its death throws and nearly cancelled. POOF new life and both series thrived for over a decade after that.

For some reason people think that ONE series is some kind of magic pixie dust and everyone will suddenly agree, the rules will be SOOOOO good manufactureres will just jump in blindly-- BS.

NASCAR style draconian boredom is all you get when there is only one series; and remember NASCAR was the first with restrictors and professional spec. racing.

The contrived rules in both GARRA and the IMSA/ACO give manufactureres NO REASON to compete.
The rules do not allow any company to show who produces the best product; only to show who has the most money to cheat the rules that are supposed to put everyone on a boring SCCA spec. series level of equality.
Equal is boring- different styles to reach a single peak is variety at its best.
With the contrived spec. racing there is NO variety and the rules make it that way.

[F1boat]

Bob Riebe, this is interesting post, but do you think that today there are enough fans to support both the Rolex series and the ALMS?

[Bob Riebe]

Bob Riebe, this is interesting post, but do you think that today there are enough fans to support both the Rolex series and the ALMS?
If there are not enough fans-- for what reason?

Reduced populatin?
I do not think so.
Fewer makes of cars?
The loss of AMC has not caused road racing to go into the tank.
Hmmmm.

Maybe it is loss of cars in the series, which is caused by rules the series run by, that no longer inspire auto concerns to compete and fans (NOW it could be- this has changed- but many fans used to go to root for their favorite make or vehicle.
Many Trans-Am fans were loyalists- the Ford, Chevy, AMC etc. were devils to the faithful if that was not their make of car.) most fans are not stupid enough to spend big bucks on contrived equality, caused by NASCAR wannabe spec. rules.

The diesels in the last race were interesting, but were not left to be also rans- by the gasoline cars--ONLY-- because the gasoline cars power curve is strangled by rules. (A diesel only series with unrestricted diesel would be interesting, [the way diesels function limits how fast they can go. They cannot do as gasoline engines and gain speed by gaining rpms which increases horse-power.])

Now maybe todays fans have become so illiterate, many have no idea what is going on, but I still believe they are not morons.

Sprint car and drag racing were doing just fine (the chicken-little 1000ft thing in top fuel has taken the bloom off of that rose for many) so the fans are out there, the sanctions god-complexes have driven them away- it would seem.

[F1boat]

Thanks for the answer :)

[Shifter]

(A diesel only series with unrestricted diesel would be interesting, [the way diesels function limits how fast they can go. They cannot do as gasoline engines and gain speed by gaining rpms which increases horse-power.])

With the understanding that 'racing improves the breed', I would expect that this could lead to some VERY bulletproof transmissions! Can you imagine a rulebook that allowed unrestricted diesel technology so long as the cars had CVT's? Talk about fast-tracking a technology lol.

[rob01]

I think if there was a new world sportscar championship it wouldnt have a big enough following in north america.
i cant think of any world championship that is as big in america as it is in europe ect.

~NExt year is the start of the world GT championship and i cant help thinking thatys whats going to kill it off slowly...

[wedge]

Anybody know the attendance numbers? Looked like business as usual despite the financial crisis.

[CCWS77]

Single option racing IS the death of racing, but what is killing racing now is the manufacturers or privateers have no reason to compete and every reason to quit wasting money on a product that can be illegal tomorrow.

NASCAR the supposed current 800lb. gorilla, banned the Hemi back in the sixties.
Chrysler pulled out and Ford raced itself; why was it re-allowed?
Because the Chrysler boys went over to USAC stock cars and raced very happily there.
NASCAR had a choice allow the engine or become history.
The reason they had COMPETITION; NOW THEY HAVE NONE and can act like a 800lb gorilla.

The IMSA banned the turbo-Porsches in the late seventies, so Porsche moved over to the Trans-Am which was in its death throws and nearly cancelled. POOF new life and both series thrived for over a decade after that.

For some reason people think that ONE series is some kind of magic pixie dust and everyone will suddenly agree, the rules will be SOOOOO good manufactureres will just jump in blindly-- BS.

NASCAR style draconian boredom is all you get when there is only one series; and remember NASCAR was the first with restrictors and professional spec. racing.

The contrived rules in both GARRA and the IMSA/ACO give manufactureres NO REASON to compete.
The rules do not allow any company to show who produces the best product; only to show who has the most money to cheat the rules that are supposed to put everyone on a boring SCCA spec. series level of equality.
Equal is boring- different styles to reach a single peak is variety at its best.
With the contrived spec. racing there is NO variety and the rules make it that way.


That is a most interesting post. I agree with your sentiment that the type of problems you describe hurt the popularity of racing in general as a sport and its financial bottom line. However, I think you have gotten the reason exactly backwards.

You are suggesting that open, malleable rules and sanctioning bodies opens things up and attracts more manufacturers when that is exactly what the problem is. What is needed is strong transparent rule makers that are accountable only to fans and willing to tell manufacturers to take a hike if they don't like it. Rulebooks should be printed in blood at begining of the season, not modified for the highest bidder on a whim. Constantly negotiable rules and sanctioning bodies that bend over backwards to please manufacturers is exactly the cause of all the messes and the idea that rules are and have been too rigid in racing is a notion that is hard to entertain with a straight face.

Why do teams have no incentive to race when their innovations can suddenly be lobbied to become illegal by a competitor. This doesn't happen with a strong sanctioning body above the influence. If time and resources are more effectively spent lobbying to get rules changed, rather then learning to compete within them, then there will be chaos and politics. Whats even worse is that these "open" rules often take the form of lobbying to get a competitor's innovation banned, and thus has the opposite effect of what you are expecting.

You claim NASCAR is boring because it is SPEC. Stop and think about your argument. NASCAR makes most of its decsisions to appease the manufactuers and spends more on parts and development then anyone else. The entire enterprise is a political and economic game of which manufacturer gets thier way. The players involved hate the SPEC parts because it interferes with this chaos. Clearly the SPEC parts are the cause of the problems? really? Seems more like the SPEC parts are the only thing keeping any semblace of consistent rules and keeping the whole thing tethered to reality. It is the negotiable rules and politics that makes it a joke.