Alonso: I'll drive at Le Mans in future

[daveinaravecave]

http://asia.eurosport.com/wec/le-mans-24-hours-1/2...

I think it will be good to see him race, but what manufacturer would it be? If he went to Porsche it would be good to see Fred and Mark as teammates, with possibly another F1 driver too.

Thoughts?

[A500leroy]

F1 is on the way out, it's becoming a bit of a dinosaur and it costs way to much for the teams and drivers to compete

[Crafty_]

A500leroy said:

F1 is on the way out, it's becoming a bit of a dinosaur and it costs way to much for the teams and drivers to compete

Rubbish. It has been no different for the past 30 years.

There is a Motorsport Magazine podcast with Frank Williams, the guys that do the podcast are a little nostalgic and often have the rose tinted glasses on.
During the Williams podcast one of them starts on about money and how hard it is now etc - Williams totally put him in place saying that its never been any different and those that want to race will find the money to do so.

As for Alonso - very much depends doesn't it. If he's still driving in F1 it'll be tied to whoever he is driving for - Ferrari (rumoured to be starting an LMP team or he could drive in GTE Pro), McLaren? maybe they will enter GTE Pro instead of GT3 in the future ?

I wonder if Merc will go to WEC in LMP1 one of these days..

[weyland yutani]

Far too expensive even for a big manufacturer to do both. I imagine Toyota only run two cars unlike Audi and Peugeot before because of the sheer expense, especially with the new regs.

[s3fella]

Weren't him and Valentino Rossi rumoured to be doing it one day?

[belleair302]

A number of drivers are waking upto the benefits of different 'types' or drives and I can forsee drivers taking smaller retainers to be free agents when wanting to do Le Mans, Indy 500, Bathurst, Sebring or Daytona. I can also see F1 if it isnt careful losing more than a few million fans if the promotors, teams, sponsors and CVC dont act fast to improve the show, the interactivity, the message and the fan experience. Sad but true. Sponsorship at Le Mans, WEC and a select GT events is about 20% of an F1 package and offers so much more from a leveraging point of view.....open your eyes corporates and look at what else is out there beyond NASCAR and BTCC.

[funkyrobot]

He'll be running his cycling team soon:

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest-news/fe...

[The devil]

A500leroy said:

F1 is on the way out, it's becoming a bit of a dinosaur and it costs way to much for the teams and drivers to compete

Have you lost the plot?????

[pincher]

PW said:

Gaz. said:

20% of the cost for 2% of the audience.

It's Ferrari though, they're not selling to 98% if the global audience anyway, they're selling to rich clientele, with a focus on markets in the Middle & Far East and Russia.

There is a lot of interest and involvment in GT and sportscar racing in those markets at present with drivers, teams, sponsors, and events.

If that 2% of the global audience includes more of the people they want to sell cars to, it is a worthwhile investment.

And a lot of that rich clientele base can afford to run their own GT team and I'm sure some of them could even drive in it too.

I'd say it would be a good strategy from Ferrari's point of view to get involved.

[Chrisgr31]

Gaz. said:

20% of the cost for 2% of the audience. In the UK the F1 TV audience is 800k-1.2m for Sky races and 3m-4m and over for the shared BBC/Sky races.

By comparison LM24's peak audience was 148k (for the start), only 120k tuned in for the victory, numbers were so small during the night they couldn't be recorded and the race average was just 56k. This is WEC's flagship event. Silverstone & Spa did not record an audience. Lots of spectators in attendance at Le Mans, but Silverstone had 43000 in attendance- a figure many would say was derisory on an F1 calender yet nearly double the amount who turned up last year.

The Indy 500, massive in America, loads of spectators (220,000+) but no global audience. In the UK just 23,000 watched the entire race. Again audience figures for the remainder of the season are too low to measure.

WEC, Indycars and BTCC get virtually no mainstream news coverage in this country, Audi's victory was covered in just 49 words on Monday in the Daily Mail.

F1 may be in a state of uncertainty but as a global sport it is doing a hell of a lot better than any other motorsport. What does LMP1 offer over F1? The Toyota's sound ok, and that's about it imo.

Not disagreeing with your thoughts however the BTCC used to be a lot more popular in the UK, the race meetings were packed, it got coverage on BBC 2, plenty of column inches in the print media etc. Not sure where it all went wrong.

Part of the problem is that its next to impossible to know when motorsport will be on telly as it takes ages to find ITV 434 on the Guide etc, and in any event it can be on many channels so without paying a fortune most viewers wont get them all.

Personally, and I have said this before, I think the BBC should have a motoring evening every Sunday, so they show Top Gear, or highlights from various motor series etc

[vtgts300kw]

Chrisgr31 said:

Not disagreeing with your thoughts however the BTCC used to be a lot more popular in the UK, the race meetings were packed, it got coverage on BBC 2, plenty of column inches in the print media etc. Not sure where it all went wrong.

Part of the problem is that its next to impossible to know when motorsport will be on telly as it takes ages to find ITV 434 on the Guide etc, and in any event it can be on many channels so without paying a fortune most viewers wont get them all.

Personally, and I have said this before, I think the BBC should have a motoring evening every Sunday, so they show Top Gear, or highlights from various motor series etc

From what I've read, aren't the crowds at BTCC huge?

[belleair302]

BTCC crowds these days are very healthy. Some work is needed on the support races but well over 25,000 on each Sunday with some circuits getting way more. ITV4 give great coverage and it is a good family day out.

[Chrisgr31]

belleair302 said:

BTCC crowds these days are very healthy. Some work is needed on the support races but well over 25,000 on each Sunday with some circuits getting way more. ITV4 give great coverage and it is a good family day out.

Although back in the late 90's one had 35,000 trackside and 2 million watching on BBCs Grandstand coverage and there was plenty of coverage in the national print media.

I know ITV 4 show the BTCC but as far as I am aware they only show it live, whilst I dont have time to watch a days motorsport, and I never know when its going to be on either.