RE: Entries Strong For New FIA GT World Championship
Tuesday 2nd August 2011
The decision of the FIA (who run most of world motorsport) and the ACO (who organise Le Mans and its associated series) to finally work together already appears to be bearing fruit for global sports car racing, as manufacturers line up to join the new FIA GT World Championship.
Teams representing Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Lamborghini and Nissan will all be back in 2012, (they currently race in the GT1 series), while the FIA and the Stephane Ratel Organisation (which runs the GT1 series)are also confident of bringing Mercedes, Alpina and Chevrolet into the new championship. It'd be a brave man who bets against a Porsche appearing here at some point too...
Entries Strong For New FIA GT World Championship
Could new-look endurance series spark a new golden era for sports car racing?
It's been a confusing couple of decades in sports car racing, with numerous series under numerous names run by numerous organisations. Now, however, there will be just two major series - the FIA World Endurance championship (which will stick to longer races - and involve Le Mans Prototypes) and the FIA GT World Championship (which will continue with shorter 'sprint' races).
The new series will consolidate the current GT1, GT3 and GT4 cars, and work is well underway on how to equalise the performance of cars which currently compete in different classes.
Discussion
Am I the only one who read this and thought: About bloody time.
Still, don't want to be negative.
This is brilliant news. I used to follow WSC second only to F1. I still think the best racing I ever saw was the hour and an half of the Donnington race in 89 between the Jags and Mercs, with the Aston putting in a bit of a show. The only downside was it was a 6-hour race.
What will be important is the television coverage. One would assume that this would be uppermost in the mind of Todt whose income from F1 has recently ended.
FIA and ACO eh? Who'd have thought. Signs of the times I suppose.
Will this mean the ACO will be part of the FIA? Stranger things have happened. I think.
Still, don't want to be negative.
This is brilliant news. I used to follow WSC second only to F1. I still think the best racing I ever saw was the hour and an half of the Donnington race in 89 between the Jags and Mercs, with the Aston putting in a bit of a show. The only downside was it was a 6-hour race.
What will be important is the television coverage. One would assume that this would be uppermost in the mind of Todt whose income from F1 has recently ended.
FIA and ACO eh? Who'd have thought. Signs of the times I suppose.
Will this mean the ACO will be part of the FIA? Stranger things have happened. I think.
This must surely make an attractive proposition to replace the BBC's F1 coverage? Most viewers are casual fans and I'm sure they'd relate more to the supercars they can aspire to own. The deal would be cheap and would tick most of the same boxes for most viewers. Plus the racing should/could be great without the need for KERS, DRS and other Mario Kart nonsense.
I longed for the FIA GT1 World Championship and when it got here, well let's just say it wasn't as good as it could have been. Ratel, head of the SRO decided that there had to be 4 cars from each marque with two cars per team which sounded great but they struggled to attract 6 manufacurers and ended up having to grandfather some of the older GT1 cars to get a grid. This year Maserati have pulled out, Corvette have effectively pulled out leaving just 16 cars on the grid from 4 manufacturers. Ford, Nissan, Aston Martin and Lamborghini.
Chevrolet as mentioned in the piece above don't make a GT1 Corvette any more it is now GT2 after the ACO announced that GT1 would no longer be eligable for Le Mans. So why they would want to revert back to GT1 just for this which they have never supported would seem unlikely.
I really hope that the SRO can bring together the GT classes and produce a true GT1 but I suspect that at best the new GT1 will only be as good as the old GT2, i.e. they will re-design the rules to classify GT2 as is as "new GT1". They have already re-designated "old GT2" as GT3 so this would make perfect sense..........
Chevrolet as mentioned in the piece above don't make a GT1 Corvette any more it is now GT2 after the ACO announced that GT1 would no longer be eligable for Le Mans. So why they would want to revert back to GT1 just for this which they have never supported would seem unlikely.
I really hope that the SRO can bring together the GT classes and produce a true GT1 but I suspect that at best the new GT1 will only be as good as the old GT2, i.e. they will re-design the rules to classify GT2 as is as "new GT1". They have already re-designated "old GT2" as GT3 so this would make perfect sense..........
Gruffy said:
This must surely make an attractive proposition to replace the BBC's F1 coverage? Most viewers are casual fans and I'm sure they'd relate more to the supercars they can aspire to own. The deal would be cheap and would tick most of the same boxes for most viewers. Plus the racing should/could be great without the need for KERS, DRS and other Mario Kart nonsense.
This.My main concern is that because it doesn't feature rappers and past-it models on the grid, people might not warm to it. I would love the BBC to take something else up in the absence of F1 and this surely is the perfect alternative. All the tracks, aspirational cars, proper racing.
I can't say I'm very keen on the idea of consolidating ALL the classes into 1.
GT3 and GT4 currently run with huge fields, whilst the appeal of GT1 is that the cars are big and fast.
To make the GT1s compete with GT3 you're going to have to make them heavier or strangle their air intakes.
Also, if these are sprint races, are we going to get two 1 hour races a weekend for GTs instead of 2 for each class?
I'll reserve judgement, but I'm not convinced this is a good thing yet.
M.
GT3 and GT4 currently run with huge fields, whilst the appeal of GT1 is that the cars are big and fast.
To make the GT1s compete with GT3 you're going to have to make them heavier or strangle their air intakes.
Also, if these are sprint races, are we going to get two 1 hour races a weekend for GTs instead of 2 for each class?
I'll reserve judgement, but I'm not convinced this is a good thing yet.
M.
marcosgt said:
I can't say I'm very keen on the idea of consolidating ALL the classes into 1.
GT3 and GT4 currently run with huge fields, whilst the appeal of GT1 is that the cars are big and fast.
To make the GT1s compete with GT3 you're going to have to make them heavier or strangle their air intakes.
Also, if these are sprint races, are we going to get two 1 hour races a weekend for GTs instead of 2 for each class?
I'll reserve judgement, but I'm not convinced this is a good thing yet.
M.
I'm with you here. I enjoyed the days of separate classes when they were sustainable and not fill in spots like what is happening in ALMS with the LMPC and GTC classes. I long for the GT1/GT2/GT3 formula's where each class was distinct, attracted their own set of teams, and needed no fill-in's to stack the grid. GT3 and GT4 currently run with huge fields, whilst the appeal of GT1 is that the cars are big and fast.
To make the GT1s compete with GT3 you're going to have to make them heavier or strangle their air intakes.
Also, if these are sprint races, are we going to get two 1 hour races a weekend for GTs instead of 2 for each class?
I'll reserve judgement, but I'm not convinced this is a good thing yet.
M.
We get no coverage here in the states of FIAGT. Even ALMS coverage is spotty at best this season with their decision to move it too the web (ugh). Right now, GT3 and British GT are the two, most exciting series going. GT1 is lackluster at best.
I think a prototype class (perhaps there is even room for the old LMP1 and LMP2 formulae), and two GT classes (GT1 and GT2 (which would consist of the current GT3 cars)) would be ideal as long as they didn't drop the lower GT class into the GT4/Supercup car territory. There is simply too much disparity in performance from both the cars and the drivers to justify running an amateur, weekend racer in a Supercup car at the same time as the Audi's and Peugeot's of LMP1.
Nice for the two rival series to finally look to be playing nice but let's see how long it lasts. It has a certain amount of 'I'll believe it when I see it' aspect to it.
article said:
Teams representing Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Ford, Lamborghini and Nissan will all be back in 2012, (they currently race in the GT1 series)
Audi, BMW & Ferrari aren't currently in GT1 are they?Most of the above currently run in GT3 anyway. Alpina could get back in pretty easily I'd have thought. If they can somehow shoehorn the GTR or the 370Z in, then job done:
- Aston (Vantage)
- Audi (R8)
- BMW (M3 or Z4)
- Ferrari (458)
- Ford (GT)
- Lamborghini (Gallardo)
- Nissan (GTR or 370Z)
- Alpina (B6)
- Jaguar (XKR)
- Mercedes (SLS)
- Porsche (911)
- Chevrolet (Corvette)
ETA:
- Mclaren (MP12-4C)
Edited by BraveSirRobin on Tuesday 2nd August 15:20
I might be wrong, but I suspect the bit about equalising performance might have been misunderstood somewhere along the line.
I reckon it probably means equalising the performance of cars from different series rather than different classes.
Either way, exciting stuff.
As for the 'glamour' - if a mainstream broadcaster gets behind it then the money it brings will bring the gloss of F1 with it. Although that is a notorious series-killer anyway, see BTCC.
I reckon it probably means equalising the performance of cars from different series rather than different classes.
Either way, exciting stuff.
As for the 'glamour' - if a mainstream broadcaster gets behind it then the money it brings will bring the gloss of F1 with it. Although that is a notorious series-killer anyway, see BTCC.
Gruffy said:
This must surely make an attractive proposition to replace the BBC's F1 coverage? Most viewers are casual fans and I'm sure they'd relate more to the supercars they can aspire to own. The deal would be cheap and would tick most of the same boxes for most viewers. Plus the racing should/could be great without the need for KERS, DRS and other Mario Kart nonsense.
Apparently the revamped WRC is after a terrestrial contract, so maybe a latter-day 'Top Gear Motorsport' (could even rope in Hammond, Clarkson and May for some occasional wry commentary, although a professional motorsport anchor would be needed) could have a mixture of GT racing and WRC, plus whatever else they could find in a 'roundup' session.Pieces on various teams would be good too - Hammond's section on the ex-army amputees rally team was an excellent, poignant piece of reporting, and things like that, focusing on the grass-roots coal-face of motorsport to break up the glitz would be an extra string to TG's bow.
Twincam16 said:
Gruffy said:
This must surely make an attractive proposition to replace the BBC's F1 coverage? Most viewers are casual fans and I'm sure they'd relate more to the supercars they can aspire to own. The deal would be cheap and would tick most of the same boxes for most viewers. Plus the racing should/could be great without the need for KERS, DRS and other Mario Kart nonsense.
Apparently the revamped WRC is after a terrestrial contract, so maybe a latter-day 'Top Gear Motorsport' (could even rope in Hammond, Clarkson and May for some occasional wry commentary, although a professional motorsport anchor would be needed) could have a mixture of GT racing and WRC, plus whatever else they could find in a 'roundup' session.Pieces on various teams would be good too - Hammond's section on the ex-army amputees rally team was an excellent, poignant piece of reporting, and things like that, focusing on the grass-roots coal-face of motorsport to break up the glitz would be an extra string to TG's bow.
The thing about the ex-army amputees rally was massively poignant but, IMO, that had absoloutely nothing to do with Hammond.
An hour long motorsprot round-up show would be a nice idea though - Mobil 1 The Grid is often quite interesting (when you can find it on the schedules).
Gassing Station | General Motorsport | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff