British GT 2007
Discussion
It seems that the SRO and MSV have again failed to come to an agreement, so it looks like the 2007 season of British GTs will not be visiting Brands, Oulton or Snetterton.
On the Plus Side, some foreign rounds at Spa, Le Mans Bugatti and Knockhill (
) are likely to be added to the calendar.
There are also rumblings of an MSV GT series being in the pipeline.
I've enjoyed the 2006 GT championship's visits to the MSV circuits, and am disappointed that they are not on the bill for 2007.
On the Plus Side, some foreign rounds at Spa, Le Mans Bugatti and Knockhill (
) are likely to be added to the calendar. There are also rumblings of an MSV GT series being in the pipeline.
I've enjoyed the 2006 GT championship's visits to the MSV circuits, and am disappointed that they are not on the bill for 2007.
Truckosaurus said:
There are also rumblings of an MSV GT series being in the pipeline.
What we really don't need is another GT series. The British GT Championship sometimes struggles to realise a decent sized grid and the EERC Britcar series also has wildly fluctuating entry sizes. Yet another series would ultimately dilute the already fairly thin pickings of decent teams out there which would surely be detrimental to teams, sponsors, circuits and spectators alike.
I too enjoy the GT series at places such as Snett and Brands and hope that a deal can be sorted to keep the British GT Championship where it should be, in Britain.
Trackside said:
[quote=Truckosaurus]I too enjoy the GT series at places such as Snett and Brands and hope that a deal can be sorted to keep the British GT Championship where it should be, in Britain.
A trip to Spa, certainly a track missing from the current calendar. And Knockhill, as a British championship, a visit to Scotland should also be on the calendar.
I just hope the calendar doesn't put Mondello or Knockhill right next to Le Mans
V8 Archie said:
Truckosaurus said:
Knockhill
Is Knockhill wide enough for two Ferraris? It's always looked like a really narrow circuit to me.Knockhill has had GT and F3 races a number of times in recent years but it is a little confined for them compared to their usual hunting grounds.
As a rule, although things are slipping of late, GT's also try to overtake without pushing the opponent into the barrier, as it is a proper race series, not a demolition derby for ham-fisted over takers, something it is quite hard to do there.
Have you got a link to the announcement as i couldn't find anything out on the MSV or F3GT websites yesterday afternoon?
someone said:
Have you got a link to the announcement as i couldn't find anything out on the MSV or F3GT websites yesterday afternoon?
It was mentioned at the Drivers' Briefing at the weekend and DailySportscar mentioned it in their write-up. I doubt MSV would announce it at all, and any official SRO announcement would wait until the launch of the 2007 calendar and applications for entries.
Edited by Truckosaurus on Wednesday 30th August 11:44
Truckosaurus said:
It seems that the SRO and MSV have again failed to come to an agreement, so it looks like the 2007 season of British GTs will not be visiting Brands, Oulton or Snetterton.
On the Plus Side, some foreign rounds at Spa, Le Mans Bugatti and Knockhill () are likely to be added to the calendar.
There are also rumblings of an MSV GT series being in the pipeline.
I've enjoyed the 2006 GT championship's visits to the MSV circuits, and am disappointed that they are not on the bill for 2007.
On the Plus Side, some foreign rounds at Spa, Le Mans Bugatti and Knockhill (
) are likely to be added to the calendar. There are also rumblings of an MSV GT series being in the pipeline.
I've enjoyed the 2006 GT championship's visits to the MSV circuits, and am disappointed that they are not on the bill for 2007.
It's my understanding that Knockhill is not one of the options.
Silverstone, Donington, Oulton Park, Snetterton, Brands Hatch and one
foreign circuit. I understand but have not read it myself that the SRO brochure
for the 2007 British GT championship lists all the race dates and venues but
none of them are at MSV circuits!
Before getting too excited about Spa remember the circuit is having major
work done for the GP next year, new pit complex for both F1 pit and
endurance pit, new paddock layout and new much revised La Source.
Work is due to start 1st September and be completed for the GP!
Edited by happy snapper on Wednesday 30th August 12:44
Edited by happy snapper on Thursday 31st August 06:21
I would be the first to admit I am wrong here, but as a driver and team owner running in BGT, this is how I see it. SRO seem to be on a mission to establish a more "European" bent to BGT, they also seem to be trying to make GT3 the predominant class aiming at teams that represent as many varied manufactures as possible yet restricting the numbers of each marque on the grid to provide variety and interest, they don't see 10 plus Porsche's as providing the type of racing that they want to promote and they may have a point. They then seem to want to link BGT to the European national GT series, and through that, to FIA GT thus creating a stairway to heaven so to speak. In essence, I believe that they intend to make the series far more "professional" with a much greater input from teams with manufactures connections and slowly but surely remove the GTC element with it's predominantly Gentleman driver connections. We GTC teams are in fact the backbone of the series, regularly putting between 15 and 20 cars on the grids and as such, SRO are effected by what they consider to be a, shall we say, "less professional attitude" from some of us, for many of us race on very restricted budgets and are there for the fun of it rather then trying to make careers from racing or by running teams. Having said that, there are some very professional GTC teams and some of these will no doubt find it fairly easy to upgrade to GT3 as they currently run young, well sponsored drivers with excellent chances of progressing to the higher levels of Motorsport.
In my view, this is all about slowly changing BGT into a series that promotes as many car manufactures as possible and making it desirable for those manufactures to enter teams with significant budgets and thus re-create BGT as the British/European GT series with all the financial benefits that it will bring. I do however believe that by not including the MSVR tracks in the 2007 season because SRO and MSVR failed to negotiate acceptable terms, it will lessen the interest of some teams in remaining with BGT and the tyre issue is still a factor for consideration.
Where does that leave the current "less ambitious" GTC teams and drivers? Well frankly I don't think they are too bothered about us, we are still needed for the moment as it will take a few years for all this to filter through but in time we will be dropped, as we will no longer fit into the master plan unless we tow the line and upgrade to GT3 and that may beyond the budgets of quite a few of us.
I am not saying that what I think SRO are doing is right or wrong, I'm not in a position to judge, this could be the right direction for them to go but on the other hand it could be a course of action with major pitfalls as it seems to be heavily reliant on the goodwill of the manufactures and the ability of those teams competing to bring in the high level budgets that are needed.
There is now every chance that another GT series will be set up to provide a home for those that want to race in a National series at decent tracks, and on pre developed tyres but this will further increase the pressure on existing GT type race series and could end up spreading teams thinly between any new series, BGT, EERC, and others, perhaps it will herald a new approach to GT racing with teams popping in and out of any given series and cherry picking the rounds they would most like to compete in, who knows !!!!
I think the logical conclusion would be for SRO to concentrate on their core activity, European GT racing and take some of the more ambitious UK teams with them and for MSV and EERC to come to an agreement about running a true British Endurance Championship, with sprint races at bigger MSV meetings (such as A1GP) and longer distance races at EERC meetings.
And F3 could become a true headline act at BARC's Great and British.
Or is that too logical?
And F3 could become a true headline act at BARC's Great and British.
Or is that too logical?
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