GT1

[chevronb37]

Last year of existing GT1 rules before Ratel's brave new world. Will there be a GT1 class in LMS? Anyone know who is out in FIA GTs this year? I know Jetalliance have pulled out, but Luc Alphand Adventures are migrating from LMS. I hope it's another competitive season.

[nre]

Not seen any entry lists yet but the GT1 class in LMS was miniscule last year, 2 Astons, 1 Corvette and 1 Lambo at Silverstone last year and of those team modena are switching from the Aston to Ferrari 430 for this year iirc. Shame as GT1 was always my favourite category. on the plus side LMP2 went from a tiny grid in '07 to about 20 entrants in '08 so you never know whats going to come around.

Edited by nre on Tuesday 13th January 20:46

[chevronb37]

Yeah, the GT1 grid at Silverstone was woeful - the Alphand Corvette is going over to the FIA series too. I suspect it will be quietly dropped in the not oo distant future...

The last few years have been excellent in the FIA series - Aston, Maserati, Saleen, Chevrolet and Lambo all fighting it out. Almost back to the golden year of 1997 with Soper and Lehto taking the fight to Schneider and Wurz with a backing cast of Panoz, Lotus and Porsche works and privateer cars. I hope some of that magic is rediscovered in the new for 2010 World Championship.

[zebedee]

Its not looking great, but we may see an occasional outing for the Nissan GTR and Ford GT, which together with the Alphand Corvette, could be a fascinating trio on their own.

[chevronb37]

zebedee said:

Its not looking great, but we may see an occasional outing for the Nissan GTR and Ford GT, which together with the Alphand Corvette, could be a fascinating trio on their own.

Yeah, the GT3 Ford is a great piece of kit. And I say that despite having an inherent dislike for the road car. Darren Turner's been testing the GTR hasn't he?

[zebedee]

chevronb37 said:

zebedee said:

Its not looking great, but we may see an occasional outing for the Nissan GTR and Ford GT, which together with the Alphand Corvette, could be a fascinating trio on their own.

Yeah, the GT3 Ford is a great piece of kit. And I say that despite having an inherent dislike for the road car. Darren Turner's been testing the GTR hasn't he?

The GT3 sounds great, can't wait to hear a GT1 version. Anyone presenting an application to the ACO with one of those would surely be let in!

[vetteheadracer]

Believe Graham Nash is running the ex Zakspeed / Peka Racing Saleen in LMS this year. New GT1 rules pushed back to 2011 I believe.

[chevronb37]

zebedee said:

chevronb37 said:

zebedee said:

Its not looking great, but we may see an occasional outing for the Nissan GTR and Ford GT, which together with the Alphand Corvette, could be a fascinating trio on their own.

Yeah, the GT3 Ford is a great piece of kit. And I say that despite having an inherent dislike for the road car. Darren Turner's been testing the GTR hasn't he?

The GT3 sounds great, can't wait to hear a GT1 version. Anyone presenting an application to the ACO with one of those would surely be let in!

The sight of them hammering down the Hangar Straight and into Stowe is just awesome. A GT1 version will be well worth watching.

Graham Nash have run Saleens in the past, haven't they? I hope there is a reaonable grid of cars, all seems quite slow so far. Is anyone running a GT2 AM V8 Vantage?

[zebedee]

Graham Nash have indeed, but I doubt that they will be competitive in anyone's hands other than the likes of Oreca (who modified the cars quite a bit), who really got them going. Then again, its not like there will be much to be competitive against this season by the looks of things. The LMS is where the action will be this year, not the FIA

[chevronb37]

Yeah, I suspect I may end up skipping the Silverstone round for the first time in years. The Saleens are long in the tooth and I don't see where the other entries are going to come from. Did you see there will be two privateer Audi R10s in the LMS this year? Sounds like good news.

[zebedee]

will be good to see them run in private hands, lets hope it entices Peugeot out to play again...

[chevronb37]

Fingers crossed! LMS is a great series now and I hope it stays that way. I'm intrigued by the new Formula Le Mans as well - the car looks good. Albeit, just like a Courage LMP2 car, as one might expect.

[zebedee]

yes, its a good idea, and there should be some good racing, but you can't beat the variety of the LMS field, rather than a one-make series. The prototype classes look intriguing and it will be interesting to see how the baby Astons get on now that it is a proper effort and a properly equalised car, as it seemed to struggle in the ALMS last season

[chevronb37]

I love the miscellany of the LMS series - I usually have little time for one-make formulas, but a 6L V8 and a nice looking car is an appealing concept.

I totally agree re the Aston. It looks stunning and the Porsche/Ferrari battle needs breaking up. I hope the new GT2 Corvette is capable of mixing it too. It's going to be another great season of sportscar racing!

[rubystone]

chevronb37 said:

Darren Turner's been testing the GTR hasn't he?

You are very well informed

[GrahamG]

Perhaps - but there was a picture of him in the car doing the rounds!

[rubystone]

GrahamG said:

Perhaps - but there was a picture of him in the car doing the rounds!

oh sorry, are you talking about Japanese GTs then? Were the pictures taken in Japan?

[GrahamG]

No not Japanese GTs - the new GT1 spec GTR

[xspencex]

GrahamG said:

No not Japanese GTs - the new GT1 spec GTR

Seen it in a Japanese publication. My Japanese is a little rusty but I got the idea they were covering the cars preliminary test programme. They've kept the programme pretty quiet as there has been a lot of negative publicity surounding loss of jobs at Nissan...would seem a little harsh to announce a new racing programme.

[GrahamG]

SHould have read a British Magazine Alistair - we had it before they did (by about 2 months!)