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Old 14 Oct 2012, 00:10 (Ref:3151222)   #71
gucom
Racer
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 254
gucom should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
Hmmm I'm not sure if it's possible to combine the opposed interests of manufacturers looking for exposure and marketing, and gentleman racers looking to be competitive on a budget.

So, how about this idea for a general outline of the ruleset.

First of all, there's a fixed set of rules determining how much you can change the cars, like GTE has nowadays.

Secondly, there's a cost cap: for instance, the highest of either € 300.000, or the homologation car's showroom price + € 50.000. So, if you have a very expensive (and presumably sporty / fast) base car (Ferrari for instance), there's only so much you can do to change it, or you'll exceed your budget. If you have a cheaper (and presumably slower) base car, there'll be a lot of things you can change before you exceed your budget.

The rulebook makes sure no1 really runs away from the rest of the pack, while the cost cap keeps things affordable and reduces the inherent advantage of supercars.

One challenge that I see with this model is how to prevent the manufacturers from selling their cars below cost price; I don't know how this is handled in LMP2, but I assume there're provisions for this? The more these rules would be used internationally, and the more of these cars are being purchased, the costlier it would be to sell your cars below cost price... and the set of rules would mean that even if a manufacturer doesn't mind throwing money at it, their advantage would be limited (GTE currently has no runaway competitors, although much of that might be waiver-related).
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