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One thing I worry about is the safety of tack-on roll bars. The chassis wasn't designed for it. I am not sure how deep onto the monoque the tubes run. It appears they hacked the original hoop off, so who knows how well this one will protect the driver?
After Alboreto's accident, I am inclined to think a full steel roll cage and roof is the best answer. Sure, I like the coupes alot better, but that doesn't affect my judgment on this. Ok, maybe a little, but I've seen alot of coupes land on their lids and the guys walked away.
A roll bar can dig in and get ripped off, but a roof is more likely to bounce or slide. Plenty of guys got 962's upside down at big speeds, but everyone came out ok. We have seen Laurrari and Bell both go upside down at big Daytona speeds, but they are still with us. And remember the twin flipping Nissans at Road Atlanta in '92? How about the Mercedes aerobatic team?
Nearly everyone wants to see the roofs on, and I think that would not only kill offf the ugly roll bar controversy, but inprove safety too. I was at the historics at Sebring and saw a wheel weight absolutely smash a headlight cover. What theat would do to a visor or helmet doesn't bear thinking about.
Besides that, a good look at the history of sportscar racing shows the cars and crowds are at their biggest and best when they run coupes. LeMans 98 is a good example of a bumper crop of cars and most were coupes. Compare that grid to the seven open topped prototypes at sebring.
I think people tend to identify more with the coupes because it represents something that looks like a road car. The LMP's just don't do it. I don't want to see the spyders banned because the history of sportscar racing is full of great cars like the Ferrari 312pb, Matra 670B and the 936, but when you compare that to the 917, 956 days, well, no comparison.
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