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Sadly, most sportscar fans hate most Tilke Grade 1 tracks (I think the only thing keeping Watkins Glen from being a full Grade 1 is the lack of F1 or LM style garage stalls built next to the pits), and the Middle East doesn't exactly have a car/motorsports culture.
I'm not a fan of the sanitized Grade 1 tracks, but they're the only tracks that are guaranteed to have LM pit garages (though LM itself is a Grade 2), and all the stuff the ACO's VIPs want.
And I do agree with Akrapovic's concerns that if things go upside down in the Middle East, the race could be there today, gone tomorrow, which we're already there (albeit for different reasons) for COTA and Mexico City. And I know that spectator numbers haven't been good for COTA or Bahrain. And we know that Bahrain is on the schedule because the royal family is willing to pay for it, which is why the WEC hasn't raced at Yaz Marina.
A lot of this is basically a Bernie Eccostone money grab. Notice how when Liberty Media took over FOM that they're trying to move back to some of the more traditional races vs where the easy quick money lays. The ACO really need to take a lesson from that, and not just for the races on the schedule. They made money grabs by keeping Audi as long as they did, and getting Toyota and Porsche, whilst screwing privateer teams and creating rules that kept other factory teams out.
And right now, we've gone from three factory teams (two if you want to lump Audi Sport and Porsche Motorsport as part of VAG), to two, and if rumors are to believed, we might be down to one as soon as the end of the season. Though it's just rumors at this stage, John Dagys has said that some ominous news will be coming soon, and Hindy at RLM/Midweek Motorsports has been dropping hints that Porsche's future isn't certain beyond the end of this season.
Yeah, a new race is a new race, and hopefully the Kuwait track is good, and there's some good news on the privateer LMP1 front, but there's reasons to be negative or suspicious/worried about the future, too.
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