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Old 7 Jan 2007, 12:50 (Ref:1808793)   #1
duke_toaster
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duke_toaster should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridduke_toaster should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
Is FIA GT and LMES becoming like NFL vs AFL?

(I wasn't thinking of the who was playing better football side, I was thinking on the need for merger side)

Car counts aren't as high as they could be (60 cars for IGTO I heard somewhere, 35 for FIA GT), the GT specifications are a mess (Mazza MC12 is 3cm to wide for LM24, FIA allows ACO cars but not vice versa ... now they are bickering on what restriction to put on it), FIA are limiting brake discs and engines in an attempt to scythe costs and both are getting 1 bloke that was looking for the wrong meeting in terms of crowds - and there isn't much coverage of either (some FIA GT teams are calling it FBI GT because no-one has heard of the drivers or the championship!) - and GT3 is getting bigger grid counts than FIA GT.

They need a merger before they both implode - like the NFL and AFL would have done if they didn't merge.

There are some big differences (FIA's 2 hour races versus LMES 1000km format, no LMP's in FIA) - but a merged series is possible.

The contracts with tracks would be an issue, and so would the game rights (SimBin aren't even making that year!) and broadcasting rights - but that was overcame for the NFL-AFL merger.

On the classes front, IMO LMP2's should be given bigger holes in their air restrictor and (as AFAIK they were designed to do) become part of an LMP class with both LMP1 and LMP2.

The car count for the combined series would be much larger, the only way of overcoming it in my opinion is having Qualifying on saturday morning and heats in the afternoon. Even numbers of each class in each heat, the 4 cars in each class in qualifying go straight in to the race on Sunday.

Last edited by duke_toaster; 7 Jan 2007 at 12:53.
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Old 7 Jan 2007, 13:00 (Ref:1808802)   #2
Francesco
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they are very different championship and a merger IMHO would be bad for both... FIA-GT is aiming to a full-pro entry list with no gentlemens (FIA-GT3 is for them) and works backed teams... LMS is in great shape and has no need at all to change... IMHO even the sixth round in brazil is not that good...
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Old 7 Jan 2007, 14:38 (Ref:1808856)   #3
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TheNewBob should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridTheNewBob should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
What makes you think there's a bad car count in the LMS? Sorry but this proposal makes no sense. Le Mans Series is healthy and getting better, there's no good reason to merge it with FIA GT.
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Old 7 Jan 2007, 15:58 (Ref:1808878)   #4
Justin Moran
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Justin Moran should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridJustin Moran should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
When the FIA got hold of prototype racing it all but dissapeared back in the old WSPC days. Max Mosely all but destroyed it by enforcing the 3ltr engine size rule and shortening the races to 3hr sprints! Even the the FIA Sportscar series couldnt hold water so leve well alone and let the ACO(with all the associated regs and problems) do their job!
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Old 7 Jan 2007, 17:43 (Ref:1808921)   #5
davemk7
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big rant editied to no, it's not a good idea to merge them, imo.
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Old 7 Jan 2007, 18:36 (Ref:1808953)   #6
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SALEEN S7R should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridSALEEN S7R should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridSALEEN S7R should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
I too would say leave the 2 series alone. However it would be nice to see both series racing at the same venues at the same time sometimes.
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Old 8 Jan 2007, 20:58 (Ref:1809927)   #7
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Any merging should have been done at the end of the 2003 season. The FIASCC had struggled with grid numbers all season, resorting to boosting numbers by allowing an ACO-spec Audi R8 and British GT runners into the Spa round. However, the FIAGT series had a pretty good season in terms of numbers, and a prime position on the super racing weekend calendar. The solution for the FIA would surely have been to merge the two for the 2004 season, since they clearly weren't afraid to let the GTs mix it with the prototypes as they had done at Spa. This would therefore have removed the need for the LMES and we would have had a 4-class european sportscar series parallel to the ALMS. Before long common sense would prevail and the FIA and ACO would have compromised over rules since many of the teams in this series would also be running LeMans.


But that's an opportunity lost. As it stands, the LMS doesn't have all that much to gain from FIAGT right now, save championship status and the proximus 24, but the ACO probably wouldn't want that anyway.
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Old 8 Jan 2007, 21:24 (Ref:1809954)   #8
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Bramzel should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridBramzel should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridBramzel should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
Bad idea indeed. Neither of them is close to implode as you describe, and they offer two different ways of racing.
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Old 8 Jan 2007, 21:43 (Ref:1809962)   #9
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Satorian has a lot of promise if they can keep it on the circuit!
Indeed, I think merging them at this point would be an unnecessary loss of diversity.
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