to your corners

[slicktoast]

Don't you think it's about time that ALMS separate the LM cars from the GT cars?

[Jared]

No, it's time to implement penalties for idiotic driving by both the GT and LMP drivers.

Read this: http://www.supersportscarworld.com/c...0/vegas004.htm

Part of sports car racing is having cars of differing performance levels on the track at the same time. The drivers must be disciplined enough to be fast but not make idiotic mistakes, like hitting slower cars.

Now that the races have become sprints from start to finish, the drivers try to gain time by bashing the GT cars out of the way. That needs to be penalized, either through taking money or championship points away from the offending driver, or probations/suspensions.

[Liz]

A very well written article. Capello is one of my favourite pilots but he is beginning to think he is Yvan Muller out there - or Schumacher: "I am the champion and I dare you to do anything about me." They need to do something about this before someone is killed (for example, Gounon). Laguna Seca looked like a BTCC race and at those speeds it is insane.

[BMWRacerITS]

Heck no.

Sportscar racing wouldn't be sportscar racing without the traffic.

Besides, squeezing two seperate races into a weekend would be nearly impossibly. Sponsors would leave as well, as the TV viewership would go down as well. Both races would take too long to watch and the action would be more boring as well.

I have yet to hear a good reason for seperating the classes other than "less wrecks." Who cares!?! If you play with the big boys, you gotta expect big consequences.

I personally love racing in traffic, even though I drive a relatively slow race car. It adds excitement, and rewards those who are keely aware of everything going on around them.

[Jared]

Good point. Does anyone remember the 1996 and 1997 IMSA/PSCR races where they split them up? There were only 10 Prototype cars and around 20 GT cars (including GTS and GT). Unfortunately, even with the improvements Don Panoz has brought, car count hasn't exactly risen much. There are only around 40 cars starting each race.

About the traffic: I feel it makes the GT drivers better, since they have to pay attention to everything that is going on around them. (I don't know this for a fact, just my humble opinion.)

[TheShadow]

What sponsors would leave? If anything, GT teams would have a better chance at getting sponsors if they had their own race.

I am not saying that with the small car counts that the field should be split up. However, the problem right now is that the only in focus time for most GT cars is when they are punted off the track by an LMP car.