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Originally Posted by alfacors
Likely to be live streaming and the 3 hour highlights again. Hopefully the live coverage we had on Speed as well (not that I have it, I will watch it live in person instead).
I would have thought the Invitiational Class would be subject to the Organiser's approval - i.e. you can just run anything you like, it would still need to "fit" with the event. So possibly no 7L versions of existing Class A eligible vehicles for example.
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Inclusion for any competition special is likely dependent on whether the car has potential to compete with GT3 entries on outright pace. Seems this would be grounds for exclusion, considering any factory participation is likely dependent on potential for outright victory.
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Originally Posted by alfacors
End of August is still almost 4 months away, so plenty of time to line up a sponsor. And to save $5500, a lot of teams will love to save that and spend on tyres/fuel/parts/accomm etc. Or simply save it completely.
Relaxing of the tyre regs is a step in the right direction. Not too many radical changes at once. If we can get a grid of say 35-40 cars I think it would be a real spectacle. Hopefully more 458s as they sound mega. TV coverage and internet coverage cannot convey how good they sound. Far more "race" sounding than anything else.
Will Audi Sport be back? Black Falcon? Clearwater? Maybe some of the Asia based teams? Maybe some Carrera Cup Asia teams?
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The participation of which ever factory affiliate Audi elect to field is, as far as I'm aware, entirely funded by Audi Australia. They seem to consider the event a pretty decent showcase.
If someone's willing to fund their participation, Black Falcon will return. Considering they'll likely be within the region a few weeks before the event, it's within the realms of possibility.
Realistically, the event organisers should have been targeting European and Asian competitors from the outset, for reasons stated in the 2012 event thread:
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Originally Posted by R4z3rw33n
It's probably worth noting the event promoter's objectives there aren't 100% connected with reality; Arab teams traditionally haven't spent a great deal of money competing abroad (exempting individual operators - e.g. Al Masood, Bin Laden - via third-party operations) in recent years.
Any European (GT3) factory-affiliate teams competing in races within the UAE have primarily attended as a result of third-party funding - local amateurs have significantly funded their presence (e.g. Bin Laden, Al Qubaisi).
They've prioritised the wrong region - at least for certain competitors.
This isn't to say it hasn't secured any competitors (e.g. United Autosports - their presence being connected to this is questionable, though). It just hasn't been a significant volume.
Our neighbouring Asian states are (or, should be) realistic targets. Malaysia, China and, potentially Japan, should have been targeted to a much greater extent. Regardless of whether the entries gained are Porsche Cup runners or, GT3 packages - there's a significant volume of runners, interested in competing elsewhere.
Clearwater is a fine (albeit likely minority) example.
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