Quote:
Originally Posted by deggis
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Ford is probably the one manufacturer where having a common set of regulations is a big deal — if it existed, they are easily the most likely to run full time in both the WEC and IMSA. It's hard to see the other manufacturers identified so far as possibly being interested in what the ACO/WEC are proposing as having season-long efforts in both series if a common prototype reg were adopted. WEC plus Daytona? Sure. WEC plus NAEC? Maybe. WEC plus the full IMSA season? Unlikely.
And that's the thing that a lot of people are missing here. IMSA plus Le Mans or WEC plus Daytona is nice and some manufacturers and teams would certainly take advantage of that under a common set of top-class.
But it's not enough. What both series really are looking for is full-season entries — cars that show up at Daytona in January but also at Mid-Ohio in May and Mosport in July (IMSA) or at Le Mans in July but also at Silverstone in August and Fuji in October (WEC). The big question, the question the ACO/WEC and IMSA are asking themselves, is how do these regulations help them fill the grid for run-of-the-mill races.
So it comes down to two things:
• Are there other manufacturers or teams besides Ford who see a common set of rules as an absolute requirement to enter and would then race
full-time in both IMSA and the WEC?
• And are there manufacturers or teams for whom the ability to race at the other series' big race would be the tipping point to enter one series full time i.e. someone who said we'd race in the WEC but
only if common rules existed so we could also do Daytona? (Or NAEC.) Or someone who said we'll come to IMSA but
only if common rules also allow us to run Le Mans but who has no interest in the rest of the WEC season.