Quote:
Originally Posted by Dyson Mazda
There have also been rumors that HPD and Mercedes have looked at the platform with a more privateer driven focus. There were also Bentley rumors for a few months and it would be the perfect platform for Alphine to step out of a Gibson branded P2. It would also be a good place for Peugeot to develop a factory team until they are ready to jump up to an affordable P1 platform.
What Alphine is doing in P2 is a bit of a joke anyways, filling their lineup with all-pro drivers and a Nissan engine and going out and crushing the class.
I still think long term the best option for IMSA is to go P1 (DPi) and P2 (Pro/Am WEC Spec P2) after the PC class dies off at the end of this year.
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HPD - that's already a factory backed program in GTD, why would it be a privateer one in DPi?
Bentley - going to race in a less competitive sub-category to the one that already has two VAG brands makes about as little sense as anything possibly could
Alpine - doesn't even stand to gain anything going from one LMP2 category to another
Peugeot - doesn't stand to gain anything either, Peugeot, Toyota, and Porsche were all competitive in their debut seasons
I don't know why it's implicit that manufacturers should be happier spending money to lose to the LMP1H manufacturers than privateers, because there is no way in hell rebranded, development frozen LMP2s are going to be made as fast.
By the way what Alpine is doing makes perfect sense if you understand the status of the brand. They don't have a product to market, Alpine itself is just a brand awareness exercise right now.