Quote:
Originally Posted by Akrapovic
I'm not sure I agree with that. We had it a lot in GTE. We chucked out long term supporters like JMW because Ford wanted 4 cars, and therefore everyone else wanted 4 cars. I don't consider this an upgrade.
I don't think manufacturers should be allowed to saturate a class for the short term whilst hurting private long term supporters.
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You got me there, JMW were done more than dirty in that exchange.
But I'd make a distinction between privateers with a proven track record of competitiveness (JMW in this case) and an one that, despite what must be the best efforts of the crew, isn't (Kolles). I think the potential removal of Kolles in favour of a privateer 963/499P is more justifiable along those lines than with JMW and Ford ever was. If there was a true privateer that could step up that would be even better than another manufacturer car, but that isn't on the horizon now or in the near future.
Manufacturers are by no means excluded from this - Nissan & Aston Martin for instance should have both been given the boot and had their spots given to more rewarding entries, privateer or otherwise. Unfortunately, it is far easier for a factory to string along the ACO, for various reasons that have been discussed at length since the demise of LMP1-H.