Quote:
Originally Posted by Akrapovic
GTE has always been a development class. It was always about who developed the best car - that's what a development class is.
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it used to be about which manufacturer built the best car---the cars were tuned up, lightened to whatever amount was allowed, and sent out to represent the manufacturer.
Then at some point the manufacturers realized that cubic dollars were impossible to beat ... and no matter how much they spent odds were three or four to one that a different manufacturer would win.
No factory wanted to spend a fortune and be fourth ... so the class stopped being about whoever built the rest road car, and became about how built the best racing version of a road car.
"Development," as in race-to-race modifications, have been less and less important each season, as the race cars grew more and more divorced from the road cars---again development is Very expensive and is all gambling. As the cost of building a racing version of a road car steadily increased, manufacturers wanted less and less chance they would be uncompetitive---so they wanted less development.
GTE, GT2 ... was Never a development class. it was always a waiver/BoP class. No way a 328 and a Vette and a BMW sedan could run equally unless Everyone was emasculated, and then performance dribbled back in drip by drip.
Once Bop is introduced, development is pointless ... because if a team comes up with something really good, the car will be tuned back down. The series wanted BMW, even if BMW didn't build a sports car. They wanted those Dodge Vipers, even if they were crude and unbalanced and could never compete with a Ferrari in a Real race.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Akrapovic
It has a defined set of technical regulations, and manufacturers build the car to fit into those regulations, and the best car wins. It was never meant to be about race to race BOP - that's just what it has become.
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This is totally inaccurate. Each manufacturer builds whatever car it can sell to its market: for BMW, sport sedans, for Corvette, front-engined two-seaters, for Ferrari, a smallish, mid-engined two seater---and then the series balanced them out.
It has nothing to do with building the best car the rules allow---it has everything to do with building a racing version of whatever car the manufacturer can sell successful for street use, and having the series BoP it. Remember BMWs with transaxles? Z4s with V8s?
GT has not been about who built the best GT car and then adding safety gear and racing them all ... for decades. Waivers and weight breaks and BoP is what the class is about.
if it really was about what you say ... only the Ford GT would be part of the class. It is the only car built to maximize the rules, with no concern for marketability, or rather profitable marketability.[/quote]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Akrapovic
What you're describing is GT3 - that has no real technical regulations and uses the concept of performance boxes - the car has to 'fit' into 'boxes', and when it doesn't, it's BOP'd up or down to adjust so it then fits. BOP is absolutely fine for GT3 (IMO) because that's what the entire class is based around. The fact a customer can buy almost any GT3 car, for around the same price, and know for a fact it'll perform decently well, and if it doesn't then it can be made to. That's great for customer racing. But that isn't great for factory racing.
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if you really see a huge difference between GTE (GTLM) and GT3 (GTD) then you need glasses.
GTE is just GT3 with more performance added---more developed (but still homologated, NOT developable) aero, but still totally manipulated and totally performance balanced.
A "development" class would be a class where a team could change the car between races to make it faster, without getting penalized for performance. Name any major road racing class except P1 and F1 where that holds true?