Quote:
Originally posted by Chevyguy
On the other hand, if ALMS can finish off GA, Daytona is back in respectable hands. But then, the cars are too expensive. I'm willing to bet money I'll never have that it will end up costing as much to develop a DP, as it does an LMP. They aren't saving cash, they're just using cheaper cars. Does that make sense?
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First of all, I strongly doubt that the ALMS will ever run at Daytona again in any form, regardless of what happens to the Grand-Am series. Many sportscar fans assume that the France family would suddenly welcome Panoz in with open arms if they can't keep the Rolex going, but I think that's just not going to happen. My guess is that if Grand-Am tanks, the Frances will work even harder to bring down the ALMS in any way possible.
Secondly, it is starting to appear that the reduction in costs represented by the DPs will actually be found mostly on the developmental and operational phases as opposed to the construction phase, contrary to what you suggest. Cole Scrogham, the President of the G&W team that's running the Picchio DP2, said during testing last week that the Grand-Am mandated components and the stock-based engine they are using in the car are so durable that he thinks it will end up being cheaper to run the Picchio for a whole season than a Porsche GT3 RS. It's anybody's guess as to whether that will actually turn out to be true, but if it does it will be very impressive.