Quote:
Originally Posted by TheMightyM
Are there real logistical issues in staging a 1,500 mile race right after a 12 hour race by a different series? Yes.
Are there likely to be marketing issues? Yes — neither series can come across as the costar here.
Does it come as a particular surprise that an ACO Sebring 2019 race might not happen? No. At best, having both IMSA and the ACO at Sebring is a kind of crazy stop-gap solution and not something that is sustainable long-term. Most people get this — the only question is when the split comes and how much finger-pointing we will see.
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The first point is an easy workaround, nothing's been written to stone (there are no specific regulations for that event yet) that they 100% have to start it at midnight or else the world collapses... if it's problematic they can easily just shift the start time for hour or two or three later.
For costar "issue", they could've - and still could if they wanted - market the event as "Twin 12 Hours of Sebring" or whatever, or integrated the two events into one* as originally inquired by the ACO, but it was IMSA that first started going on about "we want to save the prestige of Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring" etc. That's just the same sort of mentality that destroyed the 2012 race, both sides not listening to each other but acting arrogant about their own product, unlike in 2010 and 2011 for the ILMC.
I know what the reply here is going to be, that IMSA is already doing ACO "free favor" by letting them be there in the first place, but you don't think ACO is not doing the same already elsewhere?
* It's laughable that certain IMSA teams/OEMs/drivers would like to get top billing free-at-charge at Le Mans, but at Sebring it's definite no-no that LMP1 would be there ahead of them. I guess it goes just one way around