Teams from FIA to LMS?

HORNDAWG · 9 Jan 2007, 21:07 (Ref:1810723)

I know of....

Racing Box..............GT-1 Saleen
Team Modena...........GT-1 Aston
Pelbermayr/Proton...GT-2 Porsche

any more???

L.P.

tux · 9 Jan 2007, 21:09 (Ref:1810726)

sorry if im wrong but hasnt team modena been in the lms all season? they did the silverstone fia gt round

SALEEN S7R · 9 Jan 2007, 21:13 (Ref:1810730)

Racing Box isnt really a FIA GT team either, yes they did 1 race but they were hardly a regular entry.

Satorian · 9 Jan 2007, 21:23 (Ref:1810738)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tux

sorry if im wrong but hasnt team modena been in the lms all season? they did the silverstone fia gt round

They've been Cirtek Motorsports before and they work under the Team Modena banner now and provide support for them since 2006 IIRC.
So, it's actually already a 2006 move from FIA GT to LMS I think.

Bramzel is usually really up to date as far as teams and cars are concerned, so he should be able to shed some light on affairs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SALEEN S7R

Racing Box isnt really a FIA GT team either, yes they did 1 race but they were hardly a regular entry.

Right, but between taking their current car to FIA GT or obtaining a new one and taking it to the LMS, they chose the latter. Not really a switch, but rather a prominent decision. Similar could be said about PSI and Luc Alphand and their C6.R's.

Francesco · 9 Jan 2007, 21:45 (Ref:1810761)

team modena is now very different from critek AFAIK...

Satorian · 9 Jan 2007, 21:49 (Ref:1810764)

From the horse's mouth:

Quote:

Team chief Graham Schultz said: "We have created Team Modena with the intention of running a pair of highly-competitive customer chassis in the GT1 class to begin with and have high ambitions for the future. We have assembled an extremely talented management team and have great hopes for next month's LMES opener in Istanbul following the speed shown by our car in testing at Paul Ricard. I am pleased that Cirtek will continue to operate this car under the umbrella of Team Modena - its race-winning pedigree is well established."
http://www.motorsport.com/news/artic...=213470&FS=LMS

SALEEN S7R · 9 Jan 2007, 21:50 (Ref:1810765)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Satorian

Right, but between taking their current car to FIA GT or obtaining a new one and taking it to the LMS, they chose the latter. Not really a switch, but rather a prominent decision. Similar could be said about PSI and Luc Alphand and their C6.R's.

Yes but why choose the LMS? Personally I think it has something to do with the fact that they will be able to perform better in the LMS than FIA GT. As has been said in other threads, FIA GT is for the big professional/factory teams where the LMS is more for the privateers.

Im not saying that PSI and Racing Box werent competitve in the outings that they attended at their home rounds, but I dont really think they would be competitve all season long.

JAG · 9 Jan 2007, 21:57 (Ref:1810774)

If anything, there's more quality in depth in the LMS GT field.

SALEEN S7R · 9 Jan 2007, 22:25 (Ref:1810797)

There is? How do you work that out JAG? I really would be very interested to know. From where Im sitting though the FIA GT Championship has more quality and quantity than the LMS. Thats not to say that some of the LMS teams arent better than some of the FIA GT teams, but overall the FIA GT Championship has the edge.

**Bentley03** · 9 Jan 2007, 23:05 (Ref:1810824)

Quote:

Originally Posted by SALEEN S7R

There is? How do you work that out JAG? I really would be very interested to know. From where Im sitting though the FIA GT Championship has more quality and quantity than the LMS. Thats not to say that some of the LMS teams arent better than some of the FIA GT teams, but overall the FIA GT Championship has the edge.

I wish I could agree with you. I would like to see a strong FIAGT Championship with world class grids, but you simply can't ignore the gradual but steady migration of teams from the FIAGT Championship to the Le Mans Series.

The pendulum is undeniably swinging in favour of the Le Mans Series, both in quality and quantity........

SALEEN S7R · 9 Jan 2007, 23:11 (Ref:1810831)

Let's just wait and see what the first race of the season brings for both series shall we? The entry lists for both series should make for interesting viewing. Yes theres a possibilty that the LMS may have more teams, but whether or not they are better is a differnt matter. Personally I beleive the FIA GT teams are of a higher calibre. The main reason that the LMS is attracting teams at the moment is due to the fact that the calender is mainly European and the budget required is far less of that than the FIA GT Championship.

HORNDAWG · 9 Jan 2007, 23:27 (Ref:1810841)

Quote:

Originally Posted by SALEEN S7R

Racing Box isnt really a FIA GT team either, yes they did 1 race but they were hardly a regular entry.

Racing Box is a FIA race organization. They still have a GT-3 team in FIA and have chosen to bring their GT-1 effort to the LMS!

L.P.

SALEEN S7R · 9 Jan 2007, 23:31 (Ref:1810844)

Yes but considering they were never really in FIA GT they arent taking it from FIA GT into the LMS. they are however taking it from Italian GT to the LMS.

JAG · 10 Jan 2007, 00:53 (Ref:1810879)

LNT, Oreca, Modena, Alphand, Larbe, GPC for starters.

SALEEN S7R · 10 Jan 2007, 01:27 (Ref:1810895)

Okay firstly, all of the above teams were in the LMS last year as well as well as the FIA GT Championship in some cases.

If however you were comparing the level of teams FIA GT has teams exclusive to them who are more than a match for the teams in the LMS. How about these for teams who only compete in FIA GT.

Vitaphone, BMS, GPLK, Zakspeed, AF Corse, JMB Racing.

Hazard · 10 Jan 2007, 02:01 (Ref:1810905)

It's undeniable though that there are less teams in FIA GT1 than their were a few years ago, and the GT1 class in LMS has grown.

That said - GT2 has developed well in both series as well. My personal view is whereas before we had one series more GT, the other prototype based - we now have two series with very strong GT classes considering the number and spread of events (that there are more FIA GT events over a wider area, whilst LMS now has it's strong GT categories for it's fewer European events).

Can't see anything wrong with that.

As for how long that will stay that way is another matter. Obviously with the many rule changes in FIA GT, 2007 will be something of a first time for many teams to assess running costs, competitivity and interest - and not till much later in the season will it be clear if this mean's teams will flock to or from the series.

A balance of teams in each series is good anyway surely? We wouldn't want all the bad ones in one?

Satorian · 10 Jan 2007, 06:58 (Ref:1810992)

Indeed, GT2 developed quite nicely in the recent two years or so.

It is undeniable that the FIA GT has strong and professional teams, and while I am one of those that perceives a slowly developing shift towards LMS, I do think that the FIA GT1 still has a (small) upper hand on the LMS ones. But, should the bigger manufacturers in LMS pitch in and look after professional and extensive TV coverage to make their racing efforts worth it in terms of intended promotion, then I can see the major FIA GT teams jump ship at some point.

FIA GT TV coverage is a joke right now, especially in Germany, which has to be a developing country according to the way it is (not) prioritized on a level with, say, GB or Italy.

AstonGeoff · 10 Jan 2007, 08:27 (Ref:1811034)

satorian - From the horse's mouth

???? Nearly a year ago maybe!!!!

**Bentley03** · 10 Jan 2007, 09:07 (Ref:1811066)

I perceive the FIAGT Championship to be a series in decline, almost in freefall. The teams are voting with their feet to the benefit of other series. FIAGT has lost it's focus and much of it's credibility as the pinnacle of GT sportscar racing.

The Le Mans Series doesn't need more teams, car counts are spiralling upwards and in that respect the Series is thriving. It's going to be a very long and difficult uphill struggle for the FIAGT over the next few years..........

Satorian · 10 Jan 2007, 09:14 (Ref:1811077)

Quote:

Originally Posted by AstonGeoff

satorian - From the horse's mouth

???? Nearly a year ago maybe!!!!

So? Never claimed anything else. I replied to the statement that Team Modena was a very different outfit from Cirtek. Even if under new management, the point was the a former FIA GT team switched over to the LMS.
I haven't heard anything else or new about their makeup in the meantime.

Graham Goodwin · 10 Jan 2007, 09:39 (Ref:1811105)

Perhaps one of the most significant moves is the Proton/ Felbmayer squad - Three GT2 cars in Le Mans Series.

These guys have raced in FIA GT since 1997 - That cannot be good for FIA GT

The reality on Racing Box is that they were very seriously looking at a Maserati entry in FIA GT but have opted for Le Mans Series - The fact that they have done the analysis and decided to go that way is a worrying precedent for FIA GT.

**chunterer** · 10 Jan 2007, 09:48 (Ref:1811114)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham Goodwin

Perhaps one of the most significant moves is the Proton/ Felbmayer squad - Three GT2 cars in Le Mans Series.

These guys have raced in FIA GT since 1997 - That cannot be good for FIA GT

The reality on Racing Box is that they were very seriously looking at a Maserati entry in FIA GT but have opted for Le Mans Series - The fact that they have done the analysis and decided to go that way is a worrying precedent for FIA GT.

I know you are quite probably closer to the subject than me, but I still think we should hang on until entries are released. I doubt we'll see any major reduction in quantity or quality in FIA GT1.

The Felbmayer situation may simply have been driven by them being fed up with getting panned in GT2 for so many years and have finally decided to go and play in a series with longer races for their fun!

Graham Goodwin · 10 Jan 2007, 10:24 (Ref:1811150)

There will doubtless be snakes and ladders here but GT1 seems to be struggling for numbers worldwideby comparison with (for instance) LMP2 - With two major European series (and now very few other European avenues to go and play in GT1) I think we are going to see things polarising very rapidly.

The late move to invite FIA GT winners to Le Mans was very interesting - as were the machinations around FIA GT and Le Mans Series links with Interlagos.

I can't remember a year where there was more news around at this stage in pre-season but astonishingly the vast majority is in prototypes - GT1 is very quiet indeed.

JAG · 10 Jan 2007, 18:34 (Ref:1811651)

The bigger teams like Vitaphone may well move over to the LMS, possibly with a prototype, but FIA GT has to worry equally about Euro GT's (the new series that's covered by Eurosport).

They appear to be following the traditions of BPR GT with privateer friendly regs, TV coverage and calender.

You can run cars that are not fully homologated to ACO/FIA regs and be relatively competitive, as the series is not attracting the biggest teams and manufactuers there appears to to be a happy balance .

**FIRE** · 10 Jan 2007, 19:13 (Ref:1811680)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JAG

The bigger teams like Vitaphone may well move over to the LMS, possibly with a prototype,

It would not surprise me if they switch to LMP1 in 1 or 2 years from now.

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