Just a thought...

[Lee Janotta]

I was just thinking, with sports car being treated as second-class to open wheel racing these days, what would people here say to a rethink of a World Sportscar/GT championship, one that would really have an identity all it's own from F1 or any of that.

Classes would be similar to the current ones. LMP900 and GTP would be put into one closed-roof prototype class, GTP, while the LMP675 cars (which would remain at their current weight, instead of the ridiculous increase), would keep their open tops and be called SRP.

GT would become GT3, GTS would become GT2, and would be revised so that chassis more closely resembled homologated, standard production cars, hot-rodded for racing (ie, a Speed World Challenge-style Corvette with a 7.0L engine crammed under the hood). A new GT1 class would be created for low-production supercars, requiring 25 copies of the car a year, or a total of 200. But these cars would be allowed to _really_ stretch their legs, instead of being hamstrung like the Saleen and Pagini are in GTS.

The thing that would really set this apart from F1, or anything else, would be the circuits. Being that these are obstensibly modified road cars, or prototypes for road car technology development, the circuits used will mostly be public roads. Essentially, all circuits would be no less than 7 miles a lap. I'm talking the full Nurburgring, some manner of revival of the Targa Florio and Mille Miglia, the original Watkins Glen circuit, the old Brno circuit, Montlhery, etc.

Not a reasonable proposition with the current leadership in the FIA, but it may be at some future date. As we make the cars safer, it could become reasonable to add some element of risk back into the circuits.

It'd certainly draw a crowd!

[Fab]

Two thoughts about you - excellent - ideas :

- the biggest problem for sportscar is not passion, but money : it's expensive to build a good car for long races, and it's the lack of money that leads to two areas (ALMS one side, Europe the other side, not talking about Japan)

- the tracks : Pescarolo, last year, talking about what will be the Le Mans Tournament in 2004 (well, maybe !), named Silverstone, Spa, Monza and Estoril... lots of F1 places, for a man devoted to sportscars... odd, isn't it ?

[Lee Janotta]

Originally posted by Fab
lots of F1 places, for a man devoted to sportscars... odd, isn't it ?

Yeah. More of the boring, politically correct, uncreative, safety-oriented thinking that's just about ruined auto racing. Why does Europe have more than 20 tracks if those are the only ones major series will ever go near?

I know it's money that really limits sportscar racing, but it's really been turned second-class, and quite deliberatly so, by the FIA leadership.

It's my firm belief that auto racing has been thinking "small" for too long. Everything's been scaled down, hacked apart, restricted, Tilke-fied... Whoever's got the balls to put the spectacle back into the sport could really have an opportunity. The FIA needs someone like Hans Stuck in charge, someone who'll say to drivers "You think it's too dangerous? Fine, the race starts in ten minutes. It's your choice."

I don't want to see people getting hurt, but I'm sick to death of the spoiled primadonnas in F1, and the safety-obsessed syncophants Bernie surrounds himself with. They're really ruining it for all of us.

[Fab]

BTW, I'm not sure that this sport is as sick as a lot of other sports (I don't dare name which ones !)...

[Osella]

Fantastic idea, Lee!

Obviously sportscars would be more popular than F1 if they were run like this. They were popular before, without TV, just think what could be acheived now...

You're spot-on about the classes too.

[Tim Northcutt]

There's a lot to be said for closed-top cars, but I would prefer the option in either of the LMP classes....

I like being able to see the drivers, their helmets, etc...(of course, I grew up watching open-cockpit, open wheeled racing)

Otherwise, this sounds spot on for a solid approach....

I would have to agree with Fab, though....the cost to race on many continents is what makes F-1 so outrageously expensive...the "shoestring budget of the Minardi team is a little over $50 million!!!!

Maybe look at an American Division (ALMS), a European Division (FIA-SSC), and take the Top 5-10 Teams from each series and in each series' classes for "Tournament" or All-Star" races (4 per year - two in Europe and two in North America)

Le Mans would remain the same as tradition would require...

[Tim Northcutt]

Another Thought:

For these "All-Star" Races, run the Two LMP Classes together in 4 hr. or 6 hr. races on the Sunday of the Weekend, and the GTS and GT cars together in four hour or 6 hour events as the Saturday races, with the previous week for testing, qualifying, etc. and definitely invite the Top Ten teams in each class for these events....

30-40 LMPs on a Sunday, plus 30-40 GTS & GTs running on a Saturday and various sessions during the week would truly make it an "All-Star week" of great racing...the logistics would be no different than the way NASCAR runs many of their race weekends every year...

Take the respective FIA-SSC and ALMS seasons and divide by four to determine at which points the "Top Ten" are determined for the four "All-Star" or Tournament races....

Also...Hit up some big Multi-National Corporations that would normally sponsor a full racing series and have them sponsor the "All-Star Series" as a package....

An Oil company (Exxon, AMOCO, etc) would be my first approach...and have them be the fuel supplier for the series....

[Lee Janotta]

The problem with getting a sponsor for the series, is that it means that sponsor, and all competing sponsors, are unavailable for the teams! So if you have an official fuel supplier, say Exxon, then teams can kiss BP, Elf, Shell, Sunoco, Holland Oil, and all the other competing brands goodbye as potential sponsors!

[BSchneiderFan]

Regarding the proposed Le Mans Tournament for 2004, what about:

Spa-Francorchamps
Jarama
Brands Hatch GP
Most
Monza
Nordschleife (I know, I know, but still...)