GT Pro and GT AM

[Audi Racer]

Anyone else believe this may have been the greatest rule change in the history of the sport. It gives such and an incentive for team owners to run a two car team. one car in pro and the other in Am. Felbermayr, Robertson,Neiman are doing it at lemans. Plus since the GT Am requires the use of a year old car the team can sinply buy the 2011 sppec car for the GT Pro drivers and keep the 2010 car for the GT AM. Doesnt flying lizard buy a new porsche every year.

[gucom]

I think it's a great idea. Especially if the ACO keep making it a policy to strive for diversity, also in GTE-Am. If you have a better chance of making it to Le Mans if you run a 2nd hand Lotus, Jaguar, Lambo or something else that isn't a Porsche / Ferrari / Corvette, that will give those privateers who are in it more for the experience of racing at Le Mans than for winning, more of an incentive to buy from the smaller manufacturers, even if the Porsche / Ferrari / Vette may be faster.

That, in turn, will mean there's a much better business case for those manufacturers that don't have the funds to develop a car that's capable of beating the Porsche / Ferrari / Vette efforts in GTE-Pro; those smaller manufacturers get some exposure in GTE-Pro (even if they're not very likely to get the media attention that comes with a win), and get some resale value to cover development costs.

If the ACO fails to promote diversity, I think splitting the class into Pro and Am won't do anything to stop the class from imploding in just a few years time, just like in previous eras when a GT class became the playground of factory teams with ever bigger budgets.

[JAG]

It's a great move, in the last 15 years I closely followed '90's GT1, DTM/ITC, Super Touring and the WRC. All built steadily over a number of years before the pace of development and interest accelerated, problem was in each case it only took a couple of years from their peak seasons before each class was either dead or on their way out.

It's good to see the ACO have pre-emptied this by finding a nice balance between the needs of manufacturer's and smaller privateers. History shows if you wait untill the crisis hits it's difficult to turn that momentum around, if one manufacturer has a good case for leaving you can bet another is in a similar position.

[Simmi]

I think there is (in some areas) a lot of logical thinking coming out of the ACO. I also like what they are doing with FLM/LMPC. Inviting teams to the test, the auto invite etc.

[rich07]

I think its good for the racing and the teams, if a team owner wants to race they can without hurting the pro drivers that they would otherwise share the car with. Its a win win basically, you have GT Pro for the newest cars and the gun drivers and GT AM for the team owners/gentlemen drivers with last year's car who want to participate but also would like some recognition for a good result.

And like Gucom noted it'll be good for resale values as the year older cars will be still competitive in their own class and thus should help the teams financially.

Good move by the ACO.

[The Badger]

Great idea ..... but what exactly is the differance between the cars ?

I understand that the Pro car can be any legal Gt2 , while the AM cars are all pre 2011 . Is that correct ?

For example , the Larbre C6 wcich is an AM car , is last years works cars without any 2011 mods . While the Pro car has all the latest tweeks .

How many PRO drivers are allowed in an AM car ?

[joeb]

Originally Posted by The Badger

How many PRO drivers are allowed in an AM car ?

Well, if there are two drivers only one pro is allowed. But I think the rules for a 3rd driver are similar to the new LMP2 rules, so you can have 2 pros and 1 am if I AM not mistaken. But the exact rules depend on driver status in the gold/silver/whatever categories.

[gucom]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Great idea ..... but what exactly is the differance between the cars ?

I understand that the Pro car can be any legal Gt2 , while the AM cars are all pre 2011 . Is that correct ?

For example , the Larbre C6 wcich is an AM car , is last years works cars without any 2011 mods . While the Pro car has all the latest tweeks .

yup, that's basically it. And in 2012, all the Am cars have to be no newer than 2011 spec, obviously.

That also means that the cars in the 2 classes are running to the same technical regulations (not taking into account any waivers), giving 28 cars all fighting each other on more or less equal footing. So the privateers aren't running in some highly inferior also-ran class; if they beat some of the pro / manufacturer teams, all the more bragging rights to them!

[Fogelhund]

Personally I think this is ridiculous, and am thankful that the ALMS is not adopting this.

[The Badger]

Yeah , they just added one make toy Cup cars to their grids instead.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Yeah , they just added one make toy Cup cars to their grids instead.

And LMS didn't do that with FLM? IMHO that's only a quantitative difference, not a qualitative one.

[Deleted]

I don't mind the concept, but the name is just absolutely horrible... they can't really keep calling it GT2 anymore, for obvious reasons, but single LMGT class would have been better.

"So son, did your favourite car win yesterday?"
"No dad, the leading AF Corse Ferrari was only fourth in the LMGTE Pro category."
"What is this GT E?"
"It's short for Le Mans Grand Tourer Endurance Professional."
"I see."
"It's for GT2 cars. There is also a LMGTE Amateur class, which allows older GT2s, as well as grandfathered GT1s. Plus in the states you can run GT3 Cup spec cars in GTC"
"Okay..."

[JAG]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

And LMS didn't do that with FLM? IMHO that's only a quantitative difference, not a qualitative one.

FLM/LMPC will likely be a short-term move that will be phased out as second hand P2's come onto the market.

If adopted GTE-Pro/Am could enable a team like Risi to bump back upto two cars. The teams year old car can be run for a funded amateur and the team will benefit from sharing the same spares package/data etc. which wouldn't be the case if they were running a 458 in GTC.

[Fogelhund]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Yeah , they just added one make toy Cup cars to their grids instead.

Well, not a big fan of that concept either...

Having said that, it IS the place this Pro/AM concept should be, should it become a more open category. Spec tires, within an open GT"3" ish concept is where the Pro/Am mix should be.

The current GTE Am is kind of laughable, given the (in)ability of some teams to get the best tires, newest parts etc... while other teams cannot.

Having a GT AM in the ALMS would not be of any increased benefit. It is widely known that Risi would support any effort as is, yet outside of Krohn there has never been takers. While going for the kiddie prize might go over well in Europe, it isn't something that has ever been of interest here.

[NightStalk3r]

I Love GTC, especially this year

[JAG]

Upto now a year old car and Pro/Am driving crew would garner you the odd points finish and a pat on the back. Going up against equivalent opposition chasing a title, and the likelyhood of a Le Mans/ILMC entry which the Krohns, Niemans and Tuckers of this world value, is a different proposition.

The BTCC at it's peak still needed a healthy privateer pack to keep grids respectable, hotshots looking to impress factory teams were the exception, most privateers were amateurs so needed the Independents Cup to keep them interested.

Looking back I'm sure most Super Touring fans, a class of car that was raced the world over, wished more was done to cap costs when there was a chance. GTE is too good to let it go the same way because lessons have not been learnt.