What is Sportscar (and GT) Racing?

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

The McLaren F1 begs to differ....

Originally Posted by Andy77

LOL yeah ... I remember reading about a Can Am car where it was tried but imediatly got prohibited too. And another occasion where it was measured with some obscure method that the driver seat was a centimeter out of center line and because of that technically legal

..and wasn't Roger Penske's first "sportsracer" a former Formula 2000 or something with the seat in the center with a "trap" door on the side for the second "seat"?
and is sportsracer another term to question, then?

[ubrben]

Originally Posted by TWK

So, the ACO owns the sport? No one, and nothing else counts?

FIA GT isn't endurance racing, that's for sure.

The LMS and Le Mans should be commended for sticking with genuine long distance racing. The ALMS is getting better with Laguna 6 hours on the schedule and having a 10 and 12 hour race on the schedule.

But the point is that if the LMS, ALMS and FIA GT all failed, Le Mans 24 Hours would still exist and is the only race involving sportscars and GTs that would stand on it's own two feet. Sebring to be fair is close all well.

Same applies for Indy 500 and Monaco.

Ben

[NaBUru38]

TWK, English isn't my first toungue, and therefore I can't tell when I must write "grand tourer" and when "grand touring", which I consider synonyms.

[Bob Riebe]

"I have been reading this forum for years.

I love that you all know so much more than me.

So, please, answer ."-- What is Sportscar (and GT) Racing?

A curriculum that used to bring engineering and sport together, to show who had the best idea, whilst separating the men from the boys, but is now dying a slow death.

[old man]

One could argue that Sports and GT racing is where it all began as the first inter city races in France were all for road going cars with two people on board. Single seater cars with narrow bodies and the driver sitting on the centreline of the car came later.

Now we define GT cars as a real, road going car of a sporting nature but this definition gets somewhat blurred when it comes to the top Touring cars, where does the BMW GT2 car really fit?

I would like to define sportscars as open top cars and GT as closed top cars but that does not really work.

The McLaren raced quite legally as a GT car, did they ever ban it for being centre seat?

[Félix]

I don't understand what the problem is with the BMWs for you guys. Where I'm from, an M3 is in the same league as a 911 and a doctor who's looking for a sports car will look at both of them before buying. It does what it's supposed to do, so why should we care about body styles? Hyundais and Scions have sportier body styles but sucky performance, yet they're sold as sports cars, are perceived as such by the crowd they appeal to; but they race with touring cars when they race. Hell, the Beetle was super close to what a Porsche is now, but it didn't have the sportiness so it was never mistaken for a sports car. I think they're defined by what they can run with in the end

(what's really confusing is a mid-engined Kia "touring car)

[Aysedasi]

Man, don't get me going about the BMWs again.....




Dutton - perhaps you'd like to pay your thread a re-visit and enlighten us as to the real reason that you started it......?

[old man]

Felix: I have no problem with the BMW, brilliant cars, I am quite happy to have them in GT racing but they do show how the dividing lines can be rather blurred between Touring and Grand Touring. Point is, does it matter, I think not.

[ubrben]

Is the reason people have issues with the BMW the perceived advantage it has as a "homologation special". In reality the politics between all the manufacturers in GT racing is me first *****iness. The configuration of the M3 just makes that more obvious.

Ferrari have gone 14" in GT2 this year precisely because they thought the air restrictor and mass scaling on 12" rubber didn't offer them a good solution compared to BMW and Porsche in terms of straightline speed. It was basically like LMP675 vs. LMP900; light and nimble vs. quick in a straightline.

I think the comments about sportscar racing dying a death are a little harsh. What we're seeing across the board is a process of evolution and maturation of motorsport as a product. It's innevitable that diversity will go down, but I think the ACO do a pretty good job comared to FOTA/FOM/FIA in F1 and SRO in FIA GT.

Ben

[old man]

When BMW raced the M3 in BTCC it was viewed as a 2 door saloon and was up against the Ford RS500 for example which was also seen as a 2 door saloon. In 1992 they came in the the 318iS and there was lots of talk about this being a special GT car and not a 2 door saloon because none of the body panels were common to the 2 door and 4 door cars. It has long been a grey area but the fact is that their entry to GT2 spices up the class no end

[Tim the Grey]

OK, if we are headed down a Techie Dead End here, let's end the discussion on this aspect right here?

Sportscars and GTs are EXACTLY what the FIA and ACO say they are...

Philosophically, for me, Sportscars are special designs for racing, open or closed, whilst GT cars are high performance road cars, modified for racing.

But hey, what do I know, I've only been watching them for 40 years!

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by ubrben

Is the reason people have issues with the BMW the perceived advantage it has as a "homologation special".

No. Not for me, anyway.