Quote:
Originally Posted by Simmi
Interesting to see commentator Martin Haven currently castigating the ILMC on twitter.
|
Had a quick read and disagree with a number of points.
Last years Sebring was the poorest for many a year, the LMS and ALMS both lost factory support and without a major change in strategy both would have been lost to the sport at a time series like F1 and the WRC are expanding into new markets.
We had a similar scenario in the mid-to-late 90's when Le Mans was packed with manufactuers who one by one they left as they could not justify multi-million dollar budgets for a single race. Today we have Audi and Peugeot back with more commitment to be joined by Aston and the beginings of interest from Honda, Toyota, Nissan and Lotus not to mention the GT field.
Back to the LMS, it began with the notion of bringing back classic events but they are only classic's if you have the top cars in the world competing. Furthermore the director/organisor of the ILMC stated the LMS could not afford some of the more prestigous circuits resulting in the calander changing often. The financial clout the ILMC has enabled the series to return to Italy, deals were sorted for Sebring and PLM and I would guess events in Germany and South America are around the corner.
You often hear about the cost of globetrotting and I don't deny it's an issue but travel is becoming easier, worldwide communication is instant and with global manufactuers and sponsors they need global reach. If you don't rely on those factors you can get along fine but the series will resemble the LMS leaving those of us who missed out on the height of Group C to dream of the days factory squads battled it out around the world.