View Single Post
Old 13 Jul 2012, 09:59 (Ref:3105959)   #668
old man
Veteran
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
England
UK
Posts: 2,007
old man should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridold man should be qualifying in the top 5 on the gridold man should be qualifying in the top 5 on the grid
It is really not difficult to see the reason, too many GT series in Europe, the opening part of the DSC comment says it all. Given the entry fee for this series and the overall costs the only bonus is the guaranteed entry at Le Mans if you do well enough. That in itself is removed when the ILMC/WEC series entry gets you in at Le Mans anyway even if you are not really qualified.

Enthusiasts that back private teams with their own money have always been the lifeblood of GT racing and there are now too many organisers competing for the entries and too many classes to dilute the interest of such people. GTE pro, GTEam, GT3, GT4, series where they simply mix them up, some let works cars in some don't and so on. GT racing has been so successful it is now a real dogs breakfast and someone needs to get a grip of it, call all the series organisers together and limit the number of allowed packages. That someone has to be the FIA, they are the licensing body.

ELMS should be the pinnacle that the teams aim for, the likes of Ratel, Peter and the ACO have become greedy for their own series. The LM24 is the ultimate goal for all those who want to race a GT car but there the growth of the LMP classes is pushing interest away from GT's, even Radio Le Mans had little time for the GTs this year and only gave info on the top 3 in each class on most occasions when I heard them comment on GTs. Time was when organisers were thankful for GT entries to make the grid viable but in hard times the costs put many off so a race like the Donington one would have enticed entries with start money. Now they could not afford enough to make a difference.
old man is offline  
Quote