Quote:
Originally Posted by Félix
LMP racing is not healthy right now because of the constant (and still undefined) threat of a rule change that can-might-will (we don't know) make your equipment obsolete and cost a quarter of a million minimum to update. Look at the European entry; P2s are more healthy because there are more than 4 old chassis available over there, but P1 is in the single digits, and that's including factory efforts that will also show up in the ALMS at some point. And the Euro championship costs are certainly not the same with only 5 races.
Privateers would have been happy to fill the void (and take the victories) left by Porsche-Audi-Acura in the last few years but didn't because buying soon-to-be-obsolete million-dollar cars wasn't interesting. Hopefully the new rule package will be attractive and set in stone. I'm just not sure mandating such small engines is any good when Americans have always been running big V8s and it's the Europeans who liked to run Cosworth and Judds. There certainly is no home-grown solution for them, unless they go the GT engine route.
GTC and LMPC make up the half of the ALMS this year; keep these competitors happy with fair rule enforcement and they will be happy to stay around and maybe invest when other classes make sense to them. We're lucky GT is a manufacturer-fest because no team owner with expansion plans for this class (AJR, Black Swan, second Robertson Ford with pros, etc.) will pull the trigger until it starts making sense.
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It is, and has always been, the most likely scenario that all current P-1 and P-2 chassis would live through the rule change! Granted there might/will be aero changes imposed to the body works but a large percentage of teams update aero packages regardless. The engines while not identical are capable of being swapped out of the P-1s and installation kits exist as they are in P-2s already, granted not costless but.. The engine rule has been known for quite some time now!! Rules have been postponed being implemented to save teams money, i.e., all the waivers for rear fenders etc.. this year. The FLM, LMPC and GTC ( /-3) have been introduced as an easement into what seems sure to become the 'privateer' classes of the future.
The major problem is the economy and the time it takes to get it headed back the right direction, so far the rules makers have seemed to be aware of that!
As to AJR, GMG, GETG, Primetime etc.. it makes sense for them to be where they are, these teams are being run as ladder programs, period! Blackswan will not be competitive with its current personnel up against the lead GT squads.
L.P.
