Quote:
Originally Posted by Coach Ep
Not next season, all races will be 6 hours. Perhaps in 2013, Donington could work, it´s a place with a lot of heritage. Monza would be my favorite option, shame there is no Le Mans race (WEC or ELMS) there anymore (same can be said of Germany). Finding an appropriate date on the crowded schedule is a bigger problem...
Auto entries earned at the Petit is now an obvious difference between ALMS and ELMS, hopefully the ACO will realize that too and will adjust that in the proper way - and that´s not by taking away the Petit auto entries! (but I would not be surprised - in the light of the recently developed ´stressed´ relationship between the ACO and ALMS - if they do....).
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Yeah, obviously this would be for 2013 or beyond and who knows if the *LMSes will even be around then. As for the auto invite issue, I think whether Petit remains an auto-invite race is a big question. We'll have to see about that. Regardless, teams (at least non-factory teams) that don't get an auto-invite one way or another almost have to count themselves out of Le Mans with the WEC taking a large chunk of the spots. I think that puts more pressure on the ELMS (and to a lesser degree the ALMS) to create races with a special atmosphere that aren't Le Mans. Added to that is that there are now a lot of non-LM classes in the ALMS and ELMS. A lot of those teams would like to graduate to the LM classes in the *LMSes or the WEC, but some may like to stay within their non-LM classes. They might like a more premier race too.
But, anyway, with the WEC rumored to be interested in rounds in Russia, Malaysia, and who knows where else, these schedule conflicts and such are almost going to become inevitable. It seems very clear that the *LMSes are going to have to fend for themselves and create an atmosphere that their races are special and not just some kind of third rank sideshow. It's like they need their own Le Mans that isn't Le Mans. Perhaps focusing on some of the classic circuits of the US and Europe is a start. It's difficult with the WEC and Grand-Am grabbing first dibs on a lot of those circuits.