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Originally Posted by nafe!
I do agree to a certain degree with the allure/profesionalism argument, and the idea of multiple v8supercar style vehicles in the race does kind of erk me at first but on second thought i also think it would be fantastic.
But it seems we have all forgotten the announcement halfway through the year that Commodore Cup is eligible for the event. Now thats a hell of a long way from the kind of image any of us really anticipate for the event so this decision is a strange one without the background knowledge.
So we have Asian and European teams allowed to enter a mix of completely modified endurance vehicles, and a precedent of the commodore cup cars being eligible. It is trully unfair for them to kick back Mal's entry.
The sad thing is that he does a very good job overseas showing what aussie privateer teams can do with a relatively fast car and gained plenty of respect. But here in his home country at a track synonymous with v8's and at an event that is trying to attract the competition he races against he isnt allowed in.
We sometimes get so obsessed with the with the image and elitesm(spelling?) of european cars that we bag the hell out of our local road and racing product when so many in the rest of the world love it.
I wouldnt want to see to many of this type of vehicle in the race, but for someone who puts a huge effort into racing overseas with a well prepared vehicle i think this is a massive slap in the face for mal when he isnt welcome to compete in his home race.
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Should have added to the original post; the organisers likely wouldn't have significantly harmed the event's image by allowing Mal to run.
The announcement just further highlights the direction the organisers have opted to run with. It may seem brash to some. It's just the organisers attempting to differentiate themselves.
Commodore Cup entries are substantionally different cars, significantly closer to production-spec and, as such slower. They're able to be classified within a lower category. Mal's car would run (although likely not in contention) for outright victory (as far as I'm aware). It's worth considering this is possibly the reasoning for the organiser's difference in opinion concerning the eligibility of each.
GT3 entries are the event's major drawcard. Providing the best possible platform for their competition is now (or should be) the event's primary focus.
In regards to 'image' or 'elitism' perceptions, it's worth remembering that factory representation from Audi, Mercedes and, likely any other marque comes attached with certain obligations from the organisers.
At this point, it's difficult to gauge whether said obligations (if existent) are worth potentially damaging relations with local operations.
Based on what they offer to the 12 hour, in terms of differentiation from competing (local) events, one would think so.
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Originally Posted by GTRMagic
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Potentially related?
http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/artic...ltra-launched/