Sportscar/GT (and Le Mans) Rumours and Repetition

[The Badger]

Im curious about what really happened with Lapierre .

Top class driver .

[J Jay]

Remember how Senna was being thrown into the hat of possible Nissan drivers? Well that's not happening anymore.

(Apologies if this has been mentioned already, I did a quick search but found nothing on this announcement).

A McLaren GT driver, looks like the Aston experience rubbed off on him. Well it is still a factory drive at least.

[Hawkwood]

That could still leave the possibility of a 3rd car drive, albeit probably only a slight chance.

[Articus]

Originally Posted by J Jay

Remember how Senna was being thrown into the hat of possible Nissan drivers? Well that's not happening anymore.

(Apologies if this has been mentioned already, I did a quick search but found nothing on this announcement).

A McLaren GT driver, looks like the Aston experience rubbed off on him. Well it is still a factory drive at least.

Senna is probably dreaming of a Mclaren F1 seat...Otherwise I don't really understand the appeal of the Mclaren GT program aside from a company car and maybe a bigger paycheck?.

[J Jay]

He can keep dreaming in that case, he's 4th (at best) in the pecking order. Money is possibly the only thing I could think of, because a factory LMP1 drive isn't something you turn down.

Of course, he may have never been under serious consideration, we don't know the extent to which he was a candidate for a GT-R seat.

Regardless I'm happy for him to stick around; he's done himself no harm in the Aston.

[Gingers4Justice]

Originally Posted by Articus

Senna is probably dreaming of a Mclaren F1 seat...Otherwise I don't really understand the appeal of the Mclaren GT program aside from a company car and maybe a bigger paycheck?.

I would say he has as much chance as Parente or Bell for getting a seat in F1 from the GT programme. In the unlikely event of one of their drivers getting injured, they'd take one of their junior single seater drivers.

Think this is nothing more than Senna building up his reputation in sportscars. If he's trying to get a drive in F1 from it, then he needs a new agent.

[CTD]

Originally Posted by J Jay

He can keep dreaming in that case, he's 4th (at best) in the pecking order. Money is possibly the only thing I could think of, because a factory LMP1 drive isn't something you turn down.

Of course, he may have never been under serious consideration, we don't know the extent to which he was a candidate for a GT-R seat.

Regardless I'm happy for him to stick around; he's done himself no harm in the Aston.

4th?, he's at best 5th with Magnussen and Vandoorne at 3rd and 4th.
I think it is the money talking. (unfortunately)

[Pilgrimage]

Of course if a works McL entry were to surface in 2016 for example this would be a pretty shrewd move!

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Im curious about what really happened with Lapierre .

Top class driver .

Yep, Certainly was.

[GT6]

Originally Posted by Pilgrimage

Of course if a works McL entry were to surface in 2016 for example this would be a pretty shrewd move!

i would love to see mclaren return to le mans but that will depend on the ACO and regulation changes for 2016, but fingers crossed

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Yep, Certainly was.

how are yaa

[Mal]

Originally Posted by Articus

Senna is probably dreaming of a Mclaren F1 seat...Otherwise I don't really understand the appeal of the Mclaren GT program aside from a company car and maybe a bigger paycheck?.

Maybe he has been told about a future McLaren Honda LMP programme? ��

[Miguel]

Or maybe he wants to drive more than just FIA WEC and the less than handful other races he has done since joining AMR?

[TF110]

I will say, imo the 650gt3 looks better than the Vantage gt3. So he's got that going for him. Plus he may be privy to their LM return?

[joeb]

Originally Posted by Miguel

Or maybe he wants to drive more than just FIA WEC and the less than handful other races he has done since joining AMR?

I bet it would be nice knowing you are racing a car that is used in a myriad of series and therefore have more potential driving opportunities. I'd like that as a driver at least!

[Mike E]

Slow news day at Motorsport.com......
http://www.motorsport.com/lemans/new...on-their-radar

[Samoan Attorney]

Originally Posted by Mike E

Slow news day at Motorsport.com......
http://www.motorsport.com/lemans/new...on-their-radar

Well Sam has to write something and with the state of F1 right now and the pull of Le Mans for any manufacturer, especially a French one, there may be substance to this speculation. I would be surprised if Renault were not investigating this option.

[CTD]

Originally Posted by Samoan Attorney

Well Sam has to write something and with the state of F1 right now and the pull of Le Mans for any manufacturer, especially a French one, there may be substance to this speculation. I would be surprised if Renault were not investigating this option.

Nope, they already have Nissan and Alpine there.

[TF110]

Red Bull dont need Renault to enter wec/lm. Renault is all but a name in F1 anyway. I think Newey would be interested in sportscars. Itd be great to see a name like that involved to lift the stature of this series even higher.

[jaguarista]

According to soume sources Sportscars365 and Endurance-Info a development of the F-Type GT3 car has been shot down!!!

http://sportscar365.com/gt/proposed-...ogram-shelved/

if true this news I would be really upset!
An official come back into motorsport (24h Le Mans it's in the DNA) it's fundamental for growth of the brand Jaguar.

[GT6]

Would be a big dissapointment if true

[Juntos]

Lets face it. Group Tata takes Jaguar as their luxury whore. They long forgot that Jaguar was a high born and educated lady one day.

[Adam43]

That's harsh. Generally Tata have done well for (and by) Jaguar. Their ownership has allowed Jaguar to release all those new models. Like Porsche with its annoying SUV and four door nonsense, it is these models and their silly customers that are funding any racing. Took a long time for Porsche, it probably will with Jaguar. Jaguar's prioritises are on more new models to sell.

If there was no Tata I wouldn't go as far as saying they'd be no Jaguar, but it is likely it would be in a worse shape.

[FormulaFox]

(still learning my way around here - I THINK this is the right place ofr this. If not... Sorry!)

A late night arrival to my inbox has provided a very juicy rumor that leadership of WC Vision and the SCCA have recently discussed adding prototype classes to the Pirelli World Challenge come 2017.

That it's the same year as the debut of new LMP2 rules is not coincidental as supposedly three P classes have been proposed; one that will run LMP2 machinery both new and old, one running LMP3 and LMPC cars, and a third one for cars legal under SCCA Prototype 1 club racing rules, which includes Group CN cars.

The P classes would follow the same sprint format as all other PWC races, and the notion of having one of the P classes as the lead class of every race at split-field race meets was supposedly floated as well.

Anyone out there able to back up or trash this one? What do you think of this idea?

I like the idea, but it sounds like WC Vision would have quite a headache on their hand managing it all. And I'm not certain PWC really needs to be running P2 - let TUSCC worry about P2, but I love the idea of PWC running the "baby" prototype classes at it's races.

I'm a guy who loves purpose-built machinery. This is the sort of thing that could shift my loyalty from TUSCC to PWC. (though said "loyalty" is really only which series I like most since I follow all forms of racing to at least some extent

[TF110]

Imo, they would steal thunder from tusc if they allowed aco lmp2. They would have to form a connection to the aco though. What Id like to see is a convergence of GTE cars being allowed. If they could do something like gt-open but make it somehow where they had unique regs thatd be great. I think the future of GT is key here. If GTE and GT3 can find some common ground, this could be the place for both.