Sportscar/GT (and Le Mans) Rumours and Repetition

[TzeiTzei]

Originally Posted by deggis

I've brought this up so many times, but no one ever agrees with me. Apparently easier to pretend everything is perfect and completely deny the possibility that WEC may have an issue with attracting sponsors.

I remember watching the Silverstone WEC race and realising that pretty much the only track side advertising was from... Audi, Porsche and Toyota.

[Mt. Lynx]

So what is DMG Mori, wich is plastered all over the factory Porsches - both in P1 and GTE? Title sponsor?

[deggis]

Originally Posted by Mt. Lynx

So what is DMG Mori, wich is plastered all over the factory Porsches - both in P1 and GTE? Title sponsor?

Title sponsor literally = in the official team name.

Also: http://tentenths.com/forum/showpost....postcount=3766

...which means 7.5 million eur / 3 years. That's not a lot.

[FormulaFox]

Originally Posted by deggis

Yeah right. So last year's F1 constructor's champion is Petronas and Peugeot was actually a car named Total.

You...missed the point there - it wasn't about the sponsorship logos, it was that VAG wants to win with cars THEY built. You know, like Peugeot in WRC.

[Akrapovic]

This seems like a bit of a circular argument. VAG may well join F1, but the only reasoning people can give basically ignores the entire WEC and Sportscar programs. And anyone suggesting that Red Bull dropped Renault and it was not a mutual agreement is deluded. Do you really think Renault would've continued?

This entire rumour was started because Red Bull don't have engines and have gone on hands and knees to VAG and are pleading with them to enter. You could even say they started the rumours, because it was good old Helmut Marko who mentioned it first this time.

I'm not saying that VAG won't enter F1 at any point. But we go through these rumours all the time, and some people on the internet make some pretty renders and then it all goes away. The only difference this time is Red Bull have annoyed Renault too much and Helmut Marko is talking again.

[Artur]

Originally Posted by deggis

I've brought this up so many times, but no one ever agrees with me. Apparently easier to pretend everything is perfect and completely deny the possibility that WEC may have an issue with attracting sponsors.

Well, I always believed sponsors simply aren't interested in a niche sport like WEC. The amount of people who watches the series is relatively small, so no big sponsor deals.

Due to being broadcasted on FS2, COTA's 6h had only 6k viewers while the other rounds all had 150k on FS1(Le Mans 300k)

[GT6]

Sponsorship is also about directing your advertising at the people who are likely to purchase your goods, this is why expensive watch brands and cars themselves are heavily behind the wec, the type of person who watches this sort of racing is likely to be more affluent and so targeting your budget to hit the right audience is very important

[Simmi]

Jota linking up with Arden - http://www.motorsport.com/wec/news/j...g-partnership/

[J Jay]

So this is the "exclusive" that MWM couldn't quite get out on time due to technical issues. Sure enough, this dropped @ DSC 10 minutes ago.

Both teams get to expand their stables, and probably increase their chances of retaining the better drivers. Pardon the pun, but this looks like another rung on the ladder.

[Simmi]

Originally Posted by J Jay

So this is the "exclusive" that MWM couldn't quite get out on time due to technical issues. Sure enough, this dropped @ DSC 10 minutes ago.

Just because something has an 8pm embargo doesn't make it an exclusive to MWM. Okay they have the first broadcast interview I guess (not listening) but they've pulled this quite a few times before.

As for the move itself - it's more acknowledgement of the opportunities in sportscars versus single seaters.

[J Jay]

Hold up Simmi, I didn't mean anything by that comment in defence or criticism of RLM/MWM, though it was amusing listening to Hindy going through the gears only to be greeted by silence.

Anyway, good news all round.

[Coach Ep]

could this move be a taster of things to come like Jota going to P1 in due time?

[Deleted]

Their theoretical LMP1 prospects seemed much more likely before the purchase of Oreca 05 next to the old Zytek, that messages just marching on where they are

There are so many co-ops in LMP2 that it's hard to keep track of it all

[Mal]

Not sure if this is mentioned elsewhere.. but the 'new' TVR have talked about Le Mans plans with racing starting in 2018.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/ne...clusive-videos

[DistortedSmile]

Originally Posted by Mal

Not sure if this is mentioned elsewhere.. but the 'new' TVR have talked about Le Mans plans with racing starting in 2018.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/ne...clusive-videos

A few minutes later the re-engineered, all-alloy Ford ‘Coyote’ V8 completed its test lap in 3min 40sec - good enough to have made a TVR Cosworth-powered car a front-runner in the GT3 category at this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours.

[Simmi]

TVR to Le Mans was the cover story in Motorsport News this week.

They want to show the car at Le Mans in 2017 and then aim to do some late-season WEC races. Then full assault in 2018. They are even talking about the potential of customer cars further down the line. They were apparently also involved in the ACO's talks around the new-look GTE regs.

Very punchy all in all and sounds like they are very motivated to make it happen.

[TF110]

I hope this happens. GTE needs more variety.

[FormulaFox]

A little bird has told me that a tiny little unknown called SIN wants to build either a GT3 or GTE version of their R1.

http://sincars.co.uk/

They currently have a GT4 version, but I don't see a tiny company like this as being very likely to jump up higher, so file this under "interesting but unlikely."

Still.... It'd be awesome to see this in either class;

[Ephaeton]

reminds me of the AJR lotus GTE effort in late ALMS:

[Coach Ep]

Originally Posted by TF110

I hope this happens. GTE needs more variety.

??? Ford is entering plus Ferrari, Porsche, Aston, BMW, Corvette (and Riley/Keating-Viper) are all gonna continue in some capacity - and with new/updated cars on top of that! - how much more variety do you want? Is 6-7 different brand and cars not enough? (you'll probably see them all at LM in '16). At some point a man has to be satisfy with what he has...

Originally Posted by FormulaFox

A little bird has told me that a tiny little unknown called SIN wants to build either a GT3 or GTE version of their R1.

http://sincars.co.uk/

They currently have a GT4 version, but I don't see a tiny company like this as being very likely to jump up higher, so file this under "interesting but unlikely."

Still.... It'd be awesome to see this in either class;

Edit: The current, GT4 car is gonna be a cool addition to GTS in PWC!

http://motorsport.sincars.co.uk/sin-...rld-challenge/

[MoMedic9019]

Originally Posted by Mt. Lynx

So what is DMG Mori, wich is plastered all over the factory Porsches - both in P1 and GTE? Title sponsor?

They build 5-axis CNC mills amongst other tools.... They aren't cheap kit.

Local shop I recently did a fire inspection on had one installed, $275,000 without tooling, or installation.

[chernaudi]

If I had caught that early, I'd have said that DMG Mori is a German-Japanese CNC machine and machine tool maker. Sort of the German-Japanese equivalent to something like Haas CNC.

And DMG-Mori has been the biggest non-Porsche primary sponsor of the factory Porsche LMP1 and GTE/GTLM programs since the end of 2013.

[FormulaFox]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

??? Ford is entering plus Ferrari, Porsche, Aston, BMW, Corvette (and Riley/Keating-Viper) are all gonna continue in some capacity - and with new/updated cars on top of that! - how much more variety do you want? Is 6-7 different brand and cars not enough? (you'll probably see them all at LM in '16). At some point a man has to be satisfy with what he has...

ALL GT classes could ALWAYS use more variety. Yes, we've got plenty to be happy with -and we are happy with it- but that doesn't mean it couldn't use more. The more there is, the more we'll still have when some of them inevitably withdraw at some point.

Edit: The current, GT4 car is gonna be a cool addition to GTS in PWC!

http://motorsport.sincars.co.uk/sin-...rld-challenge/

Huh. I missed that while looking over the site. Maybe this is part of what spawned the rumor.

[deggis]

Originally Posted by chernaudi

If I had caught that early, I'd have said that DMG Mori is a German-Japanese CNC machine and machine tool maker. Sort of the German-Japanese equivalent to something like Haas CNC.

And DMG-Mori has been the biggest non-Porsche primary sponsor of the factory Porsche LMP1 and GTE/GTLM programs since the end of 2013.

If this is correct (http://tentenths.com/forum/showpost....postcount=3766) and DMG Mori is biggest, how small are the rest of the sponsors? (1 billion yen = 7 M eur, but spread over three years)

[wolfhound]

Originally Posted by Coach Ep

??? Ford is entering plus Ferrari, Porsche, Aston, BMW, Corvette (and Riley/Keating-Viper) are all gonna continue in some capacity - and with new/updated cars on top of that! - how much more variety do you want? Is 6-7 different brand and cars not enough? (you'll probably see them all at LM in '16). At some point a man has to be satisfy with what he has...
http://motorsport.sincars.co.uk/sin-...rld-challenge/

Six or seven 2 car teams that will mean somebody not getting into the top ten not to mention podiums and if it happens on a regular basis some manufacturers will start to question the value of participation.