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tblincoe · 6 Jan 2005, 17:55

there have been discussions of creating a sportscar world championship among us sportscar enthusiasts, and although those talks have died down since the creation of the LMES, there are still some who would like to see a world championship created. i was just thinking about that and come up with the following conclusions:

both series (ALMS and LMES) are strong enough to survive on their own. the LMES for now seems especially safe as the field for next year looks to be on the order of at least 40+ cars for each race. the ALMS has had two off years due to the new rules, but time will soon show that the ALMS is secure too...

also, i would rather to see these two series remain seperate as each has their own inheritive strengths that would have to be compromised in order for the two series to merge...

the last thing to think about is the effect these two series have on Le Mans... not only do we have team vs. team, country vs. country, and manufacturer vs. manufacturer at LM, but now we have series vs. series. next year i will not only be cheering on my favorite teams in each category, but every team representing the ALMS. in my mind its now an issue of series strength too. the tally after the first match up is:

OVERALL WINS:

LMES - 1
ALMS - 0

CLASS WINS:

ALMS - 3
LMES - 1

nothing ground breaking, but it will be interesting to see how this plays out in the future

billnchristy · 6 Jan 2005, 18:36

Id like a quick opinion on why you think the LMES is flourishing while the ALMS is maintaining or slightly declining...you say its a rules change, but the changes applied to Europe too. Any ideas? It just seems odd that no one supported the FIA SCC while ALMS flourished and now it seems opposite.

Osella · 6 Jan 2005, 23:43

a new sportscar world championship is a good idea in some ways, but how would you solve the question of 1998? Merc walked the GT champ., while they only managed to fly at LM...

also, why just stop at LM rules? why not have a parity system so that teams entering all of the various global sportscar/gt/endurance races could compete?

on the other hand, if i were a team owner i'd rather finish 10th at LM, say, than get lots of points by winning Belcar or whatever... no disrespect to the Belcar teams or anything, it's just that to me, the sportscar world championship has been taking place in June in France every year for a little while now...

tblincoe · 7 Jan 2005, 00:59

the LMES is flourishing right now because of the plethora of sportscar teams in europe who were racing in all sorts of different series but are now able to run under one roof in the LMES. one must also remember the effect of NASCAR and its puppet GARRA have on racing here in the US in terms of drawing sponsors... the ALMS is quite healthy though, and this will become ever more apparent as 2005 unfolds, just look at the TV and sponsorship figures for 2004 in the ALMS.

KenG · 7 Jan 2005, 04:13

It seems that a sportscar championship now, is like American college football championship. Unofficial, and good for great talk between friends with beer.

However, this is also a weakness for the growth sportscar racing. Without an overall champion the casual fan doesn't have the usual simple ranking that the ball and stick sports have.

I suppose sportscars could do something similar to bicycle racing. The big event in France, with the international sanctioning body awarding points during the entire season. At the end of the season there's an overall champion that some fans can pay attention to, and others can ignore.

racer11 · 7 Jan 2005, 04:41

Sports car racing has a championship race in France already. Its called LeMans. I say make it like the SCCA runoffs here in the states. One race one championship.

tblincoe · 7 Jan 2005, 15:18

thats what i was saying, LM is a championship race and i think that both series should be kept seperate and unique

Kicking-back · 7 Jan 2005, 17:34

I suspect FIA GT is the nearest you'd get to a viable world championship.

TerryC · 7 Jan 2005, 18:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kicking-back

I suspect FIA GT is the nearest you'd get to a viable world championship.

...minus the prototypes of course!

tblincoe · 7 Jan 2005, 20:08

FIAGT still needs to have a North American date... don't know if that will ever happen though

racer11 · 8 Jan 2005, 01:45

if it did what do you thik will be the first track they go to?

SALEEN S7R · 8 Jan 2005, 04:04

For my money itd be Laguna Seca or Petit Le Mans, the 2 most obvious tracks IMO.

KenG · 8 Jan 2005, 08:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by tblincoe

thats what i was saying, LM is a championship race and i think that both series should be kept seperate and unique

I agree, LM is the championship.
But there is a fine line between two unique and distinct series and single championship.
My question is about the need, maybe even from a marketing standpoint, about a "real" championship. One set of rules that different series agree upon and the winners, and selected teams, compete at the big event (LeMans).

A true world championship may be a hindrence to the growth of the sport. Because if you have to compete on different continents to gain points that's too restrictive. But if you can compete on your home soil and then go to LM for the "championship" that seems reasonable.

What about giving teams that compete in the entire 'local' series some sort of an advantage versus the one off teams at LM? e.g. Added weight for the LM only teams.

Silk Cut Jaguar · 8 Jan 2005, 13:03

I tend to agree with what has been said already, Le Mans acts as the unofficial world title to an extent as the most successful teams from LMES and ALMS get an entry to the main event. Both series act as a playoff championship I suppose.

I would like to see a sportscar world championship again at some stage, having one maybe the catalyst that is needed to encourage the marques to come back with factory teams (Porsche and Toyota anyone?).

Ideally it would just be a case of bolting the LMP1 and 2 classes to the front of the FIA GT series and telling everyone to go racing, but sadly it'll never happen.

SALEEN S7R · 8 Jan 2005, 13:50

I sort of agree with what has been said, but for whatever reasons its not always possible for the Champion teams from whatever series to gain a entry for LM, ie BMS in 2004. Therefore IMO not perhaps making it quite a true world championship, and if LM is the world championship what are events like the Spa 24hrs? Im not sure how many GT1 and GT2 teams would agree that Le Mans is the world championship for them, why? Because at Spa they are the main classes and are the centre of attention, both with a realistic chance of a overall race win. Sure u can argue that the GT2 cars have less of a chance, which is true, but its worth noting that the GT2 cars run for a extra half hour than the GT1 machinery and every 2 hours or so they have only made 1 pitstop where as the GT1 cars have made 2, and at Spa a pitstop equates to roughly 1 lap. Freisinger proved what can be done if the conditions are right in 2003, ie if there is rain which there usually is at Spa during some point of a 24hr race, and besides the cars are always there on a 24hr race somewhere close to the front. Okay they didnt win last year, but they still finished 3rd.

Thats why I personally dont feel that LM is the world championship, at least not for some GT1 and GT2 teams, for the LMP 1 and LMP 2 teams sure, just not for some GT1 and GT2 teams, and thats why I feel that a world championship is needed. Something along the lines of, the top 4 cars from LMP 1 in the ALMS and LMES, the top 4 cars in LMP 2 from the ALMS and LMES, and the top 4 cars from GT1 in ALMS, LMES, FIA GT, and finally the top 4 cars from GT2 in ALMS, LMES, FIA GT. Now that would give grids of 36 cars, big enough IMO for a "World championship" - perhaps one day with a bit of luck it might happen too eh?

Get Well Soon Murray Walker!

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