Hmmm… LMS and FIA GT rounds in one day (12/09). Bad news for those who were planning to race in both championships

Let’s hope they bring Monza back – a proper sporstcar circuit. I really do hope that there isn’t a race in Abu Dhabi or Bahrain as the series will be performing in front of empty grandstands on featureless facilities. Sportscar racing’s heartland is Europe and the series should race on the classic circuits.

Bird -

The problem with Europe and has been the problem as I see it in the post modern era (1999-on) is Sportscar Racing playing in front of tiny crowds and depending on manufactures to foot the cost of not only racing in the series (propping it up) but also subsidize crowd tickets and TV time.

The ALMS despite the presents of NASCAR and the IRL draws excellent crowds. I would say this do to population, the sole reason the EU exist anyway.

You have most motorsport eyes focused on F1 and while F1 continues to shoot itself in the foot off-track, its provided for a pretty good championship since the exit of Micheal Schumacher.

You have THREE, count them THREE Road Racing Championships in Europe running at any given time and Tim is correct about schedule clashes, which are problematic and add to the difficulty of promotion, crowds and car counts.

Its about to be made much more complicated by Ratel’s World GT Champion and the splitting of the GT2. While LMS fans complain about Highlighted TV packages, Ratel’s vision being a World’s Championship has full support by the FIA and will have a WORLD feed meaning no matter where you are a host broadcaster will likely carry it.

If the people at those sites want to pay the fees to hold an event, like Bernie is doing in F1 and Ratel with races in Russia – Follow The Money

This is no different than what NASCAR is doing in the States; abandoning traditional sites/races for greener pastures and larger paydays (better TV contracts) and the like.

This is a really poor calendar, insofar that we have now lost races in Italy, Spain and Germany. If the LMS want to attract big manufacturers then is has to remain in its European heartland. What incentive do Audi and Porsche, for example, have to stay in, now there is no Nürburgring race? Two years ago I really did think that the LMS would evolve into the successor of the old and much-missed World Sportscar Championship, with manufacturer teams, top-line professional drivers and historical circuits. Now I fear it’s becoming a backwater series for ancient open-top cars and amateur drivers, with only the 24 hours having any marketing and promotional value.
If the FIA and the LMS would only work together then we could have two complimentary series, one for prototypes, with 1000km races and one for GTs with shorter, 500km events on alternate weekends.
The ability to run new eco-friendly engine formats is one of the major technical and marketing attractions of sportscar racing, and a manufacturer can start up a competitive team for a fraction of the price of an back-of-the-grid F1 outfit.
As the world economy slowly recovers, the challenge for all car makers will be in the development and application of low-emission, non-polluting propulsion technologies. What better way to promote these than in a worldwide series based around the 24 Hours of Le Mans? Where else could a mass-market company like Peugeot take on a luxury brand like Aston Martin?
With Honda, Toyota and BMW quitting F1 over the past two years due to rising costs, low return and a lack of technical challenge this would have been a golden opportunity for sportscar racing to enter a new era and show to the world over the next few years that there is life beyond F1.
But how can that happen, if the LMS abandons the main markets of its major teams?

Mark… i would say 1000Km all prototypes and 500km all GT races in the same weekend, in the same circuit!

I think an alternative idea that two indipendent championships together with one race…LMS x FIA-GT WC run same time, same race could be attractive.
(In this case LMS-GT championship have to combine into FIA-GT automatically..)

Sportscar racing has been at the mercy of “selfish” worksteam for a long-long time. Of course the stars are necessary and their situation is always complex.
But if current TOP privateers in LMS/FIA-GT (who loves and highly commit to sportscar racing) run sametime it will be enough colorful and series will be much stable.

Meanwhile just IF possible I don’t want to see the scene of the feeder category’s car mix runs in highend sportscar-race final to only fill grids. As all you know feeder category basically exists to support the main events and gentleman racers can make their race in front of the clowds.