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<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">LE MANS</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">27/10/2001</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">GT Racing</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">If only it was simple</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><img border="1" src="Storage/cingIf%20oLE%20.jpg"></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2"> Why is it that seemingly most countries in the racing world run a GT series of some description, largely won by the same make of cars, yet we cannot get our heads around a standard set of regulations that would pull these championships together?<BR> <BR> By my calculation there are at least nine different GT manufacturers competing either in Europe or America. Nine! Yet none of the major championships can muster anymore than four different cars at anyone time. Why? Sure, it could be that the gearbox has moved backwards or that it has developed a sequential shift, or even that the car is outside the spirit of the regulations. Who knows? Who cares?!? Most technical arguments fall by the wayside when the alleged illegal cars, such as the Corvette or the Lister, depending upon your chosen set of regulations, fail to consistently dominate the one car that we find in all the series – the Dodge Viper. <BR> <BR> So my argument is, if the Viper remains competitive with cars of the calibre of the Corvette then why should organisers think that a Marcos or TVR is going disappear into the distance. GT racing needs the smaller manufacturer’s involvement as much as we need privateers. We need the variety that nine different types of race cars bring. No other major form of motorsport has that variety anymore. Formula One cars by and large look the same, as do F3, Indy cars, touring cars even sportscars (LM675 & 900), what is more, they even sound the same. (Except the Lexus touring car of course which looks & sounds like no other!). Imagine Le Mans with the Corvette fighting off challenges from Chrysler, Lister, Marcos, Saleen, TVR, Ferrari, Lotus & Porsche. That is what I would like to see, not drones of GT3 Porsches & BMW’s, but lots of variation and excitement. It should not be a dream, it should be a reality.<BR> <BR> The cars and the teams are there, it needs an organisation to have the vision or the guts to make it happen before the interest dies. Recently, several GT teams have approached me enquiring about the running of touring cars for next season, feeling disillusioned by the current status of GT racing. Privateer teams need obviously to know that the racing car they are spending huge sums of money on can compete in more than one series.<BR> <BR> On a slightly different note, I see that Stephane Ratel has recently stated that he wants the latest crop of super cars to be banned from the FIA GT Championship. Well, I agree and I disagree. I personally loved the old GT-1 cars, before they reached the dizzy heights of the Mercedes CLK and the Toyota GT One, and I believe is our chance is here to do it again. The Porsche Carrera GT, a V-10 masterpiece, the Ferrari F60, the Volkswagon W-12, a car that has just broken the Corvette’s 24 hour land speed record by averaging over 183mph. Why stop there, how about a V16 Bugatti and the return of the Mclaren F1. If it was my choice, I would replace the exceptionally expensive and exclusive club of LM900’s with a new GT-1 class. I feel the GT-1 cars create a similar emotional response to the Group C cars of old, which for me the LM cars do not. With the previous experience gained from the GT-1/Prototype class, the likes of the FIA should be better prepared to keep the hatches batoned down to stop the costs from rising. It can be done and as Kevin Keegan once said, I for one would love it!<BR> (For those of you that haven’t clue who Kevin Keegan is, he is an ex-England football player who boasted a dodgy perm).<BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>