Quote:
Originally posted by 917Addicted
Sorry for being pessimistic, but "history doesn't grant you victories".
If they miserably failed at F1, why would they conquer sportscars, knowing the fact that Audi (who is committed fully to it) is there (and could be joined by Porsche)?
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I didn't mean they would automatically win at Le Mans. I meant that if they went back there it has to be (an attempt) for overall wins (not class wins).
I think that they didn't succeed in F1 for several reasons. They didn't belong there. This resulted in a less than fully committed approach all across the company. The people who ran Jaguar only really got free tickets to GP, it was unrelated to anything in the real factory in Coventry (or even the pretend one in Halewood
).
On top of that the resources and budget required for F1 are on a different scale than Le Mans. So they would need to spend less to be competitive at Le Mans.
Of course it is not that simple, because of the scale of F1 coverage it is easier to justify in some ways. Le Mans is once a year, mainstream TV, newspaper and other media coverage is poor for Le Mans.
However Audi have justified this. They get a lot out of winning at Le Mans. They spend, but they don't spend F1 budgets. They are competitive. However, it can be argued these are easy wins. This is where the companies need to be brave. The same project, but with decent competition could reap benefits for all. OK they might not win all the time, but the races would be more memorable, the coverage may be better and it is better to win against a stiff opposition than a weak field. I think Audi know this and want it.
Jaguar can 'buy' into that. They may not win, however if they invest properly they may win. They will need to spend less than F1, but they still need to be fully committed. Can they be fully committed. I hope that if they are competing in the correct arena (competing for overall wins at Le Mans) then the desire to do a proper job will be greater (and great enough).
I will end on history though (albeit it simplistically). Jaguar in the early '80s was a shambles. Today the factories are on a four day week. It is a different problem, the cars are top quality now (especially the big proper Jags), but they aren't selling. Back in the early '80s Sir John Egan came along and turned them around. While he was doing this he supported Tom Walkinshaw, who thought the XJS would make a good touring car, then he saw Le Mans, he realised it was the ultimate for Jaguar. They went back, they didn't automatically win, it was a three year project that turned into a six year project. People worse Jaguar T-Shirts, Jaguar caps, we cheered. It was their arena even when they didn't win. Where was that sea of green at Grand Prix?