Quote:
Originally Posted by geeteeone
I'm not sure how I feel about LMH/LMDh convergence. IMSA certainly seem to be getting plenty of interest, but with stock tubs/components it's just another step in the NASCARification of sportscar racing.
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IMSA already has that as DPi, minus the "hybrid" stickers, and that's a hybrid with a small "h".
If you look all across the racing world, you'll see that NASCARisation is winning everywhere. It's exactly what marketing people want. And if you have any doubt that marketing people are really in charge of most OEMs, just step outside and look at the cars on the street. They're designed by a focus groups. And, lately, it seems there's some inbreeding going on within said focus groups, but I digress.
I remember being really irked by the Nissan PR push at the time during the drawn out launch of GT-R LM. I generally don't like when people clearly overpromise, especially if they then underdeliver. But at the same time I'm sad that such an interesting, not attractive, but truly interesting car failed so miserably and the plug was pulled before it reached anywhere near it's potential. We'll never know whether it could have competed with conventional LMP1s.
And the reason I brought that up is that every adventurous project like this becomes a cautionary tale for OEMs. When was the last time something like that worked out well? Audi R10?
Meanwhile a DPi/LMDh is practically guaranteed success for very little development money. And who cares if that success wasn't as well-earned as the PR people would have you believe.