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Why am I not surprised to see the same debate I have been reading since ….. since I learned to read?
Economics have changed. No tobacco money, no or low alcohol money, low or no manufacturer money for most teams, while the cost of competing has continues to rise and the cost of design and construction has skyrocketed.
Racing was a huge money-loser even in its heyday—it was sold to boards of directors as “advertising,” and I guess it was a good sales job. Those days have been gone for 40 years now …
The return on investment for a racing program is Very questionable. And it’s not the factories where that is an issue, but all the privateers … the cost of funding a competitive program when the opposition is a global automaking powerhouse is ridiculous. And most teams cannot do it ….
Yeah, some things were better in the past. Can-Am was glorious … even though a “close finish” might be half a lap and half the cars weren’t running at the end …. And all the winners were McLarens until they were always Porsches.
GTP was pretty awesome … particularly for the half the field with 962s.
ILMC and early WEC were great …. Though of course, either Audi or Peugeot won. No one else much had a chance.
ALMS was great …. For Audi in P1 and Porsche in P2.
Nostalgia-vision lies in wait for all of us … except the ones who have already succumbed.
I think we all want the sort of series where teams or factories build their own cars and engines, where all the cars look and sound different ….
We want open rules so teams can modify their cars from race to race, so each weekend we are thrilled to see the new developments each team has concocted.
But we also want big fields, and competitive racing. We want no BoP but if every race was won by the same car by half a lap to two laps, would we complain? You know we would.
The question has been, for years, where does the money come from? If teams cannot afford to design and build chassis, if the cost of computer time and parts manufacture is so great that teams cannot afford to constantly modify their cars, if track testing is too expensive for most teams …. Then how do we keep racing alive?
Sadly, we dumb it down a little. We have to accept the fact that no one can afford to do that kind of racing we wish we could have. We have to limit development or only two or three factories can afford to play. YES, LMP2 and DPi are severely cost-controlled classes—because if they were not, nobody would be able to race.
For those people who would prefer no racing to what we have now … Super. You just solved the problem. Don’t watch racing.
For those people who understand that racing is a non-essential activity, and that we could seriously Not have racing …. We might as well enjoy what we have as much as we can. And if it doesn’t get you where you need to be, you need to move on—for your own sake. The past is Not returning.
We should be glad we don’t line in the era of computer-controlled electronic cars …. Because that is a likely possible future. Drivers never die because they drive from the Driver’s Studio, wired into simulator consoles, while robotic E-racers circle the tracks …. Cleaner, greener, safer, very late 21st –century … we might be headed there.
Enjoy what you can, if you can. If you cannot …. Move on.
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