[LM24] 2006 Le Mans Series wish list

[JAG]

- Audi to commit to a full season, hopefully ramping up the profile and promotion of the series.

- Donington to be a big hit with fans and competitors, so we never, ever, have to return to Silverstone!

- English language radio commentary online. The French commentary is a start.

- Illuminated numbers on the cars, plus postional lights ala the ALMS. Absolutely essential IMO, if races run into the dark.

- At least 2 Astons amd 2 competitive Saleens in GT1.

- Improvd TV broadcasts with more in car cameras etc.

- Some dry races!!!!

- Increased levels of sponsorhip. We saw it this year, now the series needs to make another step in the right direction.

[gwyllion]

Originally Posted by JAG

- Some dry races!!!!

Yeah, ACO scheduled the races this year in such way that there would be a big chance of rain, so the Audi could still be rather competitiv

[Splendid Cat]

Wouldn't disagree with any of those

[RickP:Clio51]

Someone to understand that selling 100 tickets at Euro20 each is a much worse idea than selling 140,000 tickets at 5 Euros each.
It's simple maths and with 14million people living within 20miles of the track the crowd in Istanbul was a disgrace.
If no-one come to watch (and no offence to David, Mark and Hindy etc) the Motors TV coverage doesn't improve then there will not be any sponsors and you will continue with the farcical situation where 4 of the cars circulating are going so slowly you struggle to understand how the drivers got their licences (Belmondo Courages, Viper and the JMB Ferrari you know who u are...)

We're now in the situation that the GT1 class is basically going to be too expensive even for the wealthy amateurs to fund, £35,000 to share a 575 GT1 3 ways for a weekend is a LOT of money even to the really rich. And this is before Aston arrive and make them all a bit obsolete/ doubles the cost.

It's down to the promotion now boys if the series is going to be the success it deserves to be... look at my situation when I go to my sponsors next week:

I'd like £XX,XXX to run 5 races in the LMS in GT2 next season, the tv coverage is a tad tough to follow because they can't afford to take the commentators to the circuit, but we won't be on the tv much anyway because we'll be running in the 4th class of 4 and there is virtually no crowd there... but it'll be cool for your brand?

Or

I'd like the same amount of money to run a Megane Trophy car for 8 rounds. 100,000 visitors each weekend will get to see your logos and a nicely edited highlight package on global tv on which we've got a real chance of being seen if I drive competitively.
Lots of entertainment at the track for your guests, and they don't need to try and follow what's going on for 6 hours....

Not tough to see which is the easier sell?

[JAG]

As Ratel said in an interview, the circuits (probably other than Spa and Doninigton) have no interest in spending cash promoting LMES events, seeing as they can rely on F1, MotoGP etc.

BUT, when the manufactuers arrive, they will be the ones dishing out tickets and promoting their teams and the series. Get local car clubs involved etc.......and it all starts to build.

Little changes, such as using the 'Le Mans Series' name, rather than LMES, should have a positive impact.

[JAG]

Interestingly, Istanbul has lost DTM and FIA GT, so has been fighting tooth and nail to keep the LMES.

Up until a few weeks back it seemed doubtful that the LMES would return, so maybe the circuit has commited to extra promotion etc.?

[RickP:Clio51]

Don't get me wrong, it's a great circuit and great facilities... but given the difficulties that everyone had in finding a cabby who knew where to find the circuit was there is clearly something very very wrong with the local promotion.

[The Badger]

Id like to see the lights , ala Alms too . And the luminous numbers . Some kind of id light or something which would tell what driver was doing the driving . They used a velcro system back in the early 80's in group C , im sure they could figure something out now .

Oh yeah , get rid of that "hangin" LMP rear end . They all look the bloody same now .

Yep , a brace of competitive Saleens would be nice , and a Spyder RS , a couple of Spykers and a couple of fightin Panoz's , a few F430 and a couple of C5R too .

Im sure I will think of more .

I really would like a round in Japan though , as part of the LMS championship . That would get the interest up .

[Flat12-Aircool]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Oh yeah , get rid of that "hangin" LMP rear end . They all look the bloody same now .

Couldn't agree more, its really taken the beauty and creativety out of the Cars rear profile. Its over regulated and destroys any attempt to make a good looking car. (Although the new Lister LMP makes a decent go of it!)

[Wout]

For me: GTP's and for once a sunny race at Spa

[Nick49]

Hello,

With the ACO seemingly taking more interest (and not just control) over all the relevant LM series then hopefully the European version will substantially improve. To my mind you have to get the manufacturers back involved in some way or other. My "Golden Era" was the Group C sportscar series which had massive manufacturer interest, huge crowds at the circuits, great racing and seemingly little TV coverage. I travelled to various European circuits to watch it. I still believe it became such a threat to F1 that Bernie enticed all the manufacturers away and KILLED Group C stone dead.

I like the four car class format as it creates more diversity of chassis and increased overtaking. I support the works Zytek team in LMP1 and the Racesport Peninsula TVR team in GT2 and get to "race" the latter as I have a Scalextric version!

If the races are going to run into the darkness the cars NEED to have illuminated race numbers and top three position lights. If ALMS can do it why not LMES? Actually I'm not really in favour of running into the darkness. I like to see the the podium presentations but the lateness of the hour, the two hour drive home and the rain all conspired against it at Silverstone this year.

On circuit commentary systems and big screens need to improve and perhaps every circuit should standardise on the same radio frequency for all of us with radios. Perhaps 87.7fm?

As for the name change, whats wrong with Endurance? That is what the races are and how they should be. Perhaps the ALMS should run their races longer. 2 hours and 45 minutes is hardly longer than a Grand Prix.

Race promotion needs to be substantially increased and the circuits to treat the series with the respect it deserves. It was all very well Silverstone including a grandstand seat with the basic admission price and then closing (or trying to) most of them. I enjoyed the free access to the pits and paddock however.

Finally, I agree with Jag, someone needs to book the SUN for every race.

[RickP:Clio51]

Well said Nick! Off to the toy shop this weekend to buy the Scalextric TVR then just need to get a small sticker of my name from somewhere to put on it just above the door and I'll be a happy chap...
Agree ALMS ought to race longer, but the costs of running these cars are per hour (the Lola I raced last year worked out around £1 per second that the car was on circuit) so if they did, they'd have to look at fewer rounds for the teams to be able to afford it.

[tblincoe]

The LMES (LMS) will continue to fly under the radar of the greater European motorsport fan base until the people in-charge of running the series act like they know what they're doing. The entire packaging of the LMES has been ****-poor in my opinion, which explains the dismal fan turn-out despite the unbelievable fields and competition on-track.

A good litmus test for all this would be to imagine what the ALMS could come up with (in terms of crowd and television numbers) if they had a field of the same magnitude as the LMES did in 2005. Look what they can do with half of the field the LMES has been blessed with and you'll get my point.

If the tracks that the LMES has visited aren't overly concerned with promoting events, then why on earth are you racing there? Europe has a wealth of amazing circuits that the series could run at, many of which would be eager, excited, and extremely proactive in running a LMS race.

Maybe Donington is a result of such a move, but why the ACO and SRO have waited until the third season of the series to make such a switch is ridiculous and inexcusable for a major motorsport organization.

Saying that the series is young and it will grow in time is a total cop-out. How long has sportscar racing in a similar form been running in Europe? What kind of growth was there between the first and second years of the LMES? Not nearly enough is the answer.

[RickP:Clio51]

I agree, the guys running the series are very lacklustre in terms of the promotion seeming to leave it to the circuits, but I assume that either the circuits are underwriting a loss or the competitors entry fees are being used to rent the tracks...

But as I said above, if they don't get the crowds, you won't get the sponsors and eventually all the rich amateurs will get bored and leave and the series will be dead.

And none of us want that... it's a tough call because all these things (radio/ tv on site to help crowds follow the race/ promotion) cost money and it's not obvious where that cash is going to come from unless the circuits can convince themselves that it's worth the investment to attract the crowds....

Feels a bit chicken and egg...

[Nick49]

Hello again

I agree with tblincoe's sentiments about the circuit owners indifference to the LMES turning up on their door step. Almost a case, if not the case of "If it's not Formula One or MotoGP, we're not interested". I'm glad that Donington has the UK round next year and I hope that they can cope with such a big grid. The series is meant to follow the "classic" venues but who's to say 10 years down the line that Donington, Paul Ricard or any other alternative track would not be "classic"

LMES has all the potential to be a GREAT series which everyone should want to be in. It would be ridiculas to let it all go down the tubes.

Nick

[mikmx]

But don't forget that the best way of advertising still is word of mouth! So tell your friends, family, collegaes why you like it so much. Take them with you etc. There is an endurance nut in everyone... GB to mainland and mainland to GB races would be a good start too!
Not much on subject but all the important to get the wishlists done and get Rick racing in LMES

[rdjones]

I have only been to the 2 LMES rounds that have taken place at Silverstone. Last year there was a pretty good crowd, IIRC somewhere in the region of 15,000, which is about the same number of people you get at an average BTCC meeting. This year's crowd was down but I think that had a lot to do with the weather.

Now I have just looked on DSC and the crowd for the FIA GT meeting at Donington last year was 32,000 mainly due to the help of John Guest and there free tickets, it is amazing what a bit of promotion does.

All 3 of the races where cracking and had plenty of drama right up to the flag, its about time some promoted sportscar racing, because we know what a good product it is and we need need to spread the word.

If I was promoting the Donington meeting I would adverts on the TV advertising the event and how about putting them on during one of Uncle Bernie's races that would promote the event to a wider audiance.

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by Nick49

If the races are going to run into the darkness the cars NEED to have illuminated race numbers and top three position lights. If ALMS can do it why not LMES? Actually I'm not really in favour of running into the darkness. I like to see the the podium presentations but the lateness of the hour, the two hour drive home and the rain all conspired against it at Silverstone this year.:

I think that racing into the night is a very important part of any endurance series . I personaly wouldnt have it any other way . I am so glad that they are getting away from that 2 hour race crap . Endurance needs to be a 1000 clik race format .

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by rdjones

If I was promoting the Donington meeting I would adverts on the TV advertising the event and how about putting them on during one of Uncle Bernie's races that would promote the event to a wider audiance.

Bernie would never have that . Look what he did to Group C racing . He's just a nob with respect to sportscar racing ! Imo of course .

[JAG]

Originally Posted by rdjones

Now I have just looked on DSC and the crowd for the FIA GT meeting at Donington last year was 32,000 mainly due to the help of John Guest and there free tickets, it is amazing what a bit of promotion does.

Maybe John Guest and other sponsors should take note, their sponsorship efforts are still noted well after the event.

I took my parents along to the race, and to this day they still recognise the JG sponsored cars when they are on TV etc.

Personally, I always drive the JG sponsored 911 when playing GTR, all becuase of that one race 2 years ago.

HINT, HINT, sponsors, follow John Guests role model and get involved with the Donington LMES race. There will also be good facilites for sponsors with the new pits complex.

[rdjones]

Look at the Renault meeting that took place at Donington in September again a crowd of 25,000+, thanks to free tickets and F3/GT meeting that took place at Rockingham in 2003, tickets where £1 44,000 through the gate. As JAG says sponsors should take note.

[Mal]

The TV coverage needs to be improved. I guess the ACO should produce its own TV coverage with proper commentators on the scene and in car footage. The in car footage on ALMS of the LMP car battling through traffic is awesome.

The commentator makes a huge difference too, Hindy just seems to make the whole race more exciting with his enthusiasm and knowledge

[panoz.lmp1]

Originally Posted by Mal

The TV coverage needs to be improved. I guess the ACO should produce its own TV coverage with proper commentators on the scene and in car footage.

If you transfer the money to the ACO i´m sure that the ACO will do this

[Mal]

You can be cynical if you like, but as far as I can see the series needs two basics things to improve its exposure:

1) better local promotion of the events to attract spectators and better information / facilities at the circuit for those spectators.
2) better quality TV coverage.

To me the only way that TV coverage is for someone to invest in it. This will only happen if a manufacturer wants to promote its product, or if the organising body / promoter chooses to speculate to try and improve exposure. At the moment the ACO appear to have its head in the sand expecting the series to grow naturally.

They have all the ingredients of a big successful series with 50 odd cars, exciting racing etc. If you watch the Speed TV coverage of ALMS they manage to make even a boring race interesting with the quality of the TV production, in car cameras, interviews, replays, insights etc. You only have to look at how ALMS is attracting sponsors and TV viewer ratings to see the result of that - next year it will have 5 races live on network TV which in the states is a pretty big deal. If only LMES had such coverage and marketing plan then it could only help the series.

[JAG]

Lets hope those in power have read this thread, there have been some good points put forward.