FIA GT World Championship 2012

[I Rosputnik]

Indeed it is and it happens to everything, Supertouring being one of better examples of it. It shows why cost capping makes sense for this kind of racing. I can understand why Ratel does not want factory entries as they can push the costs up and as well if they all go when things become too expensive then the series goes out of the window. However factory entries can improve the quality of the racing and boost the image of the series. It's a sad catch 22.

Why not do things like they do in the WTCC? You have a core group of teams that do the whole thing, and then you have local teams that do certain races. It would interesting to see how many teams would enter if the cap was removed.

I also like the idea of having an end of year race for the national series in Europe.

[NaBUru38]

Originally Posted by Thaw Daggerslash

It's not the tourist trophy if it's not at Silverstone.

Well, history says otherwise. From 1996 to 2001 it was held at Donington Park.

[FstrthnU]

http://www.autoweek.com/article/2011...ORTS/111209964
Interesting, Ratel actually said he's considering combining GT3 Europe and GT World at shared events. It's his backup plan if neither series gets enough cars. The GT3 Europe cars will be allowed to participate in the "flyaway" rounds, though I'm not sure how it would work points-wise

[Pandamasque]

Is the BES calendar already finalized? I remember Ratel saying that the TT at Silverstone will not be part of GT WC but one of his other series.

[FstrthnU]

Originally Posted by Pandamasque

Is the BES calendar already finalized? I remember Ratel saying that the TT at Silverstone will not be part of GT WC but one of his other series.

April - Monza, Italy
June - Silverstone, Great Britain
July - Paul Ricard, France
July - Total 24 Hours of Spa, Belgium
September - Germany (circuit TBC but likely Hockenheim or Nurburgring)
October - Barcelona, Spain

This is the "schedule", but the SPECIFIC dates haven't been confirmed yet.

[kyoung]

Originally Posted by kober

What I meant is that there was no point in linking speed's article, since the very same text had been linked a few post before.

I know kober, it wasn’t really a comment on whether the articles were the same; I was alluding to the fact that Ratel’s plans change daily depending on who he can hoodwink into his series. By the time the season rolls around FIA GT may be run with radio controlled cars.

I think his latest brain storm/fart looks like an attempt at a unified GT series that could eventually transform into GTE as he seems to be determined to get manufacturers on board. GTE has a Pro and Am class and now it looks like he wants the same thing in FIA GT whatever. In a roundabout way we have come full circle because the original intent of the ACO was to have GT1 “Pro” and GT2 “Am”. The big problem for Ratel is that manufacturers are not going to hand over their “brand” to be controlled by a huckster; I can’t say I blame them.

[Pandamasque]

June - Silverstone, Great Britain

That should be Tourist Trophy right there. The more open, multiclass and endurance orientated BES rules fit TT more than the WorldGT.

[I Rosputnik]

Originally Posted by kyoung

I know kober, it wasn’t really a comment on whether the articles were the same; I was alluding to the fact that Ratel’s plans change daily depending on who he can hoodwink into his series. By the time the season rolls around FIA GT may be run with radio controlled cars.

I think his latest brain storm/fart looks like an attempt at a unified GT series that could eventually transform into GTE as he seems to be determined to get manufacturers on board. GTE has a Pro and Am class and now it looks like he wants the same thing in FIA GT whatever. In a roundabout way we have come full circle because the original intent of the ACO was to have GT1 “Pro” and GT2 “Am”. The big problem for Ratel is that manufacturers are not going to hand over their “brand” to be controlled by a huckster; I can’t say I blame them.

It's a catch. Either bring someone in to pretend to be the "brand" and costs stay the same and the car get little development, or get the manufacturer involved and the car gets developed but the costs start to increase and this could put off more teams from joining.

***

Anyway, a quick bit from Endurance Info claims there are rumours we might see a B6 next year. I love the look of these cars, and hopefully when we find out what the hell is going on today in Dehli we might see team running two of them. Although I would like to see a new B6 GT3 based on the new 6 series...

[I Rosputnik]

Here's the 2012 calendar.

Not sure about this calendar, why is there two races in China? They could of gone to somewhere else like Japan, Malaysia or Australia...

[Purist]

China is a "developing market".

With the date separation from the 24 Hour, I would rather like to see them back at Spa. I would have gone for Dijon instead of Nogaro. For this series, I'd honestly take Jarama over Navarra. No British round just seems off. And who knows, they may well have to scrap the Russian round, again; can they partner with ELMS at Brno instead?

Speaking of Japan, that would be an interesting late portion of the season, if they could do something like FIA GT WC at Autopolis, FIA WEC at Fuji, and FIA F1 WC at Suzuka.

[Rodger Davies]

presumably because they're paying most

sorry, I mean because the SRO is dedicated to reducing the teams' expenses and inconvenience as well as supporting the burgeoning Chinese GT market

[rich07]

Is there a date for entries to be announced?

From memory the only teams confirmed are Hexis

[alexkiller8]

as i said some time ago, this is maybe the most unhappy race list for a champ...

-nogaro isn't the better choice to open a "world" champ, in france they could run at paul ricard and magny cours that were much better tracks.

-navarra, please not again .-. one of the most boring and slow tracks ever made

-beijing? is a street race or again goldenport?

-moscow track? but if it hasn't finished yet...

the only track that i liked in the rumors was brands hatch (even if is a replacement for donington/silverstone) and apparently is not in the list...

[I Rosputnik]

Originally Posted by rich07

Is there a date for entries to be announced?

From memory the only teams confirmed are Hexis

In Autosport this week, it says that All-inkl.com has now got two Mercedes Benz SLS AMG's.

[Deleted]

As if the BoP-GT3-only grid wasn't horrifying enough, we also get a very low-profile schedule...

Nogaro - is this unspectacular way to start the season or what?!
Zolder - good, but low-profile
Navarra - boring as hell
Algarve - fairly good but never gets any crowds or public interest
Beijing - is this that god-awful Goldenport circuit again?
Ordos - almost as boring as Navarra
Moscow - of course it won't happen, every year someone attemps to race in Russia but those events never materialize (expect someone like Hungaroring to replace)
Zandvoort - good, but low-profile
San Luis - highlight of the calendar, awesome track

Europe-Asia-SA again, no important markets like UK, US, Germany etc

[alexkiller8]

i hope that at least the gt3 "world" cars, because of sprint type of race, will run with unrestricted engines with a power output close to 600hp (even if the 2010-2011 didn't reach that power, just nissan engine). The bop also will be a nightmare because a car like the sls has a weight of 1320 or more, so is useless to expect min. weight of around 1250kg for every cars.

[tje23]

What has happened to Silverstone? Yet another FIA championship dropping UK rounds.

[Purist]

Beijing is supposed to be an Olympic Park street circuit. I suspect Goldenport only got approval on condition of the street circuit being fully ready for this upcoming season.

As for Navarra, it's not that great by any stretch, but I honestly think Barcelona or Valencia (Ricardo Tormo) would be even worse.

I'm not sure how Zolder and Zandvoort come off as low-profie. They're not current F1 circuits, but apart from that, they certainly have recent history of hosting "big" cars. DTM runs a major/very popular round at Zandvoort every year.

[alexkiller8]

Originally Posted by tje23

What has happened to Silverstone? Yet another FIA championship dropping UK rounds.

bernie simply told to ratel that he must not run the fia gt1/3 in f1 tracks.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by alexkiller8

bernie simply told to ratel that he must not run the fia gt1/3 in f1 tracks.

Makes perfect sense. That must be why Blancpain runs at Silverstone...

GT1/3 isn't even on Bernie's radar. If there is a sportscar series that's giving him sleepless nights it's WEC, and I even doubt that.

[I Rosputnik]

Originally Posted by alexkiller8

bernie simply told to ratel that he must not run the fia gt1/3 in f1 tracks.

While I think it's a good move to focus on other tracks for the other world championships, I don't see any harm in going to a F1 track or two.

If Bernie was that worried that GTWC is going to surpass F1, then why is WEC going to Spa, Silverstone, São Paulo and Fuji and the WTCC going to Monza, Hungaroring, Suzuka and Shanghai?

[JackN]

I like not going to F1 venues. They always become very sanitized and dull.

Having watched a few onboard laps of Negaro, it looks quite....quirky? Is that a good way to describe it?

Let us not despair just yet about the UK. There was that Autosport report about Brands possibly being on the calendar, and Donington appear to have got their noise issues sorted for now (although that's a long shot). And of course there is a TBA date on both GT3 and GT1 calendars, which after Ratel said all the GT3 races will support GT1, suggests to me it will be a European date.

[Rodger Davies]

With the greatest of respect to those it was convenient for, I won't miss Silverstone.

I admit, not sure I'd even travel to Donington now it's a sprint series, but what they've done to Silverstone has completely sterilised it, taken away the character it had and my facvourite part of the circuit to watch at.

[Purist]

Rosputnik, I'm guessing Bernie has less concern with WEC because of the endurance format. Also, those larger tracks are, to a large extent, the only ones that can properly accommodate a WEC grid/race.

As for the WTCC, you're about half right. They do run Monza and the Hungaroring. However, they only run the East Circuit at Suzuka (the short one, which it's then kind of laughable even saying you're running at Suzuka). And no, they do not run at Shanghai. This year, they ran at Tianma, because Guangdong didn't have the upgrades completed in time.

[I Rosputnik]

Originally Posted by Purist

Rosputnik, I'm guessing Bernie has less concern with WEC because of the endurance format. Also, those larger tracks are, to a large extent, the only ones that can properly accommodate a WEC grid/race.

As for the WTCC, you're about half right. They do run Monza and the Hungaroring. However, they only run the East Circuit at Suzuka (the short one, which it's then kind of laughable even saying you're running at Suzuka). And no, they do not run at Shanghai. This year, they ran at Tianma, because Guangdong didn't have the upgrades completed in time.

Makes sense with longer tracks for WEC. It would be amazing if it would be possible for them to have a race on the Nurburgring 24 hour layout.

I've heard the WTCC are going to Shanghai for 2012 (Which personally I'm sure if that's going to work). As for Suzuka I do agree that sticking the cars on the east circuit rather then the full thing is silly.

Thinking about Japan, I reckon if GTWC was to do a race there, Autopolis could work.