two things - Lister stuff and "mirrors please!"

[Osella]

actually three things- it said i was logged in and i wasn't- weird-

I read on the FIA GT homepage that Lister plan to enter the Storm until the end of '2007 and beyond'... which is good news.

and on a connected note, given a recent collision and decision, Philippe Alliot takes the Silver for FI Rejects award for driver most unable to use his/her mirrors!

[SALEEN S7R]

If Lister really do intend to race the Storm until 2007 then Im afraid the car is going to be VERY outdated. I mean its already been outpaced by the Ferrari 550s and Saleen S7R regularly this year, and next year with more development the 550 and Saleen will be even faster. The Lister is pretty much at the end of its development Id think.

[JAG]

Lister have a new engine to come which is a major step forward.

[SALEEN S7R]

Yes Im aware they have a new engine "update" not a new engine like u have said. But this has yet to be used, and has been planned on being used since Orscherlsaben. The facts are that the car is already well down on horsepower compared to cars such as the Ferrari 550s and Saleen S7R's, as was shown at Monza in qualifying. Sure it finished 3rd but that was due mainly to reliabilty, not outright pace.

The Lister is a old car, and I dont think is capable of competing with the new GT cars that are coming to the fore. Like it or not the Lister is getting less and less competitive each year, its a shame yes but time goes on. Dont be suprised if the factory Lister squad leave the FIA GT Championship at the end of the 2004 season. There is no way that the Lister, and the Viper will be able to compete with the new breed of cars Im afraid. The Lister is becoming long in the tooth. I mean come on, its only won 1 race this year, which is pretty poor by their standards compared to the 2000, 2001, and 2002 season results.

[FIRE]

I think the Lister will be to old.

[JAG]

But bear in mind that the Lister is based on a very specialised road car, its not as if its based on an 'old' XKR or such like.

The new engine is supposed to be a major step forward and I believe the Lister will be a regular top 6 car, ahead of the Vipers.

The continuation of the Lister works team depends on how competitive the Storm is and how well the LMP develops. If the LMP continues to improve I can see all of Listers efforts concentrating on the LMP and the GTS car left to privateers.

True the storm GTS has only won 1 race this year, but its one more than the Saleen. To win first you must finish.

[SALEEN S7R]

Yes thats true, but remind me. How many years has the Saleen been competing in the FIA GT Championship? Just the 1, true it has been comepting in the British GT series and the ALMS in the past but it hasnt under the FIA GT regulations for Supercars. The Lister on the other hand has been racing for many many years, in the FIA GT championship and British GT, so it should be reliable. Im sorry but I think ur wrong, the Lister will not be competitive next year with the new machinery moving into the series for 2004. Its already been made to look slow several times this year.

[JAG]

If the finance is available I think any car, within reason, can be made competitive. Just look at the WRC, the Focus was totally uncompetitive but had a complete redesign and is now the class of the field. The same happened with the DTM CLK this year.

The question is whether Lister believe it is wort investing anymore in the Lister, up and above the new engine. Particulalry when they have the LMP, which now seems to be the priority.

[cybersdorf]

...and which may turn out to be a money pit.

[917Addicted]

Now with the supercar rules ( )how about lister running a carbon-chassis Storm??? Like the one they raced at Le Mans in 1997????

[JAG]

Originally posted by cybersdorf
...and which may turn out to be a money pit.

Quite possibly, but then everyone said that about the original Storm. The latest test for the LMP went very well with a new spec engine proving reliable and more powerful. Numerous people have said the chassis is as good as anything out there, the engine just needs to catch up.

Isn't it great small manufactuers like Lister are prepared to invest time and money into GTS and LMP and make a car work, no matter how long it takes. Makes a difference from the likes of Cadillac etc.

[Aysedasi]

Can I change the title of this - otherwise people won't have any idea what it's about........

[KA]

Originally posted by 917Addicted
Now with the supercar rules ( )how about lister running a carbon-chassis Storm??? Like the one they raced at Le Mans in 1997????

Hmm- would they be able to make that GTS-legal?

[JAG]

They'd have to make 25 to make it legal under supercar regs for FIA GT, and around 12 for ACO (small manufactuer, I think?).

[KA]

Originally posted by JAG
They'd have to make 25 to make it legal under supercar regs for FIA GT, and around 12 for ACO (small manufactuer, I think?).

Could this be the way ahead?- I thought I'd read somewhere that they'd ended production of the roadgoing version of the current Storm anyway?

[FIRE]

Originally posted by JAG
Isn't it great small manufactuers like Lister are prepared to invest time and money into GTS and LMP and make a car work, no matter how long it takes. Makes a difference from the likes of Cadillac etc.

That's right and I hope the Lister Storm will race until the end of '2007 and beyond' but I think the Lister is on it's end of development. The Lister needs a totally new redesign of the car. Has Lister the money to do this? The already named Ford Focus is a totally new car and has not much in common with the old Focus WRC.

BTW, Former Cadillac driver Wayne Tayler is trying to move to Champ Car racing:

From www.grandprix.com
South African racer Wayne Taylor has been trying to put together the budgets to enter a team in the Champ Car series next year and the latest stories from Australia suggest that he is hopeful that this year a deal will come together. Taylor says he will base his team around what is left of the old Team Cadillac sports car team and is keen to run drivers with Formula 1 experience. The favourite for the drive appears to be BAR third driver Anthony Davidson although the names of Johnny Herbert, Antonio Pizzonia and Ralph Firman have all been mentioned.