[FIA GT] FIA GT Tidbits...

[19dodge]

The Maserati is now officaly approved for 2005. The GT1 regulations will be merged with the ACO's for next year (Does that mean that the Mazzas automatically get into ACO races?)

and the 2005 Schedule:

FIA GT Championship

10 April I Monza

01 May F Magny-Cours

15 May GB Silverstone

29 May CZ Brno*

31 July B 24h Spa

28 August D Oschersleben*

18 September TR Istanbul**

09 October CN TBA

23 October J TBA*

25 November BRN Bahrain

02 December UAE Dubai*

* subject to ASN confirmation
** subject to circuit approval


first 7 races are run with the World Touring Cars.

not too bad of a schedule. i was hoping that they would fly away and go with the Touring cars to mexico, but i knew that was an outside chance. maybe in 2006! (if thats the case, Ill be there!!)

[SALEEN S7R]

Hmm my Geography isnt good. Are there 3 seperate continents on that schedule? If so that would make the FIA GT championship a world championship in the eyes of the FIA. Lets hope so, and yes a very good calender. Good to see the series is slowly expanding, 11 races this season and in 2005, slowly expanding from the previous 10 rounds we have had in recent years.

Regarding the Maserati's, Id assume providng they meet the homlogation requirements the cars must now be eligable for the LMES/ALMS as they are eligable for the 2005 FIA GT championship which as we know has a common set of rules with the LMES/ALMS. Lets hope so.

[Asa]

No, there are only two continents: Europe and Asia (Bahrain, Dubai and China).

From what I know the Maseratis will be eligable for points in FIA GT's Zhuhai round on Nov 14.

[SALEEN S7R]

What about the TBA date though? Is Japan in Asia? Sorry guys dont mean to sound dumb, just honestly dont know.

[Wout]

Originally posted by SALEEN S7R
What about the TBA date though? Is Japan in Asia? Sorry guys dont mean to sound dumb, just honestly dont know.

What would you suggest?

[Bob Riebe]

Sorry guys dont mean to sound dumb, just honestly dont know.

http://worldatlas.com/geoquiz/thelist.htm

[paul-collins]

A few comments:

No race before or near Sebring; Petit Le Mans is Oct 1 and Laguna is Oct 16 next year, so the China/Japan swing might lose a couple of entries, depending on how it all shakes out.

Gaps for LMES? Between Monza and Magny-Cours, I guess (but wouldn't teams who did both be tired of Monza back-to-back?). July and August are open, but again Spa is in the middle, so Spa 1000k would be a back-to-back if it were in either July or August. It looks like there's going to be a conflict between LMES and either FIA-GT or (more likely) ALMS because the only other gap is right around Petit.

Hmmm...

[E46]

October 2nd is announced at Valencia.

[19dodge]

October 2nd at Valencia is ONLY for the World Touring cars

[E46]

Originally posted by 19dodge
October 2nd at Valencia is ONLY for the World Touring cars

weren´t FIA GT/WTCC to run finally all races joined? I have been out of GT world lately.

[Dani Filth]

at least they kept the races to up to 500km or 3 hours
but .. mazza ar LeMans 2005 would be great

[SALEEN S7R]

Yeah I agree a Maserati at Le mans would be fantastic, and Corvette would have some real competition! And seeing now as the cars are homlogated they are eligable for the race and the LMES/ALMS. Anyone care to take a guess at the LM pole time? Im thinking a low 3:47 or perhaps even a high 3:46.

[jhansen]

With unified GT1 (GTS) rules will we see more FIA GT teams at Le Mans in 2005? I would hope so. The addition of some of their top teams to Le Mans would make for a briliant GT1 (GTS) fight.

[SALEEN S7R]

Itd also be nice to see some of the ALMS teams making the trip across the pond for the Spa 24hrs. Teams like ACEMCO, Corvette, AJR, Flying Lizard, the racers group etc can all afford I think to make the trip across the pond twice. The Spa 24hrs is now IMO 2nd only to Le mans in terms of importance, itd be nice to see some of the big budget ALMS teams come over and challenge the best of the Europeans.

[paul-collins]

Saleen, that ain't going to happen. Spa 24h is the same day as ALMS Portland.

Spa more important than Sebring?

[jhansen]

With unified rules GM could also establish a factory team in FIA GT with the C6R I would imagine. Now that would be interesting. Probably wouldn't happen, but it would be cool to see.

[Mal]

Originally posted by jhansen
With unified rules GM could also establish a factory team in FIA GT with the C6R I would imagine. Now that would be interesting. Probably wouldn't happen, but it would be cool to see.

Could that be why GM (Opel) have pulled their DTM team today? Pure speculation, but a nice thought

[Alistair_Ryder]

Just wondering, with a merge of the ACO and Fia GT rules for next year, will this mean the cars will be slower in the Fia GT series. The ACO regulations for the new GT1 (old GTS) class have smaller restrictors then the old Fia 'GT' class regulations, dont they? I'm guessing that braking distances might be a bit shorter though, with the GT1 Cars being able to run Carbon brake discs.
Sorry if this seems confusing, either way, cant wait for the Spa 24 Hours again!

[JAG]

The Vitaphione Saleen was 3 seconds slower at Spa in ACO spec. BUT, that is without using qualifying tires (at least 1 second), and with a car that is, apparently, not well set-up in ACO spec.

I would expect a works C5-R or 550 to be at least as quick as the quickest FIA spec cars.

Afterall look how much quicker the 2004 C5-R is compared to the 2002 car, which benfited from larger restrictors and rear wing.

[SALEEN S7R]

Originally posted by paul-collins
Spa more important than Sebring?

At the moment Id say yes the Spa 24hrs is more important than Sebring. The Sebring 12hrs is no longer the event it used to be, thanks to the LMES. Take a look at this years Sebring 12hrs, sure there were a few European entries like Tarus, Audi UK and Rollcentre as well as a few GTS/GT teams, but in comparissan to recent years it was a poor grid, only 44 entries on the final list.

The Spa 24hrs on the other hand is growing and growing, next year with the prospect of Works Maseratis, Aston Martins etc, as well as the usual FIA GT contenders and the top teams from British GT/FFSA/Spanish GT/Belcar etc. At the very least Id say the Spa 24hrs is on a par with the Sebring 12hrs at the moment, its now getting all the big teams, all the top drivers and the top cars, just like Sebring. The thing that sways the balance in the Spa 24hrs favour IMO is that the race is held at Spa francochamps, an whilst Sebring is a great track it aint a patch on Spa.

[SALEEN S7R]

Its also worth mentioning that the Spa 24hrs has more history than the Sebring 12hrs, the Sebring 12hrs dates back to 1952 and has been run 52 times to date. The Spa 24hrs on the other hand dates back to 1924 and has been run 56 times to date...

[paul-collins]

Ooh, 4 times more!

You're certainly welcome to your opinion, of course, but of all the "growth" you're citing in FIA-GT, it too will show up at Sebring. And Spa had 44 entries in 2004, down from 54 in 2003. So, take it as you wish.

I'm not going to dispute that Spa is a much better track than Sebring; that's hardly the point.

However, I will note that Spa is a GT race, not a Sportscar race... Of course, Nurburgring had over 200 entries; I guess that makes it more important than Le Mans.

[SALEEN S7R]

I seriously doubt anyone other than Maserati and perhaps the Aston Martins will make the trip to the Sebring 12hrs next year, not many do. Your point about the Spa 24hrs having a decreased grid over 2003 is fair, but the differnce is the quality of the entrants in 2004 was much higher than that of 2003, and whilst the race grows in strength and depth the Sebring 12hrs has started to dip in both numbers and depth, just look at the decline of the event compared to say 2003 in terms of depth. Im sorry but IMO theres no comparissan.

Also the Nurburgring 24hrs isnt really a sportscar race as u know, its more of a touring car event with a mix of a few professional teams but in the main amatuer teams and drivers. The Spa 24hrs/LM 24hrs and Sebring 12hrs are sportscar races, and are all professional/semi professionals.

By the way u could do with clarifying which Spa race ur reffering to, could be a bit confusing, the Spa 1000km or the 24hrs? The same for the nurburgring, the 24hrs or the 1000km.

I guess we will have to agree to disagree.

[SALEEN S7R]

Originally posted by paul-collins
Ooh, 4 times more!

Yes, and 28 years older.

[paul-collins]

...which tells you they couldn't keep it going the full time. Although this is semantics, really - once a race has been consistently going for, oh, 20 years or so, I think you'd be hard pressed to compare its heritage in a negative way to any other race. (Speaking of which, how many years in a row is it now that Spa has run the 24h?)

The reason Sebring was down this year was the same reason Le Mans was down, in terms of depth. I think if you look at the last 5 years, it's clear that those who are sportscar racing consider it to be the race to prepare for Le Mans, which is the pinnacle (unless you want to debate that, too?).

Tell you what, we'll have a look at the entry for Sebring this year (2005), with the harmonized GT1 lists, and see just where it stands.

I still think you're off base, though. There's no way a GT race outclasses the full Sportscar field, IM(NS)HO. As far as I'm concerned, the Spa 1000k is more important than the 24h.