[FIA GT] Eurosport coverage of ETCC/FIA GT

[johanv]

My opinion regarding etcc and fiagt is that touring cars is much easier to understand for the general public. Sportcars are great, but they are confusing with two classes and more "strategic" component. I attended Anderstorp this year and I must say that the touringcars was the highlight for me personally.

[SALEEN S7R]

I can understand that of course - as this is a touring car forum. Dont get me wrong I love the touring cars, but the majority of the fans that are trackside are there for the GT's. Also if u notice the GT's get first dibs on the pit garages.

As for the GT's being confusing because of 2 classess, I dont see why really the both run to the same technical regulations just the GT cars are further removed from the road cars than the NGT cars are. Take the BTCC for example its the same situation there with the BTC-T and BTC-P classess.

Still I dont want this thread to turn into a ETCC V FIA GT debate - Im just stating the facts which are that the GT boys get priority over the pits. The ETCC is one of the supporting events, at least thats how the organisers see it. FIA GT will be broadcast LIVE for the entire 3hrs hopeflly next year, only reason they dont do so now is the length of the race.

Still lets not turn this into one of "those" threads. We are each entitled to our views and Ive said my piece on the matter.

[rustyfan]

Until Eurosport gets a second channel, a Eurosport2, I doubt we'll see the FIA GT live next year - they have too much other cr@p they prefer to put ahead of motorsports that I just don't see a 3-hour window being available on Sundays in 2004.

[Dani Filth]

they will not be able to show the full races cause they also have to show MotoGP on a few weekends a year

[rustyfan]

Originally posted by Dani Filth
they will not be able to show the full races cause they also have to show MotoGP on a few weekends a year

And I'm not complaining about that (since I think MotoGP is great)

But they have a tendency to show a lot of other sports as well which are completely uninteresting (to me at least), and still get a higher priority than racing.

[SALEEN S7R]

Yeah same here - yesterday they were showing WSBK! Which is a OK series but nothing special, and at the moment is going downhill in a big way with most of the manufacturers leaving and the series switching to a "spec" pirelli tyre. As for Moto GP I love the series and think its great, but I dont think the 125cc and 250cc races should get priority over the FIA GT or ETCC really, I cant belive the 250's and 125's are more popular than FIA GT and FIA ETCC.

Now the FIA GT on the other hand is getting bigger and bigger at the moment, and next year manufacturer involvment will be there. The same applies to the ETCC, but for some reason Eurosport would rather show WSBK. I can understand screening the WSBK as they are fairly intresting, but the Supersports and Sidecar races too?!?! Sorry but its just plain boring to me.

[rustyfan]

I like WSBK and SuperSport - I didn't get the second race nor the side-cars live though (on Int'l Eurosport). Wish I had - I enjoy all forms of racing

I think the "problem" for Eurosport when it comes to FIA GT is, as mentioned earlier, the length of the races, 3 hours. If I'm not mistaken it's the same reason they chose not to show NASCAR Winston Cup live last year DESPITE having rights to so.

Racing coverage in Europe has been on a downhill slide ever since Eurosport bought Screensport. I miss that channel.

[ianbawler]

The monza etcc was great. Total exitement from start to finish.
The only other touring car r ace i've seen as gripping as that was oz procars, which is well worth a look.

[SALEEN S7R]

Welcome to the best forums on the web Iain!

[Craner Curves]

I was at the Donington ETCC/GT meeting this year and lost interest in the GTs simply because of the race lentgh. The ETCC was more my cup of tea.

[FIRE]

Yesterday they repeated the MotoGP race between 14.00h and 15.00h why the ^#^@%& didn't they show FIA GT? I can understand that they do a live coverage of 125cc, 250cc or MotoGP but NOT a repeat of a race on primetime!

Welcome Ian on this wonderfull forum!!!

[Craner Curves]

Because the MGP race was worth watching a 2nd time and it was a rerun of a 6am race, for those who couldn't see it at that time.

[SALEEN S7R]

Oh yeah the Moto GP was really worth watching a 2nd time...Another Rossi win, another boring Rossi win too. The race wasnt even close, he won the race by a country mile.

[Go_For_Pole]

While I love GTs, I certainly wouldn't stand a 3hr live coverage. Even on Monza I was off to do other things after an hour.

As for GTs being the headliners, you surely are joking. Most of the spectators came in time for the touring car races. The reasons are obvious. And I failed to see how GT teams get priority in the pits. If anything, pit boxes were mixed. For example on the the first one there was Scuderia Italia, then on the second some F.Renault V6 team and then SEAT. This pattern continued till the other end of the pit lane.

About the ETCC races' length, don't forget that the championship is made for TV. In total it takes 1,5 hrs from the start of the 1st race to the finish of the 2nd, which is what an average person can tolerate.

For the races I went to the Ascari and then in the first chicane. Believe me, with all those people and the atmosphere (all grandstands on both bends were packed with very passionate Alfa fans, lovely experience) 9 laps per race were more than enough! There was action on every lap, which probably wouldn't be the case should the races were longer.

Highlight? The way everybody reacted when Coronel brake tested Tarquini. You could swear you were in a football stadium when the referee denied an obvious penalty for the home team!!! Top stuff!

[SALEEN S7R]

Sorry but the GT's are the headlining event everywhere the series goes. And the GT's do get priority over the pits, and if there are any left the ETCC gets priority. Take the Spa round for example, the Spa 24hrs which is part of the FIA GT championship, there is over 100,000 spectators there, the VAST majority are there for the Spa 24hrs, the touring car race at Spa is merley a supporting race. Both the organisers see it this way, as do the fans. Or do u seriously belive there would be 100,000+ fans at Spa just for the ETCC without the FIA GT? If u belive that ur in denial...

[Craig]

I think this is probably an argument for the GT forum old chap...

Endurance racing is great - I'm the biggest Le Mans fan ever - but you can't beat tourers for an out an out blast. And that is what makes great TV. GTs are great live but make poor TV. Now I wonder if Eurosport have made a mistake in showing one over the other? I don't think so.

[SALEEN S7R]

I agree Craig, for a out and out blast the ETCC is better viewing than the GT's, but I find the GT's more entertaining in general. I like races that last more than 25 minutes, and prefer cars that do actually top 155mph. As for Eurosport making a mistake showing the ETCC live and not the FIA GT - well no they probably havent due to the fact they only have a limited gap between WSBK races (or whatever else is on that particular weekend) so the ETCC fits in nicely. If Eurosport lose the WSBK like many are expecting then I think we could well see more full LIVE coverage of the FIA GT's. We have already had a few LIVE full races for the GT's this year. Perhaps a sign of things to come.

Still we agree to disagree and this isnt really going anywhere so ill leave it alone from now on.

[touringlegend]

Using the Spa 24 hours as proof that GT's attract more fans that the ETCC is a little unfair to be honest with you.

Showing three continous hours of GT's is a bit over the top, do you reckon the people that tuned in at the start would still be watching at the end (excluding the hardcore nuts..) ??

[Sodemo]

9 laps is a total joke, they should be at least 16 or 18 laps per race.

And Eurosport miss about 2 laps due to their over-long ad breaks.

[SALEEN S7R]

I dont know Touringlegend. People tune in for 2hr 30 minute LIVE races of CART on Eurosport, when Eurosport screen the events LIVE so they might do yes. FIA GT is gaining in popularity, both with fans and manufacturers. Lets not forget that we will have a factory Maserati team in the series next year and works teams from Lambourgini and perhaps Aston Martin. Lets not forget too that with the FIA GT races whilst the maximum duration is 3hrs, or 500km whichever comes first always the 500km mark nowadyas, in fact the FIA GT are about the same time as a average CART race, the FIA GT at Monza for example lasted for only 2hrs 40 minutes.

By the way why is using the Spa 24hrs as proof that GT attract more fans unfair? The 24hr race is really just the FIA GT grid with around 10-15 entrants from other National GT championships - so its not as if the extra entrants are really big front running teams. The ETCC is there too as usual supporting the event.

If further proof was needed that the FIA GT is the headlining event of the LG SRW why is it that the Spa 24hrs is no longer a touring car event - but a GT event? Lets not forget too that the GT grid is bigger than the ETCC grid. A average ETCC grid is what? 18-24 cars. For the FIA GT (excluding the Spa round) on average gets anywhere between 28-34 cars, and lets face it, its more expensive to run a GT car for a year than a touring car.

Im not trying to cause trouble here, as I love both the ETCC and the GT's. The organisers feel that the GT is the bigger series and attracts more fans. And so do i, now if only Eurosport would invest in another channel the series would continue to grow. Maybe Im just being bitter, but it seems as though the FIA GT series gets a raw deal compared to the ETCC - at least with regards to tv coverage.

A couple of years ago back in say 2000 the Euro STCC was the headlining event, as the FIA GT series was in a state due to the fact the GT1 era wrecked the championship. Since then the GT's have rebuilt and are again the headlining event, as the series was in the prime of the GT1 days. I said before I was going to leave this thread alone, well I mean it this time. I just wanted to try and explain mine and Im sure many, many other sportscar racing fans concerns. Still I'll leave the thread alone.

I mean it this time.

[Les]

those adverts in the first race were a disgrace. If the BTCC was ever afflicted like that I would be turning it off. To come back to find Muller was no longer about and the commentators hadn't a clue what had happened. It showed that they were commentating from the same pictures as we were watching with it's poor direction.

[Craner Curves]

Originally posted by SALEEN S7R
Oh yeah the Moto GP was really worth watching a 2nd time...Another Rossi win, another boring Rossi win too. The race wasnt even close, he won the race by a country mile.

The fascinating thing was watching him build up a gap to beat the 10 second penalty, then the battle for 3rd place which was decided a few corners from home. Now that's action that i'd prefer to see over the leading car in the FIA GTs lapping backmarkers at the end of the race because the race is already won. But then that's way off topic for the thread and the forum.

Maybe the TV give the ETCC the bigger coverage because the casual member of the public can relate to those cars more than a GT car?

[Craig]

Precisely, CC. Saleen can continue to think what he likes - that's his right - but Eurosport don't seem to agree. And, as they go on what their viewers want (most of the time), I'd suggest that the public agree with them.

The reason it's a bit silly to use the 24hrs as part of your argument it's like using the Bathurst 1000kms to suggest that the Porsche Cup is a huge hit in Australia...

[Portello]

I've been following a few races for Alfa Romeo since 2000 at different places in Europe (also Spa last year and this year) and I could observe , that in the beginning (ESTC) a lot of spectators were leaving the ground after the GT's had finished. It was a shame for the touring cars. Nowadays it's quite different. The people stay and the atmosphere is good (but not as enthusiastic as in the old DTM/ITC days for example). In Spa the ETCC races took place just before the start of the 24h. I could not observe that people were leaving for joining the fair- attractions or something else. Both series are treated equal by SRW -organisation and both have their strengths. N.Technology (Alfa Romeo/Fiat Motorsport Department) just has launched their GT-project (Ferrari 575) in Estoril. The SRW will even improve in the next years. Monza was a celebration of motorsports !

[johanv]

Well it aint really etcc vs. FIAagt. It is FIAgt vs. motogp and wsbk if anything.

This is offtopic... I find motogp boring, so bring on fiagt. If Rossi doesnt win it is because he stuffed it himself. I belive he can win by that margin every race, if he/honda wants.