vetdude

Just finished watching the "race". How long will this farse continue? The GT1 Class comprised of only the TWO Corvettes from Corvette Racing...racing each other. And, to add insult to injury, very very little TV coverage of them since there was obviously no competition. The sponsors of these cars must livid! How long will/can this go on? Think about it - team Corvette could traverse the course at 80 mph and still win their class.

Katech_Zach

I share your frustration. Its just not exciting anymore.

Rob Willis

...and so many SUPER cool cars were once involved in the GT1 class.....

*Aston Martin DBR9
*Saleen S7R
*Dodge Viper GTS-R
*Ferrari 550 & 575GTC
*Maserati MC12
*Lambo
*C5-R
...and others.....

4pipes

They'll have plenty of competition from the two Prodrive Aston Martins at Lemans. The owner of Prodrive is the guy that purchased the majority share of AM from Ford and will not want to loose.

AZ FASTEST

Still I'm questioning whether I want to travel to attend any of the races. Attendance at the Corvette Corrals must be dwindling. I may go to Salt Lake with a friend and hang at the Porsche Platz.

This is a low point for Corvette Racing!

Toxic Z

Agreed but what happened to the Corvette that dropped out? They said it was a drivetrain issue?

Zoxxo

Dave Richards. He fronts a consortium of investors who bought the majority of AM (he didn't buy it himself.) But Richards is also starting up a Prodrive Formula One team for the 2008 season so just how much attention he can/will give AM racing (and just how much it needs his attention for success) is an open question. It will be interesting to see if he thinks it's important to be racing the AM cars in the US. I suspect that if there is no competition next year, Corvette Racing will go to Europe to be able to run against someone.

I have to admit that the Corvettes running all alone yesterday was a trifle sad.

The other classes are still an awful lot of good racing, ya know (even if it does seem to be turning into "fendered IRL" - Penske, Andretti, Rahal, Fernandez...)

I'll be at the Champ Car race in Las Vegas next weekend. Should be fun.

Z//

Live2Redline

burtonbl103

It sucks

Because you want to watch the vettes on tv

but no coverage

UberR32

The whole race was a joke except for GT2:
Audi walks away with P1 . . . . again . . . .
the Porsche RS spyders win P2 again
only 2 Corvettes starting in GT1 with one finishing . . . in first again

I love this class of racing more than any other, but the lack of competition is getting old.

rico750sxi

GM has already said they need someone else to compete in GT1 against them or they will stop soon. LeMans though will be a different story. I think a GT2 class ZO6 should be made soon.

Corvette1221

Guys, I don't get it, are you saying there is no competition?? What about Austin Martin? Are they not interested in racing Team corvette anywhere except Lemans?

Is it because there are just no other cars to compete with Vette Team or is it because people just don't care to?

AZ FASTEST

The coverage was weak in GT1, but understandably so! I noticed no one rushing to the Corvette pit to interview Doug Fehan about what went wrong with the number 3 car.

I'll bet Olivier and Ollie Gavin felt pretty silly on the podium all alone! If Corvette Racing goes to Europe on a more permanent basis at least they'll be able to spend more time at home!

GT2 has gotten more exciting though!!

1-2-b-67L89

with the above comments concerning competition. It is not what racing is about and how long or short of a time will it continue? I was there both Friday and Saturday and enjoyed the days due to having a pit pass. Penske along with several teams including Corvette Racing are spending a bundle of cash. Would be interesting to know how sponsors are looking at this as we all know they want exposure.

Rob Willis

I hope if there is no competition in GT1 (in the ALMS) next year, that GM doesn't pack it up and leave entirely; but at least move over to the LMS series for a year or two!

Zoxxo

Remember that up until a couple of weeks ago, Aston Martin was owned by Ford. (They sold off Aston Martin despite that fact that it is a profitable operation.) Ford was/is losing money hand-over-fist so I suspect that they opted to cut down the amount of racing expenditures. So, one Aston Martin team instead of two. Besides, why pay a big chunk of money to race a make of cars that you know you are going to sell? Add to that the fact that all four of the Aston Martin drivers left the team. That left them in the lurch with little time to replace them and no time to bring the new folks up to speed. Given that Corvette was beating tham anyway, the future had to look both bleak and pointless. Hard to blame them, actually.

The other teams found that competing against the Corvettes was just too much of an uphill battle. It costs a ton of money to do this kind of racing and if the board of directors isn't seeing a decent return on their investment, they are duty bound to pull the plug. That's why all the complaints about ALMS fiddling with the rules to create better "competition" are so short-sighted. If Aston Martin (or you can name your manufacturer) can't win a championship occasionally then they will leave the series. The result is what you have now. GM and Corvette fans both have to realize that for there to be meaningful, exciting victories their has to be meaningful (and hopefully exciting) competition. That means the other guy has to win now and then. While the purity of racing seems awfully sullied by such thinking, it's a reality in today's world. Racing is advertising. And if the racing series want the manufacturer's money to play with then the manufacturers have to be given their due. "He who pays the piper" and all that... (see what's happening to Formula One as the manufacturers have become the primary source of cash? Sad.)

And for exactly the same reasons, GM is pretty unlikely to keep funding a Corvette team that's not racing against anyone. What's the point? They threatened to go to europe this year over the rules issues. Next year they may have to.

Z//

davidfarmer

ALMS is going to have to follow Grand Am, which I say with great Pain! They should combing into a single Prototype class, and a single GT class.

This wouldn't help the current GM/P&M any, but if they can't manage to finish every single race they start, then they're really not helping themselves any either.

I guess the same car came in first and last at St Pete!

davidfarmer

RE *Aston Martin DBR9
*Saleen S7R
*Dodge Viper GTS-R
*Ferrari 550 & 575GTC
*Maserati MC12
*Lambo
*C5-R


They all still race in Europe. As I said in the other St Pete post, NASCAR has killed every other major form of racing in this country. I guess ultimately, it's out fault (the fans) for not being more interested.

BrianCunningham

ALMS needs some Corvette in GT2 on this side of the Atlantic.

DSOM Z06

Looks like SCCA is where the vettes actually race against somebody. I'll have to follow them more closely.