Slalom4me

Aston Martin V8 Vantage Rally GT's are the production
-based vehicles for the 2008 Race of Champions, slated
to take place next week in Wembley Stadium. In the past,
there have been Porsches, Citroëns and Renaults used in
this event.

Why doesn't Corvette find a way to get ZR1's (or Z06's) on
the program for next year, or possibly for 2010? This would
cost a good deal less than is spent on the Lemans effort but
would bring as much or more coverage amongst European,
Middle Eastern and Asian markets.

After all, it IS the Race of Champions, so how come the
organizers selected Aston Martins for the drivers to compete in?

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Slalom4me

I forgot to mention the Ferraris they used in 2004.

At first the circuit over the bridge was unobstructed. Then someone
caught major air cresting over the peak and the organizers wisely
improvised by adding a chicane to keep subsequent runs under better
control (and help the cars last the entire event.)

Here is David Coultard racing against Casey Mears in the Ferraris.



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John Shiels

I don't think anything equals Le Mans for press.

c4cruiser

GM probably has the majority of their race budget in LeMans and ALMS. It would cost a bunch to outfit a complete factory team to participate. It might be something that privateers may consider but it's still a lot of money.

And the format is not something that American race fans are familiar with or may even be interested in. While F1 and Rallye are big throughout Europe, rallye is not as popular in the US. Although there are many F1 fans in the US, we probably won't see another F1 race in the US in the foreseeable future.

robvuk

In addition to all of the above: It's a European event and they're supporting European manufacturers. Unlike what we do here in the U.S.