The state of the world of motorsports

[JD74]

this just goes to show that even though there is now a "JDM" brand to cheer for, it's so bad that not even the "Fanbois" care enough to be interested.

You still can't take away their fan/sponsor following in North America.

They are able to do, every Weekend, what the Superbowl can only accomplish ....once a year

[QuietChaos]

The only reason Audi was able to do good in ALMS is because they are allowed to have a 5.5 liter turbo charged diesel engine where as gasoline engines are limited to 4 liters if turbo charged and 6 liters if NA. As far as Audi and Porche dropping out this is supprising, was a reason given?

As far as F1 goes I think going to all engines being produced by the same manufacturer will improve the sport greatly. Right now F1 is a competition on who can spend more money on R&D ... This will cut costs greatly and allow for better competition from the 2nd tier teams. This works out well for Ferrari, maybe they will have an engine that lasts the whole race. While they are at it maybe they should source out the fuel rigs too.

The Subaru thing is quite shocking, have they released a reason for this?

The universal answer to that question is, money. Works teams can't afford to be running several million-dollar programs to promote their brand when the company itself is struggling to keep from collapse. Even companies like Ferrari are feeling the effects of the recession. Ferrari is actually not happy at all with the new standard engines..they've gone as far as threatening to drop out of F1 if it does happen. Of course, F1 is the soap opera of motorsports, they wouldn't go through with it. Turismo, Subaru ran their works team with Prodrive, Prodrive is now looking for a new partner. The only works teams left in WRC are ford and Citroen.

[Wolfattak]

as far as subaru is concerned, is it just the factory team that will be gone? I thought for the most part it was a 3rd party that actually built the rally spec cars, could be wrong, i don't follow it.

yes, the privateer teams will still be there, and the Subaru USA team (Pastrana and Block) is still going.

[FormerVDubber]

The universal answer to that question is, money. Works teams can't afford to be running several million-dollar programs to promote their brand when the company itself is struggling to keep from collapse. Even companies like Ferrari are feeling the effects of the recession. Ferrari is actually not happy at all with the new standard engines..they've gone as far as threatening to drop out of F1 if it does happen. Of course, F1 is the soap opera of motorsports, they wouldn't go through with it. Turismo, Subaru ran their works team with Prodrive, Prodrive is now looking for a new partner. The only works teams left in WRC are ford and Citroen.

I've heard the same thing about Ferrari. Aparently Tyler hamlton and company isn't happy either. I have a feeling that the standard engine deal will fall apart.

It's true Audi was able to get away with alot. Keep i mind the added weight involved with a Diesel and the fact that no one thought it would work. Sure Audi...you can have bigger tires for your Deisel, hehe...oh wait...dammit.

[Insta_AxE_Toast]

Wow I thought Audi was large enough to be able to afford a racing team like that.

[tokes]

The only reason Audi was able to do good in ALMS is because they are allowed to have a 5.5 liter turbo charged diesel engine where as gasoline engines are limited to 4 liters if turbo charged and 6 liters if NA.

Or maybe because they built a fantastic motor, and then built a fantastic car around that motor?

The ALMS organizers decided Diesel's should be allowed 5.5L of displacement. They also have to run smaller restrictors, smaller fuel tanks, and meet the same minimum weight requirements. It gives less room to play with in terms of ballasting weight, so it kinda shows you how good of a job they did with designing the car to be competitive with the heavier diesel engines.

[FormerVDubber]

Wow I thought Audi was large enough to be able to afford a racing team like that.

Well Porsche is pulling those strings now.

[Insta_AxE_Toast]

Or maybe because they built a fantastic motor, and then built a fantastic car around that motor?

The ALMS organizers decided Diesel's should be allowed 5.5L of displacement. They also have to run smaller restrictors, smaller fuel tanks, and meet the same minimum weight requirements. It gives less room to play with in terms of ballasting weight, so it kinda shows you how good of a job they did with designing the car to be competitive with the heavier diesel engines.

ALMS also raised the minimum weight because the Audi's were heavier than the gas engines(Audi was still heavier after the raise). As far as the smaller gas tank that tried to even it out because you can go further on diesel than you can on gasoline(more energy than gasoline). Same thing with the gas restrictors . This was to help even out the fact that on average the Audi was going 2-3 laps more on a tank than the gasoline cars.

Forcing teams to use ethanol vs diesel would be horrible. Ethanol has less energy than gasoline which already has less than diesel. Less energy = more refills. There are two ethanol Vets but they are not up against diesels.

Yes the ALMS did put the specs in, but they screwed up horribly. They need to be changed. With the current rules P1 will become the diesel class. The other lame part about Audi is that they would not sell their engines to privateers(surprise surprise Peugeot will not sell them either). So it becomes really lame really fast. Not only did Audi keep cleaning house there will be less cars competing in P1. Now we have Peugeot to carry on Audi's tradition yay

[FormerVDubber]

ALMS also raised the minimum weight because the Audi's were heavier than the gas engines(Audi was still heavier after the raise). As far as the smaller gas tank that tried to even it out because you can go further on diesel than you can on gasoline(more energy than gasoline). Same thing with the gas restrictors . This was to help even out the fact that on average the Audi was going 2-3 laps more on a tank than the gasoline cars.

Forcing teams to use ethanol vs diesel would be horrible. Ethanol has less energy than gasoline which already has less than diesel. Less energy = more refills. There are two ethanol Vets but they are not up against diesels.

Yes the ALMS did put the specs in, but they screwed up horribly. They need to be changed. With the current rules P1 will become the diesel class. The other lame part about Audi is that they would not sell their engines to privateers(surprise surprise Peugeot will not sell them either). So it becomes really lame really fast. Not only did Audi keep cleaning house there will be less cars competing in P1. Now we have Peugeot to carry on Audi's tradition yay

I don't think P1 will become a diesel class. I think endurance racing in general will transition to diesel. Also keep in mind Audi has had alot of success in ALMS before the R10 with the R8. And to give Audi some additional credit, technologies from both cars have filtered into current and future production cars (euro cars anyways). And the diesel race cars are not only more fuel efficient but they are quieter and cleaner burning than all the other cars.

[QuietChaos]

Wow I thought Audi was large enough to be able to afford a racing team like that.

Is the size of the company really a factor? Last I checked, GM was the second largest car manufacturer in the world, and most people know they are in a heap of trouble. In the foreseeable future, it looks like smaller, privately funded teams will be more successful in motorsports in general.

[Browny_R31]

u guys have teams pulling out of events and series..... i think we can top that with the BIGGEST and ONLY drift series in Australia pulling the pin due to not being able to get any sponsors. Toyo were the sponsor but spent all their money on the american drift series and now Drift in Australia is broke... weee no more drift for us