GTgears

I think the ALMS broadcasters put it best yesterday with their commentary regarding how the fields are being equalized. They remarked that the rule makers are doing their jobs when all the various teams are complaining about their disadvantage.

Porsche was the top dog in GA for a number of years and it was only a matter of time before people starting shooting at the target on their back. Hurley is just speaking what has become the party line the last few years. Buckler says it. John Horton says it. They all say that they aren't getting the breaks that they need.

The fact of the matter is that the GA GT3s are still competitive. They just are no longer dominant. I personally don't have a problem with that. The only problem I have ever had with GA GT class cars is the Prep2 tube frame cars. That's a disparity that I think is ridiculous. The "BMWs" and "Camaros" should be written right out of the rules IMO.

brake dust

FIA regs are in use for the Blancpain GT3 series. A series that is growing very quickly as evident by the grid size at the Spa 24. With Pirelli World Challenge now accepting GT3s FIA rules become more and more important.

GTgears

I see ten 997 GT3-Rs on the entry list. Compared to a typical Carrera Cup race with four times as many entries and having Cup spec series in how many countries? FIA GT3 is a drop in the bucket when they are making several hundred Cup Cars a year. Porsche will follow the money. Their big meal ticket is their own proprietary series and will continue to be for the foreseeable future.

This is not to say that they won't make cars to FIA specs. But I don't think the boys in Weissach are going to lose any sleep over the delays in the release of the new regs. They'll just keep counting all those Euros they make on the standard Cups as they doze off at night.

Mvez

The price of the new GT America (Cup) for the USCR next year is going to be the draw compared to the other GT3 based options, which are almost double the entry price.

I think since Grand-Am recently allowed new manufacturers in, they need to stroke the egos and give them some relative quick success to ensure car counts. Remember, they made Ferrari jump through a lot of hoops to make the 458 legal. Now they have begun to relax all those regulations. I can live with that.

The new GT America should certainly close the gap to the GT3 based cars, but how much has yet to be seen. If it can keep it's rear tires underneath it for longer, that might prove to be all the difference.

From recent press releases from USCR, it looks like they are going to try and phase out the Prep-2 tube-framers, which is good for everybody.

brake dust

10 years ago, almost the entire the grid would have been Porsche at an FIA race

mjb

I could be totally out to lunch on this but I thought I read somewhere (Panorama article?) that they needed to keep the Mezger in the current gen cups because the 9A1 (or motorsport variant) based 991 RS wasn't in production and available for homolgation. I don't understand the whole homolgation process or which race series it's relevant, but the comment implied that eventually the 9A1 will be the engine in the cup, replacing the Mezger.

So yeah, agree - a) 991RS will have the 9A1, and b) at some point in the future the cup's (RSR?) will have the 9A1 base as well, and the Mezger will be retired for all the reason's stated in other posts. That being said the Mezger has had amazing longevity, success, and is certainly iconic.

GTgears

Right, but 10 years in motorsports is a century. I don't really get your point. Porsche isn't going to put any effort into developing a new FIA GT3 spec vehicle until the regs are nailed down. That's a pretty simple idea.

I never said that GT3 wasn't a viable market or viable racing venue for Porsche. I just said that it's not part of their core motorsports business plan. There's a reason that Porsche Motorsports is the most profitible motorsports division of any auto maker in the world.