IMSA set to ruin GTD?
11-01-2015, 06:52 PM
#1
Perfect Angel
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IMSA set to ruin GTD?
I'll admit I don't know the ins and outs of participating in a race series at this level but it seems to me that making GT3 spec a reality in IMSA was a great idea but $300,000 to $1,000,000 to participate may be Scott Atherton shooting another series in the foot. Interested to hear what others with real experience in this arena think. Do other series have a "manufacturer buy-in" outside the factory efforts (ie GTD vs GTLM)?
http://www.racer.com/more/viewpoints...l=&limitstart=
PRUETT: Inside IMSA’s pay-to-play policy
Sunday, 01 November 2015
Marshall Pruett / Images by LAT
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A recent change in IMSA's financial policies has led to some interesting times behind the scenes in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. As part of its preparations for 2016, the sanctioning body informed auto manufacturers that paying for the privilege to see their cars compete is no longer an option. With the new pay-to-play mandate in place, reactions from teams and manufacturers – as you might expect – have been priceless.
Within IMSA's four classes, the policy shift has become especially problematic for some manufacturers in the GT Daytona category. Compared to its sister GT Le Mans class, which is dominated by full-bore, multi-million-dollar factory programs, GTD is where independent teams show up to race without significant manufacturer ties, yet with the new mandate, brands that simply sell GTD-compliant cars must pay IMSA so its customers can participate in the series.
GTD also happens to be the category where the WeatherTech Championship has the greatest growth potential. Six manufacturers were represented by privateer customers in 2015, and with GTD switching to full GT3 regulations next year, at least six more brands could be added to the manufacturer roster.
ferrari tudorIMSA's pay-to-play model was optional through 2015, and for those who paid the $300,000 to be listed as an official manufacturer, its brand was included in the GTD Manufacturers' championship and promoted by the series as an official partner.
In addition to the up-front cost of $300,000, manufacturers are also required to set aside $700,000 for potential advertising expenses. That money could be put towards print ads after a big win, posters, TV spots, or in any other area where the series identifies a need for marketing assistance. While the $300,000 spend is fixed for each car company, the $700,000 is more of a discretionary marketing fund, and I'm told some manufacturers end up spending less than the maximum. Across all the classes where manufacturer dollars are received, IMSA uses the money toward its TV package and other exposure-related expenses.
The question with the new season drawing near is how many of the current manufacturers in GTD will return in light of pay-to-play, and how many new manufacturers will join IMSA after learning of the significant financial barrier they're required to satisfy.
Committing to an annual outlay of up to $1 million is a big "ask" for any manufacturer in a non-factory class like GTD, and it's no surprise a comparatively small company like Aston Martin politely declined the opportunity through 2015. The TRG team came close to winning the GTD Drivers' and Teams' championships using the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 this year, and with the revised policy in place, TRG's cars will be barred from continuing in the Weather Tech Championship unless Aston Martin meets IMSA's terms.
Dodge, which pulled its factory GT Le Mans IMSA program at the end of 2014, also declined to pay for official status in 2015, and had to strike a special deal for Ben Keating to remain in GTD with his Vipers next year (more on that later).
Although the policy change has been mostly a private affair between the series and manufacturers, IMSA president Scott Atherton shed some light on the reason behind the move.
"Manufacturers who are official manufacturer partners of IMSA are eligible to compete. It would not be appropriate or fair to hold our GT competitors accountable for that expectation," Atherton told RACER in a conversation prior to Petit Le Mans. "There are all kinds of analogies you could use here. If you were a franchisee of a restaurant or a hotel and you paid the fee to have those rights, and then somebody was able to open up the same franchise across town and avoid paying that same investment, you'd probably cry foul."
Atherton's argument certainly has its merits – and numerous supporters. Four out of six GTD manufacturers paid for official status in 2015 (Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Porsche), and there was definite pressure being applied to make it a requirement for every brand.
audi COTA"We think the playing field needs to be level for everyone," said Audi of America's Mark Dahncke. "If we're helping to pay to make the series and all it offers possible, it's only fair for the rest of the manufacturers to do the same thing. Making it a level playing field financially is what makes the most sense."
Countering that viewpoint, a few GT3 manufacturers have asked whether a pay-to-play arrangement belongs in a class like GTD where small business owners, rather than factory teams, fill the grid.
"As far as we're concerned, we'd be quite happy for our customers to go racing in the GTD class in IMSA, but I have no idea why we should pay for them to go racing," said Bentley motorsport director Brian Gush. "We don't have to pay in Pirelli World Challenge. Again, I'm not sure why manufacturers would need to pay for their customers to race. It's not something I would consider as an added value for Bentley."
In Bentley's case, two of its Continental GT3s compete in PWC's GT class, and while it would be fantastic to have the cars in IMSA, the cost to open the door to GTD might not fit low-volume brands.
"There is just no way we can even consider the series," said another GT3 manufacturer representative who asked to have his name withheld. "Some paying the fee make more cars in a week than others make in a year, and yet the cost to enter is the same for all. It's not realistic."
Looking to the GTD agreements in place next season, the four from 2015 will continue, Dodge is in, existing IMSA partner Lamborghini is good to go with its Huracán GT3, and I've also heard Lexus, which has yet to confirm its GT3/GTD program, is also an official partner.
Aston Martin, Bentley, McLaren, and Mercedes-AMG are the major manufacturers with question marks regarding their GTD participation, and while some are said to be negotiating with IMSA, others are unlikely to be represented in the class as long as pay-to-play fees are involved.
Losing out on having some of the smaller GT3 exotics in the series, as Atherton confirms, is a risk IMSA is willing to take.
"We have very flexible terms and we are reasonable people; it's in our best interest to have as many of those really cool GT3 cars out there as possible," he added. "But we do have to maintain the integrity of our existing business model, which does call for manufacturer investment that enables this championship to exist, that enables television be in place, and many, many other things."
It means privateers with "unofficial" GT3 models in Europe, at home in PWC, and even in IMSA, will be locked out of GTD for reasons beyond their control. Unless, of course, those teams are willing to reach into their pockets and personally meet IMSA's financial demands. Enter Ben Keating.
keating"I am a unique situation because I'm the No. 1 volume Dodge Viper dealer in the country, so I have a different kind of relationship with my manufacturer," said Keating (RIGHT, with co-driver Jeroen Bleekemolen). "It's been an interesting negotiation. It's something we've been working on for a really long team, and I think we were the first team to talk directly to IMSA because we knew it was going to become a problem eventually. From my standpoint, it's a lot of money."
Keating could have pulled his entries and gone to another series, but he chose to stay and pay the $300,000 IMSA sought from Dodge. That's his prerogative, but I'm not sure any series should put a system in place where some teams are allowed to pay more than others to use their preferred (but fully compliant) cars. Every team in IMSA is required to pay membership fees, and entry fees for each race, and at present, only Keating will pay extra to participate in GTD next year. It's a troubling precedent.
Forking out the full $1 million was never an option for the Texan, and thanks to the value he holds for Dodge, the manufacturer apparently offered to cover the $700,000 marketing demands in some capacity for 2016.
"I didn't want to feel like I was putting up a gigantic entry fee just for me, and part of every agreement is a large media engagement, and I can't use that," Keating continued. "National media coverage does nothing for me because I'm not a manufacturer. Dodge is no longer supporting motorsports, but they are still big fans of what we're doing, and while it's not a motorsports expenditure, they have a large media budget and they've been supportive of our program by agreeing to spend some media dollars in this arena. It's only down to their willingness to do that which has even allowed us to put this deal together."
At a time when IMSA should be searching for ways to expand its grids and attract new fans, this kind of silly, polarizing distraction is unnecessary. Those distractions are also helping PWC's PR department as somewhere between 25 and 33 percent of the major GT3 models are not expected to race in GTD due to the "official status" stipulation. By holding every manufacturer--big and small--to the same buy-in price, IMSA's filtering out some of the boutique constructors, and it's worth asking whether a sliding fee scale based on production output is a more inclusive solution to consider.
Thanks to IMSA, PWC can market its GT class as having the most complete and diverse GT3 field in North America, and for those who expected IMSA's GTD class to hold that distinction, you'll have to wait and hope the series has a change of heart on pay-to-play.
http://www.racer.com/more/viewpoints...l=&limitstart=
PRUETT: Inside IMSA’s pay-to-play policy
Sunday, 01 November 2015
Marshall Pruett / Images by LAT
Share 258
submit to redditSEND PRINT DecreaseIncreaseTEXT
A recent change in IMSA's financial policies has led to some interesting times behind the scenes in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. As part of its preparations for 2016, the sanctioning body informed auto manufacturers that paying for the privilege to see their cars compete is no longer an option. With the new pay-to-play mandate in place, reactions from teams and manufacturers – as you might expect – have been priceless.
Within IMSA's four classes, the policy shift has become especially problematic for some manufacturers in the GT Daytona category. Compared to its sister GT Le Mans class, which is dominated by full-bore, multi-million-dollar factory programs, GTD is where independent teams show up to race without significant manufacturer ties, yet with the new mandate, brands that simply sell GTD-compliant cars must pay IMSA so its customers can participate in the series.
GTD also happens to be the category where the WeatherTech Championship has the greatest growth potential. Six manufacturers were represented by privateer customers in 2015, and with GTD switching to full GT3 regulations next year, at least six more brands could be added to the manufacturer roster.
ferrari tudorIMSA's pay-to-play model was optional through 2015, and for those who paid the $300,000 to be listed as an official manufacturer, its brand was included in the GTD Manufacturers' championship and promoted by the series as an official partner.
In addition to the up-front cost of $300,000, manufacturers are also required to set aside $700,000 for potential advertising expenses. That money could be put towards print ads after a big win, posters, TV spots, or in any other area where the series identifies a need for marketing assistance. While the $300,000 spend is fixed for each car company, the $700,000 is more of a discretionary marketing fund, and I'm told some manufacturers end up spending less than the maximum. Across all the classes where manufacturer dollars are received, IMSA uses the money toward its TV package and other exposure-related expenses.
The question with the new season drawing near is how many of the current manufacturers in GTD will return in light of pay-to-play, and how many new manufacturers will join IMSA after learning of the significant financial barrier they're required to satisfy.
Committing to an annual outlay of up to $1 million is a big "ask" for any manufacturer in a non-factory class like GTD, and it's no surprise a comparatively small company like Aston Martin politely declined the opportunity through 2015. The TRG team came close to winning the GTD Drivers' and Teams' championships using the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 this year, and with the revised policy in place, TRG's cars will be barred from continuing in the Weather Tech Championship unless Aston Martin meets IMSA's terms.
Dodge, which pulled its factory GT Le Mans IMSA program at the end of 2014, also declined to pay for official status in 2015, and had to strike a special deal for Ben Keating to remain in GTD with his Vipers next year (more on that later).
Although the policy change has been mostly a private affair between the series and manufacturers, IMSA president Scott Atherton shed some light on the reason behind the move.
"Manufacturers who are official manufacturer partners of IMSA are eligible to compete. It would not be appropriate or fair to hold our GT competitors accountable for that expectation," Atherton told RACER in a conversation prior to Petit Le Mans. "There are all kinds of analogies you could use here. If you were a franchisee of a restaurant or a hotel and you paid the fee to have those rights, and then somebody was able to open up the same franchise across town and avoid paying that same investment, you'd probably cry foul."
Atherton's argument certainly has its merits – and numerous supporters. Four out of six GTD manufacturers paid for official status in 2015 (Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Porsche), and there was definite pressure being applied to make it a requirement for every brand.
audi COTA"We think the playing field needs to be level for everyone," said Audi of America's Mark Dahncke. "If we're helping to pay to make the series and all it offers possible, it's only fair for the rest of the manufacturers to do the same thing. Making it a level playing field financially is what makes the most sense."
Countering that viewpoint, a few GT3 manufacturers have asked whether a pay-to-play arrangement belongs in a class like GTD where small business owners, rather than factory teams, fill the grid.
"As far as we're concerned, we'd be quite happy for our customers to go racing in the GTD class in IMSA, but I have no idea why we should pay for them to go racing," said Bentley motorsport director Brian Gush. "We don't have to pay in Pirelli World Challenge. Again, I'm not sure why manufacturers would need to pay for their customers to race. It's not something I would consider as an added value for Bentley."
In Bentley's case, two of its Continental GT3s compete in PWC's GT class, and while it would be fantastic to have the cars in IMSA, the cost to open the door to GTD might not fit low-volume brands.
"There is just no way we can even consider the series," said another GT3 manufacturer representative who asked to have his name withheld. "Some paying the fee make more cars in a week than others make in a year, and yet the cost to enter is the same for all. It's not realistic."
Looking to the GTD agreements in place next season, the four from 2015 will continue, Dodge is in, existing IMSA partner Lamborghini is good to go with its Huracán GT3, and I've also heard Lexus, which has yet to confirm its GT3/GTD program, is also an official partner.
Aston Martin, Bentley, McLaren, and Mercedes-AMG are the major manufacturers with question marks regarding their GTD participation, and while some are said to be negotiating with IMSA, others are unlikely to be represented in the class as long as pay-to-play fees are involved.
Losing out on having some of the smaller GT3 exotics in the series, as Atherton confirms, is a risk IMSA is willing to take.
"We have very flexible terms and we are reasonable people; it's in our best interest to have as many of those really cool GT3 cars out there as possible," he added. "But we do have to maintain the integrity of our existing business model, which does call for manufacturer investment that enables this championship to exist, that enables television be in place, and many, many other things."
It means privateers with "unofficial" GT3 models in Europe, at home in PWC, and even in IMSA, will be locked out of GTD for reasons beyond their control. Unless, of course, those teams are willing to reach into their pockets and personally meet IMSA's financial demands. Enter Ben Keating.
keating"I am a unique situation because I'm the No. 1 volume Dodge Viper dealer in the country, so I have a different kind of relationship with my manufacturer," said Keating (RIGHT, with co-driver Jeroen Bleekemolen). "It's been an interesting negotiation. It's something we've been working on for a really long team, and I think we were the first team to talk directly to IMSA because we knew it was going to become a problem eventually. From my standpoint, it's a lot of money."
Keating could have pulled his entries and gone to another series, but he chose to stay and pay the $300,000 IMSA sought from Dodge. That's his prerogative, but I'm not sure any series should put a system in place where some teams are allowed to pay more than others to use their preferred (but fully compliant) cars. Every team in IMSA is required to pay membership fees, and entry fees for each race, and at present, only Keating will pay extra to participate in GTD next year. It's a troubling precedent.
Forking out the full $1 million was never an option for the Texan, and thanks to the value he holds for Dodge, the manufacturer apparently offered to cover the $700,000 marketing demands in some capacity for 2016.
"I didn't want to feel like I was putting up a gigantic entry fee just for me, and part of every agreement is a large media engagement, and I can't use that," Keating continued. "National media coverage does nothing for me because I'm not a manufacturer. Dodge is no longer supporting motorsports, but they are still big fans of what we're doing, and while it's not a motorsports expenditure, they have a large media budget and they've been supportive of our program by agreeing to spend some media dollars in this arena. It's only down to their willingness to do that which has even allowed us to put this deal together."
At a time when IMSA should be searching for ways to expand its grids and attract new fans, this kind of silly, polarizing distraction is unnecessary. Those distractions are also helping PWC's PR department as somewhere between 25 and 33 percent of the major GT3 models are not expected to race in GTD due to the "official status" stipulation. By holding every manufacturer--big and small--to the same buy-in price, IMSA's filtering out some of the boutique constructors, and it's worth asking whether a sliding fee scale based on production output is a more inclusive solution to consider.
Thanks to IMSA, PWC can market its GT class as having the most complete and diverse GT3 field in North America, and for those who expected IMSA's GTD class to hold that distinction, you'll have to wait and hope the series has a change of heart on pay-to-play.
11-01-2015, 09:42 PM
#2
Drifting
Interesting read, thanks for sharing. It'll be interesting once the teams are confirmed for 2016 to assess the impact of requested funds to participate.
11-02-2015, 12:24 PM
#3
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The pencil pushers sure have a way of killing off the real racing.
11-02-2015, 01:25 PM
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This affected my team greatly as we were attempting to jump to GTD for 2015. we got really far down the road with a manufacturer during the 14 season and IMSA had told them to jump through a few hoops and they did- engine dynos, ECU transparency etc.
Then at the 11th hour asked us to convince the manufacturer to spend the 300k to which we replied that we weren't even going to run a full season- then they came back to us with another number but said if we ran any of the NAEC (daytona, sebring, petit, watkins glen) then we would have to pay the full amount.
We balked, the manufacturer balked, and we stayed in our miatas and won the IMSA ST championship. We're going to be racing in GS full time next year and hope that in 2-3 more years when another big sponsor deal comes across the table for GT3/GTD that IMSA will have pulled their heads out of their A S S and not tried to make racing even more expensive than it already is.
kudos to pirelli for the open door policy. only issue is that I don't really like sprint races- sports cars should be tested in endurance races with multiple drivers, in my opinion that is the true nature of the sport.
Some of these brands like Porsche, Audi, Ferrari, BMW - have such huge customer racing departments it's a drop in the bucket and since they are title sponsors of various races they can afford to spread the cost out over the season. BUT- variety is really the spice of life and the grid. I'd love to see the AMG GTS, Viper, McLaren, Bentley, and Aston Martin all out there slugging against the stalwarts but IMSA is very exclusionary with these tactics so really only one or two of those ones is going to be on the grid for the foreseeable future.
Then at the 11th hour asked us to convince the manufacturer to spend the 300k to which we replied that we weren't even going to run a full season- then they came back to us with another number but said if we ran any of the NAEC (daytona, sebring, petit, watkins glen) then we would have to pay the full amount.
We balked, the manufacturer balked, and we stayed in our miatas and won the IMSA ST championship. We're going to be racing in GS full time next year and hope that in 2-3 more years when another big sponsor deal comes across the table for GT3/GTD that IMSA will have pulled their heads out of their A S S and not tried to make racing even more expensive than it already is.
kudos to pirelli for the open door policy. only issue is that I don't really like sprint races- sports cars should be tested in endurance races with multiple drivers, in my opinion that is the true nature of the sport.
Some of these brands like Porsche, Audi, Ferrari, BMW - have such huge customer racing departments it's a drop in the bucket and since they are title sponsors of various races they can afford to spread the cost out over the season. BUT- variety is really the spice of life and the grid. I'd love to see the AMG GTS, Viper, McLaren, Bentley, and Aston Martin all out there slugging against the stalwarts but IMSA is very exclusionary with these tactics so really only one or two of those ones is going to be on the grid for the foreseeable future.
11-02-2015, 01:29 PM
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ideally we'd see a fuller field of the following cars:
porsche GT3R
ferrari 458/488
mclaren 650GT3
Benz AMG-GTS
Viper
Audi R8
Bentley GT3-R
Lambo Huracan
Aston GT3
BMW M6-M4-Z4 GT3 etc
Nissan GTR
all banging around for 2.5, 4, 6, 10, 12, 24 hours at a time. would be epic. that's 11 different cars!! we all want to be different and not have 6-10 teams running the same 3 cars.
porsche GT3R
ferrari 458/488
mclaren 650GT3
Benz AMG-GTS
Viper
Audi R8
Bentley GT3-R
Lambo Huracan
Aston GT3
BMW M6-M4-Z4 GT3 etc
Nissan GTR
all banging around for 2.5, 4, 6, 10, 12, 24 hours at a time. would be epic. that's 11 different cars!! we all want to be different and not have 6-10 teams running the same 3 cars.
11-02-2015, 01:36 PM
#6
Burning Brakes
It's such a shame because they could have taken it to the next level in 2014 by allowing full GT3 cars with the merger. The timing was perfect and there was just enough interest around the world to justify the budgets.
When I first started racing in the big "Pro" series' I thought they must know something I didn't because they always seemed to do the wrong thing. I don't believe that anymore.
-mike
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11-02-2015, 02:25 PM
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Congrats on the Conti Championship, CJ.
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11-02-2015, 02:52 PM
#9
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Thanks for some behind-the-scenes info, CJ.
I agree, and this really hurts chances for guys like me to get in a few high-level pro races.
It used to be easy to get a competitive ride in Rolex GT, and not too hard for IMSA GTC.
I guess I will play more tennis, and retire earlier
I agree, and this really hurts chances for guys like me to get in a few high-level pro races.
It used to be easy to get a competitive ride in Rolex GT, and not too hard for IMSA GTC.
I guess I will play more tennis, and retire earlier
11-02-2015, 03:28 PM
#11
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On a related note, IMSA and Porsche had a change of heart and will my 2014 997 GT3R in the WeatherTech Championship in 2016. Earlier in the year I was told by both Porsche and IMSA that the car would not be allowed since the 991 was out and competing. However, we were just informed that the car will be allowed. Scrambling to get some info from IMSA now about the November test to determine if we should go (I definitely want to go but don't want to spend the $ if we won't get any decent running time). Ideally, we want to run the NAEC events and will be looking for funded drivers. Anyone with a genuine interest and ability (both financial and driving ;-) ) should let us know.
11-02-2015, 03:54 PM
#13
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^ true but a good new build is reasonable, drivetrain is robust, tires are cheap, and the drivers are for the most part very capable. And the cars are serious fun
11-02-2015, 04:34 PM
#15
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very NASCRAP-esque.
Let's face it, GT is where all the action is at, and with dwindling prototype car counts, makes me wonder if they are doing this to also help control GTD field counts, and keep people from bailing on their DPi and PC cars.
I sorta understand how BMW, Audi, Porsche and Ferrari want everybody else to pay something as well, but controlling what cars privateer teams can use in a non-factory class seems greedy to me. I wonder how much of this is purely IMSA/NASCRAP, or big time pressure from those 4 manufacturers to make it mandatory? In reality, probably a bit of both.
The GT-only races at VIR have been among the most enjoyable to watch every year. I wish they would do away with PC all-together, and just pack in more GTD cars. PC seem to be the most problematic anyway.....
If PWC could step up their TV broadcast, it could be a game changer. Anyone ever noticed that you literally cannot hear the cars during the broadcast? It drives me crazy.
Let's face it, GT is where all the action is at, and with dwindling prototype car counts, makes me wonder if they are doing this to also help control GTD field counts, and keep people from bailing on their DPi and PC cars.
I sorta understand how BMW, Audi, Porsche and Ferrari want everybody else to pay something as well, but controlling what cars privateer teams can use in a non-factory class seems greedy to me. I wonder how much of this is purely IMSA/NASCRAP, or big time pressure from those 4 manufacturers to make it mandatory? In reality, probably a bit of both.
The GT-only races at VIR have been among the most enjoyable to watch every year. I wish they would do away with PC all-together, and just pack in more GTD cars. PC seem to be the most problematic anyway.....
If PWC could step up their TV broadcast, it could be a game changer. Anyone ever noticed that you literally cannot hear the cars during the broadcast? It drives me crazy.