Cory M

Maybe Santa will come through this year. Have you been naughty or nice?

tcsracing1

I know where you are coming from.
It is not uncommon to hear remarks from people when they see an intermediate driver with a shiney new Ferrari challenge car and crew in D.E or what is said about the Lambo challenge etc.. I have heard it all.
You are thinking the same thing about the trophy east series given the price of entry etc..

I know you are merely trying to express that you feel it is taxed a little high for what you get compared to the usual route of running PCA and you're just trying to make sense of it all to the masses.
The price and commitments indeed have alot of people talking both positive and negitive.

IMO, I think the GT4CS program (in north america) is a little side experiment for both Porsche and PCA.
Porsche is testing the market of an entry level race car to be a possible stepping stone to 911 Cup. (soft drugs to hard drugs)
The approach of keeping it basic and dealer serviceable is a nod towards the dealers as an addtional revenue generator vs. being left out of motorsport completely.

The PCA experiment appears to be towards marketing club racing to a broader audience while maintaining a closer relationship to Porsche.
PCA and Porsche both know that these cars without strict commitments would be snatched up as D.E cars (by potential porsche Street car customers) and bubble wrapping Porsche collectors. The fear is that they would never get a chance to see the world stage in a competitive enviroment and all would be lost before it even started. Commitments were neccessary to weed out the weekend warrriors. (same principal as 991 cup)

Porsche also know that a factory fit and finish race car can command a premium and PCA know it can be a possible spec series.
That is why Porsche have set their price point to make it worth their while, and PCA has set their entry fees to reflect the limited opportunity.

PCA only need to fill 20-25 cars with people that were willing to race at least 6 events a year for the next 2-3 years regardless.
The same people that were budgeting $150-200k on a race car build anyhow.
I am not sure what level of drivers will be runing these in PCA, however i think there will be a good mix.

A lot of thought and planning has gone into price point and buyers. Given all the recent press, It will be interesting to watch this class in PCA this season.

ProCoach

GREAT post! Shows a keen understanding of many of the forces at work here...

As an aside, some of the strongest determination and motivation I have seen in my professional life comes from working with people in "hot rod" cars that don't want to be "that guy." The internal pressure, the drive that got them to the point where they had these wonderful options and could pull the trigger, manifests itself in the study and practice of how to go quicker (without getting hurt), building a knowledge base (across a wide variety of resources) that allows them to lift themselves up and achieve great gains.

It reminds of that wonderful ad in the Sunday NYTimes magazine a few years ago touting the services of an investment firm and showing a guy on track in an AC Cobra in full gear with a resolute expression.

The caption was: "For years, I dedicated myself to professional success. Now, all I want is two-tenths of a second..."

It might have been lost on a majority of their wealth management potential prospects, but I guarantee you that it resonated with more than a few...

I think here, whether driving 944, Stock class car, SPB, 991 Cup or now the GT4 CS, we can ALL relate to that!

Cory M

tcsracing1 - I wasn't really thinking of the east coast series at all when I made my posts. The question was asked why Competent was selected over PCA out west and I was giving some reasons why it could be considered an appropriate venue. I'm glad that there are enough racers to fill the grids in all these spec series whether they are in a Lambo, Ferrari or Porsche. Either way your post was a good analysis and it will be interesting to see how the series pans out. I expect it will be a success like most other Porsche racing ventures. I'm glad the cars are going to racers and not just collectors speculating on their future value. Hopefully it isn't a one-off and the cars trickle into to club racing as they age like the cups do now.

ProCoach - I think we can all agree on your last post. You've got to be smart and work hard for a long time to be able to enjoy these expensive toys. Then you have to use that same discipline and work ethic if you want to excel in the racecar, especially in a spec series.

ProCoach

Well, I think Porsche Motorsports depends on that "trickle down" into Club Racing in order to keep the "pump primed" with new cars!

Thankfully, they've improved the ROI on the GT4 CS with a TWO year, instead of a year's commitment. All good.

I'm sorry I barked at your initial post. I'll make sure I have some coffee before I hit the send key next time! I love spec series that are well administered, they're a great driver development tool. One of the best. I am glad I moved that way in my own racing. Saved a LOT of frustration and kept me focused on how I could improve...

tcsracing1

I think i get what you were saying. That the Competent series is thought to be more of an event type atmosphere and the PCA is more of a club type atmosphere.
Those paying this price of entry for GT4CS might supposedly prefer or expect an event type atmosphere....

Personally, I would just be happy if the series is well organized and the field is competitive.
(It is essentially like the 991 Cup single make series but at a lower running and entry price.)

Will they continue to run a spec series after the two years? Who knows?
Hopefully Porsche will keep building entry level racers that can run in a spec series as a feeder for the 991 Cup spec series etc.

Right now it is an interesting alterative/concept to building and running a GTB3 car. But it does come at a premium however.

Nizer

The trickle down will take a couple of years but it'll be interesting to see how GT4 CS sales/resales impact second-hand Cup sales.

tcsracing1

In two years, will be indeed interesting to compare 991 Cup to GT4 CS in term of depreciation and resale.

GTgears

I had no back room knowledge of the deal making but I can tell you Greg Franz had a Cayman Cup class on his agenda 3 years ago. I sat in his trailer talking about the future of the series and this is where he saw it expanding. It was just months after he had gotten granted the PMNA logos for the series. And he busted his **** to get his series in to run at Cota with F1. He's done a great job of supporting the PMNA brand at the semi pro level and deserves to run this series on the West Coast.

Cory M

YES, that's all I was trying to say, I'll try not to be sarcastic on the internet anymore, jeeeez.

GTgears

Cory, I got what you were saying from the first post. I think some were just picking nits.

ProCoach

It's a big and diverse country!

Glen

This could be even better...