Yes, absolutely. They should be allowed to race ONLY when they satisfy the rules. Other participants followed the rules.
If Porsche or Ferrari was to race a test mule (= prototype) they should not get a waiver But maybe they (porsche and all others) will do same in future.... Prototype/ test mule, develop that car in racing, start street series with all info gathered If the Porsche mid-engine becomes a success maybe they will start manufacturing street Porsches with the mid-engine.
So I'm guessing you guys are one of the promoters of the race? This stuff is expensive. It is a business. Money talks.
Well , if motor racing is only a business, what's the point in writing rules, eh? I suppose that since the Olympics could also be considered a business, they should start to tolerate doping and accept athletes on steroids too, don't you think? When people have no ethics, it's the end of civilisation.
Because the aco is french... Somewhere in the fine print they (aco) have the sole right to grant a waiver to a manufacturer?
I don't forget that; I think it's a disgrace. They are accomplice to a fraud. Nobody respects any law; that's the world we are now living.
Frankly, I think you guys should appreciate Ford running in Le Mans. I don't have a clue how much Ford put into building this car, but it wouldn't surprise me if the number was north of $75 million. And how many more cars or trucks did Ford sell by spending all this money? None, zero, nada, zilch. Ford's biggest seller is a pickup truck. I don't think winning a race in France helps them at all. Why did they do it? Beats me. I guess there must still be some motor heads left at the big Blue Oval. But you guys still call them a bunch of crooks. <Heavy Sigh> Why aren't you bashing Ferrari for not stepping up? They sell sports cars, don't they? (Although, truth be said, it doesn't look like Ferrari much cares about racing anymore at all, does it?) If what you want is a privateer class, fine. But if you expect factories to spend gobs and gobs of money, I suggest you relax and enjoy the show. You may not see it again.
Well, I don´t have access to the data, but I´m pretty sure that someone at the marketing department at Ford knows that they´re not doing this "pour le sport". They don´t sell only trucks, but also Mustangs, Focus and Fiestas RS and then there is that thing of the "brand perception", something more intangible but that the manufacturers are very interested in. We wouldn´t be talking about Ford now if it wasn´t for that Ford GT, as probably we all here don´t give a dang about their trucks. And then I suppose that they´re expecting to make some money with the road version of the GT too.
#1 There is a world outside the US and Ford sells car there too. Even in France. #2 Don´t worry: the Ford marketing department is going to make that everybody knows that they have won an important race in France. They´ll make models, toys, T-shirts, sell licenses for videogames, take some photos of the new car besides the old GT40 and all that stuff.
There is no rational way Ford will ever be able to justify this expense, so enjoy, it's unlikely to happen again. Ps Ford would have sold 100% of the road cars without ever going to Le Mans. Plus, regardless of how much they charge, Ford can't make a profit on a 1,000 car run. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Last time I was at Sebring, I had a beer with the pit crew from the previous generation Ford GT. After running the 24 hours of Le Mans, the one thing they could not stop talking about was France has no Ice machines. They could not understand why the French don't use ice. Corvette will bring AMERICAN Ice making machines with them on race day. USA USA!!
At least when it comes to Le Mans. Frankly, they don't give a ****. But, I have to wonder about Ferrari fans. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Not only they sell Ford in France, but they use to make them there as well until the 50s. Now, Ford still has a factory near Bordeaux that makes gearboxes for most of their cars made in Europe (Germany, Belgium and Spain).
As I've said, brand perception is something quite unaccountable, but brands put much time and money in it. Think about the Alfa Romeo 4C, the Mercedes SLR, the Lexus LFA and most racing cars. And I'd bet that Ford is making money with those 1,000 cars. If they were loosing money with them they'd build only 100, that it's the minimum that the rules ask for. Ferrari makes money with runs of 500 cars and McLaren with 300.
Car makers have survived producing less than 1000 cars. Morgan produced 4 models at one time and sold only 600 cars a year maximum. TVR used to produce 800 cars a year, spread over 3 models. On top of that, the cars will not be produced by Ford, I understand, but by Multimatic. Small contractors are far more able to handle short series than big manufacturers.
Getting back to the title of this thread here is some interesting info: https://www.carthrottle.com/post/6-things-i-found-out-about-the-mid-engined-porsche-911-rsr/
