Prototype GTE warning from Ferrari

Then the main difficulty of the 488 is the height of the engine and not the position and I do not know if the regulation allows to lower the height of the engine.

 

The best thing is like the Ford GT: a complete new race car not based on 488 platform.
Ferrari won't do that. They need to sell GT3s on that same new platform and road cars.
Ford had a profit of 7.4B USD in 2015.....Ford needs the GT wins to promote/advertise their road cars. Ferrari will not sell one single road car extra; win LM class or 2nd/3rd it doesn't matter, F1 does I think. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday: not for Ferrari, Aston or Lamborghini.

Look at race winners or class winners last 10 years (lmp1/GT):
Audi, Porsche, Ferrari, Bentley(Audi Coupe), Chevrolet, Peugeot, Aston....
You can't beat the numbers

imho the best (close) GT racing for spectators to watch is blancpain gt

 

Look here page 12
http://europeanlemansseries.com/web/assets/Pages/Categories/2016/lmgteam_tr_2016_10.12.2015.pdf

Same regulations as Le Mans 24H

There is also something about waivers and endurance comittee in that document


"A regular production implies a permanent implementation of the means required to produce a minimum of 1 car per week for the "Big Manufacturers" and one car per month to the "Small Manufacturers". If the production is not respected, the ACO will suspend the homologation of the car the year after. The suspension of the homologation will cease once the production delay has been made up. It will be permitted to compete with the car as soon as a minimum of 100 road cars for the "Big Manufacturers" and 25 road cars for the "Small Manufacturers" will be produced."

If I read that correct Ford should have built 1 GT per week? How many road cars have been built then? 52?

 

It is clear that the Ford GT raced out of rules. Thank you for the info.

 

I don't think they raced out of that rule but must have got a waiver.
All other manufacturers must have agreed then I think.

 

Must have?
We knew that over a year ago. 'where you been hidin'?

 

Maybe you're right and all the others agreed.
But the worst was the horrendous sandbagging and manipulation, and then blackmail at Le Mans.

 

But the ACO have done things I know in the past, which never has come to daylight.
Audi, Dome and as well in the 60, 70s and on.
You only need to talk (off the records, no camera, no recorders) with engineers or team principals.
Never bite the hand that feeds you.....

Imho the Ford should have never been accepted in the WEC series.
I like the car very much, seen it racing, wonderfull but it is not a GTE as the Aston, Porsche, Ferrari, Corvette and in the past a Spyker or a TVR.

 

I think the Ford GT should not have raced in 2016 but should be accept this year with the start of its production of street units.
Personally I like the GTE / GTLM to be much more extreme than the GT3.
The Ford GT open a new frontier for the arrival of more extreme cars.
The new Porsche RSR reminds me a lot of the old 911 GT1, I think Corvette is finally going to bring yours mid-engine car.
I read in some forum that Aston Martin is going to be a derivative of Vulcan.
The BMW is an unknown, full M Version i8 is coming, perhaps they will use this mid-engine body in the GTE car but somebody said that the M8 will be a luxury super boat.
Thinking about things in favor of a super boat I come to my mind the long tail GT1 that had a great diffuser and higher final speed that is very good in Le Mans.
In line like Porsche did with the engine position I think they are going to retract as much as possible to the engine place, maybe included inside the cabin of the car and the driving seat is close to the back seat of the original car.
In all cases we speak of more extreme cars than the current ones.
I think using BOP efficiently, not like in 2016, It should be possible to costs control.
I expect a more extreme Ferrari too!!!

 

Oh, the supreme irony in the Ferrarista shrieking that Ford is a rule manipulator.

 

Sinovac, for a guy with only 20 posts you make a pretty good point!

 

Yah it's a bit silly I have to say as this is par for the course with this class.

As another example, BMW got a pass to run the Z4 (E89) GTE (GTLM class) previously. How ridiculous is this car?

There was no hardtop E89 Z4 - ever.
There was no Z4 with a V8 - ever.

It wasn't even remotely related to any street car other than the design language on the outside (body). Motor was based on a production motor, but not one that ever appeared in the Z4. GTLM has been this way for a while now; can't cry foul now. Unless there is something I'm missing here...

 

Yes, excellent point, and I love the histrionics of a bygone era (I wish I knew the exact date Enzo told Ford to **** off, because it would be a national holiday in my house), but this isn't the 1960s! Its 2017, ruling bodies should get their act together...

 

I believe the E46 M3 that BMW ran also had a v8.

Anyone remember the tube chassis 3 rotor RX-8s in Grand-Am that shared the chassis with the BMW M6 at the time. Someone explain how that is in any way related to a street car.

 

No need to dust off the history books. 2010 F1 season is but one recent example.

 

Tobias Moers Chairman of AMG said:
“I think GT4 will be the new GT3.”

Mercedes-AMG GT4 Set for End-of-Year Debut - Sportscar365

 

Give Ford 3 years, they will pull out of racing..... AGAIN.

 

I don't get the Ford GTO strategy. Other than bragging rights after decades. The limited run cars sell for $300k++ but doubt they really made any money on this model. And any of their race wins including Le Mans doesn't benefit any specific brand they make. So why not race under the Mustang badge which is their Corvette fighter over the decades. Then perhaps they'll have to win on a fair GT platform.

 

Corporate Image, not a specific model, that's why....

(Ford GTO? What's that? The last I heard, the new GT is over 450, not 300...out of my league; 'didn't even apply for purchase. And, the Comaro/Firebird, 'Cuda/Challenger, and Javelin were the Mustang fighters, not the Corvette... )

(edit: The only real domestic Corvette fighter has been the Viper)

 

Comaro? What's that too? Typos for us both.
By "fighter" I refer to the consumer market and not racing. Read the history of Duntov and his creation of the C2 Corvette in response to Iacocca's Mustang. Anyway the point here is that all this racing is supposed to follow the 'win on Sunday and sell next Monday' premise behind GT racing. That's my point about Ford-- (1) they don't sell their GT racer and (2) they're not building anything for their business. Does winning Dayton a 24 help them sell F150s? Explorers? Fusions? That's why in my view they should use the Mustang label. The ones who follow the old Ferrari rivalry based GT car is maybe a few hundred in the whole world!

 

Erghhh. It's Ca huh? Oooopppsss. The o is nowhere near the a (nor the o near the t) so I won't excuse myself with typo. Oh well.

Back at the ranch....
So you contend that it's not for corporate image? Then why does/did Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault, Ford, Toyota, Alfa Romeo, Jaguar and whoever else has been involved, bother with F!? Same with Indy cars. Same with many sportscar racers with no name of racecars connected to a particular production model. Where's it etched in stone that "all this racing is supposed to follow the 'win on Sunday and sell next Monday' premise behind GT racing."? Jag's Tullius XJR 5& 7, or Walkinshaws' 6-12s, the 962s, Nissan's Lola 89 & 90s and Electramotive's ZXT-88 & 90s (they started with Lola 810s), and on and on, prove otherwise me thinks.

The Ford GT is not a Mustang so I'm glad they don't use the name.
And I think you're mistaken about the "few hundred in the whole world".
Something tells me auto racing is not way up there in your sports priority list.
It is mine (though fizzling fast due to the changes in the sport (?) and my "advanced" age ) and has been foreverish.

In the end, it doesn't really matter though, as in reality, it's still just "entertainment".

 

Brilliant prediction. Yes, consistent with Ford's announcement to the entire racing world in 2016, the GT racing program is a 4 year endeavor. It's worth noting that Ford has a full-on factory, multi-car program rather than a quasi factory/private effort. So the question isn't how long Ford is committed to the GT program. The question is when Ferrari will return.

 

Lorenzo- Porsche don't race F1 precisely because they can't sell those cars. It's a philosophy - commercial goal/realities vs sheer bragging rights. Regarding my hundreds of Ford GT audience comment I refer to the buying community not racing fans. Racing runs pretty high on my list of pastimes including track with Porsche for over 8 years. Don't label and assume here with only hurtful intent.

 

The GT promotes the Ecoboost engines and advanced materials/technologies. Ford has Mustang covered in other racing series.

The F150 is the best selling vehicle in the US and has been for over 30 years. It has been the best selling truck a decade longer. Ford is doing a full court press to promote the Ecoboost engines in the F150 as well as in its other vehicles. The GT's relevance to the Ford brand and its customers is obvious. Every owner of an F150 with the top Ecoboost engine can boast that they have the same engine that successfully races and beats Ferrari. Any dissimilarities between the production and race engines are lost on the general public.

 

For starters, 'no label at'all and in no way do I have hurtful intent. 'Apologies for leading you to think that. (More on that later.)

You seem to forget that Porsche was in F1. What auto manufacturer is/was in F1 to sell F1 cars? Or sportscar prototypes? And I don't believe the corporate boards are spending the number of millions just for "bragging rights". You really believe that's stockholders' goal?
There's just been a number of your comments that lead me to believe you've not been that knowledgeable about the sport (the "tube frame" Ford GT comment is the clincher. The tubs are monocoque. On the MkIV it was epoxied honeycombed aluminum to boot....)

I watch football, basketball and baseball with friends yet I really have little knowledge about the sports. When they remind me, I'm not offended...they're correct. I appreciate all they clue me in about.
I raced with people (from childhood on up) that had much more money (I didn't) than knowledge (I did. I started devouring as much as I could from about 7 on up, t'was my passion, you see.)
I watch racing with people that don't know a roll bar from an anti-roll bar.
Some (ergh) NASCAR fans actually think that they're watching Fords, Chevvies, and Toyotas ...yet I still enjoy the comaraderie and trying to edumacate 'em. I don't rib 'em or have hurtful intent and they appreciate my knowledge without feeling offended.
We can't see or hear each other here on a board so we can be easily mistaken about each others moods and motivations.

No offense intended, trust me.