.......... so all of the big constructors have solid business going on right now.
I hope the WEC does not make the mistake of letting the manufacturers hoard their equipment like is happening in IMSA. You have one solitary Mazda, and no one can actually buy one. Not sure how that keeps the chassis manufacturer in business, you know selling cares and all.
You can't buy an Acura either. They gave a couple to Penske and after two championship, they just hand them off to new teams. Oreca sold a big two chassis, you know, as compared to the ton of P2 cars they sold. Only Cadillac has stepped up and sold cars to privateers, and even then Chip had to settle for a used one, How do the chassis manufacturers make any money selling just two or three cars to just manufacturers?
So, what we will probably end up with are two Toyotas that no one can buy, two Peugeots that no one will be able to buy, and a few Glickenhas you might be able to buy if you want to run at the back. Ferrari is probably not going to show (they are always threatening to go sportscar or Indycar, (and then they never do), particularly if the Peugeot runs well.
No, I think we need a 10 or 15 car homologation rule. Back in the 70s (and we all remember "LeMans" the movie), 25 production examples were required. Privateer Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512s were showing up all over the place, and before that a privateer could buy a Lola T70, a Ford GT40, and Porsche was building so many cars that every race you'de have your choice of nearly brand new, one race old Porsches 907, 908 and 910s available. There were so many cars floating around the privateers were really thriving.
See, factories were required to build 25 (before 1968, it was 50), so instead of letting expensive new prototypes sit there and rot at the factory, the manufacturers sold them to privateers. THAT's why sportscar racing as so big in the 60s and early 70s. That's why we need a homologation number now, though it's too late to change the rules.
Nope, looks like the privateers are going to have to race P2 because you simply will never be able to buy a competitive hypersled. Privateers will be forced to race IMSA, except as of right now, I don't believe the factories are required to sell cars, so we'll end up with the same six car mess we have here now.
It's hard to believe the people running the sport are so damm stupid they have completely forgotten what made sportscar racing so great, which has always been the privateers.
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