GT3 Manufacturers...

[Rodger Davies]

We'r really seeing a contraction of the numbers of GT3 cars this year. People seem to have realised that privately built machines can't compete with the factories, either on price or competitiveness, despite BoP and this year we seem to have lost the Alpinas, the Camaros, the Jaguar and the Maserati (which may turn up in GT Open still, not sure) and will gain a Bentley later in the season. Reiter-Lamborghini seems to be struggling to recruit more buyers too.

Pity to see.

On the US manufacturers point, I'm really surprised that they haven't attempted to join the party with their official builders; I'd have thought P&M in particular have enough respect that they'd sell a good number of GT3 Corvettes internationally, but I guess up until now the local ROI hasn't justified them doing so.

The other point is whether they could offer the same level of support as the customer programmes of the German manufacturers. I remember the guys from Ecurie Ecosse being surprised that, upon buying a second hand GT3 Z4, they were able to get support from the BMW factory in setting up and running it and I know Aston Martin has really stepped up in this regard too. I'm sure, along with its ease of driving and awesome reliability record, this is one of the main reasons for Audi's success with the category. Remember that Audi are the biggest provider of support in GT3 too, supporting Spa, Nurburgring and, this year, Daytona efforts with quasi-works teams; effectively advertising their car and customer programme.

Sorry, I started rambling there.