The Lower Leagues

[TF110]

Originally Posted by rich07

Looks like a home made Viper to me.

Like a Vette Viper mix imo. I like it.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Marcel ten Caat

Weytech GT, Vicora V8, PumaxsRT.....it's all the same ;-)

That was clear to me in the meantime.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Madkart

Interesting, I'm trying to compare it with the CC but I cannot find any pics of the chassis.

This car is developed from scratch by Dutch/German company Weytech.

[hondafan37]

New Gibson GH-20 CN car
http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/nou...-gibson-gh-20/

[Speed-King]

The entry list for the French GT and prototype championship's first race this weekend at Nogaro just came out:

Championnat de France FFSA GT :

• Duqueine Engineering (Ferrari) : Christophe Hamon, Christian Bottemanne, Lonni Martins
  
• CMR by Sport Garage (Ferrari) : Eric Mouez, Sylvain Debs, David Loger
  
• CMR by Sport Garage (Ferrari) : Soheil Ayari, Nicolas Tardif
  
• CMR by Sport Garage (Ferrari) : Romain Brandela, Paul Lamic, Arno Santamato
  
• StrategiC (Ferrari) : Sacha Bottemanne, Benjamin Lariche, Nicolas Misslin

Championnat de France Prototypes :

• Duqueine Engineering (Ligier JS P3) : Gilles Duqueine, Aurélien Comte, Nelson Panciatici
  
• Duqueine Engineering (Ligier JS P3) : Valentin Simonet, Pierre Sancinena, Sébastien Dumez
  
• OAK Racing (Ligier JS P3) : Vincent Beltoise, Philippe Hazebrouck, Antonin Borga
  
• OAK Racing (Ligier JS P3) : Claude Degrémont, Tony Samon, Tristan Gommendy

Yes, that's all of it. Nine cars.

[rich07]

Wow that's pretty poor. Five GT cars and all Ferraris as well as four Ligiers. What went wrong?

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by rich07

Wow that's pretty poor. Five GT cars and all Ferraris as well as four Ligiers. What went wrong?

They have been struggling over the last couple of seasons with only mid-teens figures when they ran GT3-only.

They thought they could boost that above 20 again by adding LMP3s, but less P3 teams than expected showed up and a lot of GT-teams weren't happy about playing second fiddle to the prototypes so they packed up and left.

Oh, and then there's VdeV, which has become a serious rival series, basically offering the same package but in a less glitzy, but also less costly and more relaxed environment.

And then, I guess the lackluster performance of the French economy and the lure of international series like BES and ELMS also played into it.

[Deleted]

If ACO would have promised free Le Mans support race entries for the FFSA LMP3 teams, I think the grid could have been bigger there.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Chiana

If ACO would have promised free Le Mans support race entries for the FFSA LMP3 teams, I think the grid could have been bigger there.

I was about to say that it's not the ACO's job to ensure the well-being of the national French GT/prototype series, but then I remembered that it is of course run by Oreca and ensuring Hughes de Chaunac's financial well-being seems to rank pretty high on the ACO's agenda...

[FIRE]

Ferrari Cup de France and Ligier Cup de France

[Deleted]

And to think just in 2009 FFSA still had plenty of GT1 cars (second only to FIA GT) rolling in addition to the other classes. How they have fallen.

[Irie]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

I was about to say that it's not the ACO's job to ensure the well-being of the national French GT/prototype series, but then I remembered that it is of course run by Oreca and ensuring Hughes de Chaunac's financial well-being seems to rank pretty high on the ACO's agenda...

How is the French Motorsport organized? How closely is the ACO related to the FFSA? Maybe they have a interest in that way?

[rich07]

Originally Posted by Chiana

And to think just in 2009 FFSA still had plenty of GT1 cars (second only to FIA GT) rolling in addition to the other classes. How they have fallen.

Yeah this. Saleens, Corvettes even an Aston and a 550 from memory. The only national championship to have a top class with GT1 cars and certainly a decent one in terms of cars drivers and teams. I vaguely remember the Sacred Monster punching on with someone after a heated race. The pics are on DSC but I can't seem to find them.

[FIRE]

2009 is a long time ago

[Deleted]

At which point did the other national championships drop off GT1 cars? Italian GT's last season was 2006.

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Chiana

At which point did the other national championships drop off GT1 cars? Italian GT's last season was 2006.

Germany never had a GT1 class, neither did Spain (though they had a pretty strong GT2-field at some point)... the Brits had their last GT1 year in 2002 and Belcar in 2007.

I am not quite sure, why the Brits abandoned GT1 that early - going by this, the GT1 field did actually look half-decent in 2002.

[Mark0994]

5 Ferraris and they destroyed one
http://www.motorsport.com/gt-tour/vi...e-crash-47721/

[Deleted]

At least they got something to talk about I guess.

Back to the GT1 question, of course Super GT also had DBR9 contesting still as late as 2009, but I'm not sure if the cars would have still theoretically been eligible later on.

[rich07]

Originally Posted by FIRE

2009 is a long time ago

Yes indeed it seems to feel like half a lifetime to be honest. But it still amazes me that FFSA GT has such a poor turnout when other national series in England and Germany are pretty strong at the moment.

Originally Posted by Mark0994

5 Ferraris and they destroyed one
http://www.motorsport.com/gt-tour/vi...e-crash-47721/

Yikes! That's a massive hit into a unprotected concrete wall. Good to see him walk away but I saw him on the ground afterwards-anyone know of any injuries?

[Deleted]

Everything has changed from 2009.

Except freaking LMPC

[Pontlieue]

Originally Posted by rich07

Yikes! That's a massive hit into a unprotected concrete wall. Good to see him walk away but I saw him on the ground afterwards-anyone know of any injuries?

According to endurance-info:

- Après sa violente sortie de piste hier lors de la Course 1, Sacha Bottemanne a été admis au centre hospitalier de Mont-de-Marsan avant d’être libéré plus tard dans la soirée avec quelques contusions. Le pilote de la Ferrari 458 GT3/StrategiC a tapé violemment le mur après un contact avec une Ferrari.

If my French is correct, he was admitted to hospital after the crash, but later released with several bruises, as he suffered no serious injuries.

[rich07]

Originally Posted by Pontlieue

According to endurance-info:

- Après sa violente sortie de piste hier lors de la Course 1, Sacha Bottemanne a été admis au centre hospitalier de Mont-de-Marsan avant d’être libéré plus tard dans la soirée avec quelques contusions. Le pilote de la Ferrari 458 GT3/StrategiC a tapé violemment le mur après un contact avec une Ferrari.

If my French is correct, he was admitted to hospital after the crash, but later released with several bruises, as he suffered no serious injuries.

Thank you. Glad to hear he wasn't seriously hurt. He's gonna be pretty sore for a while after a impact like that.

[Speed-King]

Looks like SRO is now poised to take over the running of French GT for 2017:

http://www.endurance-info.com/fr/sro...ance-des-2017/

They might switch GT3 + GT4, but GT4 only appears to be also on the table.

Not sure what that means for the newly created prototype category...

[Deleted]

Actually, it's a new GT series (as if we needed yet another one clone), without prototypes. Unless FFSA agrees SRO to take over again.

There has been no statement either from the French national federation the FFSA, or from Championship organisers Oreca.
http://www.dailysportscar.com/2016/0...from-2017.html

[Speed-King]

Originally Posted by Chiana

Actually, it's a new GT series (as if we needed yet another one clone), without prototypes. Unless FFSA agrees SRO to take over again.

There has been no statement either from the French national federation the FFSA, or from Championship organisers Oreca.
http://www.dailysportscar.com/2016/0...from-2017.html

Well, it's all turning into a bit of a sh*t show now:

http://www.endurance-info.com/en/ore...d-by-the-ffsa/

Seems like the FFSA would have no problem with kicking out Oreca:
"We must find a new top series. We’ve anticipated a bit this possibility for the past two years." To me that doesn't even read like the new top series has to be GT, could very well also be TCR.