Appreciation of DPi/LMP2 vs. GTE vs. GT3 class victories

[August]

Winning Le Mans overall is the greatest achievement in sports car racing, no question about that. But how about the class/overall victories in lower classes, how do you rank them? Below how I'd rank them.

GTE-Pro at Le Mans: This is the class with the most serious manufacturer involvement after LMP1 and Le Mans class victory is the greatest prize in it.

Overall at Nürburgring/Spa (GT3): GT3 is a class with lots of involvement from a huge variety of manufacturers. Even though these are overall victories, I don't put these on the level of Le Mans GTE-Pro victory; GTE is still the higher priority for manufacturers. I can't choose which of these I place higher; Nordschleife is the ultimate challenge as a track whereas Spa has more manufacturers represented.

Overall at Daytona/Sebring (DPi/LMP2), GTLM at Daytona/Sebring (DPi/LMP2): Rolex 24 and Sebring 12h surely have great heritage but I just don't rate those victories on the level of Nürburgring/Spa. That's partly because you have the best talent divided in multiple classes in those Florida races. DPis may be the fastest prototypes behind LMP1s but in terms of OEM involvement the class is behind GTE and GT3. GTLM may be only the third-fastest class but it's got the greatest OEM involvement, that's why I rate the GTLM class victory on the level of the overall victory in those races.

Of course, if a GTLM car won the overall in IMSA like Porsche did at PLM '15, I'd put it even above a Le Mans class victory.

LMP2 at Le Mans: This is below Daytona/Sebring victories because it's not for overall, you don't race against manufacturer DPis, and you have pro-am crews.

GTD at Daytona/Sebring (GT3), GTE-Pro at Le Mans: Can't really put either pro-am GT class victory above the other. Le Mans is the bigger race but I rate IMSA GTD as a class above WEC GTE-Pro. While GTD is a pro-am class, that's where GT3 manufacturers like Merc, Audi, and Acura get to the biggest stage in American sports car racing, and I think it's the better class in terms of driver talent.

I'm not going further, those are the main achievements in those classes.

[Akrapovic]

I don't think they can really be ranked like that. GTE-Pro is potentially a greater prize than LMP2 at Le Mans, but I consider Jota winning LMP2 a greater achievement than Ford winning GTE.

[fieldodreams79]

I think an overall Sebring win (essentially the choice of DPi/LMP2) is equal to GTPro at LM in this day in age.

Having to make a choice, it's GT Pro at LM for me. One could say the same as LMP2 LM. If I lived near the Ring, my thoughts might be different.

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I don't think they can really be ranked like that. GTE-Pro is potentially a greater prize than LMP2 at Le Mans, but I consider Jota winning LMP2 a greater achievement than Ford winning GTE.

I'd agree that they're in an odd group for comparison.

[August]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

I don't think they can really be ranked like that. GTE-Pro is potentially a greater prize than LMP2 at Le Mans, but I consider Jota winning LMP2 a greater achievement than Ford winning GTE.

As I said in the OP, I rank an LMP2 winning Daytona/Sebring overall above LMP2 class victory at Le Mans because it's for the overall and it's not pro-am, yet still I rank GTE-Pro class victory at Le Mans higher since it's still the class with high levels of manufacturer involvement and give you more to brag about.

Though, in certain cases I'd rank an LMP2 class victory at Le Mans on the same level with a Daytona/Sebring overall victory, e.g. if you complete a Daytona/Sebring/Le Mans hattrick for an LMP2 of if you make the Le Mans overall podium with an LMP2.

[MaskedRacer]

That's a tough one. 3 of the 4. GTE pro at LM, overall at spa/n'burg and overall at Daytona/Sebring and even GTLM at Daytona/Sebring are right together.

Overall at Le Mans is the biggest prize, the rest are all clustered together. Could not care less about LMP2 in any WEC race.

[Speed-King]

If I lived near the Ring, my thoughts might be different.

Yup. Same goes for the German manufacturers... The only things better than winning at the Ring are F1-wins. Just going by media attention in the German market a victory in the N24 is probably on par with a DTM-title and even LM-overall. It's quite surprising, but not a lot of people actually take notice of LM here, and class wins in GTE or P2 aren't even a blip on the radar.

[skycafe]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Just going by media attention in the German market a victory in the N24 is probably on par with a DTM-title and even LM-overall. It's quite surprising, but not a lot of people actually take notice of LM here, and class wins in GTE or P2 aren't even a blip on the radar.

Interesting perspective. I would love to know how much money is spent yearly on record attacks at the 'Ring (and I wonder why there seems to always be some sort of financial crisis). It is funny, you would think that GT3 success is the least marketable, yet it always seems like when the soaring bird crashes, the rebuilding always starts with the core of recognizable GT based cars.

[Dyson Mazda]

It would be interesting to see how the WEC P1 & GTE World Championships fall into these ranks. I feel that Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen GTE-Pro titles last year felt pretty hollow.

Also if we had to rank the top 5 victories in the world of GT racing (GTE & GT3) how would you rank them. I've got:

1. GTE-Pro LM24 Win
2. Overall Nürburgring 24
3. Overall Spa 24
4. Rolex 24 GTLM Win
5. Bathurst 12 Hour

[August]

Originally Posted by Dyson Mazda

It would be interesting to see how the WEC P1 & GTE World Championships fall into these ranks. I feel that Nicki Thiim and Marco Sørensen GTE-Pro titles last year felt pretty hollow.

Also if we had to rank the top 5 victories in the world of GT racing (GTE & GT3) how would you rank them. I've got:

1. GTE-Pro LM24 Win
2. Overall Nürburgring 24
3. Overall Spa 24
4. Rolex 24 GTLM Win
5. Bathurst 12 Hour

I'd say the prototype world championship second only to Le Mans overall victory, though way behind. If Sebring was still in the WEC, I'd have the series title behind also it.

Then again, I don't necessarily even rate the WEC title in GTE over the IMSA title; WEC may award the world championship but I think IMSA has the better GTE (GTLM) class. Anyway, I'd rate those titles below the biggest single-race victories in GT racing.

Regarding Nring 24h vs. Spa 24h, I can't choose. Nordschleife is the biggest challenge and that race means a lot for the German brands, then again you have more manufacturers participating in the Spa 24h.

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by Speed-King

Yup. Same goes for the German manufacturers... The only things better than winning at the Ring are F1-wins. Just going by media attention in the German market a victory in the N24 is probably on par with a DTM-title and even LM-overall. It's quite surprising, but not a lot of people actually take notice of LM here, and class wins in GTE or P2 aren't even a blip on the radar.

Very interesting. 10 years ago it was certainly Sebring for me and hopefully it will be back there soon.

But this is a wide array of races here and an interesting topic. I had a feeling some Germans might think different than someone from Georgia.