[FIA GT] FIA International Prototype Cup

[BSchneiderFan]

I posted this in the 'Racig History' forum, but I thought I'd post it here as well, as this forum is rather busier...

I've been leafing through old copies of Autosport and have been wondering about the abortive International Prototype Cup, due to run in 1999. Shortly before it was cancelled, Stephane Ratel, the organiser, said that he had three works entries and fifteen privateers, but that the works entries, all Mercedes-Benz, were contingent upon another manufacturer also committing to the series. Sadly, Porsche, Audi, BMW, Nissan and Toyota all refused to step up to the plate, despite the fact that all (except Porsche) entered works prototype teams at Le Mans that year.

So who were the potential entrants? AMG would have run three cars, likely Schneider/Webber and Bouchut/Tiemann with another crew to be added. Thomas Bscher was to enter his 1998-spec BMW V12 LM, and DAMS were ready to bring their Motorola-backed Lola-Judd B98/10.

Kremer Racing had the K9 ready to go but Porsche's withdrawal from sportscar racing left them without an engine and transmission; however, they did go on to run a Roush-powered Lola in the SportsRacing World Cup.

Konrad Motorsport were preparing a Lola with a Lotus twin-turbo (later dropped and replaced with a Ford V8); the car ran in some ALMS and SRWC races but Franz Konrad might have preferred the IPC if it had gone ahead.

Riley & Scott Europe ran a Ford-engined car for Philippe Gache, Gary Formato and Franck Lagorce in the SportsRacing World Cup; might they have committed to the IPC?

Also, what of the GT1 privateers of 1998? GTC Competition was presumably left without financial backing when Thomas Bscher hooked up with Dave Price to run the BMW. Zakspeed had had an unrewarding year with a Pirelli-shod Porsche 911 GT1-98 and went into hibernation for a year. Persson might have been able to get hold of a new Mercedes (MB were, remember, very keen supporters of the series).

So, any thoughts, recollections, conjectures?

[JAG]

I think 15 was optimistic, as the FIA SCC was also around at the time.

This series was a bit of a last ditch effort by the FIA/Mercedes after the collapse of GT1. It never really had any chance of success.

[BSchneiderFan]

The SCC hadn't yet come into being; 1999 was the first year of the SportsRacing World Cup, which had succeeded the International Sports Racing World Series. The FIA eventually endorsed the SRWC (in 1999?) but I suspect only because their own series had come to naught.

I don't buy that the IPC never had any chance of success. What it needed was a manufacturer to take the fight to Mercedes, and, as I said, with Nissan, Audi, Toyota and BMW at Le Mans that year, it wasn't an unreasonable expectation. But the inexplicable decision by all of those manufacturers not to contest a full series (though BMW did, at least, do some ALMS races) killed the IPC.

[JAG]

Whatever it was called at the time, it eventually morphed into the FIA SCC and had pretty much the same teams.

The problem was that the IPC was organised at short notice, and no manufactuer is going to commit to a series in those circumstances.

The ALMS was showing good potential in the US, and its links with the ACO meant any manufactuers wanting to race outside of LM went there.

IMO the failure of both GT1 and the IPC is benefiting European sportscar racing now, as we have the ACO/FIA working together at last and a return, after many false starts of true 1000K classic endurance races run to the same regs as LM.

[BSchneiderFan]

Originally posted by JAG
The problem was that the IPC was organised at short notice, and no manufactuer is going to commit to a series in those circumstances.

But Mercedes-Benz had committed to the IPC, with the - not unreasonable - proviso that another manufacturer also participated. And, as I say, four other major manufacturers had prototype cars which would have been eligible.

[JAG]

Originally posted by BSchneiderFan
But Mercedes-Benz had committed to the IPC, with the - not unreasonable - proviso that another manufacturer also participated. And, as I say, four other major manufacturers had prototype cars which would have been eligible.

The IPC was virtually a Mercedes organised series, like the current DTM.

[racer69]

Originally posted by BSchneiderFan
So who were the potential entrants? AMG would have run three cars, likely Schneider/Webber and Bouchut/Tiemann with another crew to be added. Thomas Bscher was to enter his 1998-spec BMW V12 LM, and DAMS were ready to bring their Motorola-backed Lola-Judd B98/10.

Webber was likely to get his 'own' car for 1999, as he had at Le Mans. Also Pedro Lamy would have been in the driving mix, having signed with Mercedes for 1999.

I recall they needed 20 cars committed for the FIA to go ahead with the championship. I think it was Dave Price who was quoted as saying that if they hadn't put a minimum number on the entrants, 20 cars would have been easily achieved, but that no one was going to committ to a championship that might not happen.

[BSchneiderFan]

20 was the number bandied about, but Ratel said that he thought the FIA would let the series go ahead with 18 cars.

[BSchneiderFan]

I also read somewhere that Rob Dyson considered taking his Riley and Scotts to the ISRS in '99; think he might have had a crack at a few races in the IPC if it had gone ahead?

I'm inclined to go with Dave Price's view. The IPC was viable, but needed a second manufacturer. As BMW competed at Sebring and took in some of the late-season ALMS races, they could have done the IPC. Audi likewise. It could have worked.

[JAG]

If it did happen however, it may have created more confusion and stopped the development of FIA GT. Would probably have hindered the ALMS and stopped the FIA/ACO working together.

The mess in European sportscars since the end of GT1 in FIA GT finally forced those in charge to work together for the good of the sport in Europe.

[BSchneiderFan]

Perhaps, perhaps. Though, European prototype racing has had to endure a pretty bloody few years to get to the stage we're at now. Last year's SCC was embarrassing, though the procession of wins by ageing, out-of-date cars of years before was little better. Perhaps the IPC would have flourished? I doubt it would have harmed the ALMS in the short term, though of course it's possible that BMW and, later, Audi would have chosen to race in Europe rather than America. Which might not have been an entirely bad thing.

Here's a guess at some of a possible 18-car grid.

3 x AMG Mercedes-Benz CLR
2 x JB Giesse Ferrari 333 SP
1 x Konrad Motorsport Lola-Lotus B98/10
2 x Kremer Racing Lola-Ford B98/10
1 x DAMS Lola-Judd B98/10
1 x Price/Bscher BMW V12 LM98
2 x Solution F Riley and Scott-Ford Mk. III
2 x BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 333 SP
1 x GLV Brums Ferrari 333 SP
1 x RWS Motorsport Riley and Scott-Ford Mk. III

OK, I'm two short. I dunno. Any thoughts?

[BSchneiderFan]

Looking at the Le Mans crews, it seems likely that the Mercedes-Benz pairings would have been:

Bernd Schneider/Pedro Lamy
Mark Webber/Marcel Tiemann
Christophe Bouchut/Peter Dumbreck

Three pretty handy pairs, I'd say.

[racer69]

Could Persson Motorsports have continued in 1999 running semi-works Mercedes?

There was supposed to have a been a non-championship Sporstcar race at Norisring? during 1999, supporting a German STW round. Mercedes had some cars entered, but pulled out following the Le Mans happenings

[KA]

Originally posted by BSchneiderFan
I also read somewhere that Rob Dyson considered taking his Riley and Scotts to the ISRS in '99; think he might have had a crack at a few races in the IPC if it had gone ahead?

An interesting thought -Dyson did take two cars to the final ISRS round at Kyalami in '98- was this anything to do with a planned ISRS/SRWC/whatever programme for 99, or did someone simply offer him a good deal in terms of start money or local sponsorship to take the cars to Kyalami? (the Doyle-Risi Ferrari also made the trip)- South Africa seems a long way from the US to transport two or three cars to a race just for the hell of it....

[BSchneiderFan]

Originally posted by racer69
Could Persson Motorsports have continued in 1999 running semi-works Mercedes?

There was supposed to have a been a non-championship Sporstcar race at Norisring? during 1999, supporting a German STW round. Mercedes had some cars entered, but pulled out following the Le Mans happenings

The proposed non-championship race was indeed scheduled for the Norisring, and Mercedes had committed no fewer than four cars; memories, no doubt, of bygone days when sportscar races at the Norisring packed in hundreds of thousands of spectators.

As for Persson, it depends on the rules: were ex-GT1 cars eligible for the IPC? If so, I dare say Mercedes could have passed on the ex-works CLK-LMs to Persson. If not, Mercedes would have had to build new CLRs for a satellite team, something they probably weren't likely to do as they were already planning to run three cars in the IPC.

[JAG]

By 1999 GT1 cars had become LMGTPs.

Hence the Toyota GT-One (GT1)1998 became a LMGTP in 1999.

[BSchneiderFan]

Logically, therefore, Persson could have run the CLK-LMs in 1999?

[BSchneiderFan]

Dredging this up again... Autosport were reporting in early '99 that a German team called MVR had signed up for the IPC. Anyone know anything about them? I confess I don't.

[KA]

MVR could be Martin Veyhle Racing- they ran the first couple of rounds of FIA GT in 1997 with a 1995/6-spec short-tail McLaren F1, driven by Gerd Ruch, Sandy Grau and Alex Burgstaller. They skipped a couple of races after Silverstone, and turned up again at Spa with a Lotus- think they then ran the remaining European races only- Grau stayed on board, partnered variously by Kurt Thiim and Marco Werner

[BSchneiderFan]

Interesting. I wonder what car they were planning to run in 1999? Presumably neither a shorttail McLaren nor a Lotus.

[BSchneiderFan]

I've been unable to discover from the Internet what car MVR were planning to run in 1999. Perhaps they did intend to use the Elise (which, I notice, is the self-same chassis due to appear at Sebring later this month under the Team Elite banner). Any ideas?