5th LMES race or not?

[tblincoe]

Vote for what you'd prefer: A 5th LMES race in Turkey or China, or leaving the end of the season open for teams to race at the ALMS's Petit Le Mans and Laguna Seca races.

[SALEEN S7R]

Both, and providing there isnt any date clashes it could well happen. But if I had to choose one or the other Im afraid the 5th LMES round gets my vote.

[tblincoe]

dead tie at 5 votes each... looks to me like nobody cares so do what you will ACO

[Tim Northcutt]

I'd rather see the LMES race at Barcelona, Estoril, or Brno than I would in Turkey or China...

But those choices were'n't offered...so I voted for Open ALMS dates, with the hope that LMES teams would make the trip for Petit and for Laguna...

[rdjones]

I'd love too see a 5th race and I real think that it should be at Petit Le Mans, it would be great to see the best of the ALMS v LMES, now that would be a site to see.

[tblincoe]

my thinking too Tim, the only problem with leaving the ALMS dates open is that many of the LMES teams will do the same as they did the past year and just not make the trip to the US for financial reasons...

and please don't mention Brno... that would be just too perfect!!!

[Fab]

I'll second Tim, Rob and Tblincoe... have a real final round with the cream of the ALMS/LMES at Road Atlanta would be great for Petit Le Mans, or Laguna Seca...

There's still the €€€ problem, though... who's gonna do the trip ? We'd need at least a Courage L70, a RFH Dome, the Oreca Audi (let's forget the Pesca, Henri will be pennyless in Fall), the best GT1s, and some serious LMP2 customers... oops, I forgot the Creation and the Jota DBAs !

The 5th LMES race seems to be a dead project for 2005 anyway...

[slicktsax]

that's true i agree if there was a 5th round it should be combined with the Petit Lemans or Laguna seca round. but another possiblity is that they could make teh laguna seca round a bit earlier in november and have the last LMES round like in the first week of december making it possible for teams that want to compete in both do so and of course if they have enough money.

[tblincoe]

the only problem with combining forces for Petit or Laguna is there aren't enough garage spaces to accomodate both teams

[gi_gav]

This from Binnie Motorsports on 9th of January (from crash.net):

"Our 2005 schedule includes Sebring and the five European LMES 1000K races and our season's ambition is the Le Mans 24"

5th European date may still be on?

[Silk Cut Jaguar]

Maybe teams have been given a potential date for a fifth race and are just waiting for it to be confirmed officially?

Four races just isn't enough, I hope if another does appear it's not the token race at China that seems to be in fashion.

[SALEEN S7R]

A 5th race would be good - providing everyone can afford it. The Series needs to expand, very slowly or else we could see a big reduction in grid sizes which Im sure nobody wants. Its going to be a long process but maybe in say 5 years from now the LMES will be strong enough to accomidate say a 10 round championship.

[tblincoe]

i agree that the series needs to expand slowly, and shouldn't expand to 5 races until 2006... and that expansion should be into the Iberian penninsula at a track such as Barcelona. the LMES needs to fight the urge to join the other race series that are jumping to race in Asia and the Middle East. Sure the series could and should expand into both of these locales (and they will IMO) but wait a few years and get a strong base all over the Europe (and that includes the Iberian penninsula IMO). a strong base must have solid dates for the schedule, which as we can see the LMES does not have yet.

I also think that the most races the series can accomodate while keeping the 1000km format is around 6. there's no way in my mind that all those teams could run more than 6 or 7 races of that length while also participating at Le Mans and possibly Sebring, esp. if one or two of those races take place in Asia or the Middle East.

[slicktsax]

well since it is the LMES i say they should hold a race at the lemans bugatti circut, it's only right since the series is named after the lemans 24 hours race. i say the ALMS and the LMES people need to cooperate more on schedualing that races for both series

[SALEEN S7R]

Nah most of the cars in the LMES already run on half the Bugatti circuit when they race at LM. The Bugatti circuit IMO dosent have any real charchter and questions have been raised in recent years too about the circuits safety. Somewhere like Catalunya or Estoril would be more appropriate IMO.

[slicktsax]

hm well what other circuts would be good, i think bathurst would make a good circut, or autopolis in japan

[SALEEN S7R]

Oh yeah I agree, but I was thinking along the lines of another race in Europe. To keep costs down, if there was a race in the middle east or Australia for example costs would rise dramatically. Also Bathurst isnt homlogated for LMP's, GT2 yes, but not even GT1, let alone LMP 1/LMP 2.

[Dov]

I voted against a 5th race cuz I want to see some of the LMES teams cross the Atlantic to take on the ALMS teams......it would be fantastic. That being said, some of the LMES teams come over to race in the 12 Hours of Sebring, so it would probably be financially draining for them to come back over a second time.

[batcave]

I think it would be great if Atlanta was a points scoring round for the LMES! Prob is that it is hard to justify making the trip if its just a jolly...

[gi_gav]

Let's not forget Le Mans last year:

- the number of dropouts from the (poorly chosen) original entry

- the number of major entries at PQ without finalised sponsor packages.

As far as i know, the financial health of the series isn't a great deal better now.

I think LMES could support an Iberian race, but I'd rather see a proper marketing effort to foster the existing four races.

The trouble is that they are seen by the press and public (tell me if you disagree!) as being just a few sportscar races - nothing too different from FIA Sportscars or the abortive ELMS. They need to concentrate on increasing the prestige of the existing four rounds, at venues that are among the most prestigious in Europe.

Otherwise, all the talk of a return to the 'classic 1000km format' will be mere rhetoric.

[Tom V]

Originally Posted by SALEEN S7R

Oh yeah I agree, but I was thinking along the lines of another race in Europe. To keep costs down, if there was a race in the middle east or Australia for example costs would rise dramatically. Also Bathurst isnt homlogated for LMP's, GT2 yes, but not even GT1, let alone LMP 1/LMP 2.

Zandvoort would make a fine fifth round.

[Tom V]

Originally Posted by Dov

I voted against a 5th race cuz I want to see some of the LMES teams cross the Atlantic to take on the ALMS teams......it would be fantastic. That being said, some of the LMES teams come over to race in the 12 Hours of Sebring, so it would probably be financially draining for them to come back over a second time.

exactly, I voted in favour of a 5th round. It would be great if they raced at PLM or LS but let's face it, not many teams are going to pay for such an expensive trip.

In an ideal world Suzuka should be part of the LMES calendar.

[BSchneiderFan]

A fifth round - at Brno, Jarama, Zandvoort, Paul Ricard, Most, wherever - would surely be more economically viable than large-scale attendance at ALMS rounds by LMES teams.

[tblincoe]

Originally Posted by gi_gav

Let's not forget Le Mans last year:

- the number of dropouts from the (poorly chosen) original entry

- the number of major entries at PQ without finalised sponsor packages.

As far as i know, the financial health of the series isn't a great deal better now.

I think LMES could support an Iberian race, but I'd rather see a proper marketing effort to foster the existing four races.

The trouble is that they are seen by the press and public (tell me if you disagree!) as being just a few sportscar races - nothing too different from FIA Sportscars or the abortive ELMS. They need to concentrate on increasing the prestige of the existing four rounds, at venues that are among the most prestigious in Europe.

Otherwise, all the talk of a return to the 'classic 1000km format' will be mere rhetoric.

i totally agree with this statement and thats why 2006 should be the earliest the series expands to include a 5th race... much more needs to be done in terms of creating a more cohesive race event and then portraying that better to the public. the LMES has the cars right now, but this still need to work on the show and its presentation

[Gilles]

Originally Posted by Silk Cut Jaguar

Maybe teams have been given a potential date for a fifth race and are just waiting for it to be confirmed officially?

Four races just isn't enough, I hope if another does appear it's not the token race at China that seems to be in fashion.

It couln't be in China. Please don't forget the E (for European) of LMES ...

... but we could imagine in the next few years an LMAOS serie (le Mans Asian and Oceanian Serie) with tracks in japan, China, Australia, Malaysia,...