2014 United Sports Car Championship

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Sam48
hmmm, what do we have here? The image in question was published by Aim Autosport. A GT-LM entry for 2014???

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That looks strangely like a Maserati MC12 with a Ferrari logo on the fender.
 
Justin
I would like a combo personally, basically the number plate and location used in ALMS but allow teams to use whatever style/color they want so long as it fits inside the number plate.

Also, make them use numbers that look like numbers as this...

MediaHandler.ashx


...Can be rather confusing for someone having no clue what team is what number. Hell, I thought it was a sponsor logo the first time I saw it.:lol:
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:lol: I hope their number plate can be put in more than one place on the cars and made larger. It's kinda hard to see that little tiny number sometimes.

Oh btw: DTM regs pushed back. http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/uscr-us-dtm-series-delayed-until-2017/
 
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MrMelancholy15
Hang on, DTM regulations weren't pushed back. They're still in place. They're going to be working on forming the Super GT500 restrictions into place with DTM for 2014.

However, the unified series dates have been pushed back, until 2017.
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Yea I'm really growing more doubtful about this series when I was sarcastically optimistic about it to begin with.
 
hawkeye122
I feel like that will confuse the casuals...
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This.

We don't need jumbo trons on the side of cars :lol: I don't like the light system personally although it's pretty damn convenient at times.
 
As a causal fan, the 3 lights tend to be harder to keep up with at speed but something is better than nothing. I really had more issues with random A pillar lights folks ran at Daytona, I get the purpose but there should be something better suited for teams.
 
Wilbur
As a causal fan, the 3 lights tend to be harder to keep up with at speed but something is better than nothing. I really had more issues with random A pillar lights folks ran at Daytona, I get the purpose but there should be something better suited for teams.
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I find that to be highly obnoxious. If they had lit numbers like the WEC, they almost wouldnt need the light bars.

Even a simple LED marker, one Red and one Blue in the top corner of the window would be better than the fluorescent green light tubes they used..
 
hawkeye122
I find that to be highly obnoxious. If they had lit numbers like the WEC, they almost wouldnt need the light bars.

Even a simple LED marker, one Red and one Blue in the top corner of the window would be better than the fluorescent green light tubes they used..
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I never knew what those LED strips all over the cars where for and thought they look ugly as crap and should be banned!
 
Trust me they were really weird. I do prefer a simple solution like the lighted numbers with the class leaders. It's clean and simple but none of those strips were even in same place. If we need to something to tell teams apart, then just use different color behind the numbers while it's lit.
 
Here's where you lost credibility-
MrMelancholy15
Seth... You're not a spokesperson (because spokesmen are men) for ALMS. Stop spewing their crap.
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Here's where you started to fail-
MrMelancholy15
You don't have to argue with my opinion. However, since I will perpetually hate you,
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Heres where you got personal and made it apparent you yourself are a child.
MrMelancholy15
I'm glad that you seem to be willing to defend LMP1 as if it's your legitimate child... You know, not like the one you ignore while you play video games, envisioning how you could be the next LMP1 race driver star?
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How is it that you're allowed on your parents' computer being the gtplanet troll who acts like he knows what he's talking about in regards to someone's personal life? I guess they don't police your internet activities anymore? You must've just gained that privilege of trust recently. Maybe you're secretly on here acting like you know me. Must be the bent up anger from all the illogical bs I called you out on, rage much?

MrMelancholy15
But, unless you have some idea of the visceral experience of driving a car that's not a 2002 Grand-Am, on a track, I recommend you "experience" this before you jump to conclusions that LMP1 would be "safe." No.
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Got the year wrong. Your assumptions are showing another analytical failure. Wasn't my car, I didn't drive it, more personal attacks from my own gtp stalker.

MrMelancholy15
:D I'm not joking. Read above.
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We know you're not 'joking', it's actually you that's the joke. 👍
 
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Almost 95% chance that there's going to be 12 races for 2014.

With the possibility of Prototype and GT-only events for some of the other venues, too.

If I was a betting man this is the 12:

Daytona
Sebring
COTA
Lime Rock
Mid-Ohio
Road Ameria
Watkins Glen
Indianapolis
Laguna Seca
Road Atlanta
Long Beach
Belle Island, Detroit

Mosport is another possibility as is Baltimore. VIR and Sonoma are two tracks I wish would make it on the list.
 
hawkeye122
What exactly is wrong with it?
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It's hard to see at night simply put. Plus, I think the number plate should be twice as big so that people can actually see the numbers :lol:
Wilbur
As a causal fan, the 3 lights tend to be harder to keep up with at speed but something is better than nothing. I really had more issues with random A pillar lights folks ran at Daytona, I get the purpose but there should be something better suited for teams.
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Yea maybe a spotters guide with the light on the car shown and what color it will be. Again, Daytona is very well lit at night. So unless you're in the west horseshoe, you have little to no problems seeing the cars. Most numbers are large enough anyway that I can see them all the way around the track. At the petit Le mans, I had so much trouble with the teams like corvette racing whose cars are basically identical. I'm sure it's really hard to tell on a live stream though.
 
I didn't mind the numeral, which was actually quite small and yet readable (as they tried it out on a porsche for one race this season, if I recall). I think they placed it on a rear panel somewhere. Oh well. I don't really care what they do, as long as they race.
 
Tower Turn 13
I didn't mind the numeral, which was actually quite small and yet readable (as they tried it out on a porsche for one race this season, if I recall). I think they placed it on a rear panel somewhere. Oh well. I don't really care what they do, as long as they race.
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I'd rather not have them for personalization of the car, but it's not a big deal at all. I'll still support the same teams and the series as a whole whether the have them or not :)
 
MrMelancholy15
I could go without Lime Rock

Seriously, if there's no Montreal race, nor a Toronto race... :nervous: I might actually need a passport! :scared:
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Lime rock would more than likely be a split race due to big grids if the buyout/merger is done right. VIR would be a great addition to the schedule even if there's no oak tree anymore :( I don't want more than one street circuit because I don't like them either.
 
Honestly, I hate Baltimore (the Street course, not the city.). It just reeks of the typical "Tight corner, tight corner, one straight on the whole damn course and mooooore tight corners!!!" formula that recent street circuits have (like that pathetic track in Spain).
 
Sam48
Sadly, as a result, we're gonna have tube frame Mazda 6s racing head to head with real Audi R8s and Ferrari 458s :yuck:
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Nothing wrong with that. Prep 2 cars are more practical than the Audi R8 or 458 because it's easier to fix and that chassis will last much longer as the rule set changes. Take Banner racing for example: they started with a prep 2 Pontiac gto. When the gm car in the field changed to a Pontiac gxp-r, all banner had to do was change the bodywork. When Pontiac went down, banner ran a prep 2 corvette for a season. Then banner swapped to a camaro when gm wanted that car run. They used the same chassis for all those years when teams have to buy a new car every time Porsche or another manufacturer comes out with a newer car because those teams want a shot at winning. The casual fan doesn't know the difference either.

Btw: Imsa gtp would be classified as prep 2 also ;)
 
cnd01
Nothing wrong with that. Prep 2 cars are more practical than the Audi R8 or 458 because it's easier to fix and that chassis will last much longer as the rule set changes. Take Banner racing for example: they started with a prep 2 Pontiac gto. When the gm car in the field changed to a Pontiac gxp-r, all banner had to do was change the bodywork. When Pontiac went down, banner ran a prep 2 corvette for a season. Then banner swapped to a camaro when gm wanted that car run. They used the same chassis for all those years when teams have to buy a new car every time Porsche or another manufacturer comes out with a newer car because those teams want a shot at winning. The casual fan doesn't know the difference either.
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It may be more cost effective, but in my opinion, it's not proper. When I see a tube frame race car in GA, I feel as if the manufacturer's saying, "We don't have anything in out lineup that can even remotely compete with what they have, so we'll just jump in NASCAR style and put one of our car's body panels on a tube frame and no will notice". In other words, it's a poor excuse for a race car. I believe if manufactures want to compete, they have to use one of their real cars and tune it up. Now I know in sires like the ALMS GTE category, most GT cars are no where near stock, but most of the underlying bits are either direct from the factory, or swapped over from the actual street version. They are therefore the pinnacle of what that road car can be, and the manufacture stands behind them. But with tube frames, you get almost no factory/street components, and much less factory support.
 
Sam48
It may be more cost effective, but in my opinion, it's not proper. When I see a tube frame race car in GA, I feel as if the manufacturer's saying, "We don't have anything in out lineup that can even remotely compete with what they have, so we'll just jump in NASCAR style and put one of our car's body panels on a tube frame and no will notice". In other words, it's a poor excuse for a race car. I believe if manufactures want to compete, they have to use one of their real cars and tune it up. Now I know in sires like the ALMS GTE category, most GT cars are no where near stock, but most of the underlying bits are either direct from the factory, or swapped over from the actual street version. They are therefore the pinnacle of what that road car can be, and the manufacture stands behind them. But with tube frames, you get almost no factory/street components, and much less factory support.
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Well in grand am, Chevrolet supports Stevenson's prep 2 camaro when they don't support Marsh racing's prep 1 corvette. The Bmw z4 gte is a tube frame car as well. I'd rather have NASCAR style if it works over something that doesn't. The prep 2 formula allows more manufacturers that don't have a car that would normally compete a chance to put money in the series without a full tilt factory effort that would still take years of development and drives off the privateer competition. After all, American as well as global sports car racing needs a balance of manufacturer and privateer entrants in order to not just survive but thrive for an extended period of time :) 👍
 
cnd01
Well in grand am, Chevrolet supports Stevenson's prep 2 camaro when they don't support Marsh racing's prep 1 corvette.
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True, but such support is nothing compared to GM's backing of their Corvette GTE entry in both the ALMS and WEC (Labre).

cnd01
The Bmw z4 gte is a tube frame car as well.
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Yeah, I wasn't really pleased with that.

cnd01
I'd rather have NASCAR style if it works over something that doesn't.
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Wait, who said using the actual road cars doesn't work?

cnd01
The prep 2 formula allows more manufacturers that don't have a car that would normally compete a chance to put money in the series without a full tilt factory effort that would still take years of development and drives off the privateer competition. After all, American as well as global sports car racing needs a balance of manufacturer and privateer entrants in order to not just survive but thrive for an extended period of time :) 👍
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This I understand, but I believe if you want to compete on such a level in the first place, you must have the car to do so. Yes tube frame might be cheaper and a good place to start, but I feel it ruins the sport and almost mocks the manufacturers who actually put millions of dollars into turing their actual street car into a race car.
 

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