Another option that kept me up all night last night was splitting the NAEC completely away from the rest of the TUSC races. I know the logic of combining two series to form two series seems silly, but these two new series would offer entirely different brands of racing, where the ALMS and Grand-Am were basically offering the same type of racing, just with different cars (but to the casual onlooker, not THAT different). Instead of now competing, you can strategically market the two series where they work together instead of against each other. Offering two different products to meet drivers, teams, manufacturers and regulation's needs.
(Edited above since I didn't really come off that clearly).
I wish I could expand on this further but I'm on my phone and pressed for time. But in addition to separating the series, you have different cars run in each.
North American Endurance Championship
The NAEC takes over as the premier North American "super-endurance" series. Allows IMSA to potentially get a better TV package for the fewer events, gives more emphasis to the abundant manufacturers who want to be involved in P and GTLM, and GTD teams are seen as the third class instead of the fourth, since the GTLM-Am teams blend in with the Pro, assuming GTLM-Am even happens. Ideally, IMSA gets involved with SRO and helps send the best performing GTD teams to the Spa 24 Hours.
Overall running costs are drastically reduced, making it easier to field programs in the series.
NAEC - Five to Six races, adding one West Coast event at least.
Classes:
- Prototype (P2 and DW)
- GTLM Pro
- GTLM Am
- GTD (Pro/Am only)
P - This is a win/win in my opinion. Sure the P2 cars and teams might miss running the other rounds, but now their season's budget has been drastically reduced, while running only the high profile events to keep appearances. Additionally, this could be attractive to European teams that may want to run longer events than ELMS, without doing the globe-trotting deal of the WEC, and don't want to compete in the entire TUSC season or be seen as only participating in "some events".
GTLM teams become the second class instead of the third, so manufacturers get more for their budget as well. By keeping them separate from Class 1, they don't have to worry about potential conflicts or being seen as "the slower GT cars". Not sure if BMW would run both GT and Class 1 programs in North America, though. Additionally, the manufacturers may have designs on visiting certain tracks (Chevy would wanna race in Detroit, BMW at Lime Rock, etc). They could also want to make more back from their investment, not wanting to develop cars that only run for a few races a year.
GTLM-Am is added for those gentlemen interested in running at Le Mans. Also allows customer cars for Porsche and Ferrari (possibly Corvette and AM, too) and helps the field maintain general health. Again, though, the factory cars may not want to run alongside Am cars... so there's that t consider. Should that be the case, LMP3 could join in, but then GTLM would go back to being the "third" class with the second most coverage.
GTD files in behind. Pro/Am allows both Pro and Am teams from PWC and TUSC to compete while only having to worry about adding a driver or two to the roster. Also keeps their overall pace off of the factory GTLM cars.
"Tudor United SportsCar Championship"
TUSC - Seven to Nine Events (Edit: 2 to 2 1/2 hours in length, with at least one event either a set length "1000km" or 4-6 hours long.)
- GTO (Class 1)
- PC (LMP3/FLM)
- GTD Pro
- GTD Am
GTO joins as the top class to help manufacturers market their place in the series, since they'd be faster than prototypes. IMSA should try to focus on getting the Big Three from Japan and Germany to join the party before trying to entice an American manufacturer, which should be easier if the class and series is separated from GTLM and P, since GM would be the most likely of those to commit as they likely wont continue in prototype racing anyways, and would ideally want the GTO cars to be separate from their investment in Corvette Racing (Speculation: I really think Buick would be the brand they'd use, since they could race it in Super GT on the condition of a Chinese round added in, and could also race in Europe as an Opel). Chrylser-Fiat likely wouldn't send an American brand into the fray, but Alfa Romeo could make a lot of sense, since it'll be rejoining the American market soon, and also has history in DTM. What better marketing than racing? I don't think Ford will join, nor Lincoln, though Lincoln should be the brand they use if they did join.
PC falls in behind, teams can market themselves as "the top prototypes in the class" and don't have to worry about looking bad while getting passed by P2's. Granted, they'd still fall behind the Class 1 cars, but aside from missing out on the NAEC races, I think this is a good fit. Given that LMP3 won't be running at Le Mans, I don't see the cars being developed for those lengths of races anyways (not to say that they couldn't handle them, though, as the FLM cars have shown that they can when driven by the right people).
GTD gets relevant with the addition of Pro teams, so Stevenson and Brumos can do what they do and be recognized for it. This could help attract GT3-only manufacturers like Lamborghini and Audi to send pro squads, but if Audi invests here, they likely wont run in GTO.
GTD Am continues on for pro and amateur drivers. If I were IMSA, I'd allow an Australian GT level of acceptance for GT3 machinery. With 2016 bringing lots of new models, there's going to be an influx of used GT3's from Europe, and allowing large diversity in the class could make it attractive, especially if they're involved in BOP'ing the cars so that older and newer models can race against each other.
EDIT: Expanded the idea to explain my selections further.
. The interesting thing is that Class 1 might actually bring back the old GTO days to an extent when/if it does come. Plus since DTM/GT500 cars pull lap times around the LMP2 mark it'd be appropriate, a GT Prototype.
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