The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA)

[JohnBM01]

Hello again, GTPlanet. This is John with another racing thread.

WEBSITE OF INTEREST: http://www.fia.com

Many know it for Formula One. Many others know it for World Rally. Some know it for European Drag Racing. Some know it for sportscar racing. No matter what, people who really know racing have crossed FIA's path at least once. This thread is for people who know about FIA and respect the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile.

Fans of this racing sanctioning body, this is for you. And I'll start.

As much as I know, this is probably the premier racing series in Europe. It has so much to offer to racers. And I think it also sanctions karting. I would love to see FIA GT and FIA Sportscar again. FIA GT raced at Laguna Seca, and I still remember pictures from that race in my old "Road and Track" magazine with the Honda S2000 on the cover. What was so special? How about seeing the Panoz Esperante GT1, Porsche 911 GT2, Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR, and a handful of GT Porsches... racing around a track, much less Laguna Seca? FIA is surely one of the best racing sanctioning bodies in the world. And the sportscars? All (or almost all) of the Le Mans sportscars can be seen in a racing series. You don't have to wait until Le Mans to see them go to work! FIA Sportscar got you covered.

Do you like the FIA? Wish they made a better impact on America? Any other comments? Post now.

 

[kart racer]

The FIA has done somthing that should have been done here a long time ago,put all the racing classes under one controling federation.Some will say that this is not a good thing but I feel it makes things alot easier on the racer's.With the FIA you can go to any event and not worry about local rules making your car unable to run.The IRL and CART(using old name,not sure what to call them now) could learn alot from them.

 

[kart racer]

anyone eles out there?

 

[JAGUAR]

Just to clarify things, the FIA do not run any series, they are the world motor racing sanctionaing body (including the US) that controls aspects such as safety, rules and regulations.

F1 is run by Bernie Eccelstone, FIA WRC Dave Richards and FIA GT by Stephan Ratel. FIA Sportscars were scrapped at the end of 2003 as the ACO set up their own sportscar series called the LMES.

The LMES in Europe is run by the ACO (Le Mans organisors) not the FIA. The ALMS is run to ACO regulations under an agreement with the ACO.

 

[JohnBM01]

Really, Jaguar? Didn't know that... (talking about FIA Sportscars)

 

[JAGUAR]

Originally posted by JohnBM01
Really, Jaguar? Didn't know that... (talking about FIA Sportscars)

Yeh, FIA Sportscars never really got of the ground.

After the end of Group C sportscars (Jaguar XJR-11, Sauber C11, 962 etc.), Ratel and others set up BPR GT.

This is the series the original short tail F1 GTR and 911 GT2 raced in. In 1997 it became the FIA GT Championship.

However by 1999 the GT1 class had been scrapped in FIA GT, as manufactuers such as Audi deceided to enter prototypes instead of GT1 cars, and the GT1 class became LMGTP at Le Mans (the class the Bentley and Toyota GT-ONE raced in ).

FIA Sportscars was a seperate championship that started in 1997 for prototypes. However the rules were slightly different to Le Mans, and works teams were banned. This is why Audi and BMW went to the ALMS in the US.

By 2003 the FIA Sportscar Championship was reaally struggling and the Le Mans organisors, the ACO, decided to set up the LMES, run to Le Mans regulations and rules.

www.lmes.net

 

[kart racer]

Cool, I seem to learn somthing here all the time.Thanks for clearing that up for me.👍

 

[JohnBM01]

To tell you thr truth, Sega's "Super GT/SCUD Race" game got me exposed to some of the cars that raced in the BPR Organisation. While the courses were fantasy, the McLaren F1, Porsche 911, Dodge Viper, and Ferrari F40 were surely familiar. I think that series evoled into FIA GT. But to say the least, a lot of motorsport under one sanctioning body sounds like a lot of unity. I guess, however, that us Americans are very competitive. Often times, we don't want to join up. We want to compete to be the best, even if it means economic depression. And I think it was a great idea to come up with a sportscar racing series. The reason why I thought it PROBABLY wouldn't do well is because most of the cars are some of the Le Mans-bound teams. Like, take the Racing for Holland and Pescarolo Courage teams for example. They're probably better known at Le Mans than racing in an all-sportscar series. On top of that, I don't think it's cheap to even be a bigtime sportscar team. About the only chance of having any real success owning your own sportscar team is probably here in the U.S. by racing SCCA C-Sports Racer or something.

 

[JAGUAR]

The LMES was specifically set up by the ACO to help teams like RFH and Pescarolo, and attract new teams to European prototype racing such as Lister, Creatio, Tarus, JOTA etc.

In Europe now prototype racing is strting to pick up after a few poor years.

The ALMS in the US is struggling in the prototype ranks, but the success of the LMES will hopefully begin to help the prototype scen in the ALMS in 2005/2006.

FIA GT is very successful in Europe and is run by Ratel, who also has a hand in the ACO run LMES. This means there are no date clashes and team in FIA GT can also compete in the LMES.

Were as the LMES are 1000K endurance races, FIA GT are only 2.45 hour races, so the 2 series complement each other.

 

[JohnBM01]

So would you want GT endurances? I think they should what the BPR did and run a 1000 meter or mile race at Suzuka (not sure which one is the right measurement. Heck, before the race was cancelled for safety reasons, there was a CART race in 2001 for Texas which was a 600km race, which translated to about 343 miles).

Anyhow, what do you think the prototype ranks for my favorite race series (ALMS) should do to make it thrive again? I think Panoz's departure made it basically an Audi no-show. Unless Lola or someone wants to make a stand, LMP1 is pretty much screwed.

 

[Sheron]

I like FIA ETCC (European Touring Car Championship) that is inside the LG Super Racing Weekend.
I really enjoy watching a very very close race. And I like the fact of over-weighting the car that wins a race. Should it be done to Formula 1? I think yes. In that case at the end of the championship all people have the same chances to win a race.

 

[JAGUAR]

No FIA GT should stick with its 2.45 hour format that has been created specifically for TV.

The new LMES allows both prototypes and GTs. These events are 1000 KM.

Some FIA GT teams compete in both series as they offer different things to the teams.

In 2005 the LMES will increase to 5 or 6 events, one of which will be in Asia such as Zhuhai in China or Suzuka in Japan.

As for the ALMS, the launch of the LMES has took away a number of European teams from the ALMS, plus the new 2004 LMP1 prototype regs have meant new LMP1 designs have not been built in the last couple of years.

However with the LMP1 class in the LMES booming with new teams entering, the ALMS will also benefit.

Creation and the works Zytek team will both compete in the last 2 rounds of the ALMS in preperation for 2005 assaults on the ALMS. Zytek are promoting their car to teams in the ALMS. The car really is an Audi beater, and IMO will get pole at LM and in the next 3 LMES events!

Lola are also building a new LMP1/LMP2 car, Lister are building a new LMP1 car, Picchio a new LMP2, NASAMAX a new LMP1, Courage a new LMP1 and Audi are currently designing a new LMP1 car that is rumoured to be a coupe, and have a V10 Turbo Diesal engine. It will race in 2005 or 2006.

Porsche should be arrive with a LMP1 car in 2006, along with Nissan. Spyker are also apparently building a LMP1 coupe for 2006.

In the GTS ranks, Maserati will race in the ALMS in 2005 with RISI. Aston Martin should also race. Prodrive 550s should be out in the ALMS soon.

 

[JAGUAR]

 

[JAGUAR]

 

[JohnBM01]

You making double post there, buddy JAGUAR? Anyhow, I thought the Le Mans news was pretty big, but after seeing the thread after Sheron's, I'm looking forward to 2005. I think ALMS just needs a big hug and a lot of respect. To me, I think the ALMS is the best series in America, and I think it's underrated heavily. Grand-Am is trying to be the American contingent for sportscar racing, but the ALMS is doing one MUCH better. If the boys and girls of the LMES and FIA ranks want to come to American Le Mans, the door is open!

God bless Don Panoz!