As manufacturers announcing the end of factory support it's beginning to look like the end is near for GT3 and maybe GTE in WEC and IMSA racing over the next two years, maybe sooner. Audi, Ford, Aston Martin and Porsche have either withdrawn, or announced their withdrawal of factory support. BMW and Ferrari haven't given commitment beyond 2021 and both manufacturers are taking a strong look at LMPH,which would negate their interest. Chevrolet will stay on to support GTE but its likely that won't last more than a year or two longer. Moreover the "Street Prepared" format found in the Lambo support series is an option on the table that could be expanded to include other models. Kind of like the IMSA Firestone Firehawk series from some years back. Harmonization between IMSA and WEC has included bringing back the LMP3 cars. LMP3 costs less to operate a season than GT3 does and to many of the IMSA privateers is looking like a better way to go as the factory subsidies go away. Given the evolution thats about to take place in sports car racing it looks like the clock is ticking on the GT3 class.
Maybe so - but I still love racing Howston G4/G6s and a whole host of 60s and 70s cars in rf2, so your DLC investment won’t become suddenly worthless...
Exagerated. Just pay attention to which manufacturers are removing factory support, they weren't even expected to be in GT3 to begin with. It's a curtomer based formula and there is too much offer in the market, at some point some of them would be gone. New rule cycle begins in 2022 with a focus on reducing costs so GT3 class isn't going to disappear even in IMSA GTE probably will merge with GT3 but this has been requested for a long time anyway, way before LMDh and this has been a talk even while LMP1H was "healthy". And once this merge happens it's going to be a huge boost since they'll be able to race LeMans too The price of closing everything for no reason and printing money is going to be more clear now so it's normal that some guys will close their operations and some are doing before they go into big debts. LMP3 is here to replace these, then LMPC was a thing in ALMS, it's not a surprise they are "back" in one form or another. But if not for covid this wouldn't be happening tho. Keep in mind GT3 was made with focus on the gentlemen drivers/customer racing. It was SRO that moved away from this for a while but they said they'll go back to their original focus starting in 2021.
Ergo, its not like GT3 is going away from Simracing. Just in IMSA the GT* factory subsidies lost is in the $20,000,000 range. To contest a full season it costs nearly twice as much to run one car in GT* as it does an LMP3. One reason its common for GT* teams to run multiple entries is the second car can share among the inventory of spares. Prototype cars tend to have a much better advertising appeal to a potential non-automotive product sponsor. From a cost standpoint deep pockets Gentleman Racers will spend less in a faster and sexier car. Its true that a number of Gentleman Racers have brand loyalty; some will only race Porsche, some only Ferrari etc., although they tend to come and go in the sport. Sports Car racing was in it's heyday through the 1980's with Group C/GTP, a rising star that was beginning to challenge F1 as the premier series, in part due to evolving costly engine rules. The FIA changed Group C rules to adopt F1 engine technology and the factory money simply vanished and within 5 years WEC/IMSA exposure levels, ticket & broadcast revenue crashed hard. That's when our team exited IMSA. IMSA has done a much better job at re-vitalizing Sports Car racing than WEC which is a big part of why WEC has been far more cooperative with IMSA through the recent harmonization efforts. Both organizations are committed to restore the glory days of Prototype racing, John Doonan of IMSA has made that pretty clear. Moreover IMSA, SCCA, and SVRA have formed a much stronger allegiance since Doonan took over IMSA. LMPH offers a way to attract several different manufacturers, and its already working. Porsche, Audi, Aston Martin, McLaren are among the OEM's who've already committed to LMPH. BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes, and Ferrari are strongly considering an effort with proposals in the boardrooms. This is what what converts a $20,000,000 subsidy into a billion dollar windfall for the sport. It's like any commercial venture; follow the money.
Audi factory support in GT3 is as strong as ever. In fact I believe they will have four factory backed teams in the DTM next season according to the announcements I've seen. That is in addition to GT Masters, and GTWC Europe entries using Audi drivers in the cars. Ford, Aston and Porsche have all dropped GTE efforts recently, primarily because it is a dying class. I believe the writing is on the wall that LMGT in IMSA will become GTD Pro, and likely WEC and ELMS will follow eventually. GT Convergence is a pretty common buzz phrase and would be more of a talking point were it not for LMDH and the Prototype Convergence occurring in the near future. You can note that both Aston and Porsche have not only continued with their GT3 efforts but are planning to expand their support of GT3 efforts in 2021 (Aston recently announced an entry in GTWC Sprint, Porsche will be entering DTM). GT3 will be around for a long time, it will probably survive in a similar form for a very long time even into the electrification of most motorsports. The fact that it is customer focused and does not have factory teams will be a big help there. In order for Audi to win a GT3 race all they really have to do is provide some engineers and pro drivers. They don't have to have the overhead of actually running a team themselves. It's a win win for any manufacturer.
Audi is keeping a Euro presence in GT for 2021, although subsidies to privateers have been reduced to maintaining parts supplies in the USA. Motorsports will always follow the money. Privateers didn't become financially capable to afford racing by not understanding that. For 2021 it costs less to buy a new LMP3 package and race the season than it does to upgrade and compete for a title in GT with last year's cars. As for IMSA it's looking like SCCA may be absorbing GT classes into Trans-Am over the next few years, and there are already motions in the works to hold some joint events between IMSA, SCCA and SVRA in the future. I kind of enthused by this - combining some of the vintage cars from the 917 and 962 eras in a vintage racing format with cars on display sells tickets to the show, and thats what Doonan is after. Time will tell.
