Jag-phwoar!

Jaguar and Le Mans go together like fish and chips. (pic jameswalters)

So the Big Cat could be heading back to Le Mans according to Autosport today. They won’t be in Silk Cut purple this time around, but a big cat taking on a roaring lion and the four rings is a mouth-watering prospect. What’s the betting that Williams and their flywheels could come into all this? Although the plans are vague at this stage, in fact they are simply ideas, it is still a sign of the good times ahead at La Sarthe. Porsche are due to re-join endurance racing’s top flight, Toyota are rumoured to have something up their sleeve and we still have Audi, Peugeot and Aston Martin knocking around. That’s not even including the Delta Wing car which bring a spot of Thunderbirds to the proceedings – what Indy doesn’t want the ACO has welcomed with open arms.

Le Mans can’t be a cheap endeavour yet we have manufacturers great and small who are queuing up to have a pop at this most demanding of races. If we eventually have petrol, diesel, hybrid, electric and, er, Thunderbirds cars all competing it will be tough for F1 to argue it is alone at the pinnacle of technology in motorsport. I’m actually keen on having smaller turbo engines in F1, but the fact that such lengths are taken to equalise the engines is surely detrimental to developing exciting technology? Not that innovation can’t shine through still, it’s just that we’ll be seeing less of it than we might otherwise.

The big advantage F1 has is a massive TV audience, something that Le Mans still fails to deliver, even if sports car success is still great for PR. So here’s my suggestion to the ACO and their new best friends at the FIA – how about a sprint sports car race? I’m talking about a touring car format of racing but with all the luscious tech-wizardry of Le Mans. Surely the only things that may put the untrained eye off Le Mans is the length of the races, the confusion of multi-class racing and possibly the driver swaps too. What’s not to like about the cars, tracks and drivers themselves? How about a one-off cup race, like a Formula Ford Festival for prototypes? Just something to offer an entry point for new viewers that doesn’t require them committing four or more hours of their precious free-time just to watch a race they weren’t previously interested in. I’d also offer the TV rights to a one-off prototype only event for free and I’d show it online too; treat it as an advert for what endurance racing can offer. Well, except the endurance part! If racing is an extension of the car showroom then it’s time for Le Mans to show off what it has got.

Right, I’ll stop getting carried away playing God, I’ll leave that to Bernie and Jean. All this was just a good excuse for me to spend lunchtime looking at pictures of Jaguar Le Mans cars…

Mclaren test GT3, what now for GT1?

Resplendent in Mclaren orange, the new MP4-12C GT3 car has been out testing this week at MIRA and Silverstone. It marks Mclaren’s first proper steps into sports car racing since the majestic F1 was battling with Mercedes and Porsche in the late-nineties. Like its esteemed predecessor, the MP4-12C is light, powerful and is one heck of a car to base a racing machine on. GT3 is a cracking series for relatively amateur level teams, but surely the premier GT1 series it supports should be bending over backwards to get the iconic orange machine on board?

Alongside British development drivers Chris Goodwin and Andrew Kirkaldy, Mclaren have pulled the shrewd move of signing Alvaro Parente to help with their first foray into GT3. The former British F3 champ has been a contender in GP2 and Superleague over the last few years, but he’s also done a lot of miles in Ferrari’s recent GT machines. Let’s hope he gets a race seat with one of the yet-to-be-announced customer teams who are going to run the Mclaren in GT3.

Over in the GT1 series the exodus of teams during the winter is almost being offset by more star drivers joining the party. The Sumo Power Nissan squad has just announced that Le Mans winner and F1 veteran David Brabham will be joining Jamie Campbell-Walter, Ricardo Zonta and Enrique Bernoldi in what is one of the strongest line-ups in this thrilling championship. Meanwhile Markus Winklehock is leaving the DTM to race a Lamborghini for All-Inkl.com in GT1. For the drivers any series that takes supercars to the superb San Luis track in Argentina and Portimao in Portugal has to be a satisfying place to practice your craft.

The SRO-organised GT1 World Championship features great global circuits and spectacular cars, but it’s franchise system seems prohibitive. This forces manufacturers to field at least two teams of two cars, which appears to have led to champions Maserati and race-winners Corvette leaving at the end of GT1′s debut season. The multi-car rules have also led to four-car teams in all-but-name from Sumo Power and Marc VDS which leaves GT1 looking even more precarious for the future.

In a more established global series it may be wise to operate a franchise system to keep numbers consistent, but a fledgling championship would benefit from allowing manufacturers to try it before they commit too heavily. Let’s hope that the rules are relaxed at the end of 2011 when the homologation of the Maserati, Corvette and Aston Martin runs out. Perhaps some rule tweaks will see marques of great repute like Mclaren, Ferrari, Porsche and Audi all able to get involved, instead of these big hitters being confined to GT3.