[madfast]

Since we dont have a separate motorsports forum, and in the spirit of F1 coming back to the US, i wanted to post my thoughts on auto racing in the US and the world.

F1: the golden standard imo. the cars are the pinnacle of performance. the drivers are the world's best and for the most part are quite diverse, even if some are unworthy of their seat. they race all over the world. and the rules keep getting better for the sport: less cost, more passing. all they need now are more manufacturers to join or come back.

Indy: Indy is a mess imo. the whole concept of indy is just stupid. it's an open wheel racing series, with cars built to no world standard. its like a terrible amalgamation of F1 and nascar without the performance of F1 nor the popularity of nascar. its irrelevant on the world stage and even in america its not very popular, except one race, the indy 500. how can we save indy? imo they either have to turn it into a feeder series for F1 (not likely due to ego) or they have to transform the cars into something unique and perhaps create a new world standard. they passed up on the deltawing design, that would have been cool. an alternative could be an open wheel car with a closed cockpit? instead of having 2 aero packages (circuit and oval) why not have one with movable elements (like super DRS) or even electronically controlled active aero! anyways, the point is to have something unique. having the chance to run the indy 500 isnt as special as it was 50 years ago so they need to reinvent themselves...

WEC: it's Audi vs Toyota in LMP1 right now, but new rules are coming that are very open. personally im VERY excited about whats to come with the new rules... imo more manufacturers will be willing to join due to these more open rules and so LMP racing will be a hotbed for innovation especially for hybrid tech.

GTE/GT3: GT racing is a little disjointed... ACO/LeMans use GTE, but GT3 is raced everywhere and so a more suitable world standard. and yet there is no legitimate world championship for GT3 cars. also there is no GT3 presence in the US until next year when world challenge will have a GT3 class. imagine if the stars align and we get a GT3 racing series that travels all over the world like F1? and with a ton of manufacturer support? and with world class drivers? if only...

WRC: everyone except citroen dropped out. imo the product is stale. im sure europeans still love rally (only because of tradition?) but its not a marketable product to places like the US and china. instead i see rallycross as the future of rally cars as its more exciting being wheel to wheel racing and not a timed event. rallycross in the x games is a big plus especially for americans. i want to see a world rallycross championship with legit talent (sebastian loeb not ken block) and manufacturer support. rallycross also has a lot of sliding, so it appeals to drifting/gymkhana fans as well. it has jumps so its appeals to motocross fans too. so much potential... the only thing that can make it better is more tech. perhaps strict rules on engine output but lax rules on AWD systems? that breeds innovation imo...

Nascar: is losing viewers both on TV and in the stands. is the writing on the wall for this american institution?

ALMS/Grand Am: the ALMS-Grand Am "merger" will be the biggest thing to happen for american road racing. imo they MUST adhere to the ACO/LeMans rules or else it will turn out to be like the daytona prototypes and Indycars, irrelevant on the world stage. because of FIA WEC ALMS/Grand Am should forget about factory LMP1 and focus solely on privateer LMP1 and factory/privateer LMP2 cars, running both sprint and endurance races on the calendar. sprint races on america's most famous tracks would be unique and totally different than WEC which is endurance only. yet there is still a connection to WEC/24 hr LeMans because of the endurance races. the 24 hrs of daytona will actually mean something once again. in fact they can actually entice some euro teams to daytona if there are no scheduling conflicts. 24 hrs of daytona was once a marquee endurance event back in the day. the switch to useless Daytona prototypes killed that race's relevance. this idea would bring it back into the spotlight. and of course the 12 hrs of sebring and petit le mans are always high profile endurance events on US soil. WEC added the 6 hrs of austin for 2013, so there can be crossover races when WEC comes to america. the key for this series imo is a place for privateer LMP1 and factory or privateer LMP2 cars to race in sprint and endurance races on iconic american tracks all the while having WEC/24 hr LeMans implications.

Touring Car: ideally "Grand Am Cup" should somehow merge with "world challenge" to form a unified touring car series. they can have a GT3 class (as a feeder series to Blancpain, etc) and a S2000 class (as a feeder to WTCC/BTCC). the overall prevailing theme for me is world relevance. teams/cars/racing series must have relevance worldwide unless they are popular enough to stand alone like nascar/DTM/GT500. it makes no sense to have different series with different rules and no relevance to what anybody else is doing all over the world.