GT Cars vs. Prototypes

[NarendZORCE]

http://www.racecar-engineering.com

Why would you race a GT when you can have a prototype for less money?' asked Lola's Julian Cooper in passing during a chat with Racecar before Le Mans. If prototypes, LMP2 class cars in particular, are cheaper to buy and run than GTs then why does anyone bother?

Because there are those such as Stuart Roden, chief of GT2 Ferrari team Scuderia Ecosse, who would like to see Le Mans become an all GT affair. 'Prototypes are a waste of time, why would you want a slow F1 car with mudguards on?' he asks. 'Why not just race F1?' Roden continued: 'GT racing is about road cars. They look like road cars and they are based on road cars. I would like to see Le Mans as a race just for proper GT cars.'

Of course there is the ever-controversial Maserati issue. The Italian firm's Ferrari Enzo derived MC12 supercar has thrown the proverbial cat amongst GT racing's pigeons. Some even going so far as describing the 'Maser' as a 'prototype with a roof and totally out of place in GT racing.' Roden takes a different view: 'The Maserati is a proper GT car, a bit out of the way but a proper GT car. You can go and buy a road car version of it that's similar.'

Next year the Scottish team is looking to race the new Ferrari 430, though Roden 'dreams of running a Ferrari in GT1.'

So to some, the question is why race a GT, while to others, in increasing numbers it seems, is why would anyone race a prototype?