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reginos said:
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Spyderidol said:
Sure they don't give s**t if the F430GT won it's class in the ALMS. But sure enough that information will filter down to them (in the fullness of time) if they keep winning long enough.
Also - their opinions are formed by others that do give a s**t (they're called "opinion leaders")
What you say is valid in the medium to long term. Stagnation kills any enterprise. However, it is unfair to expect Porsche or any other company to come up with a solution to a competitor's product within a short time. The next Porsche will be better than the next whatever, until they come up with something new etc. etc. It is a never ending story. In recent years we've had the acclaimed GT3s the 996 Turbo the Boxster which were above the competition in their class. Don't panic and don't feel that your "team" is not always winning.
Motorsport is another issue. Given unlimited funds it's good to win everything every weekend but realities dictate differently. Also although I am a racing fan I don't overestimate the impact of racing results; the win sunday sell monday applies to very few people. Lamborghini is rerceived as maker of super sports cars although they have never won a race. Or Lancia (remember them?) won just about everything but nobody wants to know. How many Audi TDI drivers know about ALMS and endurance racing.
Having said that, Porsche with their limited outlay manage to win a few majors every season and manage to maintain their racing connection. 24h races in LM, NBR,Spa, Dubai, 12h Sebring,ALMS Spyders,etc. when even giants haven't managed to win an F1 race yet.
You and I agree in general , however Porsche's racing heritage is fundamental to its image.
Lancia and others have won a few things but not as consistently, and for the length of time that Porsche has.
The 911 (in its various forms) is the car that has won the most races over any other.
Porsche has won the Le Mans more often than any other make.
They have won in F1 (with the Maclaren TAG Porsche.
They were so dominant in old CAN-AM series that they were effectively "outlawed" by a change in rules.
They have won the Monte Carlo Rally and the Paris Dakar.
They are the only car to beat the Audi's heavily favored diesel LMP1 car in the ALMS...and with a LMP2 car.
They are also largely responsible for the new upsurge in interest in the LMP2 class.
A company with this kind of racing heritage, cannot afford to let it disintegrate into faded memories, at the risk of just becoming "another" sportscar manufacturer.
Again, and as I have often stated here on this forum, it's the perceived lack of longterm vision (and strategy) of WW's new all time profit conquering Porsche AG that makes me very nervous.
I see an effort (and rightly so) to reduce company's reliance on the 911 , but it's done by producing SUV's and 4 door family saloons.
I don't see a movement to introduce a mid-engined V8 road car that can be homologated to snatch back the GT title (and thus guarantee that the Porsche brand remains for ever on the top step of the podium in that class)
I don't see Porsche exerting its considerable influence (as it now owns Audi)on the ACO to balance the very pro-diesel rules so as to give the gasoline powered cars as much of a chance at winning Le Mans as the diesels.
I don't see Porsche putting pressure on the Grand Am organizers to form a different class for stage2 cars, instead of letting them compete (unfairly) with the normal production cars , of which the GT3's are.
The perception is that its all about how much money they can make now and that they'll think about tomorrow when it comes.
. Perhaps it is the bad legacy of the Detroit dinosaurs of not so long ago.
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