engine of the year?

[Epacy]

Originally Posted by maq

There was nothing wrong with what Porsche did, BMW took advantage of a loophole then simply got caught.

That is not a loophole they took advantage of. A loophole is a way around the rules without breaking any. BMW was breaking the rules because there was a specific rule for number of production cars.

[ILC32]

As to the M3 GTR, my understanding is that BMW did NOT break any rules. It offered the car in sufficient quantites (only a very small number were required to be built for "street" use to qualify inder the rules) the first season it was raced. The rules were then changed at Porsche's request, IIRC, so that the next season, a much larger number of street cars had to be built, or if not enough cars were built, BMW could still run the GTR, but with significant penalties (weight, power). BMW withdrew the GTR rather than building the required number of cars or racing the car under the burden of the penalties.

Check out http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/0205_bmwm3gtr/

[JEllis]

As to the M3 GTR, my understanding is that BMW did NOT break any rules. It offered the car in sufficient quantites (only a very small number were required to be built for "street" use to qualify inder the rules) the first season it was raced. The rules were then changed at Porsche's request, IIRC, so that the next season, a much larger number of street cars had to be built, or if not enough cars were built, BMW could still run the GTR, but with significant penalties (weight, power). BMW withdrew the GTR rather than building the required number of cars or racing the car under the burden of the penalties.

Your right, technically BMW did not break any rules. However, the small number of street GTR's they built was very small...extremely small. Basically Porsche felt that BMW was not keeping with the spirit of the racing series. In way, I dont blame Porsche.

Jason

[ILC32]

Originally Posted by JEllis

I dont blame Porsche.

Jason

Heresy! BAN HIM!

[JEllis]

Heresy! BAN HIM!

Hahahaha.... you know I love BMW

[maq]

Originally Posted by Epacy

That is not a loophole they took advantage of. A loophole is a way around the rules without breaking any. BMW was breaking the rules because there was a specific rule for number of production cars.

Originally Posted by ILC32

As to the M3 GTR, my understanding is that BMW did NOT break any rules. It offered the car in sufficient quantites (only a very small number were required to be built for "street" use to qualify inder the rules) the first season it was raced. The rules were then changed at Porsche's request, IIRC, so that the next season, a much larger number of street cars had to be built, or if not enough cars were built, BMW could still run the GTR, but with significant penalties (weight, power). BMW withdrew the GTR rather than building the required number of cars or racing the car under the burden of the penalties.

It was a loophole because the regulations didn't require BMW to produce or sell a GTR road car BEFORE the series started. BMW's responsbility was to produce and sell road cars on 2 continents within 12 months, but they never had the intention to do that. BMW only built 2 street GTRs and only 1 was actually sold. When Porsche found that out, they didn't have to change any rules to eliminate the competition.

Truth is, the GTR program was under-funded. They didn't have the money to do a real road car program. They didn't even have money to develop a sequential gearbox for the race car.

[JEllis]

It was a loophole because the regulations didn't require BMW to produce or sell a GTR road car BEFORE the series started. BMW's responsbility was to produce and sell road cars on 2 continents within 12 months, but they never had the intention to do that. BMW only built 2 street GTRs and only 1 was actually sold. When Porsche found that out, they didn't have to change any rules to eliminate the competition.

Truth is, the GTR program was under-funded. They didn't have the money to do a real road car program. They didn't even have money to develop a sequential gearbox for the race car.

However, the rules were in fact changed.......

Jason