MonacoGP

I see lots of track cars, time attack cars, club racing cars and so forth but nothing that comes anywhere close to professional racing. Why aren't any of the big parts manufacturers or tuners proving their worth where it counts most? There hasn't been anything Mitsubishi since the Talons and that was 15 years ago. Is it reliability? I know it's one thing to make a fun track day car or a club racer but professional racing is much more demanding. Maybe these cars just don't hold together. I find that hard to believe when there are Acuras and BMW's all over the place in professional racing. There have to be classes available in ALMS or SCCA that they could run in. What do you guys think? Buscher, AMS, WORKS.

Boostd4

iTrader: (10)

My personal guess is that it's really viewed as more of a rally type car than a GT car. I think part of it may be the reliability of an AWD system in 100% tarmac conditions...now keep in mind these are just my thoughts.

spdracerut

iTrader: (2)

Whos going to pay for it?

Lets start with the costs, say for ONE race weekend:
Hotel for 3 nights for a crew of guys, say 10, two per room.
Plane tickets for each of ten guys to get to location and home.
You have to pay these 10 guys for their time.
Food for 10 guys for 4 days.
Rental cars and gas for 10 guys for 4 days.
Cost of shipping the race car from wherever to the track.

How much do you think that cost right there?

Now, cost of tires, fuel, fluids, replacement parts, wear and tear, etc.

As an extreme, top level Formula 1 teams spend ~$350 million a year.

Even basic GrandAm Koni challenge teams probably have a budget well into the hundreds of thousands, if not approaching going over a million.

Oh yeah, what about testing and R&D? That cost money too.

So, who's going to pay for it?

zbomb

iTrader: (48)

Ummm... There's quite a few teams rallying Evo's right now in the U.S. and doing quite well. I believe there was also a speed world challenge effort, there was a thread in the motorsports forum about it. They're out there....If you know where to look.

Protostar1

iTrader: (4)

This would be the same argument against any sort of racing... this has nothing to do with an Evo.

I would be inclined to buy the idea above that the car was intended as a rally car, raced as a rally car, and had much less interest in making it a tarmac race car. However, I do believe are a number of very serious, professional teams that race Evos in Japan, just not here in the American Pro leagues.

I really dont know either, I am just pontificating with the rest of you I would like to hear if someone actually knew, but there may be no reason like "the Evo is too tall and doesnt meet safety tech" or something that concrete.

MonacoGP

I know about the rally stuff I meant road racing. I did find the Speed World Challenge from last year it was a two race deal with not so good results but a lot could lead to that. I also saw WORKS had press releases about doing some Lancers but it didn't go anywhere. The Talons did really good some years back with AWD. Even some private entries had good finishes and they don't have million dollar transporters and 10 men on the crew. It just seems that somebody should be doing something at a higher level given how good this car is out of the box. I did find that Speed World Challenge now allows the Evo in Touring no longer has to be GT but not the X. Come on an Evo up against BMW's and Acuras. Somebody ought to be able to put something together.

scorke

iTrader: (18)

Look harder....

WRC's lower classes

SCCA T classes

SCCA Autocross Classes

Works runs in the NASA touring car series.

TONS OF PEOPLE compete in various sanctioning bodies Time Attack events....

The cars are out there, and they are winning a lot

Scorke

UT_Evo

iTrader: (5)

I would guess part of it is that Mitsu doesn't have the money to help out any of the teams.

http://www.world-challenge.com/drive...=Vesko+Kozarov

Here's the local guy that entered. I believe there's a thread somewhere with more info on his car.

http://competitionassociates.com/cas...ller_wc08.html

UT_Evo

iTrader: (5)

Found more photos:

http://competitionassociates.com/cas...tos_wc_ra.html

ambystom01

iTrader: (7)

People do race Evos in SCCA, I watched a few this year on Speed.

MonacoGP

That's all amateur racing not professional. There is a big difference. I've been to amateur SCCA club races and particularly NASA races and, well they are just different. There are a lot of real heaps running around out there and nothing professional about it. NASA calls some of their series "Pro" but they are more like SCCA National club racing. Top SCCA T1 and T2 teams can have a professional look and why some don't just go pro for what they spend is beyond me. Maybe the driver.

ambystom01

iTrader: (7)

Consider the classing as well, the classes that the Evos fit into to, may not be the best for them and unless you have a massive budget, the higher classes are off-limits as well. I'm sure some of the SCCA and autocross guys are "professionals". Aren't Evos big in japanese racing?

scorke

iTrader: (18)

You go win a national championship in T1 or T2 then come back and call them amateurs.

What does somebody need to prove to you about how real or not a race series is? Have you won any amateur championship in anything? What are you trying to find?


Scorke

GPTourer

A lot of big sanctioning bodies don't allow AWD + turbo.

scorke

iTrader: (18)

Touring classes and classes ike STU and what not for road racing, tons of them for autocross within the SCCA.

ALMS NO, Speed World Challenge yes, Speed touring no.

To be honest the evo's are blessed and cursed when it comes to amateur racing, they are so well sorted from the factory that they are either MADE for a particular kind of event or heavily penalized because of how well they are prepared.

Rally in the US and abroad is chock full of evos, rally cross too, hillclimbs too...

Scorke