Final month’s Bahrain 8 Hours marked the ultimate aggressive outing for GTE equipment following the choice by FIA and ACO to drop the corresponding class from WEC and the European Le Mans Sequence subsequent 12 months.
GTE vehicles have been a staple of WEC for the reason that rebirth of the world sportscar championship in 2012, with quite a few producers together with Porsche, Ferrari, Ford, BMW and Corvette constructing vehicles to this set of laws.
The GTE Professional class specifically was massively well-liked amongst drivers and followers in mid-to-late 2010s, however the class had been on a dramatic decline even earlier than the Hypercar division was launched in 2021.
GTE Professional was phased out from WEC on the finish of the 2022 season, with the GTE Am class additionally now being dropped by the championship in favour of a brand new class working GT3 vehicles subsequent 12 months.
Though the distinction between GTE and GT3 vehicles is just not dramatic in relation to efficiency, GTE vehicles have been designed extra like thoroughbred racers and thus have been massively interesting to skilled drivers.
Porsche-contracted Matteo Cairoli, who scored three GTE Am wins within the Porsche 911 RSR-19, stated the brand new GT3 vehicles will merely not be as satisfying to drive as their predecessors.
“For me, GTE goes to be for positive one of the best GT automotive ever,” the Italian informed Autosport.
“After all, GT3 can be a pleasant automotive to drive, however GTE is an expert automotive so it’s a must to adapt your driving type greater than what you do in a GT3 automotive.
“I loved each single lap I did previously seven years and I am a bit unhappy to see the tip of this superb automotive.
“For positive, [the LMGT3 class] goes to be thrilling as a result of we may have lots of constructors and lots of vehicles. And I believe the struggle will probably be all the time on.
“However the pleasure of driving is just not going to be the identical anymore. As a result of GT3 vehicles it is extra [of] a highway automotive. It is just like a highway automotive.
“Right here [in GTE] it is extra onto the prototype aspect. As a present, it is going to be excellent however the pleasure behind the wheel for positive not.”
Photograph by: Alessio Morgese
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Nicky Catsburg, who raced the BMW M8 GTE in each IMSA and WEC earlier than becoming a member of Corvette in 2021 and taking victory at Le Mans this 12 months, felt GTE Professional was much more aggressive than LMP1 throughout its peak.
“I completely love the GTE class,” stated Catsburg. “It is in all probability been my favorite class all through my profession. These vehicles are actual thoroughbred racers.
“Once you take a look at GTE Professional, for me that was probably the very best stage of racing throughout all ranges. I all the time thought that GTE Professional was essentially the most tough class to win at Le Mans when it comes to outright high quality and quantity of vehicles.
“It was a category the place I all the time wished to be and all the time wished to measure myself towards one of the best. I completely beloved GTE.
“GTE Am is slightly little bit of a step down from GTE Professional, however I nonetheless consider it is a class that’s extraordinarily cool to race in.
“It is a disgrace to see it go and say goodbye. After all, GT3 will nonetheless be very thrilling and it will likely be very cool to drive in. There will probably be extra vehicles and extra alternatives.”
Cadillac driver Richard Westbrook loved loads of success in GT vehicles on each side of the Atlantic within the late 2010s earlier than transferring again to prototype equipment lately.
The 48-year-old feels followers of sportscar racing will reminisce concerning the days of GTE Professional at Le Mans for a number of years to come back.
“A lot of folks use the time period ‘the Golden Period of GT Racing’, they usually’re not flawed,” he stated.
“It’s important to pinch your self whenever you look again at years like 2017, 2018 and 2019. You had this practice of GTE Professional vehicles at Le Mans, 20 vehicles nose-to-tail for twenty-four hours.
“It actually was an arms race with producers and everybody being so shut. There have been prime manufacturers in there. I used to be lucky sufficient to drive for 4 producers throughout that interval – Porsche, Corvette, Ford and Aston Martin.
“It actually was a particular time, there isn’t any doubt about it. Will probably be one thing that individuals will look again on in 20 years time and a father will inform his son a narrative of how he was at Le Mans throughout that point, and the child in all probability will not consider it! It was that shut, simply intense racing from begin to end.”
Photograph by: JEP / Motorsport Images
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Three-time Le Mans 24 Hours winner Andre Lotterer by no means bought to race in GTE Professional, however described GTE vehicles as “very emotional”.
“It’s all the time like that when one thing ends they usually have been good vehicles, very excessive expertise, very nicely developed and really emotional vehicles,” the Porsche star informed Autosport.
“If you happen to look the 911 RSR it is such a very good sound and delightful automotive, profitable automotive.
“It’s kind of unhappy to be sincere as a result of folks put a lot power into that and it was an iconic automotive for a few years.
“If you happen to consider the early 70s, the RSR was already there. But it surely’s like this, nothing is ceaselessly.”
TF Sport boss Tom Ferrier, whose group loved loads of success with the Aston Martin Vantage, stated there was a level of exclusivity connected to GTE vehicles that will probably be lacking subsequent 12 months.
Nonetheless, he additionally felt that the brand new LMGT3 will open WEC to a large variety of producers who beforehand could not be a part of the sequence as a result of limitations to entry related to the GTE courses.
“GTE has all the time been a tremendous class and has had a really unique really feel to it,” Ferrier informed Autosport.
“I believe lots of drivers and paying clients all the time actually loved that aspect. It is a particular automotive you may race at Le Mans and solely in WEC and ELMS, and now it is clearly opened it to a automotive that can be utilized all over the place.
“The flip aspect of that’s it offers a great deal of producer involvement for a load of various manufacturers so positives and negatives.”
Throughout his illustrious WEC profession, IMSA-bound Ben Keating drove six totally different GTE vehicles, from the SRT Viper in 2015 to the Corvette C8.R with which he received at Le Mans this 12 months.
The American stated he notably preferred how GTE laws allowed every producer to have a bespoke tyre inbuilt affiliation with Michelin, which meant that they have been in a position to extract the utmost efficiency from every automotive.
That is in direct distinction to GT3, the place vehicles largely run on the identical spec tyres.
“I like that the tyre from Michelin is designed particularly for every particular person automotive,” he defined.
“That is a giant deal to have a tyre designed to your automotive, and the Michelins which might be on the Corvette are totally different than those on the Porsche, on the Ferrari or on the Aston Martin.
“That is a extremely large deal for the efficiency stage of those vehicles.
He added: “The vehicles are so well-designed. A lot of the GT3 vehicles are designed to be buyer vehicles. All of the GTE vehicles are designed to be pro-level racecars. There’s just a bit bit additional in each method. I like that.
“It is positively a ability that it’s a must to develop, and it has been lots of enjoyable to develop the abilities to be quick in these vehicles.”
Photograph by: JEP / Motorsport Images
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One of many main gripes related to GT3 vehicles is that they arrive outfitted with an Anti-Braking System as per laws.
Whereas this enormously assists gentleman racers, many really feel ABS would not have area in skilled championships like WEC and that it takes away an vital differentiator between drivers.
Requested for his opinion concerning the swap from GTE to GT3 vehicles, Christian Ried, who took half in each GTE Am race for the reason that formation of current-day WEC in 2012, informed Autosport: “I like the GTE, I like it greater than GT3.
“For positive it is a good suggestion to have race vehicles with ABS, particularly in beginner classes however for me WEC is prime stage of GTE and all of the Professional and Am drivers right here it is actually excessive stage, I am positive they will drive a correct race automotive with out ABS.”
As regards to ABS, Cairoli added: “ABS is one thing I personally do not actually take pleasure in to have. But it surely’s a part of the automotive, a part of the laws, so we have to adapt.
“All in all it is simpler as a result of you may play extra with the automotive, they let you do extra errors with out dropping a lot. ABS helps you rather a lot and I believe from a gentleman’s perspective it is the precise resolution.
“However for an expert driver, for positive, the distinction you do in braking and with ABS, the hole will probably be a lot nearer to everyone.”