Single Make Customer Racing and The Future Classic Potential?
Customer racing refers to the practice of an automotive manufacturer supplying specifically designed race cars to teams. Instead of the manufacturer themselves running the team, they simply sell the cars to somebody else to race. This makes the whole endeavour a lot more profitable for the car brands as not only does it pay for the development and production of the race cars, but it also generates free marketing. If Triarsi Competizione wins the Daytona 24 in their 296 GT3, Ferrari the company can post about it all week long despite only being responsible for selling Onofria the car. This business model is what has enabled the success of GT3 racing around the world. With a bit of budget and a dream, anyone can go racing at the highest level.
There is however another side of customer racing, and that is customer racing for customers. If you are a wealthy individual and fancy living out your sports car driver fantasy without tackling a major international championship, you can hit up any of the large supercar manufacturers and they will sell you a full racing series experience where you compete against other wealthy individuals. These typically take the form of a single make championship where everyone is sold the same model of car to keep things fair. To differentiate single make customer racing from the aforementioned customer racing, the cars used have their own specification and are therefore not eligible for the major international championships.
The Carrera Cup blueprint
The history of single make racing and customer championships is a storied one, from BMW to Maserati and even Renault with their Renault 8 Gordini Cup in the 1960’s. But Porsche were the first to create the blueprint we recognise today when in 1986 they launched Carrera Cup. Today the series is the largest of its kind, featuring 12 professional level championships and even more amateur series spanning 5 continents. Porsche has utilised everything from the 944 to the Boxster in single make competition, but it has been the 911 that has endured after first being introduced for the 1990 season.
These early cars were stripped of their creature comforts from the factory and alongside safety modifications, received lightweight wheels in addition to shortened gear ratios and even adjustments to the ABS system for better performance on track. An exceptionally well maintained example sold by Sotheby’s fetched £166,750 which even came with the original 1990 paddock pass!
Maranello Challenge
Ferrari would join the fray in 1993 launching their Challenge series starting with the 348. Back then the challenge cars were actually sold as a kit. You would purchase a 348 (or later F355) off the showroom floor and give it right back to your dealer to fit the kit. This mostly consisted of a bolt in roll cage, OMP seats and a fire extinguisher. As a result these early challenge cars are also road legal.
The kit system ended with the 360 as a more comprehensive roll cage made retroactive fitting almost impossible. Ever since the Challenge cars have become more and more bespoke race cars, with the 296 Challenge being of closer resemblance to a GT3 than a GTB. Interestingly the only model in the mid engined lineage to not see a Challenge variant was the F8.
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Enter Super Trofeo
Lamborghini debuted their series in 2009 known as Super Trofeo. Using the Gallardo platform which retained its four wheel drive system, providing a unique experience over their more traditional rear wheel drive counterparts. According to Lamborghini only 34 Gallardo Super Trofeo cars were ever produced making them incredibly rare. In all my searching I’m yet to find a documented sale online.
The subsequent versions were built in much great numbers, with the LP570 more than doubling the original batch. But by the time Lamborghini launched their series, it was standard practice to produce dedicated race cars and as such none of the models were eligible for road registration. This appears to be hurting the second hand market, with early cars often selling for less than a well maintain road going example. Which also seems to be the case with the equivalent Ferrari and Porsche of the era.
Race cars inspiring road cars
It is worth mentioning that these series are the origins of the lightweight, extreme road car segment that has become so popular. The 360 Challenge Stradale in particular was specifically designed as a road going version of the Challenge race car, with the GT3 RS and Superleggera following suit. And how interesting that these hardcore street variants were introduced once the race cars had become no longer road legal. In this bizarre full circle moment, going from a road car that inspired a race car, that then inspiring a road car based on that race car.
I’ve said before that I think this segment is almost a trope now, becoming more and more divorced from their origins. The latest crop are fully carpeted, infotainment heavy requirements of a product cycle that don’t particularly represent a road going version of their racing counterparts anymore. Which has only made those early road legal Cup and Challenge cars even more special, creating a moment in automotive history that I don’t think will ever be repeated.
To that end we’ve almost seen a complete one eighty. Now customers are encouraged to compete in these series as a way to increase their chances of being offered an allocation for the latest special edition. The status of exclusivity and potential monetary gain that’s associated with limited edition road cars has taken precedent, and any connection to their racing counterparts would appear to be irrelevant to most buyers.
Losing that connection between road and race is a shame. Lamborghini has even announced the next generation of Super Trofeo will be based on the Temerario GT3 platform, further extending the chasm between race and street. The reason for the shift surprisingly is the growing complexity of the road car. Be it hybridisation, safety standards or meeting customer demands, the road car homologation includes a host of additions that are unnecessary for racing. The GT3 is homologated without these complexities, so it makes more sense to tone that down to become a Super Trofeo, than to start with a showroom example.
It has however been this transition to a more professional single make car that has lead to these championships becoming a legitimate category for up and coming pro talent. From Estre to Gatting, these series have allowed drivers to showcase their talents and progress to the upper echelons of sports car racing.
Even so, I can’t help but feel like something’s been lost here. Despite the period of road legal single make cars being extremely brief, there is something so intriguing about them. They may have made for compromised race car, but maybe that’s what we need in this world of aero efficiency and marginal gains. Bolt a cage in your pride and joy and let’s go racing!
/Si
