Qualifying doesn't need gimmicks
The WEC and FIA GTs have both tinkered with qualifying this year in a bid to improve the show. Gary Watkins argues the changes have had the opposite impact, robbing qualifying of any drama
A circuit, a race car with driver strapped firmly in and a stopwatch. They're three parts of a simple equation: man (or woman) who laps said circuit in the fastest time equals pole position winner. There seems little need to complicate it.
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Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.
Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.
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