Thats true.....but there are still the die hard Auto guys!!
Heres what I think of as Pro's Con's of Auto Vs. Man.
Autos......You can shift gears to get desired track speed and down shift to keep the turbo lit. More expensive to build, and need refreshed everyonce in a while.
Man's.......Your stuck with a single gear down the track. But You can run higher RPM's to gain some good wheel speed. A Lot of the time they are less maintenance due to less parts and Most of the time they hold up better.