In general Vagas I agree with everything you say, as I usually do - on average the pointers are superior athletically to GSP's. The odds of reaching into a litter of pointers and coming out with an animal of decent endurance, heat tolerance, etc. is far better than reaching into a litter of GSP's - undisputed. If all someone wants to do is be a competitive big circuit field trialer, you'd be silly not to have a pointer, no doubt. You are incorrect though on this:
The top level GSP's can't even come close to competing with the top level pointers.
There just isn't that much difference in the individual dogs abilities at that level - the difference is in who is running them/who is prepping them/the stakes they get entered in/how hard they're tested and prepared for the task/etc. I've personally hunted, trained, competed head to head with many,many top level AA pointers/setters (far, far more than I have the GSPs for sure - heck, I've got a 5x AA/Nat. Qualified Ch. pointer and his 3X SD Ch. mother running around in the dog yard with my GSP's out back right now) that have been campaigned competitively all over the country with my personal, far from "top level", GSP's . We've been competitive/found our share of birds/brought home our share of trophies/ garnered respect from my longtail competitors when we show up to play that they're gonna have to beat us, for the statement "can't even come close to competing" to hold water. Bugs went out in the first brace at the Nat'l Am. Chukar AA this spring and gave the boys a few days of heartburn that a GSP was gonna win the thing until the pair in the last brace just plain beat him - far from not "even close to competing" in the open eyes of any birddogger (3 Nat'l Ch. qualified pointers in the stake if you consider that top level). I give you the nod on the breed averages being disparate, especially with regards to heat tolerance/endurance, but can't concede that the top tier dogs of each breed are as mismatched as you've stated...I've spent too much time in the field, seen too much with my own eyes to give ya' that one! Give me more time off to get a handful of 'em adequately prepped, a couple more bullets to enter to better my odds of a decent draw/luck/karma/etc. at each trial than the one or two I currently show up with and I'll make a believer out of ya'!
The hard part with GSP's is finding the top level bullets to play that game...my odds are better of finding one with a pointer!
(I'd wager the same above argument could be applied on pointer's behalf in the "versatility" department)