Re F1000 and who is getting screwed....for the past 7/8 years there has been a bike engine FC running in SCCA utilizing a 'loop hole' in the rules that has existed for the past 10/12 years. The individual who was running the bike engine FC finally got the combination developed sufficiently to win a National or maybe 2 and qualified for the 2005 Runoffs....This struck terror in the hearts of FC and SCCA as the loop hole granted the car a weight break over the traditional FC's. At the last minute....after the last National and before the Runoff's SCCA invoked a 'competition adjustment' to add 150 pounds to this car and the hoard of cars that SCCA 'thought' were being constructed to take advantage of the loop hole. This ARGUMENT encompassed 90% of all the discussion time that was allotted in the Open Wheel Comp Board meeting at the 2005 Runoff's. The outgrowth of this appears to be F1000.
After having participated in Club Racing for the past 18 years, I have observed that a number of participants have a 3-5 year participation span. They come, they play, they find out Bernie E and Roger P are not going to anoint them with the next BIG TIME ride and throw fists full of money their way and they move on to other hobbies that are easier to succeed in. The thing to remember about Club Racing in general, F500 in particular - IT IS A HOBBY. While F500 has had it's share of drivers that have managed to successfully move on to other forms of motorsport (Andy Lally & Elivan Goulart come to mind) for the vast majority of our participants, the cost of competition has to be weighed against all the other family financial obligations. The only things that sets F500 apart from the plethora of other open wheel classes are the two-stroke engines, CVT Transmission and the rubber suspension medium. Without being unique, F500 with 4-stroke bike motors, geared transmissions and hydraulic shocks & springs would be just another class with overpriced and complex components lost in the welter of all the other 'similar' classes and it would loose the class's advantage of 'bang for the buck'. The participation problem that the class is currently experiencing is not a function of too few cars available to compete, it is a function of too few drivers having the financial wherewithal to put the cars that they currently own on the track. Making major changes to the core principles of the class is not the way to get more cars on the track, but it is a way to drive today's participants into other activities. The market potential for F500 is not the 'hot shoe' karter that is looking for the way to make it BIG in racing...the potential of our cars is way beneath such an individuals perception of his skills as very little short of Formula Atlantic will accommodate this persons perception of his skills (his accountant may disagree). Our market, is the young (and sometimes not so young) family man that has some disposable income, the need for speed and the understanding that real race cars don't have fenders or doors. Our market is for an individual with 'some' mechanical ability (at least the knowledge that a wrench and a screw driver are different tools - and that in most cases - right=tight....left=loose) beyond that wrenching these cars is a learning experience - an experience that our 'newbie' will accept and grow with. While all classes need tweaking from time to time, tweaking does not encompass dumping all the principles that the class was built around. Chuck McAbee SEDIV #16 -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Chris Reinhardt Sent: Monday, August 21, 2006 11:04 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [F500] The future of F500 Chuck, in a perfect world that's great, but point of everything is that something needs to change to make the class grow. We can be really, really, really optimistic and try and change the perception of the class to get more people in, or we change something on the car to make it more appealing to people. Personally, I don't think that suspension change alone will have people lining up to buy these cars, but I think the motor change alone would make a huge change in perception. Getting back to what happen to F1000, you know who got screwed the worst? The FC guys that had a chance to elevate thier class, they had hope that more people would come into the class with the new engine package. That might happen to the F500 class if the oportunity slips away. Chris R. ----------------------------------------- This email transmission and any accompanying attachments may contain CSX privileged and confidential information intended only for the use of the intended addressee. Any dissemination, distribution, copying or action taken in reliance on the contents of this email by anyone other than the intended recipient is strictly prohibited. If you have received this email in error please immediately delete it and notify sender at the above CSX email address. Sender and CSX accept no liability for any damage caused directly or indirectly by receipt of this email. ________________________________ FormulaCar Magazine - A Proud Supporter of Formula 500 The Official Publication of Junior Formula Car Racing Subscribe Today! www.formulacarmag.com or 519-624-2003 _________________________________ _______________________________________________ F500 mailing list - [email protected] To unsubscribe or change options please visit: http://f500.org/mailman/listinfo/f500 *** Please, DO NOT send unsubscribe requests to the mailing list! ***
