NSW SS in trouble??

[toranaracer]

It all seems to go in waves.
A few years ago we were in trouble here in Victoria and yet NSW was booming.
This year we expect to get by down here with an expected 20-25 per round however we typically see 15-20 per round.

Who has the answer, certainly not me.

Maybe a Vic V NSW challenge at a Wakefield as an idea?

toranaracer

[profi]

Maybe a Vic V NSW challenge at a Wakefield as an idea?

toranaracer

The 2 litre series is doing this in August, see how it pans out.

[Phast Phil]

In the national series we introduced some "cost savings" changes and it seems to work. They were one set of tyres per meeting, 7800 RPM limit, a weight minimum (now applicable to all sports sedan races) and rolling starts.
Other than that there is not much more you can do unless you start with a clean sheet of paper and design a very restricted type of car and that would mean all the presents cars would have to be junked.

The problem stems from too many people build sports sedans they can not afford to race. I suppose that is better than not building them at all but maybe they need to find some help or a buy in driver to help get the car to the track.

Interestingly we are getting bigger fields at the National series hopefully because we have done our homework and are offering good value for money and good TV coverage that allows teams to raise sponsor interest. Keep chipping away guys, we need all the states to be healthy too.

[toranaracer]

Profi,
I cannot understand why the U2L guys don't want to race together here in Vic?
With our 15-20 O2L and their ~10 U2L would make a fantastic grid.
Hopefully the new generation of U2L competitors will come and join us, even at National Level.
At the end of the day we all need each other.

toranaracer.

[R100 Sports Sedan]

I can’t really comment much as I haven’t even run my Mazda R100 in a race yet, only doing supersprints this year to get it reliable. My plans are to start racing it soon but being a Historic Sports Sedan was looking at running in Historic meeting and due to numbers being very low there would be put with Group A – C race cars.
What are people thoughts on trying to get more Historic Sports Sedans, GT Cars to run in state meeting events with a sub class for them to compete in? Have a under 3lt and over 3lt class for them how it was pre 86.
I would be very keen to run the R100 if this got off the ground, and would hope a few more older Sports Sedans would start to see the track again.

[loser]

I'm with you toranaracer. Having the O2L and U2L cars running separately in these financial times is no good for anyone. Also to R100, bring along the historic cars to the state rounds. I'm sure most historic Sports Sedans, especially the lower capacity ones will still be very competitive in their class. If they turned up at every round with good numbers then i'm sure a separate class would be made for them..

Hey Mr Boost or anyone else from NSW reading this. If at any stage you guys are having a round at Wakefield and the numbers are down, let us all know asap via the forum or however you can. If it's possible, I for one would come up and have a run and i'm sure we'd be able to round up at least a few cars to bolster up the numbers. If we don't know, we can't help... It's in our best interests, everyone in every state to keep the series alive everywhere....

[Toyzda]

Just for arguments sake NASCAR have 750hp/ 1550kg/ 11.6" rim and V8's have 650hp/ 1350kg/ 11" rim and they do OK. I know they get multiple sets to use, but SS could easily run safely on 11" rim over the weekend. I am not saying the tyres would be any cheaper. The front guys will not notice a difference in costs, but they are already at the track. For the guys stuck in the garage for most of the the year, only to come out once or twice, this might help. I find that getting a car ready and turning up at meetings not the expensive part, it is keeping your equipment competetive (new tyres, fresh engine). Why would anyone want to spend thousands to get smoked? The other cost saving advantage of smaller tyres is the expensive high horsepower engines would not have as big of an advantage, giving the smaller cheaper cars more inspiration to race the big cars.

Controlling boost on 2L cars is not "too hard" at all. The IPRA and Vic u2LSS do this well already. You could have the 36mm restricted 2L turbo run in u3500 and open 2L turbo run with the 6L cars. Allowing more solutions to help cost and competitiveness is what state level SS needs.

The National Series is strong and they have implimented rules to help it grow and its working. I am trying to increase numbers at State level, which could have different rules to help the class.

M

[roverboy]

Having different rules for State and National Championships is never going to work. Think about how many cars regularly compete at both levels. Changing tyre and wheel sizes would mean guys like myself, Bob McLoughlin, Chris Jackson, Scott Butler, Chris Donnelly etc who have supported state level racing for years would have to buy another set of wheel and tyres just to compete.

Changing the rules to encourage new competitors is a noble thought but you run the risk of driving exitsting competitors away. Introduce class trophies and handicap races to give the smaller capacity cars something to aim for.

Basically there are two types of people who have sports sedans sitting in their sheds doing nothing. Those who are desperate to race but simply cannot always stretch the budget far enough. And those who seem to find every excuse under the sun not to turn up and really should just sell their cars to someone who will race them.

[FalconEL]

Just for arguments sake NASCAR have 750hp/ 1550kg/ 11.6" rim and V8's have 650hp/ 1350kg/ 11" rim and they do OK. I know they get multiple sets to use, but SS could easily run safely on 11" rim over the weekend. I am not saying the tyres would be any cheaper. The front guys will not notice a difference in costs, but they are already at the track. For the guys stuck in the garage for most of the the year, only to come out once or twice, this might help. I find that getting a car ready and turning up at meetings not the expensive part, it is keeping your equipment competetive (new tyres, fresh engine). Why would anyone want to spend thousands to get smoked? The other cost saving advantage of smaller tyres is the expensive high horsepower engines would not have as big of an advantage, giving the smaller cheaper cars more inspiration to race the big cars.

Controlling boost on 2L cars is not "too hard" at all. The IPRA and Vic u2LSS do this well already. You could have the 36mm restricted 2L turbo run in u3500 and open 2L turbo run with the 6L cars. Allowing more solutions to help cost and competitiveness is what state level SS needs.

The National Series is strong and they have implimented rules to help it grow and its working. I am trying to increase numbers at State level, which could have different rules to help the class.

M

Changing the rim widths to an 11' maximum will achieve 2/5th's of 5/8ths of stuff all - apart from the added cost of having to get new half rims manufactured......

Tyre wear differences will also be negligible as we'll still be able to run the current tyres on those rims. I guarantee I'll do the same lap times as I do currently on an 11" rim.

To answer your question as to "Why would anyone want to spend thousands to get smoked?", no disrespect intended, but there are cheaper categories around. There are plenty of guys in it for the thrill of the competition, like myself, who turn up to National Rounds knowing they are going to get "smoked", but are more than happy to strive to achieve their own goals and not chase an $8.00 trophy. I work to my budget and work hard to make the most of it. I know my place. In every category you will find that if you restrict one area of a rule set, the guys with money will find something else on their car to spend their money on. It happens in F1, NASCAR and virtually every other category I know. Development never stands still.

I believe the issue with cars in garages has absolutely nothing to do with the current rule set which is both stable and allows plenty of engineering freedom. We don't need seperate rules for State Level events.

The lack of numbers is due to a combination of many factors.

The NSW Committee needs to continue to work at building the enthusiasm, helping each other to fix/build cars, perhaps combining with other categories (if they have to to survive), allowing Invited Cars into the mix etc. toranaracer hit the nail on the head when he intimated that numbers are cyclic, some years are better than others.

Better scheduling of State and National calendars will also help - our first two State Rounds in QLD conflict with both the Wakefield Park and Mallala National Rounds, which is disappointing, but unavoidable unfortunately.

[Ricey88]

Very well put FalconEL and Roverboy.
To much emphasis on trophys

Ricey