NSW SS in trouble??

[2002 turbo]

I am on the NSW committee and there has been some behind the scenes work going on to get the class heading back in the right direction, I am hopeful that things will improve.

- Loser ASSA Vic has been contacted about inviting cars up to Wakefield so if you know of people wanting to run let them know they are more then welcome.

- Toranaracer is right on the money, it does go in cycles. In 2003 the NSW state series had an awesome year with heaps of cars and great racing. For various reasons there has been a downturn in numbers over the last couple of seasons something which we are trying to address now.

The main problems I see for the Sport Sedans in general are these:

1. Inability to attract new competitors, there have been a few new faces but essentially it is the same group of drivers at both state and national level for many years now. One needs to work out why are other classes more attractive to new motorsport competitors. How can we encourage more people to race in Sport Sedans?


2. There are too many sedan racing classes in Australia! Ok not a problem of Sport Sedans doing but classes like Commodore Cup, Saloon cars and the growth in Historics (Group A &C), Improved production & Production Sportscars has drawn away potential competitors.
Then you have other potential competitors running in things like IRACE AMRS whatever it is called these days. This maybe not such a big deal for national runners but for the state series I think it has had an effect.

3. Perception of the class, I have heard both ends of the spectrum on this.
Some less informed idiots think Sport Sedans are hobbled together backyard cars that they wouldn't want to race against in a million years, these dickheads have obviously never seen some of the top notch cars that are out there racing.
Others think that if they don't have a space frame cars there is no point in even trying which is rubbish. For example Rama Higgins ran a Toyota 1JZ turbo powered floorpan BMW and did remarkably well in the NSW state series for quite a few seasons.

4. Lack of awareness or promotion.
Ask MrBoost Jnr & Snr and vehc-arbilac how many times their Calibras have been confused as drift cars when they have been towing them!
Highlights my problem exactly, how did a flash in the pan and relatively pointless new motorsport like drifting gain more profile then a long established category like Sport Sedans? Ok the tyre company money more then likely helped but there must be other factors.
We have a class with powerful, fast and visually exciting cars that squirm for traction and lap faster then anything else with a roof in this country, we need to let more people know about it!
Seems our class is a bit of a secret to a lot of newer people to motorsport. They're not sure what its all about or how to get involved or when to see the cars race.
I realize promotion is expensive but I am sure we could develop some following for the class which would not require us to rob a bank.

[loser]

All great and valid points 2002. I agree 100%.. The biggest problem I think we have is marketing the category and state racing in general. In Vic we started with series posters last year and will continue with them again this year. We've organised a couple of static displays at other events to try and promote the category. We're even taking a couple of cars to the speedway for their last sprint car round to try and get some of their crowds to come out and see us. I put up a poster at the local parts joint last year and the first guy to walk in the door started telling me how he loved watching Thommo, Jane and Harrop etc. race in sports sedans and thought it was a shame they hadn't been around for 20 years. That's the biggest drama. No one even knows we exist. Other problem is, I get the impression all the other categories in state level besides IPRA don't seem interested in promoting state racing at all?
If we can get spectators interested, then maybe we can get some support from businesses, maybe a championship sponsor for example, which would in turn make it ceaper for people to get their cars out..
I don't know the answer but I'm up for trying anything a couple of times. If anyone has any ideas on promoting our category, even if it seems silly, spit it out and let's hear it. It might not work if we try it, but it definitely won't work if we don't...


PS:- 2002, what are the dates for the NSW championship rounds?

[2JZSS]

Just a thought on the advertising side..... wouldn't it be a great idea to get together with the organisers of say "Power cruise" or "Jamboree" (do a few drag runs) and put on a mock race in front of all the crowds? i know at QR they get a hell of a lot of people out to the events and if you had say a 3 x 20 min races with 4 - 5 cars all closely matched racing tooth and nail the spectators would be loving it. It probably wouldnt cost much and the crowd would love the variety of engines and wild body styles that is for sure.


Have a stall with all the cars, so the people can get up close and personal and hand out various fliers/posters with the dates on which the cars would be hitting the track.

[loser]

Just a thought on the advertising side..... wouldn't it be a great idea to get together with the organisers of say "Power cruise" or "Jamboree" (do a few drag runs) and put on a mock race in front of all the crowds? i know at QR they get a hell of a lot of people out to the events and if you had say a 3 x 20 min races with 4 - 5 cars all closely matched racing tooth and nail the spectators would be loving it. It probably wouldnt cost much and the crowd would love the variety of engines and wild body styles that is for sure.


Have a stall with all the cars, so the people can get up close and personal and hand out various fliers/posters with the dates on which the cars would be hitting the track.

That's the spirit 2JZ.... Even a static display at a few drag events would be a good promotion. Unfortunately in Vic the once thriving Drag scene is now dead. But it'd definitely be worth the NSW guys getting a few cars to WSID. Even if we got 5% of the drag crowd to go to a couple of meetings it'd be worthwhile..

[profi]

Is anyone taking their car to the morotvate melbourne static display this saturday?

Promoters are confident it will be one of the biggest shows of the year... it is short notice, but
is anyone able to slap the car on the trailer by Saturday and get it on display to promote our class...
(if mine were done it would be there)

http://motorvatemelbourne.com/

[Corolla52]

There is an event Called The All Japan Day which is being held
in SA Sunday Feb 28th but will also be held in other states.
I will be taking the Corolla to the Melbourne event.
I will also be at Avalon speedway [ now if we could get a couple of laps] :p :p

Stefan

p.s. Loser i finally found a adjusting nut.

[profi]

Have you booked your spot for the motorvate show?

[2002 turbo]

Loser what was the response like when the cars were on display at the Speedway, were people interested?

[profi]

I think there are potential competitors from the speedway classes, i know a few blokes that are sick and tired of tearing their super sedans up each night for nothing.

[Corolla52]

Have you booked your spot for the motorvate show?

Just been on there web site and they say entrys are closed.