It's not all doom and gloom, in the current financial climate. We've actually been one of the better supported Shannons Nationals categories in 2011!!
Mallala was it's usual low number of entries with 10, Winton solid numbers with 19, Eastern Creek was great with 23. Morgan Park was disappointing with 14, but still one of the better supported categories at that meeting.
There are obvious reasons why the Phillip Island round will be down on numbers with three race meetings for the Victorians in the space of 5 weeks. Can we do a bit better next year with our calendar scheduling? We had the same clashes up here in QLD with three of the Shannons Rounds conflicting with State Rounds making it impossible for those competitors that wanted to do both meetings. The Shannons Round in 2012 at Morgan Park will again be doubling as a State Championship Round and I think this is the right way to go for the other States.
We need a National Series to race our cars in as we've all got too much invested to be State Championship only racers.
I guess it is a case of what should our "priorities" be? Personally, if I can race at a National Round versus a State Championship round I will because I like the variety of racing against the best cars and drivers in Australia at my home track and other tracks around Australia. I don't care less if I get flogged by Ricciardello or Hossack, I just enjoy the challenge of improving myself and my car each time out :)
I'm sure we can get more entries at each National Round if the State Associations work closely with the National Series organisers to schedule a less crowded calendar. We're lucky to have the support of our long-time Series sponsors Kerrick and MR Automotive, let's support the sponsors that are prepared to support us!!
