The S2000 is a killer car. It is just that the cars are such a pain in the a$$
that very few people want to autox one. Guy Ankeny is the only person who has
prepped one to full national level (and was a National caliber driver) and you
recall what he did to us in 1999.....He pulled the class by a second on the
first day alone. They are slightly larger than a formula car, which offsets
some of the gains.
My car was a former FF2000 car just like Bert and Donna's Reynard. This
proposal is stating that I can put the 2.0L engine in my car and race. Let's
see....27% more power, 27% more wheel/tire, 20% more weight. I would take that
shot and run with it like a wild gorilla. Hand me the jacket.
Now look at the sanity aspect. Where would you put 200-250 lbs of ballast in
your car and feel safe with it? Would the chassis take it? Could you easily
take the car back out road racing the next weekend? It is ridiculous.
If there was much demand for FF2000 cars in solo, I would be more accepting of
making a valid plan and testing it. I have seen exactly (2) FF2000 car at
Nationals (and none at any Regional/Divisional/Pro events) in the last five
years. That tells me that there is not much demand for this proposal. I would
like to see a place for FF2000 in solo as well, but the numbers do not add up
and sacrificing a good stable class is not the answer.
YMMV, but I would like to hear your opinion on this as you know BM better than
I do. One of the charished charters to the CM class is that the cars are
intended to follow road/club racing GCR with the exception of reducing some
safety requirements. Theoretically, I could run the Nationals and the Runoffs
in the same car, competitively. That is not the case with BM as the engine,
wing, and weight variances make it expensive and solo-specific. People like
Tim and I can road race one weekend and autox the next. Bruce Domeck needs two
seperate cars to do that. (Yes, I know that Phil Aspach does the Nationals and
Runoffs in the same car, at the back of the pack in both cases.) I do not want
the solo-specific vehicle to happen to CM, and that is what this proposal is
creating.
That is my opinion. What is yours?
Gary Godula
'88 Reynard FF88
SCCA CM/FF #57
-----Original Message-----
From: Sam & Greg Scharnberg [mailto:samandgreg@netins.net]
Sent: Monday, December 08, 2003 6:40 PM
To: Godula, Gary (G.M.)
Cc: 'autox-cm@autox.team.net'
Subject: RE: FF2000 proposal in Solo II CM class
Yup, a tiepoo.
My feeling is that the F2000 car (not all of FC) would not be a killer, any
more than the S2 has been. At the same time, I do not think the F2000
should be added to CM.
The problem is the vacuum that the SEB must act in. When I was on the SEB,
I suggested that a Formula Ford class would be very popular (they ran BM)
but the rest of the board disagreed. I got it put out as a "for comment"
in the minutes and we got ZERO responses.
I wish there was a way to make FC and old FB cars competitive in BM because
we could use more cars. (Maybe we can allow them to weigh 800 lbs!:-) I
really don't know if anyone would bother to bring out an F2000 just for an
exhibition class. And if I was looking to add another "race car" class, it
would be Spec Miata.
Oh well, at least we are having fun!
Greg Scharnberg
94 Citation SF (FF2000)
82 Ralt RT5 - BM
At 04:09 PM 12/8/2003 -0500, Godula, Gary (G.M.) wrote:
>Opps, that was a typo. Thanks....gmg
>
>You are not supporting this proposal, are you? It sounds absolutely
>insane to me.
/// unsubscribe/change address requests to majordomo@autox.team.net or try
/// http://www.team.net/mailman/listinfo
/// Archives at http://www.team.net/archive/autox-cm
|