OK, there's been enough bandwidth squandered in the last couple of days to
conclusively demonstrate that there's a lot of folks out there that don't
understand the "why" of why a given car may be considered for
inclusion/exclusion in SM. So here, in a nutshell, is the Tao of SM car
inclusion/exclusion.
1) Classes Must Be Fair
In order for a class to be sucessfull, the playing field has to be
reasonably level for the greatest amount of participants. As soon as you
have a small subset of class-eligible participants with a large inherent
advantage, you lose the motivation for the rest of the class to
participate. The situation is made even worse if that small subset is rare
and/or very expensive.
It's OK to have a dominant car, as long as that car is common and/or cheap
- the Miata in BS is a great example. But consider what would happen to BS
if the Honda S2000 were moved to BS. Or consider ESP this season, with the
M3. Or arguably, SS with the RX-7.
For a liberal class like SM, "reasonably level" does NOT mean (as it might
in Stock) that every car entered has a legit shot at winning. It _does_
mean that every car, *suitably prepared* has a legit shot at winning. F1 is
"reasonably level", as is WRC, NASCAR, CART, NHRA Top Fuel, etc etc.
2) SM Has Only One Class To Work With
This is important for two reasons: Firstly, it means that SM has no shades
of grey when it comes to classing descisions - you're either in, or you're
out. This means, in turn, that there will be cars ineligible for SM -
unlike every other category, where there's always a place for a *car*, it's
the preparation level that counts. That SM does not have this facility is
sub-optimal, we know, but we also cannot go creating classes willy-nilly
because the Membership at large (as represented by Roger ;) will not allow
it without an expressed demand (and there is a certain amount of wisdom in
this position, so long as new classes CAN be created once the demand is
there, not fought to the death over a general opposition to more classes)
Secondly, if you've only got one class, then it makes sense to target that
class at the largest possible demographics - and for SM, that is the "Sport
Compact Car" demographic. The secondary demographic is the "Hot Rod"
demographic, especially Camarobirds and Mustangs. Experiance has shown that
the two different types of car actually make for close competition on the
autocross course - the ponycars make more power and put it down more
effectively (FWD limits how much power the Civics et al can use
effectively) but the ponycars are much bigger and heavier; the end result
is pretty well a wash, with the Civics (and like cars) having a slight
advantage. Given that the target demographics are well-targeted and that
the class is reasonably level for these cars, you upset that apple cart at
your peril!
NO car should be classed in SM that does not fit the "reasonably fair"
yardstick. It's OK to class cars that are obviously not a threat (Skyline,
3000GT, other super-heavy large exotica) but anything that is not part of
the target demographic and has a chance of being competitive has to be
examined VERY carefully.
The current move towards the weight limits (short term) and the inclusion
list (long term) is to provide a better mechanism for determining what
comes in and what stays out. The scary cars are the small, light, RWD/AWD
cars that are out there (small cars that put power down as well as the big
cars) - especially because they tend to be rare. Spec Civic is OK, spec RX3
is not.
3) Perception Is As Important As Reality
It's not enough to ensure that the class is fair - the participants and
potential participants must *believe* it is fair. Sometimes, those beliefs
are at stark contrast with reality, but you ignore those beliefs at your
peril. To a Civic driver, especially if that Civic driver is new to the
sport, that running against a Mustang is fair is a bit of a tough sell.
Selling that running against a supercharged Mustang is fair is an even
tougher (if not impossible) sell. The penalty for failing to sell that the
class is fair is a lost participant - and we cannot afford that! So cars
that might actually be real-world good matches for SM (944, Paxton-equipped
'Stangs, etc) need to be excluded for a while until the class participant
base gets a little more solid, and a little more confident. We have enough
problems with perceived inequality as it is, we don't need to make the
situation any worse than it is.
Some quick points:
- Age rule (no cars older than X) some regions have guys running older
musclecars, why cut them out of the loop? They aren't the problem. The
problem is small size and light weight coupled to RWD/AWD.
- Potential Expense: Yes, SM is going to be a fairly expensive,
autocross-specific class at the National level in a few years. No, we don't
have a problem with that. It is expected that the regional base will remain
fairly broad, and that the cream will rise to the National level, just like
it works with drag racing.
DG
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