STM, or SM (the version I've been reading about) is an invention of Dennis
Grant who resides up in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He's collaborating with
Howard Duncan as we type to finalize the rules. There ARE rules, and they
are entirely different than our OSP. Two seater Lotus Europas are definately
excluded. Toyota Corollas are not.
Their goal is 75 entrants at this year's Solo II Nationals, and longterm,
the SM class is supposed to be the highest level of ProSolo competition. I
don't really know HOW this is going to happen.
You can find out more by reviewing this website, where you can see all of
Dennis' plans.
http://www.wincom.net/trog/stu/
Thanks to Dennis' extreme graciousness, there will also be an interview with
Dennis in the next issue of North American Pylon, which will include all of
the rules.
The reason why there has been no mention of this in FastTrack (SportsCar's
supplement), is because all of this has bypassed the usual process of
proposal writing, membership comment, SEB approval, etc. The entire class
was created by Dennis Grant, on-line, in collaboration with Howard Duncan.
The short version, and this is not my opinion, just word from various
sources, is that Howard needs something glamorous to promote ProSolo. P1-P6
didn't work last year.
The problem with ProSolo, and this is just my take on it, is even if it's
really successful, the part that makes it "Pro" isn't numbers, but WHO
participates in order to make it marketable. ProSolo can't keep sponsors,
and has been struggling for a couple of years. The theme of SM is modern
every day cars built with creative rules, to create a class of drivers that
represents the audience prospective sponsors are trying to reach. So, sorry
all you sportscar drivers, four-seater sedans (Neons, Type Rs, Mustangs,
Camaros) seem to be the way to go. Anyway, this just seems to be what I'm
absorbing as I talk to different people. If you've got a different take on
it, I'd love to hear it.
In order to participate in the class' formulation, and all are welcome, you
have to be a member of the SM discussion list. You can find out how to join
on the website.
Why Howard Duncan, in this one instance, would somehow make this class
"above" our existing implementation policies has left some scratching their
heads about the future of ProSolo and where it is heading. Sounds like, if
you, too, have a dream class, get enough on-line support, and you, too, can
have a new class at the Solo II Nationals without every having written a
letter to the SEB.
Nonetheless, the class seems pretty neat, although I'm trying to understand
how it's supposed to be the "highest level." Perhaps that's a long term
goal. Read the interview, and by all means, if you have an OSP car, and
would like to compete at Nationals, get involved. I would personally take
great satifaction in seeing a Toyota Starlet or VW Bug take a national
championship.
Katie K.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jesus Villarreal [mailto:jesvilla@gte.net]
Sent: Thursday, February 03, 2000 12:48 PM
To: ba-autox@autox.team.net
Subject: Re:Street tour/S/R/M
I looked at the Meridian National Tour flyer. and it has all 3 "st"
classes listed, STM, STS, STR, I'm guessing STM(Street Modified) will be
like our OSP, STS should be for street touring on street tires and STR
should be for R tires, I've e-mailed Howard Duncan a few days ago to see
if they have any rules for STM, so far no answer.
Jesus
|