Peter L. Krause wrote:
>
> I second Rick Yocum's excellent observations. I drive the same (and think
> MORE) at vintage events. There is little difference at the front of the
> pack, whether SCCA, SVRA, VSCCA or VDCA. Good drivers race well, everywhere.
> It's about knowing who you are racing with and knowing yourself. It's about
> maintaining discipline and a margin. It's about having fun at any level.
>
> -Peter Krause
> Chief Instructor, SVRA
> Chief Instructor and Licensing Chair, North Carolina Region- SCCA
> Competition Licenses from VSCCA, VDCA, SVRA, HSR, BMWCCA
> ...as well as an SCCA National Competition License...
Peter -
About ability, I suspect you are right. But,in my experience, the
intensity of SCCA competition is greater. When two cars reach a turn
together, one demands the line; there's very little leaving room for the
other guy when racing for position. In vintage racing, again my
experience, there's usually room for both. It also seems that 10/10ths
in SCCA is just a little closer to disaster than "10/10ths" in vintage
racing(which, therefore, is more like 9.5/10ths). As you know, I drive
Formula Vees in both SCCA and vintage, and both are pretty intense,
tight racing. But I can sure tell the difference! Doesn't mean the
vintage guys are worse drivers; far from it. But their egos are in
better check, and their regard for machinery and their fellow drivers is
greater than in SCCA. So they don't push quite as hard as their
abilities might permit. That's probably why there are a lot fewer spins
and delays between races to pick up crashed/broken cars at vintage
events than in SCCA ones.
May be just an idiosyncrosy of Formula Vee, but that's been my
experience.
Grant Reynolds
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