I am on vacation this week and have, against my better judgement, reverted to
reading the team.net digest. The rear sway bar thread has been going on for
over a week and I wanted to throw in my 2 cents worth.
1. When I was on the SEB the first time, late 70's I think, there were
several members that had been involved in getting SCCA involved on a national
level, starting both Solo I and Solo II programs. When asked where many of
the
seemingly incongruous allowances in stock classes came from, I was told that
they were placed in the rule book to satisfy local Autocross councils when the
initial Schlitz cup rules were formulated. (I don't have any idea which
councils, probably mostly east coast). I would guess that they were councils
active where the SEB members resided. Based on this, and knowing the people
involved at that time, I would say that most of the allowances beyond "pure
stock" were done to try to unify the sport and to establish a national level
program.
2. One of the guiding tenets for the SEB seems to be, and in my opinion
should be, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". When this has been ignored and
the SEB tried the "we know better" and the "change is good" approaches, all
hell broke loose. Generally there should be a clear consensus in the solo
community that something needs to be changed and this is how it should be
changed. Like all generalities, there are exceptions. Recognizing those
exceptions is the hard part.
3. It is my "opinion" that it is very seldom that a SEB member uses the
position to further his/her own goals. When I have been involved, not only
did
a member not vote on a subject that effected them, but they often would not
even argue a position on the subject. Being a member of the SEB is expensive
in both dollars and time, with very little reward. I believe it is
appropriate
to question if a decision was correct, but I don't believe the members deserve
the uninformed insults that are often sent their way.
thanks for listening,
Greg "Sam's assistant" Scharnberg
(These are my opinions only! Sam has her own.)
65 Mustang GT 2+2 HiPo (FS) - front sway bar
71 Saab Sonett (ES) - NO sway bars
71 Brabham BT35 (BM) - sways bars
82 Ralt RT5 (BM) - unlimited sway bars
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