Sorry, guys but that really iritates me...
If they can let a Supra in SM, what about a 944? The Supra is now more
of
a sports car than the older 944 cars are... We should base class structure
based on performance of a specific vehicle and not REPUTATATION of that
manufacturer.
If there is a Supra in SM, i should be able to put back seats in my 1993
RX-7 (yes it was a dealer installed option... although not many decided to
do it) and i could be playing in SM with a lighter faster car.
The Supra is classed in SS with the RX-7 and the 944 is in AS. Based on
that quick look at the rule book, why not let the 944 2+2 or even the 300ZX
2+2 into SM. oh wait those are sports cars! But again, what about the
Supra?
Chuck
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-autox@autox.team.net [mailto:owner-autox@autox.team.net]On
Behalf Of Paul Foster
Sent: Thursday, November 30, 2000 10:21 AM
To: team.net
Subject: What's wrong with this pitcure?!?
A friend of mine is campaigning on a Porsche mailing list to get people
to write letters to the SEB to allow Porsche 944/824/968 cars in SM,
something I have been arguing ever since Dennis Grant decided to exclude
them. Here is a response from our own Howard Duncan to Brian Bailey, who
is apparently also interested in seeing this happen from that very same
mailing list:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------
Mr. Bailey,
I have received your letter regarding the eligibility of various
Porsches in
SM and it has been forwarded to the SEB for their consideration. Since
the
2001 rule books are going to print in just a few days, this
consideration
would be for the 2002 rules.
However, let me take a moment to address the philosophy that currently
precludes their inclusion into the class. Sports cars have been excluded
for
fear that they could dominate the class and scare away a bigger
potential
market of participants in sport coupes. Whether this is actually true or
not
in terms of actual competitiveness, we are really talking in terms of
perception, particularly to beginners to the sport. The Porsche brand
carries a particularly strong identity as an upper level performance
manufacturer
right out of the box. Inclusion of this brand could send a chill through
the
current and future participants. While the car you are referring to
might be
fine, the rules would allow for a fairly potent vehicle. Examples might
include aggressive turbo charging or a 928 engine transplant. Getting
down
to specific numbers, this year at Topeka the top 968 in STOCK trim would
have
won SM by three-tenths of a second. Imagine the winning margin if the
car
had been prepared to the SM rules!
The long term hope on my part is that there will be enough interest from
the
sports car folks in the SM concept to justify the creation of a SM
Sports
class for two seaters. If you know of folks interested in this idea,
have
them write.
Howard Duncan.
============================================================================
================
So there you have it. AS times were better than SM because AS is full of
totally prepared cars and talented drivers while SM was thinly
subscribed but Mr. Duncan is afraid that the rice burner crowd won't
want to come out and bolster his Pro Solo numbers if they have to
compete against other 4 SEATER CARS! I suggest Mr. Duncan concentrate on
his PAID job and leave car classification philosophies to the SEB.
Paul Foster
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