First of all Steve, I am sorry you are caught in this crack. It is not your
fault. You are doing what you are supposed to be able to do.
Frankly, I think the whole thing is a total cock-up. There was a "better"
proposal earlier to move the Miata to EP, and apparently the howls of pain
from the EP competitors thwarted that. Now they are proposing moving it to
AP. I think the AP rules are totally goofy, which is not your fault either.
IMHO, it belongs in FP with the Z-cars and RX7s. Somehow that idea, although
I know it has been discussed, has never made it to being a concrete
proposal. The SEB COULD class it in FP *and* AP (see Corvette) -- FP under
current Prep rules, AP under the goofy rules.
I cannot help but notice, however, that you and I are in almost the same
exact fix, and so the question becomes -- to use us as an example -- do we
render Steve's investment and effort worthless or do we render Rocky's
investment and effort worthless? It will happen to one of us, which should
it be -- the driver who is just now building a car for the class or a
driver who has been in the class since Day One; the car which is a new
addition or the car which has been the bedrock of the class? Which of us
gets screwed by all this?
How exact is our fix? You beat me by a tenth of a second at Nationals,
Steve, with a car you say is a not-completely-sorted work in progress. On
the other hand I have a pretty well sorted car with new and very recent (and
for my budget quite large) investment in engines that have raised me from
tail-ender to mid-packer and even threatening for trophies (9th the past two
years, 14th this year with five Miatas ahead of me, most of them not fully
prepared). Candidly, I was dissatisfied with my drives this year.
What's a fair solution to us both? My cost is just as important as Steve's
cost. My investment is just as important as Steve's investment. The
difference. His money is money he had to spend anyway to build his car. My
money is money I do NOT have to spend anyway, except for trying to keep up
with the new kids. Fair is to give us both a reasonably competitive class.
The current proposal is not it. Neither is doing nothing.
You might understand that I am trying to avoid being the screwee for a
fourth year, so I support the current proposal as it is the only one on the
table. I would much more enthusiastically support moving the Miata to FP or
even EP.
--Rocky Entriken
----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve Hudson" <smhudson@austin.rr.com>
To: <autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2002 3:07 PM
Subject: Re: AP Nationals Turnout
> The issue of rules stability is vital for increasing participation in the
> prepared class.
>
> I purchased my Miata last year and over the winter began building it into
a
> DP car. Going in I knew this would be at least a three year process to
> build the car and start getting it sorted out. I studied the rules and
the
> proposed rule changes that were published in Fastrack and based on the
> current rules and the proposals I chose to build a 1.6L engine for the
car.
> Building a race motor is *way* beyond my mechanical skill level, so I'm
> having the motor done by a professional. It's finally finished and I hope
> to get it in this weekend.
>
> Now with less than three months notice the SEB proposes to move the car to
a
> completely different class, with different preparation rules and also
change
> the competitive balance between the 1.8L and 1.6L Miatas. Keep in mind
that
> Fastrack has not been published yet, so everything I hear about the
proposed
> changes is not official. The weight proposed for the 1.6L car is 1650 and
> only 100 pounds more for the 1.8L. It will be very difficult to get a
Miata
> down to 1650, so in reality the difference is less than 100 pounds. Had I
> known this was coming, I would have built a 1.8L engine. My investment in
> the engine is now wasted. 10" wide wheels are not cheap and neither are
the
> bigger tires to go on them. Allowing unlimited fuel injection costs more
> money also. All this so I can compete against V8s, Tigers and Corvettes!
> Welcome to Prepared?
>
> Moving the Miata with almost no notice from DP to "unlimited" AP in order
to
> "save" AP and to protect the older DP cars from competition is NOT the way
> to increase participation in Prepared.
>
> Steve Hudson
> DP #82
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