So the new debate premise is with lots of rules, lots
money is saved???
This weekend I watched an eight car SS class battle
settle down between a new Corvette just back from
Kansass and a Ferrari 355. All three proven National
level drivers. The Ferrari won @ 66.878, The Corvette
drivers finished with 67.095 and 67.187. Pretty close
and really interesting to watch a fancy Ferrari be
autocrossed competently but wow, look at the costs.
$200K? More? The other cars in the SS class were all
BMW M and Z cars, not cheap!
At the same event the heretofor argued unrestricted
therefore irresponsibly expensive OSP class with nine
cars was between an out of class CSP Neon [wanted to
run early and CSP ran late] at 67.706, a truck motor
transplanted [KA24] Datsun Roadster at 68.633, and
another truck motor transplant [L20b] in a Datsun 510
at 70.426. Not one "national" driver in the mix. Maybe
a "national" driver could have picked up that other
half second? The local "killer" OSP cars did not show,
the dunebuggy motored '70 Bug likely would have been 2
or 3 seconds faster, as would the FA motored Starlet
and Corolla. A DG feared supercharged Miata ran 72
second laps, not too frightening this time around! The
total car costs for the three leaders were maybe $20K,
about 10% of the Stocker budget by my simple
arithmetic. The "missing" VW and Toyota project cars
in this class are also far cheaper than a new
Corvette, BMW Mcoupe or Ferrari. 8-]
I know, anecdotal, but wow, I think the money argument
is very, very weak. Hey, folks will run what they
have. The game is to play with your car, not worry
about the other guy's pocket depth.
I don't think the lack of rules has resulted in killer
times or killer budgets here. The OSP class has run
ruleless here for 12 years and NO big buck entries
have developed, not even one crossover EM car, not one
effective big motor car.
I think the problems being fussed over are the wrong
ones. If the issue is new folks are sought, the
analysis is the rules are restrictive and arcane, then
a no rule option is a viable solution. Hey, make the
rules when the real problems occur. If however the
objective is a MeMod class well, carry on...
=====
Dennis Hale
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