From: "Rocky Entriken" <rocky@tri.net>
Subject: Re: Prepared Miata reclassing thoughts
>Lessee, you just priced out $5000 for the Miata to upgrade to a point it
>needs to be anyway. Meanwhile, to have a motor that gets within 2-3
seconds,
>I have to shell out more than $6000.
No, that's not what I said. I said that was *incremental* over what a
first-rate DP-legal Miata would be. To build said DP-legal Miata in the
first place is similar to any first-rate Prepared production-based tub car.
Your professionally built motor costs $6K? Guess what a fully-prepped Miata
motor will cost? Same ballpark. The $5k figure was incremental stuff for
AP which is all bolt-on, but quite expensive.
>Leaving the Miata in DP means screwing everyone else in the class for the
>benefit of the newcomer. You cite cost? How about everyone else's cost?
I've
>spent into five figures just to get back up into the middle of the pack.
I'm
>trying to catch people like Cutrer and Scannell -- consistent trophy
>winners -- and then an overdog car comes in and just about makes it
>impossible. What do you think the cost is to the front-runners to keep up,
>much less mid-packers?
Newcomer? Its been there a couple of years.
Screwing everyone? Let's see, back in 99 Mr. Bollinger won in a "real" DP
car. In '00, Grady Wood won in a CRX while Mr. Bollinger was 1.3 back.
Miata appeared that year and was essentially tied with Mr. Wood. Last year
('01), the Miata won by .8 over Mr. Bollinger, but let's double that since
it was just one course, so 1.6. And this year the Miata won by only .5
(different driver). (And I'm not picking on Mr. Bollinger, just using him
as one of the few constant front-runners in this equation)
So, it seems like you better get rid of the CRX while you are at it.
Otherwise, your argument of overdog holds a lot less water. And there are
others in the class that fit that mold. Or will you argue that Mr. Wood
just plain outdrove everyone, but that Stan sucked if not for his car? :-)
>You'd never know it by the class letters, but the cars in DP should be the
>smallest and slowest cars in the Prepared category. DP cars do not have to
>be British or old, they do have to be small and (compared to the other P
>classes) slower. The Miata is neither. Adam Malley's 1200 Honda was a good
>fit. It was damn quick when it won a DP title, then it went and won road
>racing national championships in *H* Production. Now you are asking us to
>accept an *E* Production champion into DP.
I'll stop here because I think it shows where you and I really differ in our
perspectives. You are a road racer as much as an autocrosser. That makes
you fairly unique in the Solo community. Your view on this topic is
influenced highly by the pecking order established in road racing. It
really galls you when the autox pecking order doesn't meet with the RR grand
order of things. This was clear in your diatribe at the Town Hall and in
your recent communications. But you keep bringing it up and I gotta tell
ya' Rocky, that it falls on deaf ears when it comes to autocrossers. Autox
is autox and RR is RR. They emphasize different aspects of performance.
And very few autocrossers even know of the intricacies of road race classing
and prep rules.
>It also makes me mad that those who seem intent on keeping the car in DP
are
>not DP drivers themselves. I've seen at least one FP driver say "bring it
>on" but nobody in DP who isn't in a Miata is lobbying to keep it here. It
>needs a new home. DP ain't it.
My connection with this debate is two-fold. First, I am involved with prep
of two of the Miatas you saw at nats this year. In fact, I drive one at
local events periodically. So that makes me a "DP driver". Secondly, I am
a candidate to replace an outgoing SEB member, and should that call come, I
will have to deal with this issue's fallout. I'd rather be wielding a flag
than a big mop...
Rocky, you and I will have to agree to disagree on this one. Sorry.
--Andy
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