Richard sez:
>Gonna have to use more critical thinking, guys, when considering
others'
>ideas. "Critical thinking", as in "look beneath the surface".
We're doing that, but I just don't share the belief that his
ideas will help.
>As I understand Ray's original thought, if I may "reflect" what
I think he
>said but in just a few words: "is there a way for those driving
on street
>tires to compete for trophies when their cars are prepped to SP
rules?".
Ray's been referring to HS as if that's his present class.
>There's nothing in that concept that says that someone with low
driving
>skills wants a better deal, or a cheaper deal, or a competitive
advantage,
I'm not accusing Ray of having low driving skills. I've
personally known several very good Solo II drivers who very much
resented being beaten by competitors who, in their perception,
spent more money on their cars. Or, in a couple of cases, being
beaten by competitors who knew enough about cars to do their own
setup work, which costs time more than money. Without exception,
these drivers perceived themselves as "better" and therefore
more deserving of a trophy than the folks who were beating them.
My response has always been that optimal vehicle preparation is a
perfectly legitimate competitve factor in any form of
motorsports. If you aren't interested in optimizing your car for
a given competitive activity, then you'll just have to accept
that you'll be at a disadvantage compared to someone who has.
Changing the rules won't prevent this from happening. Look at
Showroom Stock for an excellent example of what overly
restrictive rules can cause. In any case, spending the extra
money can never make a bad driver good.
If we add enough classes and indices - I see this starting to
happen in several Regions, BTW - we'll ultimately succeed at the
following:
1. Pissing off registration and Timing/Scoring folks so badly
that they won't be willing to help anymore. "Sir, you'll be in X
Stock Street Tire Novice Class. Please put XSSTN on your car
along with your number." There's a practical limit to what
volunteers are gonna be willing to tolerate. There were 50
classes in the rule book BK (that's Before Karts). Now in my
local region there are all the usual open and Ladies classes in
addition to Novice, Street Tire, Street Touring Street Tire,
Street Touring Not Street Tire, Novice Street Touring Street
Tire, Junior Kart, Novice Junior Kart Street Tire, etc. I
exaggerate, but it really could become a PITA to administer and
score.
2. Making so damn many classes that everybody at an event will be
in a class of one, ergo everyone will finish first (and last) in
class. Whatever a trophy might mean now will be rendered
absolutely null and void.
>I know I've looked at the street tire classes, both national and
local, and
>either some of my SP-legal mods lock me out, or my turbo locks
me out.
The only national street tire class is ST, and lots of stock cars
aren't included in that. For the most part, the issue is a local
one and the solution, if one is really called for, must be
realized locally.
> Am I
>going to change cars? Nope.
That's your option. Does the club necessarily owe you a class in
which your car is competitive the way you happen to have modified
it? Nope.
I understand the motivations for the proposals, I just don't
share the belief that there's a problem with Solo II that will be
solved by them.
Jay
|