In a message dated 11/04/2001 1:36:40 PM Pacific Standard Time,
cmclendon@mindspring.com writes:
<< I caught the race, and it was great to see Tigers running in it. It made me
feel good that I had one stuck in the garage. I am sure it has been
discussed before when I might not have been reading everything, but I was
really ticked to see that restrictions were put on the Tigers which it
didn't appear other vehicles had to deal with.
As we all know, having the V-8 may provide alot of benefits, but it can also
provide stress on the vehicle (especially with the tight turns) which it
seems would potentially balance out the benefits. Besides that, it was great
to see the Tiger leading for a substantial portion of the race, and it
looked like if the mechanical issues hadn't gotten in the way Tom would have
had a good shot at it. >>
I agree wholeheartedly that it is great to have Tigers running in club racing
with more success than when new in the '60s!
One thing to keep in mind when discussing the "fairness" of it all: all the
cars are tube-frame chassis covered by molded panels which provide reasonable
facsimiles of current or past production cars. There is pretty much equal
opportunity to apply all the latest and greatest in suspension and drivetrain
components. Having said that, it must be acknowledged that makes which have
a current model line and race shops (Toyota e.g.) are far simpler to build,
with more readily available race parts. (Team Tiger, on the other hand,
develops quite a few of their own components) But, the bottom line is that in
terms of hard parts, everyone is on equal footing. So, engines are the
variable which can be "fine tuned" by the sanctioning body to keep everyone
on "equal" footing...Team Tiger (Tom) wins the National title and the SCCA
takes away horsepower, to restore "equality." Perfectly predictable in light
of the very different level of support which Toyota, Mazda, Nissan (tons of
contingency $$, sponsorship of SCCA series etc.) provide SCCA relative to
Sunbeam (defunct) or Team Tiger.
Cynical and looking for conspiracy in Alamo,
Mike
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