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Roger's point is the valid one. If you are super competitive, an elite sports person or even promoting elite events, then you are naturally only interested in the 3 or 4% at the very top, as rightly or wrongly, the Murphs, SVG's, Jonny Reids, Evans', etc are the people in the public eye and are perceived as draw cards. To promote their attendance requires a massive PR machine and budget.
If the paying spectators seduced by that PR hype turn up to find mediocre support grids, then they have every right to feel cheated and may well not bother returning.
Although Tier 1 doesn't have those star drivers and may have those one step below international star status, the McIntyres, Foggs, et al, they aren't quite at the level of attracting the crowds but the support programmes - apart from an occasional boost from Muscle cars possibly, have been a total disaster and enough to put anyone off.
In truth, I am a great believer in most aspects of my commercial, sporting and private life, of the Pareto theory - or the 80/20 rule.
That is, for example, 80% of the effort by MSNZ is aimed at just 20% of the competitors. Just 20% of the race meetings will attract 80% of the total spectator income.
Just 80% of the communications on this board will come from just 20% of the active readers. I'd even go as far as to say that 80% of the clubs at AGM will only represent 20% of the active members, but that is straying from the topic...
It therefore behoves series organisers and maybe even promoters, to accept that if your rules and entry criteria are accepted by 80% of your members, then you are probably on the right track, but you may have to increase the base rather than try and appease the minority.
If you have a viable class or grid, and outsiders point the finger and try and tell you that your rules need to be tightened, in line with a perceived international standard, then you can only suggest to them that to do so will generally reduce the grids not increase them.
For classes to be viable, they have to be inclusive and designed to attract, not be aimed at exclusion. Some people see some form of "purity" as the holy grail, but as has been said elsewhere, enforcing clean driving standards is now seen as far more important than technically pure cars, especially when many of those so called "pure" cars are anything but pure.
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