|
There are two key issues. How can this year be salvaged to any degree, and what's the plan for the future?
To answer the first, the answer has to be to get more cars out there, and if this means running concurrently with the Clubman championship for the rest of the year, then good. Some way also needs to be found to entice out as many as possible, reducing entry fees, allowing guest drivers to race without registering for the championship etc.
The second point is the future. As has been mentioned, current FF1600 still thrives in the UK, so is there a way national FFord can tap into this. Is the new engine retrofittable to existing chassis? If yes, can this be made as cost effective (subsidised by Ford?) as possible. So suddenly there's 200 cars who could race in national FFord if they chose, and make it easier for people to dip in and out of the national championship. The real hotshoe's will run at the front, but the circuit specialists and weekend racers will have the chance to match themselves against the coming men (and ladies) and give them the odd shock too, every now and again. Who knows, we could even have a "proper" festival again.
Maybe this could help bring FFord back to where it deserves to be, as the best graduating class into circuit racing for young drivers.
|