2010 Sports Racer (Supersports) Series - Clipsal 500 11-14 March 2010

[Falcadore]

According to the results displayed here points were applied based on outright race positions, rather than by Class as per the regulations here.

Which is correct?

[DAVID PATERSON]

Originally Posted by roverboy

Just for you Patto.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkAcR8p6eig

I wish my pitcrew was that good looking.

Thanks Col, that made my day!

[Tony C]

Is there any info about whether we will see them on TV? I couldnt make it to Adekaide but would like to see their events.

[Belly13]

Does anyone have a calendar for 2010?

[Falcadore]

Originally Posted by Belly13

Does anyone have a calendar for 2010?

It's on the series website.

Series Calendar.

Anyone know about the points?

[Falcadore]

How did Round 2 go the other week? I saw Garth Walden won the do but received no points for his efforts. I also see McFadyen moved into the points lead even though he's absent from the Race 3 timesheets.

Was the racing good? Not heard much of anything in the press.

[alfacors]

You can probably get more info in a couple of weeks time at the Island.... you'll be there right?

[inpitlane]

Falcadore may be there but the Sports Racers won't be. Withdrawn due to lack of entries. :-(
Disappointing fields in most categories 12 F3 but quite a few TBCs, Good entry for Superkarts though including two ex World Champions.

From tonight's In Pit Lane news script:

Two World Champions are heading for Phillip Island next month as the Superkarts join the Shannons Nationals.
1985 and ’88 World Champion Poul Petersen and 1995 champ Trevor Roberts join the grid, taking on Australia's fastest drivers.
While Petersen will drive an Australian based kart, he will be providing his own engine, which he plans to bring to Australia as hand luggage!
------
The meeting was also going to see the first Victorian appearance by the sleek new Sports Racers category.
The cars were a big hit on debut at the Adelaide 500 meeting, however Nationals organisers were informed last week, that the category had withdrawn from the meeting.
Sports Racers Administrator Greg Steer told In Pit Lane today, that a lack of entries had cost the category it's spot on the programme.
He said that several cars were still out of commission after the Clipsal round, and some teams who had committed to the series, had now apparently changed their minds.
Mr Steer said meetings were continuing with all the teams to look at the future direction of the class.

[alfacors]

That's a pity, but at least the Sunday will finish earlier for me now

[1200Datto27]

The Meridan Motorsports/Neil McFayden entry was withdrawn from race three as a suspension adjuster snapped, and the team decided to not risk having another failure after finding out the cause of the first failure.

[Falcadore]

I've been told stories about rules related to aerodynamics were changed a week out from the opening Adelaide round which impacted in the entry, a number of competitors and teams with airfares and accomodation already booked found their cars no longer eligible. Some modified and raced, most didn't show. CAMS slapped the organiser in question and their is now a deep vein of competitor anger which manifested in the Phillip Island no-show and one particularly manufacturer is being singled out as the source of the problems.

Is any of this true?

Will this story break if it is?

Is the best chance in over a decade for a national sports car series scotched by a form of regulatory gerrymander-ism?

[inpitlane]

Originally Posted by Falcadore

I've been told stories about rules related to aerodynamics were changed a week out from the opening Adelaide round which impacted in the entry, a number of competitors and teams with airfares and accomodation already booked found their cars no longer eligible. Some modified and raced, most didn't show. CAMS slapped the organiser in question and their is now a deep vein of competitor anger which manifested in the Phillip Island no-show and one particularly manufacturer is being singled out as the source of the problems.

Is any of this true?

Will this story break if it is?

Is the best chance in over a decade for a national sports car series scotched by a form of regulatory gerrymander-ism?

Not sure about the aero rule change but the core of the problem seems to be Radical's withdrawal of support.
The distributor is quite happy with running his own series of arrive and drive racing in NSW.
Also like F3 and many other National categories, there are drivers who are happy to race at the major events like Clipsal or the GP but won't come out for "normal" rounds.
It'd be a shame if this series didn't get off the ground 'cause the cars look good, perhaps the problem , yet again, is trying to please too many people. Just run to one established International formula and stick with it whether other vested interests like it or not.

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by inpitlane

Not sure about the aero rule change but the core of the problem seems to be Radical's withdrawal of support.
The distributor is quite happy with running his own series of arrive and drive racing in NSW.

Elements of the last two posts are based around fact, but have some inaccuracies.

Firstly, two competitors withdrew prior to Clipsal due to issues with the sporting regs. One had an issue with the flat floor ruling, which clarified that tunnel effects were not allowed. The other did not agree with minimum weights. Both have been particularly vocal about their disagreement with the rules, which perhaps gives the impression of widespread competitor anger.

The late adjustement to the regs at Clipsal related to RPM limits and ballast as a parity measure, however a solution was arrived at to CAMS satisfaction prior to competition to the general approval of the competitors at Clipsal.

Now, to clear up the "Radical withdrawl" myth at Phillip Island.

Radical Australia never undertook to provide "a factory team" to Phillip Island. I know this, because I had meetings with them to discuss the event prior and post Clipsal. They were however prepared to support their customers who were interested in attending, just as they did at Clipsal.

Incidentally, of the 6 Radicals that attended Clipsal, 2 were Radical Australia maintained cars, and 4 were privately maintained, including mine. As such, even if RA did "withdraw support", the difference would have been 2 cars, not half the field as perhaps some would think.

Although it is very disappointing that Phillip Island did not go ahead, particularly for the people who invested considerable amounts of their own time and money in putting the event together, sportscar racing is by no means over and out.

Regards,

Ed

[alfacors]

So what was the reason for such a poor entry for Phillip Island? There were "some" entries out of action, but what about these teams who had committed to the series and then changed their mind? Are they racing elsewhere, or not at all?

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by alfacors

So what was the reason for such a poor entry for Phillip Island? There were "some" entries out of action, but what about these teams who had committed to the series and then changed their mind? Are they racing elsewhere, or not at all?

The concept of apportioning blame for the poor entry numbers to a particular team, vehicle make, or individual is flawed.

There was no formal requirement to commit to a series other than entering the events as they approached.

The underlying reasons for poor entry at Phillip Island are common to any amateur category of Australian motor racing:

Distance, costs, unrepaired damage, limited budgets, calendar proximity of feature events, family pressures, work pressures etc etc.

To the best of my knowledge, there was no conflicting event on the weekend of Phillip Island.

[alfacors]

I'm not trying to apportion blame to anyone in particular. I was quite keen to see these guys running around the Island last weekend. But based on what Inpitlane posted regarding Greg Steer's comments, I did wonder why the teams who had allegedly committed, were now not. I do understand this info is 3rd hand, but it is apparently coming from the category administrator.
Is this a case of the category trying to run before it can walk?

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by alfacors

I'm not trying to apportion blame to anyone in particular. I was quite keen to see these guys running around the Island last weekend. But based on what Inpitlane posted regarding Greg Steer's comments, I did wonder why the teams who had allegedly committed, were now not. I do understand this info is 3rd hand, but it is apparently coming from the category administrator.
Is this a case of the category trying to run before it can walk?

Take my comment as a global response, and not one directed at you.

Fortunatly the category does have the opportunity to continue to grow and mature at state level, and become a more robust prospect for race promotors at a national level over time.

[kenny21]

Sports Car Racing is starting to grow and i think it will be a great thing for Australia when it finally takes off.

The current nsw state series seems to have had some great success numbers wise and most drivers and spectators are loving the racing and the cars.

Unfortunately the "national" but not really national series didn't start off too well and hasn't got any further since. There are still a lot of gremlins within the category/rules to make this series start growing again. Its not the easiest of things to take a state series and turn it into a national series and expect it to have great numbers and run flawlessly, it takes time to massage things around to suit all the competitors involved.

It does seem at the moment that the rules are suited for particular cars which is a shame and probably not a good thing. Down the track if there were big grids and interest then yea change the rules to suit particular makes or whatever who cares, but at the moment there is such a wide variety of sports cars out there and they all look awesome and are very quick. To get the series going again they need to open the rules up a little and not nibble certain makes more then others etc just to get the cars back on the grid having a good time and get the interest going in the category for both competitors, sports car owners and spectators. Until this happens a lot of the cars probably wont turn up to the series again which would be a big big shame.

I am saying this as both a competitor of sports cars and an on looker because even if i weren't to race i would still love to watch these awesome pieces of machinery, so Ed and others these comments i believe are similar thoughts to others that don't own either a radical or west. Because if given an equal opportunity there would be more cars constantly at each "national" event that is not apart of the nsw or qld state series.

Saying this, is there going to be a change or are the rules now going to stay the same for the rest of the year. It is probably lucky for the series that the majority of it is inclusive with the state rounds so you have all those cars included on the grid as well.

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by kenny21

Sports Car Racing is starting to grow and i think it will be a great thing for Australia when it finally takes off.

The current nsw state series seems to have had some great success numbers wise and most drivers and spectators are loving the racing and the cars.

Unfortunately the "national" but not really national series didn't start off too well and hasn't got any further since. There are still a lot of gremlins within the category/rules to make this series start growing again. Its not the easiest of things to take a state series and turn it into a national series and expect it to have great numbers and run flawlessly, it takes time to massage things around to suit all the competitors involved.

It does seem at the moment that the rules are suited for particular cars which is a shame and probably not a good thing. Down the track if there were big grids and interest then yea change the rules to suit particular makes or whatever who cares, but at the moment there is such a wide variety of sports cars out there and they all look awesome and are very quick. To get the series going again they need to open the rules up a little and not nibble certain makes more then others etc just to get the cars back on the grid having a good time and get the interest going in the category for both competitors, sports car owners and spectators. Until this happens a lot of the cars probably wont turn up to the series again which would be a big big shame.

I am saying this as both a competitor of sports cars and an on looker because even if i weren't to race i would still love to watch these awesome pieces of machinery, so Ed and others these comments i believe are similar thoughts to others that don't own either a radical or west. Because if given an equal opportunity there would be more cars constantly at each "national" event that is not apart of the nsw or qld state series.

Saying this, is there going to be a change or are the rules now going to stay the same for the rest of the year. It is probably lucky for the series that the majority of it is inclusive with the state rounds so you have all those cars included on the grid as well.

Alex,

All valid points and positive constructive critisism.

I presume most of us shall be out at Eastern Creek at the end of May at the Sports Car Carnival, or if not then, at the next state round in June, so I believe that would be a great opportunity to canvass feedback and suggestions.

Regards

Ed

[alfagtv]

As someone who would love to be involved in a series such as this in the future I will watch with interest what happens over the next few months. Seems to me if you are from NSW it would be worth getting into this category now as it is run at state level also, not much point for me in victoria though, looks like the only thing I could do is sprints or travel interstate all the time.....lucky I didnt head down to PI to check these cars out a couple of weeks ago!!

Good luck Fast Eddie and co, I sincerly hope this gets up and running.

[ran]

is the series still going? If so where is the info, latest news as the sportsracer site has not been updated for some time? cheers

[Fast_Eddie]

Originally Posted by ran

is the series still going? If so where is the info, latest news as the sportsracer site has not been updated for some time? cheers

The focus has shifted to the NSW state motor race championship for the rest of the year.

The NSW category is "Racing & Sportscars", and there were 39 entries registered for the recent round on 19-20th June at Eastern Creek.

The category is made up of about 60% Sportscars, and 40% open wheel racing cars, the later consisting of pre '96 Formula 3 cars and AF2 cars.

Here is a link to the "NSW Racer" website. http://www.nswracer.com.au/
A race report can be found by selecting "Round 3".

The next NSW round is on at Wakefield at the end of August, and the category shall mostly likely be split due to grid density, providing seperate sportscar and racing car races.

Regards, Ed

[ran]

cheers for that info

[Alan52]

I thought the grid at the Sports Car Carnival was outstanding and outside GT was the stand out category at the meeting.Consistent grids of this size and quality would give the category a great future in Australian motor sport.

[cptkablamo]

I agree - it certainly did stand out at the Sportscar Festival. I was nice to see a grid that large and cars that were, at least from my standpoint, well prepared.

I would be nice if the series grew and made a visit or two to Queensland too