Rick and Potential NEDIV CFC racers,
My hope is to see a single club continental class of pre-1996 cars including rocker, pushrod and mixed pushrod/rocker cars that race together with as few rules as possible. The main thing is to have a separate class from the newer (about 1997) cars which have a big mechanial grip and aero advantage. The newer cars are also usually campaigned by guys with bigger budgets - they tend to have newer motors, fresher rubber, etc. which adds to the advantage of having a new chassis.
We need to keep the concept simple and uncomplicated. Guys should be able to improve their cars as they see fit - adding a diffuser or updated wings to an older car should not become an issue or grounds for protest. For example, I have a 1995 spec rear wing on my 1989 Van Dieman. Some fabrication was required to mount it to the gearbox cover so the gearbox cover is not "original" either. I think the new rear wing has improved the cars performance but the main reason I made the change was because my original wing fell apart and Primus (the Van Dieman dealer) could not supply me with an original spec wing. I bet a lot of guys make changes for similar reasons. I know some of the 1988/1989 Reynards out here run the Bobby Carville aero bodywork which is not original. I can't see making them throw their bodywork away and replace it with original Reynard panels.
The point I'm trying to make is we shoudn't set the class up along vintage rules where the cars have to be in original condition. This would probably lead to a lot of protests and take the fun out of racing. I don't see having multiple CFC classes as viable and I don't think NEDIV SCCA would go for three CFC subclasses.
There are a lot of good older cars out there that are not being campaigned. Any continental from 1985 to 1995 is a fast car and they are extremely cheap given the performance. Parts for these cars are also considerably cheaper than parts for a 2003 Van Dieman so ongoing repairs are more reasonable. More than anything CFC gives somebody with a modest budget the opportunity to race a high performance formula car at a relatively inexpensive price point. Another point is that a guy can work on his car and if he has fabrication skills can make or repair a lot of pieces on these cars. Aftermarket parts sources are also available for most of the older CFC cars. This is not the case in spec classes such as FSCCA where parts come from a monopoly source. I think a lot of the spec guys are going to be unpleasantly surprised at the repair bills once they get into some hard nosed racing.
Anyway I'm starting to drift off subject.
You make a good point about hard compound tires being difficult to drive in cold weather. This is something to consider with regard to a spec tire rule. I don't have a strong feeling on whether we should or shouldn't go the spec tire route. I'd like to hear as many opinions on this over the next month or so. Spec tire threads have been a long running debate on both the FF2000 and FF1600 forums. I have read them all and I still can't tell which way is better.
Maybe we can start the class as an open tire class and with future deliberation over the course of next season come to a agreement on whether to go the spec tire route the following year.
Another point is if you know who your Regional Exec and Competition Directors are please contact them and let them know this is brewing. The more SCCA officials that show up at the mini convention in Hartford, Ct. this November that are aware of what we want done the better.
Thanks,
jerry Zaluckyj
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This is the problem I always come up with. Although I doubt that the specific car would show up to run your CFC class, the technology is there for other 95 Citations. Of course you would have to hope that the other cars can't find a driver as good as the Yellow one.
