2014 Speed Championship regulations

[Matthew Willoughby]

Let me put it this way.

 

Up until now, in Classes 1 to 3 the car to have has been K Series powered and the rules have been written such that anybody with a Sigma car is unable to modify it to bring it up to a comparable level. Irrespective of Rob's success in Class 1, where the gap is smaller than in 2 and 3, this is true. The new regs have been written to enable those with the newest cars an opportunity to compete on a level playing field with the K's. We had to do this to encourage more newer cars to enter.

 

In respect of Class 1 there is a cheap factory Sigma upgrade, the Tracksport, that was specifically designed to narrow the gap between K and Sigma. I can't see why we wouldn't allow it as its performance clearly fits with Class 1 and there are people out there with these cars who want to compete.

[Stuart Miller 7]

Well done Matt and team!

 

My only 2P would be as follows:

 

I thought the rules were written for all competitors? I think banning flat shift in C4 because "Paul forster is no longer competing" is not right and also sends the wrong message. If my memory serves me right, we didn't just allow flatshift because Paul had it at the time - he could easily have turned it off (indeed half the time, he forgot to turn it on 😬). We had a vote on these rule changes and the majority voted to allow this. I'm not sure why it was banned in C5?

 

If class 5 is "ulitmate road going" then I see no reason to ban flat shift. It costs pennies and ultimately helps to preserve our very expensive engines and gearboxes rather than improving performance. To me, this is entirely different to launch and traction which are clear driver aids which is why they are banned.

 

From a personal point of view, if I stay with the H pattern box then I intend to fit flatshift (I have the switch already) for the reason stated above. Looking at the thread, I am not the only one.

 

If we were keeping the rules consistent then we should ban launch and traction from C6 (or allow them in C5) so that the two "ultimate road going" classes were consistent with each other. To me, it makes perfect sense to split the bike / sequential cars from the car / H pattern cars but no sense to have the driver aid rules different from each other. In addition, C6 cars already have flatshift so why not the C5 cars?

 

I'll qualify all this by saying it is just my observation of the rules and none of my comments are aimed at anyone in particular. I don't know which class I'm competing in next year anyway - it'll be 5, 6 or 7 mainly dependant on whether or not I fit a sequential gearbox or have the budget for slicks.

 

All the best and well done again - thankless task writing rules I know, as inevitably there will be someone who doesn't agree. I believe consistency is the key though.