I see a lot of cars for sale in other categories and very often the reason for the sale is: "moving to Formula B".
What is so special about this FB? Is it the car, the competition, both, or something else? Please enlighten me.
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I see a lot of cars for sale in other categories and very often the reason for the sale is: "moving to Formula B".
What is so special about this FB? Is it the car, the competition, both, or something else? Please enlighten me.
It's a place where we are all like brothers in an inter-family feud.
FB:
Light, powerful, 13,000 r powerplants instead of old Ford tractor motors.
Paddle shift-actuation and fast clutchless shifts.
Enough rule-book freedom to implement some real aero.
Comparable to F/C (maybe even FF) in terms of expense.
And fast enough to compete with most of an FA field.
And yeah, Rob's right, plenty of family bickering. As fun to watch as is the Mayweather boxing clan.
It is no surprise that some of the first FB drivers came from D Sport. The major teething problems of getting a wet sump (or dry sump) motorcycle engine to survive the rigors of high g-cornering were solved by early D Sport activity. However, the result in D Sport is that a race to modify and improve the performance of these engines took these engines from relatively cheap stock 1000cc engines to expensive and much more delicate insertions.
FB spoke to that developing problem by demanding stock engines.
What's not to like? Cheap stock engines, incredible performance, easy to maintain, and far cheaper bodywork than D Sport.
Hasty Horn
Things I liked: 6 speed trans/no gear changes (but sprocket changes instead), built-in alternator, modern engine/trans combos are relatively cheap to buy. EFI, great sound, can build a very fast car via FC conversion pretty cheap (may not be a national front-runner, but will be fast and fun).
What i think is special, A. anyone (I) can rebuild an engine in "Stock" trim and put it in the car.
B. The talent pool is deep, lots of top flight drivers and engineers in the class.
C. The people who invented the class really did a good job, most of us don't really know what these care are capable of and that can be a driving force to many people to jump in and support the class's progression. There are Pro series in the EAST and WEST.
D. There are many ways to "buy into the class", depending on budget and skill level, one can have a competitive car for under 30k and up ;)
a "bang for the buck" kinda guy.
FM served this purpose for me for many years, driving in Star Mazda Pro and SCCA Club, until 2003 when the FM was phased out of Pro and the Pro FM was brought in.
The level of competition I had enjoyed for all those years at Pro and televised on SPEED was gone, and the club level stuff suffered initially as well - thankfully that trend has been reversed over the last few seasons...
A few years after, maybe around '05, is when the initial FB stuff started happening, and I took note. In fact the day Jay Novak announced he would be offering a conversion kit for '98 and later model VD FC cars, I started looking for one. Again- Bang for the Buck.
I envisioned FA like lap times with about 25% of the expenditure.
What we have come to in the last few years is that quite often we are faster than all but a handful of FA's, and seem to have a really good handle on engine longevity.
Personally I have been able to get 8 complete race weekends out of an engine, pull it from the car and sell it off to DSR guys who only really need the cases/crank/transmission and head - all the other bits gets replaced/upgraded.
Competitive cars range from about 25k, and go up from there quite aways - so there is something for everyone.
The fact that FB is not a spec class, and lots of stuff is open is quite a draw to the class for inventive types, which I do not count myself one of.
The BEST racing I have ever had the pleasure to take part in was "Spec", the aforementioned pro FM stuff. Hopefully with the advent of the new F1000 Championship Series, and the all important single class run groups, we will see a level of competition I have experienced in the past, but as of this writing I'd have to say our numbers in SCCA Club have not been strong enough to have the type of competiton at each and every race, but hopefully...
Yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by awegrzyn
This might help a little:
http://vimeo.com/15290861
The ironic thing is the whole deal started because Jeremy got shafted by SCCA at the 2004 Runoffs. Jeremy showed us all the potential with an old rocker arm chassis, scaring to po out of the FC establishment. ;)
The original rules committee is like a 'whos who' of Apexspeeders.
pray tell what did happen to Jeremy (Hill) i presume, in 2004 ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Purple Frog
i was away from the sport at the time
We just got him through therapy 2 years ago - Don't do it!
Quote:
Originally Posted by glenn cooper
ok, ok i shall defer my query until some future date...........sorry for asking...........
Actually, it was 2005. PF got his bell rung so hard that week he thought it was 2004...:DQuote:
Originally Posted by provamo
Jeremy built a car with a bike engine that conformed to the FC rules at the time, maybe around 2002 or 2003. Nobody took notice until he got it well developed and started running near the front of the national FC field. That's when the SCCA (urged on by some FC competitors, if I remember correctly) tried to saddle him with an additional 50 or 70 lb (maybe more) weeks before the Runoffs. He was successful in getting the weight penalty overturned but not until a day or two before the race.
That was the last year that bike engines were allowed in FC.
When almost the whole racing world is moving toward spec racing, it's nice to see that an engeering-type class still holds appeal, with at least some degree of popularity. FB seems to have captured that perfect balance right now, with a cost-effective formula that both ready-made cars and conversions can win races, even Runoffs. As always, racing sweet spots are a not-for-long moving target, but for now it's the most innovative formula class out there.
I'm of the opinion that everyone is just using it as an excuse to hang out with Glenn Cooper
I thought it was an excuse to hang out with Anna, and sometimes get invited to one of her feasts.
So very right.
But yeah, it must be very cool to hang out with the Coop!
Its a privilage to have a chai tea from Anna.. WOW.. now the secret is out on why coop is so fast in cars !!
Ana has replaced the porkchop I used to have to wear around my neck to get folks to hang out with me.
Th current arrangement that sees her call the green, drive AND park the rig, prepare wonderful meals, guide me along in matters ranging from diet to all things horse related really is quite a change from my bachelor days of sleeping in the trailer, and buying Cokes by the 12 pk!:thumbsup:
It's Glenn Cooper.....duhQuote:
Originally Posted by awegrzyn
No doubt it is the Coopster-Ana duo that is the reason for the the good things happening in FB.
Thnaks ... Jay Novak
Cool, so I did some reading. A lot of reading, and I decided. Along my Spec Miata there are 2 more things I can race: DSR and FB. There were two important factors that help me render this decision. One, the looks of the cars. Two, the competition.
Now I'm happy as I finally know what I want and I don't have to be all over the place. Will take it easy now and find the car I want. In DSR I want the Stohr, but in FB I'm not decided.
I would like to attend the F1000 event at NJMP on June 8-10 and check out the cars. The only problem is I do not see an event schedule anywhere I look. Maybe it's too early, but I have no idea. In case you guys know where to pull the event schedule from please let me know.
Also look for a good For Sale sign because you will never run a miata again.
LOL!
Put some good thought into that decision, and be sure of what you want before you take the plunge into DSR. There's some serious potential rules upheaval pending for the SR classes in general, so the future is a lot less clear and straightforward than I think FB is. Plusses and minuses, and I'm not saying I regret my decision (to jump from ITB to DSR), but it's definitely not for everyone...
Have any idea when the new rules will be finalized, or will change?Quote:
There's some serious potential rules upheaval pending for the SR classes in general, so the future is a lot less clear and straightforward than I think FB is
LOL!
The BOD has stated the rules changes need to be in place for the 2013 season. :ha: :mad:
Rather an unrealistic timetable, given the substantial rework and number of affected classes. But that's what's getting handed down from on-high. Don't want to divert the open-wheel thread/board space, drop in on the DSR forums and read up. I recommend making sure you have a lot of coffee or beer on hand, depending on your time and preference; it'll probably take at least an hour to read all the discussion/debate...