Board response to my letter sent earlier this week.
1) I will say the Board has been responsive.
2) Car count is the mandate.
3) I have not analyzed the car count methodology to make an opinion if it is reasonable.
Mr. Crowe,
Thank you for sharing your opinion on the recent changes to the Formula B class. As members of the Board of Directors its our job to review changes proposed by the Club Racing Board and approve those we find appropriate. We rely on the expertise that sits on the Club Racing Board and its committees to research and discuss these changes and conclude they are the best steps going forward before they are presented to the BOD.
As the BoD liaisons to the CRB we asked that they put together a letter to explain the reasoning behind their proposal. It may not change your opinion, but we feel it's a good explanation of why the club is going in this direction.
Thanks again, Marcus Meredith, Peter Jankovskis, Bob Dowie
From the CRB...
The BoD, CRB, and FSRAC appreciate the concerns you have expressed regarding the merger of FB into FA. As we all know, the participation figures for FB have steadily declined over the past several seasons, and in 2018 FB had only 39 entries over 34 Majors weekends, with just 7 cars appearing at the Runoffs. Participation in FA has been better than FB in Majors events, but FA’s Majors numbers have been supplemented by the entry of uncompetitive, non-FA cars from pro series such as F4 and Pro Formula Mazda, and, as with FB, only 7 cars appeared in FA at the 2018 Runoffs. As a result, both classes were in jeopardy of losing their Runoffs invitation.
Based upon the running two-year minimum entry requirement, FB would be required to average 6.4 entries per Majors weekend in 2019 to earn an invitation for 2020. Historically, only the top classes have attained this kind of participation; FB’s numbers have never approached this level at any time in its history. At the time of this writing there are just two FB entries at the Homestead Majors and only one FB entry at the Sebring Majors/Super Tour. With these events being among the better attended Majors, this does not bode well for the future. At the conclusion of the Sebring event, one-third of the Southeast Conference schedule will be complete. In short, it is simply not reasonable to expect that FB cars will appear in sufficient numbers in 2019 to save the class.
The action of merging FB into FA is expected to create one healthy class from two unhealthy classes, which is not only for the good of the participants in FB and FA, but also for the SCCA as a whole. If this action is not taken FB will most certainly lose its Runoffs invitation and, as such, would be expected to ultimately lose its Majors status completely.
The loosening of the restrictions on the intake and ECU is not expected to result in significant performance improvements in FB cars, but it is anticipated that these changes will permit additional motorcycle engines to be used, since the “stock” ECUs (which have proven incompatible with car installations) will no longer be required. Although FB cars are not expected to have significant performance improvements, they have already proven that they can perform within the FA envelope, and FA performance is currently in the process of being trimmed back. The BoD, CRB, and FSRAC believe these changes will provide an excellent platform for a healthy, competitive FA class going forward.