F1000 Pro Series to be Sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing in 2012

[F1000proseries.com]

F1000 Pro Series to be Sanctioned by SCCA Pro Racing in 2012



May 5, 2011 (Fremont, Ca) - The F1000 Pro Series sponsored by Goodyear Racing Tires, Williams Racing Developments, and George Dean Racing Engines, along with partner sponsors Hyperco, Ballistic Performance Components, Jongbloed Racing Wheels, Elisabeth Jackson Artwork, and Geartronics will run under SCCA Pro Racing sanctioning in 2012.

The F1000 Pro Series, a West Coast based racing series, currently in it's second year of competition and supported by ten F1000 manufacturers is based on purpose-built high-performance Formula 1000 race cars and Formula 2000 converted race cars powered by 1000cc motorcycle engines, with top speeds in excess of 150 MPH. The F1000 Pro Series currently consists of 10 SCCA nationally sanctioned races at five venues over the course of the 2011 season.

The SCCA Pro Racing sanctioning will enable the F1000 Pro Series to expand it's series into higher profile events such as support races for major racing series. This will provide increased exposure for the competitors, manufacturers and sponsors involved in the series. A full schedule is to be release later this year.

"Having SCCA Pro Racing sanctioning in 2012 for The F1000 Pro Series will help provide all of our participants with an enriched racing experience" says Series Administrator Thomas Copeland, "This is a win-win-win for everyone, our drivers, the manufacturers involved in the series, and of course our sponsors. Everybody involved with the series wins and that includes the spectators who will witness some of the most exciting formula car racing available in North America".

The F1000 Pro Series will establish it's own rules and regulations for 2012 (which are driven after input from it's participants). It is expected that the series will continue to follow closely the SCCA GCR for FB class with the exceptions that racing or open ECU's will be permitted as will electronic paddle shifters, however stock motors will still be required. Plans call for standing starts at most if not all events in 2012.

The F1000 Pro Series next event is at Pacific Raceway in Kent, Washington May 28-30. The series then moves onto Portland Raceway, Oregon on July 1-3, and Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah on August 6-7.


For further information, please visit http://www.f1000proseries.com
or contact via email at info@F1000proseries.com
Series Administrator Thomas Copeland (510) 402-3192


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[Wren]

You guys are trying to break away from national racing too?

Does anyone think FB is going to survive when it loses national status?

[Northwind]

Especially the guys on the west coast. They have been generating some pretty good numbers towards the national count.

[Thomas Copeland]

Hi Wren, it was the plan from the start that we would evenually become a standalone pro racing series.

We are expecting that having a pro series will enhance the class at the national level and hopefully help bring new drivers into the class. They will naturally have to work their way up through the SCCA ladder to evenually get to the pro level and there should be no reason why competitors can't compete at both the national and pro level at the same time. I would expect many will.

[Wren]

Hi Wren, it was the plan from the start that we would evenually become a standalone pro racing series.

Ok, I was just making sure that I understood.

We are expecting that having a pro series will enhance the class at the national level and hopefully help bring new drivers into the class. They will naturally have to work their way up through the SCCA ladder to evenually get to the pro level and there should be no reason why competitors can't compete at both the national and pro level at the same time. I would expect many will.

How many FB cars are there in the country? 40? 50? How many are actively racing? 35 FB drivers got national points last year and I think that some of those guys were in the same car. So far 19 drivers have national points for this year

I don't see a lot of high budget guys or prep shops involved. Are there really enough cars and competitors to support two independent pro series and national racing? I can't even tell that the class is going to have enough participation to make 2.5 entries this year. I guess that would solve the problem if there is only two pro series and no national racing?

Please don't think I am being critical. I totally understand the desire to move out from under club racing and the way they have totally mishandled FB. I don't have a dog in this fight, I am just curious about what this might mean to FB racing.

[Thomas Copeland]

I actually believe that this will only help FB in the long run. National entrant numbers have become almost stagnate and don't currently show any potential for real serious growth. I've done the numbers more than once. We've practically plateaued.

Since we started the series last year we have seen more than one manufacturer here on the West Coast sell a car directly because we have a series. This even though the series doesn't run it's own venues or for that matter, run at any of the better known World Class venues such as Infineon, Laguna Seca, Long Beach, etc.

If we really hope to bring in new entrants in any substanital number into this class it has to come from outside and that requires a standalone professional racing series that can serve as a real development series for young drivers. With paddle shifters like they use in IndyCars and Formula One this can be as close as a true developmental series that you can get to running like the big racing series.

F2000 still uses shifters from the 1960's and beyond. How is that going to represent what someone would experience at the higher levels of racing? Even Indy Lights doesn't use the same shifter technology as the Indy Cars do. What is a driver going to learn running that series on how to shift in an Indy Car? Nothing that I can see.

Having European standing starts prepares drivers for what they can experience if they ever want to race in Europe. Mix in a couple of rolling starts and you got a development series that works on both sides of the "pond" as they say. You can take a career path in any direction from here. American racing or European racing, a driver would be equally prepared for both.

Add in a couple of rules like allowing racing ECU's that will make it easier to get a engine developed and running in the series but control the formula in such a way that costs don't run out of control and you got a blueprint for a successful racing series.


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[Wren]

Add in a couple of rules like allowing racing ECU's that will make it easier to get a engine developed and running in the series but control the formula in such a way that costs don't run out of control and you got a blueprint for a successful racing series.

I don't doubt that you can have a successful series. People seem to really want to run in dedicated run groups, and for good reason.

I do doubt that there are enough cars and enough people with the budgets to support 2 pro series and keep national racing at 2.5 entries per class. Over the next 10-15 years it might, but FB should only be concerned with this year and next year. If FB doesn't make 2.5 in either of those years, it is likely to no longer be a national class.

I don't think that people are not running more races because they don't want to, they aren't running more races because they can't afford to or they don't have time. The solution to that is prep shops running cars and people with big budgets. I don't know many of the west coast guys, but on the east coast those things just don't exist. I cannot think of any east coast guys that even have a prep shop running their car, except for maybe one.

With paddle shifters like they use in IndyCars and Formula One this can be as close as a true developmental series that you can get to running like the big racing series.

F2000 still uses shifters from the 1960's and beyond. How is that going to represent what someone would experience at the higher levels of racing? Even Indy Lights doesn't use the same shifter technology as the Indy Cars do. What is a driver going to learn running that series on how to shift in an Indy Car? Nothing that I can see.

You know that I am a big believer in allowing the current assisted shifting devices to stay legal. The whole controversy surrounding them is the perfect example of the integrity problems with the CRB. But, I don't think that anyone's barrier to Indy Car is the shifting. People figure out H-pattern shifters in a day and they seem to figure out these geartronics in a session. My impression is that the barriers to Indy Car racing are largely based on whether or not your dad can write a big enough check.

I wish you the best and I hope this can be a lesson learned for the SCCA on what happens when they let the CRB get too involved in a class, but I don't think this is good for club FB.

[andyllc]

Like Wren said, I have a hard time seeing how this will work out well for FB regardless of club or pro.
I know nothing about the other pro FB series that was announced other than what they post on the boards here but if any of them are to be successful it will likely be that one. Here is why, MONEY. This west coast series might have very large purse's and we don't know it yet but an FB car is going to go up against the Mazda series on the ladder system and compete with the FB series on the east coast which has announced a nice prize structure. At one point I was a driver climbing the ladder and this is how I would look at the benefits of each series:
Mazda-carbon tub, established series, year in year out good exposure as a driver to the teams higher up the ladder (which is really the only exposure that matters at that point), usually a very good prize fund, funded ride at the next level for the Champ
FB-?
To me it would be a no brainer. I think what the FB class needs is very similar to the Rand series'. The Rand series' are made up of MOSTLY SCCA national drivers that want to have large fields, competitive pricing, and lots of dedicated track time. (this is really what I think almost all SCCA classes without a roof are looking for and why the popularity of SCCA seems to be diminishing with formula/sports racer guys) Something like that would be great for FB (very similar to what the west coast already has for FB). I think FB needs more grassroots growth before either pro series should happen. While I think FB is a neat car/class, certainly fun to watch and listen to, it is likely going the way of FBMW and Fran-Am (FRenault) in the States and will be a 5-10 year blip. FB may or may not have plateued but if that is the case then what is holding people back from joining the class? The answer isn't because there isn't a pro series (if someone is going to a pro race as a fan and wants to get involved, they will find an organization they can get involved with (NASA, PCA, SCCA, BMWCCA, PBOC, etc) and then figure out what fits best for them with what is offered. How many years were FF and FC around in the states before a pro series was formed?

Sorry, I think this is coming off a bit harsh and it isn't supposed to and isn't a knock on anyone at all but I think that growing too fast without a large solid foundation (supply of racers in the class) will end up killing the class prematurely.

[Northwind]

Actually Andy, that was very well stated in my opinion.

[F1000proseries.com]

We are expecting to have quite a large prize fund available for our competitors as well as larger contigency awards and test drives similar to what is being handled out by the other F1000 series. This will be in addition to what looks to be running as support race for higher level racing series at good some very good venues.

All this will as well as additional information will be announced at a later date. We are very busy putting the package together for 2012.

[TimW]

Is it just me, but are all the Pro series just becoming what we want SCCA National racing to be? Large fields, single class run groups, etc. That seems to be the MO of Rand's group, the FE/SRF group & now the FB series, not to mention Trans Am, etc. To me, this seems like a good thing (TM). Regional racing stays exactly what it is, National racing goes away and the individual classes with the healthiest numbers create high quality events, much like what National racing was when it was conceived in the 60s. The Runoffs becomes the gathering of the clans of all the 'pro' series. Any class that can't support a stand alone pro series with at least 4-5 weekends spread geographically doesn't go to the Runoffs. Seems to solve the scheduling problem for the runoffs too.

Perhaps this is a harsh statement...but all the 'Pro' series consist of mostly (>75%) amateurs anyway (though mostly very talented) with only a handful of up and comers looking to make a living at it. If the 'Pro' model works for the customer base and National racing is not, then the path is set...