COMBINING FB AND FA IS BAD FOR BOTH SCCA AND THE FB CLASS. HERE IS WHY:
1. FA IS SEVERAL SECONDS FASTER THAN FB AT MOST TRACKS. SONOMA WAS (IS?) AN ANOMALY. MIRL SWAN (FA) DIDN'T SHOW HIS POTENTIAL FOR SOME REASON.......AND FB HAD SEVERAL OF THE FASTEST DRIVERS IN THE COUNTRY THERE.
UNFORTUNATELY FEW FAs ARE DRIVEN TO THEIR POTENTIAL THESE DAYS.....BUT WHEN A FAST DRIVER SHOWS UP IT IS WAY FASTER THAN THE FASTEST FB. LOOK AT MID OHIO RUNOFS IN 2016. SEVERAL OF THE FASTEST FBs IN THE COUNTRY GOT BLOWN AWAY BY THE FASTEST FA. FAs POLES ARE ON AVERAGE ABOUT TWO SECONDS SLOWER THAN 10 TO 15 YEARS AGO WHEN THE CARS WERE NEW.
2. WHY IS FA FASTER THAN FB?
FA HAS WAY MORE DOWNFORCE. FB WINGS AND DIFFUSER ARE THE SAME SIZE AS FC. FLOORS ARE WIDER THAN FC, BUT DO NOT COME CLOSE TO MAKING AS MUCH DOWNFORCE AS THE TUNNELS ON AN FA.
FA HAS MORE TIRE PER POUND OF CAR WEIGHT.
SINCE IT HAS MORE DOWNFORCE AND MORE TIRE, THE CORNERING POTENTIAL IS GREATER.
3. SCCA WILL LOSE ENTRIES AND MONEY IF FB IS FORCED INTO FA. SCCA NEEDS ALL THE ENTRIES IT CAN GET.... AT ALL IT'S EVENTS.....INCLUDING THE RUNOFFS.....TO PAY THE BILLS.
FORCING FB INTO FA WILL RESULT IN REDUCED ENTRIES AND REDUCED REVENUE.
4. WHY?
IN ORDER FOR FB CARS TO BE COMPETITIVE WITH FA, EITHER FB WILL HAVE TO OPEN UP THE ENGINE RULES TO GO FASTER......OR..... FA CARS WILL HAVE TO BE SLOWED DOWN.
SLOWING DOWN FAs WILL NOT BE RECEIVED WELL. THEY BOUGHT THE CAR FOR IT'S SPEED.
OPENING UP ENGINE RULES IN FB WILL RESULT IN DSR STYLE ENGINES..... WHICH WILL COST MORE AND NOT LIVE AS LONG.......OR.....BIGGER ENGINES...... WHICH WILL REQUIRE NOT ONLY A NEW ENGINE, BUT NEW EXHAUST, COOLING SYSTEM, OIL SYSTEM, AND POSSIBLE EXPENSIVE CHASSIS MODS.
I HAVE SPOKEN TO 23 F1000 OWNERS ABOUT THIS, AND FEW IF ANY WILL SPEND THE MONEY IN AN ATTEMPT TO COMPETE WITH FA. THEY WILL SIMPLY GO ELSEWHERE.......REDUCING ENTRIES AND REVENUE TO THE CLUB.
5. SCCA WILL GAIN NOTHING BY THIS MOVE. FB ALREADY RUNS WITH MIXED CLASSES IN THEIR RUN GROUP AT ALL EVENTS..... INCLUDING THE RUNOFFS. COMBINING THEM WILL NOT CHANGE THAT. IT WILL NOT FREE UP ANY TRACK TIME.