FF ZOOM meeting #9 tonight. I'd like to brainstorm the flier we discussed creating. Ian has a terrific start and it may already be done.
(https://us05web.zoom.us/j/82013141123...))
Meeting ID: 820 1314 1123
Passcode: G5G7wm
Thanks,
Tony Stefanelli
OTOH, back when I went to my first drivers school (1973), and for the next several years, national races at Road Atlanta would draw a considerable crowd, 20-30K+ as I recall. They were entertained by racing during the day and spirits at night. While I never went, I have heard Watkins Glenn had huge crowds with entertainment provided both by racers and the offering of passenger buses to the "Bog"
People spend a lot of money to watch racing.
We are finalizing the idea and hopefully the wording of a FF tire rule change in the ZOOM call tomorrow night. We really hope to capture the wishes of this team. Please participate if you care about this topic. The ZOOM Address is now in the about section, but also here:
https://us05web.zoom.us/j/82013141123?pwd=6fYy6kZCrpFsUTp9IyE2YweV8a3HBw.1
Meeting ID: 820 1314 1123
Passcode: G5G7wm
Thanks,
Tony Stefanelli
I'm just finishing documenting the proposal for the ZOOM. Wanting to add this about the proposal: Its fully based on the comments on the Formula F USA Facebook page and on Apex Speed and the 30+ phone calls/emails we've gotten on the topic - and thank you to those who did share their ideas. The proposal is a culmination/combination/crashing together of those ideas, they are not mine. The Stefanelli family don’t care a bit what the final tire rule is, the choices are all good enough and we can dial the car into any of them. We want to avoid buying two sets per weekend if possible and you folks are saying exactly the same thing. So, this meeting is for you folks to make a final decision on what you can support. I honestly think you'll be pleasantly surprised how on the same page you folks are and how this can work. I'm also hoping your vibrating with curiosity and passion.
Thanks,
Tony Stefanelli
Oh Get Real.
Most *want to be* competitive.
If they can’t afford to be, they race less, don’t even bother buying a car, or go fishing.
That’s as obvious as it gets.
Once we think we’ve mastered something, it’s over
https://ericwunrow.photoshelter.com/index
If the powers that be can't come up with a tire that makes buying two sets per weekend foolish then I stand by my statement.
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There is fast, and there is competitive. Rather than say spec, think of "control tire" .
This will "control" how long the tire will last and most likely control how fast the cars will go.
Famous line - speed costs money - how fast do you want to go?
People who can afford to buy 2 sets of tires do not see the problem - they need to. They see this as their advantage.
Are they part of the discussion? If not, then that is part of the problem.
ChrisZ
Agreed, Chris.
Racing will always be “expensive.” But the term in of itself varies in definition over the entire grid, depending on personal finances.
I have a saying, “Just because I can afford something doesn’t necessarily mean I should.”
What’s rarely discussed is overall financial concerns today compared to the past. One, whether insured or not, all it takes is one serious medical incident to go bankrupt. This comes from personal experience, was not even a thought in past decades, and is very, very real.
So if one has a half-million dollars of retirement — plenty of money atop social security if one can be frugal and survive on that — and can easily afford several seasons of racing, how comfortable is that person in risking a home to race? Not very, when costs are too high.
Such matters are absolutely in the math that determines going racing. Budgets are budgets, and we all watch those. Consumables like tires seem like a no-brainer as a tipping point for jumping in.
I admire anyone who succeeds in life when doing so with honor. I submit that those who can afford endless tires do so only because they can, if not out of genuine fear of getting soundly whooped by a great driver showing up with an open trailer.
Fields could and would grow in leaps and bounds if ways can be found to make it affordable for the very same financial class that filled fields before. I know of at least three in my circle who would, myself included.
Once we think we’ve mastered something, it’s over
https://ericwunrow.photoshelter.com/index
I agree with you too, except for one thing:
I think as racers, if the rule allows it, we would be foolish to not do it. That is the choice with running in the SCCA. If the Skip Barber School Series was still running 1978 Crossle 32F's on Kleber radials, and everyone had equal cars, I might be still running it.
There is a sense of accomplishment for using the rules to go faster. What is counter-intuitive is to make rules to protect us from ourselves. The cost caps in F1 and the spec parts in NASCAR are not to punish people, but to keep everyone in a competitive window. What killed the first CanAm was the unlimited development. If we roll the rules back in FF and FV, the question is, will we gain more people than we will lose?
Ironically I came up against this in slot cars in 1975. Our Club had a CanAm type class and a Spec class. The spec class was cheaper, and a lot more fun, but it wasn't as exciting and thrilling as the open class. We overlooked that building, designing and testing a car is sometimes as important as racing.
Since the spec tire came out in FV, there have been some people wanting to go back to a FASTER tire! The SCCA is not NASA or similar organization. They rely on us to be the adults in the room. Maybe we are getting to that point.
ChrisZ
i was not on the call, so I do not know what ideas have been discussed.
I will say that the FC tire rule change a couple of years back that limits use to 1 set per weekend, 2 sets at the runoffs has worked pretty well.
Downsides are requirement of tech to mark tires each weekend and it hurts in some ways because a competitor can't use 2 sets of older tires, i.e. an old set to get through qualifying, then a second old set to get through the race. A set must be good enough to last all sessions starting at qualifying. But It's easier to deal with that then new tires each session.
Interesting how my comment about not wanting to buy two sets per weekend took off with wild guesses.
Here's what it meant:
I do not want a new tire rule that would result in buying two sets per weekend.
Thank goodness todays tire rule delivers 8 fast sessions, 12 quite good sessions, and 20+ total sessions.
So we use 8-12 session tires for practice, then sometimes those same or maybe under 8 session tires for qualy, then under 8 session tires for the race.
So depending on who we are racing against, we get three to four weekends out of a set.
in 2024 we did 22 races, including the Runoffs, plus six test days (28 days total) on 7 sets.
Hope that sets the record straight
Thanks,
Tony Stefanelli
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