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Examines an in car race video. Discuses driving technique difference between lower power momentum cars and higher powered cars, race tactics. From a race we did in 2018 at Sonoma (pic from Buttonwillow).
Never took off nor did SGT which actually allowed all types of cars. Club level wheel to wheel sprint racing's heyday was about 30 years ago. Been in decline ever since. The advent of HPDE actually siphoned off new drivers instead of acting as a feeder. Lemons (budget enduro) and all its clones were the nail in the coffin. Budget enduro is an order of magnitude more popular and profitable for promoters. There are still small bands of hardcore enthusiasts willing to chase plastic trophies in sprint races but fields are small across the US and shrinking. A few scattered success stories like GLTC (Grid Life Touring Cup), Spec Miata, SRF, etc. I hear the once popular 2A and 2F fields in Australia are pretty much gone now too.
The S1 and subsequent SGT programs were rock solid, just not glamorous or well promoted enough to draw more than a handful of occasional participants.
Interesting factoid: For the last 40 years or so, autocross has been the number one motorsport activity in the US by participation. More folks watch NASCAR of course, but actual folks pulling on a helmet and entering a competition, yah that's autocross.
Folks here wonder why miata.net is so huge :P
I imagine HPDE is challenging drag racing for the second spot.
Noticed speedventures still has SGT listed as a class to race in at the next Autoclub event... Was thinking of doing it for fun and an extra race session. I assume it will just be whoever shows up (like the v8 trucks) combined with Superspec now?
Club level wheel to wheel sprint racing's heyday was about 30 years ago. Been in decline ever since.
In terms of club racing popularity I wonder how much of that is due to the absolute number of classes to choose from. How many different spec classes now? Budget enduro's definately pull a lot more people due to their simplicity of entry. I've been at Champ Car races and saw people who never been on a track jump into a race.
I've been at Champ Car races and saw people who never been on a track jump into a race.
And that, is the core of what separates club racing from budget enduro.
Few orders of magnitude in effort, expense and commitment
Club racing
-Requires your own vehicle
-Requires a trailer (non street legal car)
-Requires getting car teched
-3-5 full weekends getting experience, training for comp license at about $1,000 per wknd in entry fees, fuel, lodging, tires
-Comp license/school $700
-Random consumables on your car $200 / wknd
Perhaps $6,000 in expenses by the time you take your first green flag, in your car. Perhaps a year and $5-10k to build and dial in your car then 6 months getting experience. So 12-18 months and ~$15k from the day you decided to start racing
Budget enduro
- Pay friend $200 to get a stint or two in his team (a few buddies) in his car
- License, lodging, fuel $300
- $700 cheapest possible driver gear, purchased at race shop at event
Maybe $1200 in total and you are racing. No skill required. 3 hrs from the time you decided to start racing
I'd love to try my hand at Enduro racing. I'm really interested in NASA's TREC series, where you need experience, but not a comp license. However, you can obtain a comp license by successfully competing in their TREC series. I think currently the only pre-req is that your'e at least in HPDE3 and 4. I also like that a team can use 3 cars and there's a minimum pit stop time of 5 minuets, for safety.
I also like that a team can use 3 cars and there's a minimum pit stop time of 5 minuets, for safety.
The 5 minute pit stop is cost containment, not safety. If doing the stop faster is a competitive advantage, you bring more crew, spend money on fancier fueling. Crew are number one expense in enduro, lodging, meals, transportation.
With a 5 minute stop, a well organized 2 driver team can get by with just one crew member.
When we ran NASA T25 with 2 cars, we had.. 14 crew. When we did it with 4 cars, 27 crew. I think we had 6 rented RV's in the paddock. We could do a full belted driver swap in less than 30s stationary. Fuel made that about 50s. 4 tires in 70s IIRC, that took 8 crew alone.
07-16-2020 | 01:53 PM
Turnology article on S1 Supermiata driving techniques
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