Solo 2 - GP is gone...

DanielForest

True Classic
Hi guys,

I'm rebuilding my Fiat X1/9 for 15 years now. The engine is back in its place and it is just needing a few ancilliaries to be installed before starting. It was build following the GP class to be able to be competitive, maybe even nationally. In the October Fastrack the SCCA state the GP class was going to be removed and rwd cars will go to DP.

How in the hell would you believe a X1/9 could compete against Hoelscher's Mr2! If that was possible, Steve wouldn't have moved to a Toyota.

So I'm going to be hoping to finish midpack in most events this year if' I'm lucky (and good). So what would you do in my place?

FSP seems to be the only place a X1/9 could have a chance, but it will required me to swap engine for a stock one. I'm thinking about Time Attack and Vintage, but my car would probably not going to be competitive in either since I got too many modifications and I will end up in a really fast group.

Maybe I should switch to a Lotus...

Daniel Forest
Montréal
DP X1/9
 
There was an email campaign to save GP

There was an email campaign to save GP, but I guess the SCCA really wanted to kill it. I was cc'd on the a lot of the email chain and I would say SCCA has pissed off more than a few people that have been in SCCA for years and spent a lot of cash to put together a GP car. There was a request that if SCCA wanted GP gone, could they create a VP for the older rear wheel drive cars. I have no idea what happened with that request.

I never went to an autocross until the end of the 2013 season and at that time the guy in charge of classing new cars put me in DP. I don't run many events, but when I do I always finish at the very bottom of the field, regardless of class. At the end of last season I learned of GP and with a little investigation I found I would average 10 places higher overall just by switching from DP to GP.

I only run for fun and not too often, but still it is a little frustrating to feel there is no point to trying to improve without building a dedicated race car. Since I don't have the money to build a race car, I will probably stick to running a few events just to enjoy whipping around the course.
 
Your right it's gone

There was a write in campaign to save it and I was involved with it and am close friends with the people who started it. No less than 13 people wrote letters to the Solo Events Board, a huge number, and they weren't interested in saving the class. After they denied us we all wrote letters to other SCCA officials that could have reversed the SEB decision but they also denied us. They simply don't want old cars in their races. There is also a move to at least add a vintage prepared ( VP ) class and those letters are being written now. If they approve it most likely it will be a provisional class at least for 2015. SCCA stands for Simply Cant Comprehend Anything. These cars are the ones that started autocross here in the USA and they have a rich history. Now that seems to be gone. Here in San Diego we had a great organization before we went to SCCA and a lot of people here are really fed up with SCCA and wish we had the old system back. SCCA has made this a semi professional sport which requires a huge amounts of money to compete and invites sponsors which requires even more money to compete. A far cry from the old days of grass roots fun.

Charlie
 
Sorry to hear that guys... but ya know...

Collectively we might be able to find a way you can CHEAT!

Its the HEART of the American racing tradition, be it horses, dogs, or motorsports! Its also what keeps the officials busy finding violators and amending the rules and classes. I think maybe the LeMons' folks have got it right with their Bribery Program.

My experience was mainly focused on Drag Racing where Nitro was pumped into the engine's fuel system via the Windshield Washer pump and reservoir... spare tires were filled with cement for increased traction... engines were of course bored and stroked or like many Fords, the FE blocks appeared to outwardly look no different between a 290 and a 352. Chevy small blocks from 265's to 400's... Mopar 273's to 360's... Just a sampling...

And then the Funny cars started out with a simple 3" forward movement of the rear axle to capture the increased leverage of the rear overhang to aid in traction. It started to get outta hand and noticeable... as well as squirrelly and unsafe so the rules were changed to say that the "original" wheel base measurement must be maintained. Sooooo... now they started moving the front axle forward, then replaced the axle with a light-weight tubular unit... then a full space frame chassis and then a flopper body and an entirely new class!

HA! Whatdayasay we get started!?
 
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SCCA...

Much about politics and ego than racing. SCCA solo folks decided that the old x1/9 was a bit too good so they simply moved it into a class that would take away any chance for the exxe to do well at all. Bottom line, this is much about getting rid of cars like the x1/9 as there is simply no value to promote the x1/9 in SCCA's view. Goes back to the time when Steve H won the nationals more often than the SCCA folks ever wanted to see or have happen, so they simply put the x1/9 into a class that will never allow it to be competitive and adjust the rules to make absolutely sure it will never be competitive.

This can easily be changed if FCA simply paid off the SCCA folks with the stipulation that the x1/9 will be competitive and will win in class. It's much about advertising and politics, nothing more, nothing less.

The politics and non-sense runs deep in SCCA. Good example is what happened in "Spec Miata" at the 2014 SCCA run-offs at Laguna Seca.
http://www.scca.com/news/?cid=52091

7th place car won due to the first six car being disqualified for a rather gray-area engine modification rule? Adding to this, these so called spec racers cars cost $50K and more when prepared to be competitive at the National level... and this is advertised as low buck spec racing.

My dim and quite cynical view of SCCA is a result of watching and being semi involved with SCCA for decades. At some point it was quite evident what SCCA was all about, politics, brand promotion and racer ego. It was not too long ago when SCCA was the only game in town for non-pro road racing. Since then, much has changed.

Their circus plays on.

Then we have 24 Hours of LeMons.. which IMO is pretty much the complete anti- SCCA or complete opposite of SCCA. LeMons is not about winning, it is much about all involved having a good safe time racing on the track. Winners don't get a whole lot to brag about, the get a curiosity trophy and a $500 prize. One winner in each class of three. The BIG prize of IOE is worth $1500 or bring a car that has absolutely no business racing on the track and get it to cross that finish line.

The idea and belief that LeMons is the $500 crap heap grand prix is utter non-sense. When there are more than a few LeMons racers that turn a lap time of under 4 minutes at 5 miles of Thunder Hill on DOT-200 street tires, that is as fast a any "real race car". Tires are the one major factor keeps more than a few LeMons cars from going a LOT faster. The folks who race at LeMons range from the weekend wrencher who has never put a wheel on a road course to pro drivers and pro teams that do this for a living.

Think of LeMons as a circus to entertain the circus performers rather than a circus to entertain the paying audience.



Bernice
 
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