Quote:
Originally Posted by on_to_it
Goat Boy - A lot of what you say, I believe, is pretty much on the money. But I think you miss the point with some of the support classes. You can't fill a days program with fast, loud cars - there are not enough of them. So you need support classes to fill the day, and why should those classes be excluded anyway. They have National Championships to compete in too.
Also, the young guns coming out of karts need to start somewhere, and for many that was always Formula Ford. But you need to know what you are doing with them to run at the front, regardless of the drivers talent, or you pay someone else to run it. Unless those fathers have very deep pockets, these kids need to attract sponsors to help with the bills, and most sponsors want quality TV coverage that airs at the right time, that people will actually watch. They want Hot Laps and decent crowds. That means Tier 1.
Some of these youngsters will become future NZV8 stars and maybe go even further. A few of them are bloody outstanding. But they can't just start in that class and expect to be competitive, they have to do their time. So think about it: without support classes and new blood coming through, the sport will run out of cars, drivers and sponsors.
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I hear what you are saying, on_to_it, but the question remains why Tier 1 for this sort of thing? Why can't we have TRS, and GTRS, and Muscle Cars (entertainment value), Porsches (perhaps an open class) and yes Formula Ford but leave the Production Cars, Suzuki Swifts and Utes for Tier 2 events? Surely you should get to watch the fastest cars at the premier events?
Karters and other youngsters do need to go somewhere, but that is Formula Ford and TRS generally, until they find there is not a lot of opportunity for open wheel drives overseas unless you:
a) are very fast like Mitch Evans and/or
b) have big money behind you as well (like Scott Dixon did and even then he wasn't able to get an F1 drive apart from that one test)
But go along to a club meet or the NZ Festival of Motorsport and you will see very, very full grids and far more interesting racing than the classes I have been moaning about.
The NZV8's in their current form were great back in their day, but the grid numbers now are small compared to what they were (I remember 32 cars on the grid!!) and the support classes have been gradually whittled away because more and more of them were getting to be faster than the main attraction! Let's face it, when the NZV8's were only the third or fourth fastest cars on the day (behind TRS, GT3 and SuperGT as it was) then that's not a good look is it? Even if the racing was good, which it was.
As to watching it on TV, does anyone actually sit and watch these other classes on TV? Maybe the Utes because it's not apparent on TV just how slow they are, but I reckon for the others many of us would go and make a coffee or grab another beer...