New Classifications

[Bill Miller]

I have a 2000 GCR, and it was in there, so it was added at least 5 years ago.

Derek,

Don't put words in my mouth. And don't make it seem that I "don't like" someone. I've already proven you wrong on a couple of counts. I'm sorry if you don't like that. As I've said, and Darin reiterated, if you build a car based on questionable specs, you are on your own. And think how the guys w/ the HT motors in the ITB Sciroccos felt. You're essentially looking at having to use a different trans. That's about a $600 hit, at most. And you can probably sell the one you have to someone in ITB. So, it's not like you're going to be out a ton of money. Now, if you built the car, because you thought you had an advantage, based on those questionable specs, well, I've already made my case on that one.

[Knestis]

I am NOT taking sides on this one but it could be a case study in what does't work in the Club Racing rules process. (Also, not picking on the ITAC, here.)

** Racers who want a car classified submit its specs in the first place - urban legend, wishful thinking, and downright sneakiness get injected from the outset: "Yeah - I heard that few of the last of these came with the big front brakes from the next generation." Note here that Derek is NOT the one who requested that the 1.7 2nd-gen Scirocco with the tight box be classified.

** (The ITAC has been interposed here, which is a good thing - checking among themselves and others to see if there's anything that seems goofy.)

** Pre-ITAC (as was the case with this Scirooco, it sounds like), the CRB placed the car in a class. My sense is that they didn't look very hard at what they were signing off (no surprise, they're busy), given some of the wacky stuff that gets into the ITCS that doesn't look like typos. "Yeah, yeah, yeah - whatever."

** Ah, yes - those typos. There doesn't appear to be enough critical, pre-publication reading of the ITCS. Perhaps because folks figure that problems can be chased out through E&O? I like the ones that transpose "in" in for "mm." "Hmm - that 5th-gear ratio doesn't exist so I can obviously use whichever one I want."

** If a car is classified such that it has only a snowball's chance of being competitive (like this car in ITB, a bunch of Hondas in S), nobody every builds one. The rules get enshrined by history. "It's been in the book for years, so it must be right."

** When a car gets MOVED - since this is a relateively new phenomenon :P - it just gets moved as whole cloth. "Now, if they would just move those Toyotas to B, dagnabbit."

Through all of this, racers are racers. If they see something in the specs that they think is hurting their competitiveness, they will fight to get it changed. Equally, if they see something that seems funny but gives them an advantage, 8 of 10 will smile and nod, and not lift a finger to correct it.

Derek and his dad have been doing this for a while so it's not a surprise that his car is competitive. It would also not be a suprise that if - and I say IF - they have been handed a "gimme" by the system, then they would take full advantage.

K