I learned of this pairing in Group 6 last week and wrote to the board. My concern is safety. An E30 weighs about 700 pounds more than an SRF and an E30 rear bumper is about teeth level to a SRF driver. Mixing the two is not smart, I don't care what the rationale is. I think another way should have been found. It's a done deal though. I guess I accept the increased risk, change classes/cars or quit racing...Three lousy options.

Wes #48

I voted Bob. Everyone should! Right now!

Just heard today that the E30 guys were not happy at losing other cars to race with as well. So E30 went into Group 5, now the rest of Group 5 is mad because it is a percieved dumping ground for tin tops, but SRF is standalone again....for now. Just proves as race organizer/scheduler, *any* grouping decision you make will piss somebody off, and everybody can argue their favorite aspect of safety. Chose any combination you want: big/heavy/fast/slow/race vs DOT tires/closing speeds/*&^%$ such-and-such drivers never use mirrors.

Personally at Thill 5-6 seconds a lap and with split starts SRF had little to lose, we would not nromally lap them in a normal race, but might catch their backmarkers. The E30s are the ones that would have lost out missing other tin tops to play with (much to the annoyance of other non-E30 tin top drivers!)

We've been largely spoiled in SFR and OR with our own run group, Outisde of SM only, mixed run groups is a fact of life in most places guys. While our cars are very popular, they don't mix well with too many other classes. In Oregon for regional races we're lumped with all formula and wings and things for practice only, with split out for qual and race, and I honestly think the mixed practice helps build awareness between drivers/classes/cars.

Anyway Group 6 is "pure" again, for a while......

Todd SRF73 wrote:Just heard today that the E30 guys were not happy at losing other cars to race with as well. So E30 went into Group 5, now the rest of Group 5 is mad because it is a percieved dumping ground for tin tops, but SRF is standalone again....
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Anyway Group 6 is "pure" again, for a while......

Another example of what makes the SCCA what it is today - It's o.k. to do something that pisses off 25 drivers that race the whole season, but they bend (fall) over backwards to accommodate a couple drivers that only run a partial season...

I swear there's something in the coffee when people get on the boards of SCCA that makes every decision seem logical. Fields shrinking? Raise the price! The mathematical disparity between classes is unbalanced? Throw them in with those renegade SRFs! We own our own track? Let's build windmills! Not enough people at the Runoffs? Invite everyone! Too many three day weekends? Make them all two day weekends with half the track time at a higher price! National events? We don't need no stinkin' Nationals! Divisional event coordination? What's a Division? Pro racing? Over "my" dead body... (end of rant - for now)

I see Bob is off his meds again...

bob gardner wrote:I see Bob is off his meds again...

Just refusing to drink the Kool-Aid.

Not to worry Bob. I agree with you... meds or no meds.

Wait! I'm not sure that having me agree with you should make you feel better.

Jerry A. wrote:Having a run group all to ourselves is definitely the way to go. However, with race entries (including our own SRF group) diminishing, I understand that the region has to make difficult choices. Maybe they could have made a better choice of who would run with us, but if the number of SRF group entries continue to decline every year we should not expect to run alone. The best way to get our own run group back, is to have more SRF entries.

If an event is planned for a given number of run groups, with SRF being their own run group, when SRF turnout is less than expected, why is it inevitable that SRF gets tossed into another run group? Is it just about creating an opportunity for a different run group to get broken up?

In Mid-Atlantic regional races, they do a great job of keeping SRFs alone on track, even when turnout is weak. It probably sucks for the spectators! (10 seconds of mayhem, 80 seconds of silence, 10 seconds of mayhem...)

I've said it before, and not everyone agrees with me, but I'll say it again.

Practically the only classes we compatibly group with are production and small bore GT. Speed and handling are close enough. Weights disparities: not huge. Bumper heights are lower on those cars.

Yeah, yeah...I know about their inherent inability to retain their bodily fluids and have been caught out by that more than once. But in this environment, we gotta pick our poison and those guys are probably the least onerous and, relatively, safest.

Other than that, though, whether it's other sports racers, FVs (yikes!), FFs (yikes again!), or other door slammers it's asking for big trouble and it's totally beyond me why anyone would even think of grouping them with us.