For a discount Nipple Pink it is.
Is there locked in dates for next seasons SIFF - we might as well start pushing it from today on.
For a discount Nipple Pink it is.
Is there locked in dates for next seasons SIFF - we might as well start pushing it from today on.
I think you're right. I can't tell the difference between the Falcodores. Quite frankly because I'm not interested and couldn't care less. The same must apply to FF for most people....Originally Posted by ERC
So we've come full circle. We need more on the grid. I think we've covered all the options in the discussion to date, none of which appear at this stage to be goers due to entrenched positions of key players.
At this stage I give up, secure in the knowledge that in the Mainland we don't actually need a Tier 1 Championship. We have our own championship.
I guess there is nothing to stop the MSNZ FF Championship being SI only and piggy backing on the SIFF. There is a precedent for a one island MSNZ Race Championship in their two round Endurance Championship up north!
There again I don't think we would want MSNZ coming along and stuffing up the good thing we have got going down here!
I'm only the sponsor, not the organiser, but no locked in dates at this point as far as I am aware. I think we have to wait until the motorsport calender comes out. I think Ian said he was going to have a drivers meeting sometime this month. And I know he is keen to get everything finalised as early as possible and will already be working on next season's planning. Are you on his mailing list?
Russ, I have been informed a lot by the discussions on this site, and think it has been positive.
Surely now Formula Ford can be led from the bottom up with SIFF setting the rules as to only 2 way adjustable shock absorbers and no Data logging
You would have to talk to the club about that.
Personally I feel we need to keep our cars in line with Sch. F so the up and coming guys can race their cars in the same spec in both championships. Otherwise a big spender would just swap shock types from one championship to the other. That would hardly be cost saving. And you and I and most others are not going to be running megabuck shocks and data loggers either. So whilst a good idea in theory, I don't think the reality would work, or affect us greatly.
From what Crunch says, I think there is a determination in MSNZ to try to limit these sort of costs so lobbying in that direction could be the better way to go.
Last edited by Russ Noble; 04-12-2013 at 10:53 AM.
I really dont know why some race fans put the FF down their lap times are as fast as the V8s the sound is OK ,the racing passing and drafting not seen in other classes is good providing you know what you are watching,and as I have said before its a long time since we have had these young ones progressing overseas and I dont think its all about money,money cant make a driver all that much better and give me four or five cars that are racing not follow the leader as some other classes do,just keep it simple
We dont stuff EVERY thing up do we?
You may think that, but I couldn't possibly comment!
SIFF is a bit more relaxed format than Tier 1. I don't think most SIFF members would like to be running under Tier 1 rules with their potentially draconian penalties for minor infringements etc
Right on the buton Russ, mainly one man to blame,, no perhaps another two.
How do you stop people from using 3 or 4 way adjustable shocks in testing then removing or sealing the 3rd and 4th adjustment so that it cannot be used during the official parts of a race meeting? Perhaps a control 2 way adjustable shock absorber is the only answer.
Only way and has to happen
Just popped back to see the posts
1 stunned to read that you have prize money- i thought the last time i saw prize money at club level racing was when the kiwi flew over the cuckoos nest and mated with a Dodo !
2 Running modern FFords with Hysterical cars in not a problem except the older car driver who can win in his historic event will be P4 or 6 in a mixed grid but hey whats the crime just create classes with viable cut of dates so people can race similar era cars and maybe older car can harass a newer car
3 Ban data loggers Ban more than 1 way dampers go back to basics keep it simple
4 Nipple pink- i have pink mirrors on my modern VD2K kent car and I have for some odd reason a few pairs of pink boxer shorts and i have often displayed them whilst changing from civvies into the race suit
you just need to keep plugging away at FFord its the best formula for learning to race after karting ( ok F Vee same sorta thing but im biased) chase up cars in sheds with dust on so newbies can buy the car and join in
NZ is a large country with small population and you cant look at splitting FFord down too much into historic class classic class and modern racing we can in the UK cos we have 60 million people here and many circuits and series running
Then we have europe with different countries running some good series for cars of different ages
As for the comment about modern old and F Jnr cars all in 1 grid and speed differentials well ive never heard such bolx!!
I tested at snetterton in 93 in a Reynard 89 FFord whilst some euro F3000 wanna be was running his 93D round and i felt the ground rumble before i heard him or saw him
I tested thursday at donington in my F3 car and we had 5-6 FFord kents and zetecs on track with 8-15 second per lap difference. All you have to do is look in the mirror and use your head !!
Yes I know Im behind you guys, i like warm beer and it rains a lot here too.
Unfortunately driftwood, I have to agree, but if you choose to ignore the wishes of your drivers, you pay the price, whether you agree with them or not! There are occasions where they need leadership and there are occasions where you have to grin and bear it.
We have people in our existing race groups who moan about speed differentials, yet we still run handicap races that rely heavily on all drivers using their mirrors.
Interesting comments regarding prize money. I have old paperwork here that shows that Jim Clark was paid start money before he was famous, as were several other drivers, plus prize money down to 3rd place in all races.
Two points.
1) There were good paying crowds at the events in those days and meetings ran very profitably.
2) The cost of race entry fees in NZ has outstripped the rise in the cost of living by a considerable margin as track hire fees have also risen.
My first race entry fee in NZ at Pukekohe in 1985 cost me the princely sum of $25 when my salary was $26,000 a year.
The current race entry fee by most promoters has this year risen to $210, that is an increase of $840%. To have kept in kilter that would mean I would have to be earning $218,400. I wish...
That means that with no spectators paying to get in as too many grids are too small, drivers have to pay the full costs and even then, the club meetings are not exactly profitable.
We could pay prize money - if entry fees were to rise even more of course, or the numbers doubled, which is why I keep harping on so often about the need for better grids. At a classic level, I don't think that offering prize money is appropriate.
That's what we have found and is what we are trying to achieve in the SI.
To see how we have set it up see this:- http://www.theroaringseason.com/show...7946#post17946 and post #94 here :- http://www.theroaringseason.com/show...8542#post18542 This first season with the sponsorship has been relatively successful, but still with many potential competitors just keeping a watching brief. However, it looks as though for next season they may get off the fence and we will have increasing numbers of the older cars on the grid racing amongst themselves. Once one or two more step up then hopefully all their mates will follow them.
Unfortunately at this point in time the situation in the NI seems to be totally stuffed.....
Last edited by Russ Noble; 04-13-2013 at 09:52 PM.
I wouldn't worry too much about the NI & SI thing at all. If it works locally, go for it and who cares what the other island is doing? Probably 95% (total guess) of all drivers are never going to cross over anyway. Much as I'd love to race on the south island tracks, it is never going to happen.
There has been some very good points made here on this thread, and I think we in the south have to thank Russ for fronting up and putting his money on the line, Its a pity that Ford dealerships could not put a little of the money they spend cutting down trees and pushing the end result into my letterbox telling me how good the latest ford wizzer is. But I still think we need to get a modern engine, and I go with the Honda here, one in every junk yard near you! the Kent engine can still run, but I don't care that many people say they are cheap to run, when you compare cost vs Honda, they cost more, and don't last as long, sure there are new parts now for the Kent, new cranks, alloy heads, different, ( but not good piston sets) start pricing these up and you have a Honda conversion. Now I'm not saying do away with the Kent, it still stays, but if the experience in the States is anything to go by, many would change, not because of performance, but of costs, I agree in limiting shocks, and I think these could be set by nameing about 4 makes, if my friend google is correct, so there is some choice there, as far as chassis goes, anybody can make their own, but these days its not that we could not do that here in Gods Own, I think its the design, not the actual build that would get most wannabes, but there are still people designing and making chassis overseas, Radon in the States has a new chassis built, VD, another Citation ( formally Zink) and some out of Europe. But one thing the class does need, and that is that it has to appeal to the young guys ( and their Fathers) and thats why I say it has to shift in terms of motive power, I don't see that staying with a Ford engine is a good option, as the new Eco boost and even the Durtec/ Zetec are very expensive and are not world engines, but there are a lot of good ideas being thrown up here, and maybe another good idea would be a new govening body for the Class, FF or what ever it maybe called, to throw some real support, and common sense ( lack of this in motorsport) as Russ has in the South, but the class has to be sold to the young guys, and not the old farts on this forum.
Roger
What's going on here? Hands up all the South Island drivers that have 'crossed the Ditch' to race in the North Island.
I am not saying that no one ever does Wal, as we know that is incorrect. In fact when I made my one and only visit to Teretonga, there were 15 drivers and cars from this neck of the woods, but for most of them, it was a one off "must do the Southern Festival of Speed" one day type of thing. They still represent a tiny small percentage of the regulars and doing it once does not make it a regular occurrence.
Apart from the Amon/McLaren/Hulme Festivals, again, one offs per year, we don't see many South Island cars around here either. More's the pity, but the costs, time and logistics basically pen us into our own islands, so my point was no more than in each island, there will be movers and shakers who will get a series or a class off the ground, catering for the locals. I see nothing wrong in that at all. I am pleased that FF has traction in the South Island, but there are many series in the north that are not replicated in the south and vice versa.
Yes, I agree, but the truth is that most young guys are more interested in racing their WRXs and Evos than a single seater. They will never race single seaters. FF's appeal is to a youngster out of karts as a stepping stone to TRS and eventually F1. Although many of their aspirations get derailed after a few years and they settle for Supercars or other tintops. That's when reality sets in and they find they can make a reasonable living relatively easily in those classes.
The appeal to these young guys is the stepping stone aspect, and close, competitive racing at the top. And a strong class with plenty of entrants and contained costs is what is required. We have to provide the right frame work for that.
I agree with everything in your last post.
WRT crossing the ditch, there is quite a bit of traffic both ways if you look around. I have done it in the past as have many others. It's time consuming and costs a few bob but in the overall scheme of things it's not too bad.
Roger; do you own a Honda dealership or Honda wrecking yard?
Think I can safely say that the Honda is not an option for the National Championship Formula Ford in the future. However; what the SIFF and the FF Assoc want to run at other meetings is up to them.
Why would you want to incur more costs such as a change in powerplant when all they seem to want is stability. You are also wrong about the non-availability of good pistons.
Maybe start a Formula Honda thread?
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