ERC Series.... Copes well enough with all sports and GTs and we have or had examples of all those mentioned!

Stewart has parked the E Type in favour of something that is at least different; Tony R was welcomed with the Corvette at a time when there was no other suitable class; we still have 240Zs; over the years we have had TR3 (Bert Dove), several TR6's and a TR5 - plus Spitfires and still have TR7 V8s, so those that want to run, can and do.

Adding extra classes to suit a minority will never work until that minority is large enough to be a viable grid in its own right. My sympathy is with those with smaller open sports cars who feel intimidated when sharing the track with large saloons, but as at today, sports cars are a minority, which just reflects the sales over the years - and the increasing values of those Daimlers, Austin Healeys, Morgans, Lotus' etc.

Production GT has always been a bone of contention in some quarters, so an MG B Sports and an MG BGT from the same production line is acceptable, but a 240Z Datsun with no open version has always been cast as an oddball. Jaguar XJS ran in period as saloon cars yet to most of us, they should surely be classed as a GT or as an open sports?

We shouldn't get too hung up on names and categories and we learned years ago (not with 100% acceptance I might add) that speed grouping by car/driver made far more sense than bodyshell type. For example, this enabled AMCO Senior to race in one category and AMCO Junior in another! Both grids were therefore enhanced.

Classic Trial still offer the opportunity to put totally standard cars out on track, but even their numbers seem to have flattened out, so there are opportunities for just about everyone to run, if they choose to do so.

Advancing age of drivers and rising costs may also have an effect. Why no Seniors discount on a race licence? A high licence cost and a $50 levy to MSNZ at each meeting are rapidly pushing me to race retirement, as I can get almost as much fun on a track day for a fraction of the cost - and no red tape.