2018 Regs and Explainations

[Scottish Bloke]

29 minutes ago, Scotty72 said:

As a non-competitor (complete novice) who is new to the westfield scene, I would say that entering such a series in the outset would be more for the fun factor rather than trying to be THE BEST. IMO promoting the SS and educating potential newcomers would get more entrants than messing about with the scoring system. The main decider for me would be cost and secondly the time available to attend enough events to accrue enough points to get some achievement factor.

I couldn't agree more Scotty. I started out in SS as a complete novice with a very standard narrow body car. As my times improved so did the car and my confidence. Even after 10+ years of competing and a fair bit of success I hand on heart still compete as I enjoy the crack. I have a very quick and well developed car, I have a reasonable amount of talent but am I going to win the Speed Series again? A very Probably Not, but am I going to stop competing, absolutely not!

I think we are all getting very bogged down here with times for every eventuality, which is not feasible, manageble or necessary. Our brilliant Championship, (believe me it is) is blessed with not only some of the quickest cars in the country, but also some of the best drivers. There are also a number of ex SS drivers now doing very well in other disciplines, a testament to them but also to what they cut their teeth doing. 

Target times will never be everyone's clear cut system, but none are. They are as much as is possible based on FACT, and will always reward the quickest driver  - driver/car combination, which is the only and right way. We are a Speed Championship! Whilst I agree that this debate is healthy, it's also in my opinion being stretched too far. Look at the results, they don't lie, the quickest competitors are winning, both against Westfields, and quite often against everything else they compete with.

We need tweaks, not an overhaul. Get to an event, drive your socks off, enjoy a shandy, home!

Kerr Out!! 

 

[Terry Everall]

Great comments Richard

[mark.anson]

Here here Richy. Spot as always. 

[Paul Aspden]

Well said Richard.

 

[neptune]

On 17/12/2017 at 18:34, mark.anson said:

Neptune

This is the sort of feedback the SSOT want to hear ; from someone who doesn't currently compete, but the fact you have taken the time to comment may mean your keen to give it ago.

Target times were (after a "change over year ") introduced in 2010. There is evidence that in the couple of years after they were introduced there was a drop off in the number of folk competing, particularly in the road going classes so its fair to say that the introduction of target times may have played a part in this, which is unfortunate but without going into detail there were sound reasons for introducing them as a scoring system. We are now 8 years on now so Im no longer convinced that the scoring system is a big barrier to attracting new competitors. In fact other successful clubs use a class record based scoring system.

This year we (the SSOT) have evaluated various different scoring systems in the background (including reverting to the old scoring system) and those used by other clubs but it didn't matter what we looked at there was always a problem making them unsuitable for the Speed Series. If nothing else it confirmed that there was no perfect scoring system and we will stick to the class record based scoring system.

There has been a push in the last couple of years particularly to encourage new competitors to the speed series and we looked seriously at whether it was the scoring system that was putting folk off.

Your feedback though does seem to confirm confirm what we suspected in that it is'nt necessarily the scoring system that is putting folk off.

Its is clearly, combined with the longest recession for many many years , the double whammy of the MSA rules has had a significant impact on attracting new people. 

Clearly the cost of kitting yourself out to compete in the first place isn't cheap, but if you did wish to give it a go there are plenty of second hand legal race suits are available on the bay of e and Playskool Motorsport were offering a hire service of suit helmet and gloves to Speed Series competitors a couple of years ago. (Ring Luke to see if this is still available).

Of course its not just about the competing its about the social aspect too, so I would encourage you to take part in the Blyton track day in July and come along to the Shelley Event, which is also non competitive and take your car up the hill.

 

 

I very much hope I will be able to get a ticket for it . 

[John Williams (Panda) - Joint Manchester AO]

Ok.... I've had some time off to recharge the batteries and regs have just posted the changes that have been made since the Opening Post.

The SSOT have been listening, but we can't please everyone and I can see from the 14 pages of debate & comments.... so thank you, it nice to see passionate conversations.

1. There are now 2 sprint championships for novice and experts.
2. Club Stewards is now sorted @Stephen H (thank you)
3. Classes A & B's target time/record times (Please note, This is not a reg issue) - In previous years these were based on an adjusted time; next year is a real target time is set this will be used. (2019 will be record times, if you guys do the events and clock times); the spreadsheet will be published under a new post.

In the nicest way this thread is now locked.

The final will be published once jack from the MSA confirms he's happy.

 

Many Thanks

 

John