hinchcliffe

I just recieved this back from them;

Mr. Hinchcliffe,

Even under the old eligibility rules this car would have been out of
eligibility. 10 years is all we have ever allowed cars to compete
within the World Challenge series. We have revised the rules because
the focus of the World Challenge series is to have current cars
competing against each other. There is no other professional series
throughout the world, that I am aware of, that has eligibility
requirements as liberal as ours have been and continue to be, even under
the new rules.

Regards,

Aaron Coalwell
SCCA Pro Racing
Technical Administrator
Phone/Fax: 970.484.0187

What should I come back with? I was thinking about explaining that never before has a 10 year old car been so competitive. And furthermore, (I like that word) if my friends and I on "The Rennlist" were to talk with the other drivers in the series and ask if they think this 10 year old car is competitive and worth racing against if that would help to change thier minds?

Thaddeus

Here's the reply I got.

"Mr. Austin,

Even under the old eligibility rules this car would have been out of
eligibility. 10 years is all we have ever allowed cars to compete
within the World Challenge series. We have revised the rules because
the focus of the World Challenge series is to have current cars
competing against each other. There is no other professional series
throughout the world, that I am aware of, that has eligibility
requirements as liberal as ours have been and continue to be, even
under
the new rules.

Regards,

Aaron Coalwell
SCCA Pro Racing
Technical Administrator
Phone/Fax: 970.484.0187"

The Party Line...

Thaddeus

My reply:

Dear Mr. Coalwell et. al.,

I understand your eligibility requirements are geared towards the laudable goal of encouraging innovation. But what if the newer cars are not necessarily better?

If an older car is capable of running with the big dogs, would not allowing it to compete serve the purpose of acting as a benchmark to determine if the overall breed is in fact getting better?

I do not see the harm in permitting the 928 to continue competing in the World Challenge series. Perhaps your organization would consider granting year-by-year waivers to older models based on their ability to place in the top half of the field? If an older car can acquit itself that well, where is the harm in allowing it to continue to run?

regards,

Ed Taylor

Yep, I got the same carbon copy reply. "Current Cars" = "Money changing Hands"

mark kibort

Hey, Im bummed for Mark and all of us 928ers. as i hung up the Holbet car after this seasons SpeedGT race at laguna, as the field has just gone out of control as far as money, hp, etc. I had my fun, but i certainly expected mark A to run again, and i was looking at options to run a bigger motored 928 this next season. (as you all know, my car wasnt even close to the minimum VTS being 400ccs down on displacement, and smaller brakes, transm, etc)

We do have to recognize that SCCA Pro Racing let us run for a good number of years after they said it would be the last year. the 928 got some GREAT TV footage and surprised a ton of people.
It would be fantastic for a car like mine to run in Grand Am Cup GS class, where based on the times it would be in the front of the pack, no doubt. Problem is, its a series primarily back east, requiring pit stops and tire changes, as well as full pit crews and a 2-3 hour race! the main issue there is they also have a 5 year rule, with no provisions for "limited" seasons like SCCA pro racing blessed us with.

so, it was a great run. Glad Mark Did what he did and certainly glad i was able to participate!! it was by far some of the best experiences ive ever had, and ive done a lot!!!
My car was truely a 18-20 year old car, beating 3-4 of the guys in the back with matching uniforms and semis. not bad for a car that old, posting times that would have been top 10 in a car at the time, over 10 years old and still under the Spec. Greatest car every made????? you bet cha.

Long live the 928!!!!

This group is quite extrodinary as well!! Glad to be a memeber of the club!

Mk

hinchcliffe

So where do you guys go from here?

hacker-pschorr

Mark - ever think about doing Vintage Racing?

Give it some thought, come visit us in July for the BRIC.

mark kibort

LETS all ban together and support mark in the coming Japanese GT race at California speedway next month (DEC). its a 2 hour race, requiring 2 drivers competing with the best japan has to offer, but all sorts or cars from all over the world. (porsche, NSX, vipers, ferarris, etc) . The are inviting SpeedGT cars to compete.

here is the link!

http://www.jgtcusa.net

check out the video clips for the series. some pretty wild stuff!


MK

nicobel

vintage racing?
Sweeeeeet!!!
That would mean $$$ for us, given that with Mark & Mark (M&M) our cars will turn into an instant classic...
instant classic = good momentum = perfect timing = more $$$ for your $hark

nicobel

i meant M&M running and doing what they do well in the track

Beth

I'm depressed now. . . .

mark kibort

im going back to try and run an almost complete season with SCCA club, but there is also the Road and Track invite (PCA) at laguna seca and probably one or two other porsche type events.

Anderson has a ton of competition in POC, where many of these tricked out cup cars are going. Plus, in PCA as he runs several events there.

we have a while to wait unil we qualify as vintage as usually the cut off is in the late 1970's range.

there is always the V8supecar series in the US, but thats east coast.

Im sure some of these used SpeedGT world challenge cars will be ruining the ITE SCCA class, as we all know they are FAR from any kind of production car.
basically, all the cars that ran the series this season in Speed GT , would qualify as ITE SCCA cars. (production based chassis, on DOT tires)

Mk

hacker-pschorr

Not quite - retired race cars only have to wait 3 years to run. How do you think the Audi R8's are able to run in various vintage events around the world? Your cars have documented race history with the SCCA for many years, that is all that counts. I'm speaking for the Vintage organizers for the 3 vintage events at Road America. I have no idea the rules at the Monteray Historics - more of a historic race than a vintage race anyway.

The BRIC at RA is considered one of the best (if not the best, Road & Track goes back and forth on this) vintage event in the world.

Mark Anderson

I must say that the support is over whelming and much appreciated. I'm not sure how much public support will help but you never know. At the last race I was talking to Aaron and 2 spectators came up to tell me how much they enjoyed watching my car out there and to keep up the good work. I'm pretty sure Aaron is well aware that there is a fair amount of people out there they do enjoy seeing the 928 but it still may not fit into their big picture. Alwin Springer of Porsche motorsports once told me that every year SCCA called him and asked if it was OK to have me compete. At the time Porsche had 5-10 996 cup cars competing and Porsche was buying advertising time on the show. I'm sure all it would take is for Cadillac or even Volvo to say that they don't want the 928 out there and it's over and no amount of email or letters can change that. Remember professional racing is not really about racing. It's about entertainment and selling advertising and the SCCA will do what ever it can to please their advertisers and supporters. Maybe it is time for the 928 to go vintage racing. For now I will continue to compete in PCA and POC as I have done for the last 15 years. I truly enjoyed my time in World Challenge and I really appreciated the opportunity to run against some very fine teams. I do think it has made me a much better driver and given me a wealth of experience.

Dennis K

This is a sad day. I've really enjoyed going out to Laguna & Sears and watching you beat up on the factory teams. SCCA has sold it's soul to the factories several times and been burnt consistently. They've mismanaged TransAm into a useless series.

Speedventures is holding a time trial at Cal Speedway on the Friday before the JGTC weekend. I was thinking of driving down from the Bay Area in the 928, doing the time trial on Friday and hanging around to watch the JGTC races on the weekend. I didn't know that Mark was going to be running, but now that I do, I'm definitely going to be there.