Hello all,
What a great
start to the 2018 Bremtec Brakes 2 Litre Sports Sedan Championship. Rounds 1
and 2 have seen some close racing and it’s fantastic to have a few returning as
well as new faces to the championship. It’s been a tremendous start to the
racing season with good grids for both rounds. There’s always interesting
racing between the big bangers and the baby sports sedans. Steve Howard has
started building a nice platform for his assault on this year’s title. Matthew
Butters and Lee Partridge are both keeping him honest. DNF’s or missed rounds
have hurt Lee Partridge, Andrew Pinkerton, Sam Speer and Vince McNair, but keep
an eye out for them in the coming rounds. Eddie Metz should also step into the
Hulk Green Escort from Round 3 so he should be much closer to the front from
now on. Lee Nuttall, Ben Hamilton and Team Hales are also gathering points
nicely. Check out the full points etc on the website.
For the rest of
the Championship we’ll step away from racing with the Grunt Performance
Victorian Sports Sedan Championship (ASSA). This decision has raised a few
questions and a bit of debate about why this direction has been chosen by the
committee. Some elements of this decision were made for us, others were a
deliberate change in direction to achieve the best result for the club, our
members, our sponsors and to focus on our main goal which is membership growth
for sports sedans. To achieve the required growth, we have spent a lot of time focused
on what the club offers and what our members want. For many years we have
worked with the ASSA. We’ve mostly shared the same race calendar, apart from an
additional Winton round in place of a second Sandown event. Whilst racing in
the same events as the open sports sedans is always enjoyed by our members
especially the faster 2LSS guys, it has seen the lowest numbers in terms of
cars at the track and memberships in the club’s history. In a world that is
constantly evolving it was time to make some changes.
The race
calendar is a complex beast with many factors to consider. The change last year
for the National Sports Sedans Association (NSSA) to join ASSA for a couple of
rounds created a problem (the 130% rule) and an opportunity for the 2LSS club.
We as a club have been focused on raising the profile of the club and
attracting new and old members to the track. In this process we had identified
some runners for the 2017 season. Having guys like Jack Perkins set the
qualifying times for an event certainly shifts the performance level required
to compete. While this is no issue for the faster guys in the club it does
create an issue for those in the back half of the grid. This was a problem for
the 2 rounds in 2017 at Winton and Phillip Island. After some discussion it was
decided to run the non-championship round at Winton in September. This was a
great success and showed that given suitable events we can get more sports
sedans on track.
For the 2018 season there was several things the
Committee wanted to achieve with the calendar:
·
A strong start to the year for Sports Sedan
racing in general.
·
1 event in South Australia to support the new
South Australian 2LSS Club.
·
2 rounds at Winton.
·
3 events on our own.
·
Avoid the NSSA combined events for safety and
qualifying reasons.
·
Run events that encouraged new competitors to
race sports sedan with us.
The calendar
options were presented to the club members for feedback in 2017 and
overwhelming support was given for several 2 Litre only events (Including APRA
pulsars) with the option to head over to SA to race on Australia’s newest track,
Tailem Bend. Stepping away from the VSCRC also has several benefits as it gets
our series in front of a completely different audience at PIARC Access, Super
Trucks and Australian Motor Race Series rounds. This should maximise exposure
not only for the club, teams and sponsors, but will also promote Sports Sedan
racing to new people.
Our main focus
is attracting new people to grow the sport in general rather than attract current
races from other classes. Sports Sedans and even circuit racing was well known
in the past but has lost some exposure with the recent rise of Drifting and
Time Attack. In short, the Sports Sedan clubs need to do a better job. A good
example was the ASSA’s recent display at MotorEx 2018. It was a very
professional display with a lot of effort to make it happen. The feedback was that the cars were awesome
and many people didn’t know about the class. Many more ideas like this one will
be needed to promote the class to the greater public. Well done to Jason and
the rest of the ASSA guys for a great display. The recent resurgence of the National
Series is also a great thing. The recent rounds at Tailem Bend, Wakefield and
Muscle Car Masters and the battles of the front runners have been excellent.
Working together to promote Sports Sedan racing at all levels can only benefit
us all.
With a just over a week until the Inaugural 2 Litre Festival (incorporating Round 3) we have 27 confirmed entries and a fantastic event ahead us. The best part is that more than half are 2 Litre Sports Sedans – the most number of entries we’ve had at an event for a very long time. I believe this is a clear indication that the path we have chosen is the right one. Interest in the next few events is also looking promising, a great sign for second half to the year. So, get your cars out of the sheds and down to the track!
Next month is the Annual General Meeting. All positions on the committee will be open for election. Please have a think about if you have the time and motivation to contribute to the Club at a committee-level. It would be great to get some fresh energy and ideas into the committee to give the long-serving members the option to take a break if they wish. It’s a great time to get involved in an exciting period in the club’s journey. If you need any information and/or you’re keen to put your hand up for a position, please feel free to contact anyone in the committee.
We need everyone to get behind the efforts of all Sports Sedan events and people as we’re all working hard to make it the class that not only has the best cars, but also the class that people want to get involved with.
See you at the track!
Simon,
President
2 Litre Sports Sedan Club
