So, another season over, and the usual hullabaloo was kind of dispensed with this year. Out with a whimper and not a bang, possibly due to the exhaustion of another great season and a truly great showpiece of a world final.
I get the general feeling there is more discontent that content, this year and a harsh winter and potentially up roar on the cards.
Before Keith Lemon did Through the Keyhole, it was pasta sauce guru Loyd Grossman who would say "Lets look at the evidence"
ANTI YAZZ- THE ONLY WAY IS DOWN
Car attendances have gone down across the country again, with only the limited amount of shale meetings skewing their figures and the Westcountry bucking the trend once again, a slight drop for St Day this year on average, but again not helped by having clashing fixtures with local tracks, and poor fixture planning when it comes to fans - having a Coventry F2 meeting when the F1's are down the road for Northampton.
Formats have also killed the lower grades in the Midlands. Lower grade drivers thrive on leading laps, getting places, taking the occasional win, and when there are less big boys in with you, you are more likely to do this. This breeds confidence to do well and stops the negativity, and encourages them to race more. Eventually they will rise up the grades and do well.
So the decision by the promoters (not all I might add) to drop prize money to the top 3 only, not only increases despondency and general CBA syndrome for the lower graders, as before the price of fuel got extravagant, it used to go towards the general upkeep of the car. When you consider that before they arrive at the track, most are spending in excess of £200 for a local meeting on diesel, and then they crash, well all being told a meeting could cost as much as a grand. With it still being a working man's sport (albeit some work more than others) and cash not at a premium for every lower grader, whilst the amount of active drivers has gone up in certain areas, they do not race every meeting. They simply cannot afford them. Lower graders are the salt of the sport - we've all seen too many meetings where it has been a red top procession, and to be honest, it's dull to watch and this is what gives the casual viewer a poor impression of Formula 2.
Before pointing the finger, perhaps some promoters need to look at the way they promote all formulas - are they fair to all. When you consider start money is still paid out to Formula 1 and to some banger drivers, yet these same promoters plead poverty when it comes to F2. I say that namely these promoters don't know how to promote F2 correctly, or rather they cannot be arsed too. Put them on with the tractors or bangers or another strong support formula, and not with 6 midgets and 4 micro banger spin and nudge.
If cutting the cloth is necessary then ask yourself - would F1 drivers settle for what is being served up by the promoters this year. Strikes and support are more prevalent and they must be looked at as an example of how to run a sport. Oh, and they still have a driver's committee. However, they also have never raced firebrands like Red Jeff, which due to his stubbornness and refusal to negotiate. The promoters wanted regime change - the vocal minority swung behind Jeff, and the BSCDA was wound up by themselves. Many people stem the root of the problem back to this decision - last year's last minute mesh rule a case in point - drivers who had spent money on expensive sign jobs were told to ruin them at a moment's notice.
Remember - this is the biggest open wheeled formula in the whole of Europe. It should be promoted as such.
ENGINE N TONIC
It's not solely diesel alone which has placed drivers into periods of mid season hibernation, it's the thing that makes it go.
Engine costs are the main killer. When the much loved power unit finally gives out in a plume of white smoke only the Vatican can produce, for many its not a trip to the scrappy to pick up a new head and or block. The donor cars have long since recycled and now are probably a fridge in Bangalore.
The Pinto went out of production along with the Sierra. Bearing in mind that they stopped making those and the Pinto engine 20 years ago, parts for them are getting like rocking horse poo. Expensive to keep a finite resource going. The demand is there, but the supply isn't. When the pinto was introduced and started to go a lot better as it became more freely available. The 1300 was more powerful amd gradually the development of the Pinto started to match the power of the 1300. Brisca made the decision to restrict the power unit to level the playing field and gradually put the ageing engine out to pasture.
Brisca dropped the ball a little when the replacement of the Pinto was discussed some years ago. There two main contenders, the Zetec and the Duratech. The Zetec found predominantly in the Focus and the Dura was mostly found in the Mondeo. The supply of Duratechs dried up also. The best off the shelf answer is the Zetec. For as little as a grand, you could get an engine straight from Ford which has more power than the Moodie motor. This combined with a restriction of the Pinto would be a commonsense answer.
The Duratech experiment hasn't worked. To get the speed that the Pinto has a lot of money has to be spent which simply is not advisable or continually fiscally prudent, as if you have to miss half a season.
Organizationally, Brisca F2 is in its worse state. Rules made without consultation and what looks like a passing of responsibility and the buck has made the powers that be make Gerry Cottles' clown troop look practically like a well oiled machine.
TYRED AND TESTED
Now we all knew that the Yokohama tyre isn't ideal, so yes, the majority of drivers would be into a bit of development testing and finding a viable alternative.
Whilst the drivers opinion was sought after, the information was sketchy and inconclusive.
Yes the vote was an important step for stock car democracy and also a clear thumbs down to the powers that be - more testing and more information was the cry. Personally, a lassez faire approach would have been fine - more testing and an informed approach.
It was the full Johnny Nash - more questions than actual answers, and the promoters got a bloody nose from the drivers to not make rash snap decisions. The process didn't take in all tracks. With the last round of testing, many drivers tested season long up and down the country and an informed decision was made. How an informed decision could be made with just a few tracks tested and also using a car not even to Brisca F2 specification!
WANTED: INDEPENDENT DECISION MAKER
Maybe its time to have an independent chairman, as a go between for drivers and promoters to make the product that we have and utilise it to its full potential. We have a product which has been under marketed.
Worthy candidates would include Steve Linfield, Paul Brown and Carlton Eliot. Pay one of them a modest wage to sort out the problems, have regular consultations with drivers and promoters alike, and try to iron out disagreements before they become arguments. Lets have someone who says no, and warns tracks. A person who can maintain consistentcy is applied from Crimond to St Day and too make sure that every track runs correctly and plays by the rules, and complies with the dreaded Health and Safety. The sport needs a much more professional approach to move forward.
The divisive nature of some promoters has made this absolutely necessary - no one promoter should hold the sport to ransom.
Fixtures
There should be a regionality brought into fixture planning. Too man Scotland should its own points chart - it's skewing the rest of the country. It's great that Scotland has so many meetings, but it seems to be diluting the product, especially as the Spudworth presence at Lochgelly seems to be gathering apace. Would GMP be willing to trade off some of their dates in the favour of getting more cars, on the premise that less is more, and the racing would be better? With the absolute greatest of respect, some superstars are not worthy of the flashing lights and can maintain a superstar grade by not even leaving the country. A separate shale grading system would work too, to encourage the less frequent shalester to have a go, and vice versa. A red top shale driver, could only manage probably a blue grade performance at best, so why not give them a blue top on shale.
With the ill fated ill thought out ShaleMac series, one thing became apparently clear. The gap between shale cars and tar cars has never been so wide. Most, if not all, the dual surface drivers have two cars, one for the hard and one for the loose.
So to summarise, the winter will see quite a bit of soul searching from all sides. Some drivers will sell up and say "that's enough". Some will continue but will grumble. Some will fight and demand to be heard. Some promoters would gladly be rid of the "hairdryers" and "death traps" but to those promoters who F2 is there bread and butter, hold fast, and ride out the storm.
PS: New Directive from Brisca F2. Apparently wheels are to be banned as apparently they can be used as a missile. Also the use of spanners is strictly forbidden, and all stock cars must look like how Deane tell us that they should. His vision is his legacy you know....
