Whats happening to the MX5 racing??

MattR · Postby **MattR** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 6:47 pm

Its the usual cycle of racing, I saw the same thing happen with what was marque sports in the late 90's early 2000's when the old school cars, mg's 240z's healeys and what not, were starting to be replaced with MX5's the odd MR2 and a couple of TT Z32 300ZX's. My car went from a top 5 car to being passed by MX5's with number plates in about 3 years.
There was a fair bit of resistance to let the modern cars in as it would appently be the ruination of the category, but near 20 years on prod sports is as strong if not stronger than ever.

In the mid 2000's when there were some real sports sedans running, a coupple of cobras, some Porkers and a very quick and expensive chook cooker the category was at what I would connsider its strongest with good tv coverage on speedweek, and from this the one hour series grew which also helped the sprint series.

In any state level category those who can't be the big fish in the big pond will come and be huge fish in the litte pond, get bored and go away. The back bone of the category will always be the grid fillers as Tbro calls himself. The grid fillers are the guys who turn up every meeting to have a crack at Motorsport, motor racinng is what the big fish do and they will move on in a couple of years. In the mean time new cars will be built and passed down that will generally be quicker for relatively the same dollars as what we are spending now.

ansellpa · Postby **ansellpa** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:54 pm

Excellent summary.
As a newcomer, has the gap between the winners and back markers bigger than it ever has been in the past?

MattR · Postby **MattR** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 8:06 pm

ansellpa wrote:As a newcomer, has the gap between the winners and back markers bigger than it ever has been in the past?

Not really, if anything its a bit closer. Back in the early to mid nineties in NSW there were some cars that would be lapped twice in a 10 lapper at EC and come very close to being lapped twice at a 15 lapper at Amaroo.

Plus with so many MX5's you will always have someone to play with on the track.

ansellpa · Postby **ansellpa** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 8:21 pm

What about budgets?

MattR · Postby **MattR** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 8:45 pm

I was spending $1000 a round in 2010/2011 for everything including consumables, entry fees fuel, trailer hire and accommodation for Morgan park. The car rebuilld to get it up to scratch after spending basically 10 years doing nothing was $10k, but the next engine freshen would have been about $2.5k and after 2 full seasons. Tyres were included in the per round figure and I was using ex porshe cup front slicks, about $400 a set and tried to get two to three meetings out of them, depending on availability.

You could get away with a bit cheaper, and you can spend a bucket load more if you want to chase trophies. I'm a bit like Tbro in that I am there to have fun. Quite a few years ago I gave it a crack to try to get to the big time, couldn't get the dollars and now go as fast as I can afford. I was lucky that the car I had was reasonably quick and very reliable and simple to maintain, an oil change every two meetinngs, brake pads every half season and rotors a season. The only downside, beinng a 40 year old car parts were getting hard to find and there wasn't a lot of cheap development left.

Smokinscotty · Postby **Smokinscotty** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 9:35 pm

Out of curiosity, what did you run back in the day mattr? I was trackside cheering on my folks when the 240z's were boss then the PRBs came along which brought in the first production vs limited production quarrel.

Postby **Boyracer** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 1:49 pm

Cal wrote:A PRB is a production sports car.

You obviously haven't had a proper look at a G50 if you think it's the same as a Radical or an Ariel Atom. Out of curiosity, how does it effect your racing that a car has been allowed in that fits into the field anywhere from 10th to 20th on the grid?

PRBs can't run with Prod. Sports in NSW but I'm sure that will change soon.

I have had a good look at the Ginetta and it is similar to the Radical and Areil as they are are small privately owned companies that build cars from England that can be registered for road use there, and are pretty much full on race cars.

I also note that the G 50 has 300hp and weight is 945 kg.. ClassB???

And it effects me cause I was running just a normal passenger car that you can buy from your local Mazda dealer in Class B at PI.

There is now a huge difference between the fast cars and the slow cars, a lot of the slower cars won't go to Bathurst or PI because they will struggle to qualify, this is not club racing I'm afraid.

MattR · Postby **MattR** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 2:29 pm

All the clubman type cars are classified as 2C cars from memory. In the mid 90's they started running with the Sports 1300's until they had the numbers to run their own races. One of the reasons was safety as it was pretty hard to see them on the track. There was one incident at Amaroo where a Fraser was literally run over by another car and the driver was lucky not to be hurt.

MattR · Postby **MattR** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 2:34 pm

Smokinscotty wrote:Out of curiosity, what did you run back in the day mattr? I was trackside cheering on my folks when the 240z's were boss then the PRBs came along which brought in the first production vs limited production quarrel.

In the mid to late 90's I ran 2 Zeds, the first was an ex rally 260Z 2 seater that ran in Division 2, the precursor to 2F. From 97 to 2000 I ran a 240Z in Division 1, or 2B, it was green to start with and finished up green with white diamonds and I was lucky enough to get some support from a workshop that specialised in the early Dattos, Z16.

Smokinscotty · Postby **Smokinscotty** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 8:29 pm

Nice! Had a lot of respect for the Dattos, partially as the Healey had a Datsun motor! That and they are a very good looking car!

mazmad · Postby **mazmad** » Mon Dec 24, 2012 6:55 am

The Zeds are one of the all time classics. Have a buddy who has done a little rallying in his who is just getting into tarmac stuff.

Cal · Postby **Cal** » Fri Dec 28, 2012 10:32 am

Boyracer wrote::!:
Cal wrote:I also note that the G 50 has 300hp and weight is 945 kg.. ClassB???

The G50 is only that weight in Cup trim sans lights, big brakes, a full tank & that's dry weight. We were made weigh Darren's car after the Phillip Island 1hr and it was 1204kgs with me in the car. Yes it has somewhere between 290-300hp at the flywheel. Do the sums, it is well and truly a 2B car.

Re PRB. From the CAMS 2F & 2B vehicle eligibility list:

PRB/Birkin S3
PRB Clubman (Toyota 4AGE 16/20v)
PRB Clubman Widebody (Honda n/a) Class II only
Lotus 7 (54 twin cam), Super 7
Amaroo Clubman

colster3 · Postby **colster3** » Sun Dec 30, 2012 4:21 pm

I might not know anything about what is right of wrong with MX5 racing in NSW but I do know that my beast lives again! Gearbox came out in August and is now finally back in the car! It is on the ground and it runs!!! :mrgreen:

tbro · Postby **tbro** » Sun Jan 06, 2013 10:59 am

Hey all,
The time has come to retire Scooter from race duties and me as well.

With only 4 meetings this year in Brissy and maybe?????? a one hour, it seems that keeping
the car in race trim is well, just a waste of time and from talking amongst others I'm not the only one
who's thinking this way.

I'll look at some other classes and just use Scooter as a quick and enjoyable road car and teach Nicole how to drive in him.

So now off will come all the stickers etc, will strip out the dash and return it to d/d style.Sh*t it will be the first time Scooter
has had a radio since I've had him,:lol:

I'll look at some Topgear or track days so I can use up my R specs and I may even add some bits under the bonnet :twisted:

zero00 · Postby **zero00** » Sun Jan 06, 2013 12:28 pm

tbro wrote:Hey all,
The time has come to retire Scooter from race duties and me as well.

With only 4 meetings this year in Brissy and maybe?????? a one hour, it seems that keeping
the car in race trim is well, just a waste of time and from talking amongst others I'm not the only one
who's thinking this way.

I'll look at some other classes and just use Scooter as a quick and enjoyable road car and teach Nicole how to drive in him.

So now off will come all the stickers etc, will strip out the dash and return it to d/d style.Sh*t it will be the first time Scooter
has had a radio since I've had him,:lol:

I'll look at some Topgear or track days so I can use up my R specs and I may even add some bits under the bonnet

MX5 Trac k Day at Lakeside Monday 21st January, would be GREAT to see 'Scooter' there!! That's if you can get 'Scooter' past the pensioners on Bribie Island!!

Shame because watching what I have of your category has been some of the BEST racing I have seen!!