Australian single seater racing ... | FerrariChat

Australian single seater racing ...

Discussion in 'Other Racing' started by PSk, Jun 6, 2004.

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  1. PSk

    PSk F1 World Champ

    Nov 20, 2002
    17,673
    Tauranga, NZ
    Full Name:
    Pete
    Continuing from the RB post ...

    The fact that Australian drivers see making it to V8 supercars as some sort of achievement is extremely sad, and to me shows they do not really understand motor sport but instead want to be some sort of celebrity ... how pathetic (they should just enter Big Brother ;)).

    The problem with too much HP is that you need sophisticated and thus expensive chassis' ... Australia and NZ cannot handle that. Pushing the costs high simply fills the grids with rich no talent drivers (like 50% of the v8 supercar grid). Thus I would rather we had a formula designed to based on simple but exciting cars.

    One of the reasons why the old Formula 5000 worked is that the engines were simple and reliable and made fantastic sounds and were exciting to watch.

    We need to get back to something like that. The current Formula Holden cars are about as exciting to watch as Formula Vees (er, even less so) because the grids are lacking talent and are small. Also the grids are hardly even with one or two teams well funded and supported technically, and the rest scratching.

    Yes the Commodore v6 is an engine based on an OLD American motor and it sounds like ****, thus not the right motor for this series. Maybe a Japanese v6 motor might make enough noice and power without needing expensive race preparation ... or we have to move to the crude v8's.

    I definitely do not think Australia and NZ can support a race series based on the 600 hp you are talking about.

    This is what I would propose:
    - Production based v8 engines. Exhaust and inlet free. Every thing else standard, ie. can be balanced, etc. To limit cheating the standard cast iron crank and rods must be used ... thus cheaters will break engines ... ;)
    - Engine throttle to be controlled 100% by a cable from accelerator pedal, nothing to messure throttle position or wheel speeds.
    - Manual sequential (ie. not H shift to save motors from mistakes) gearboxes. Ratios free but must be from a selection made by the gearbox manufacturer ... made in Australia (can't think of the company name now ...).
    - NO data logging equipment allowed at all. That will reduce costs considerably. Only gauges allowed are: RPM, oil pressure and temp and water temp.
    - Standard front and rear wings, made in fibreglass over alloy frame. Again idea here is to reduce the cost. Currently Formula Holden wings cost something like $10,000 AUS for a single wing. Just stupid.
    - Steel space framed chassis, incorporating collapsible zones for accident protection. Drivers feet to behind the front axle line ...
    - One make tyre ... and no mandatory pit stops (thus you do not need to have a huge team and parts ...)
    - Brakes free but NO ABS (or traction control).

    If we can get this series to involve Australian and New Zealands famous local engineering ability and leave out the expensive ****, we would have a great series with lots of laterial thinking ... and the cars will be fast and exciting.

    Honestly I would seriously think about building and compaining my own car ... er, in a few years time ;)

    Pete
     
  2. Admiral Thrawn

    Admiral Thrawn F1 Rookie

    Jul 2, 2003
    3,932
    Sounds good Pete.

    Currently superkarts are the most exciting vehicles to watch in Australia IMO. As you said, half of the F4000 guys have no talent and/or no money; thus a boring cakewalk for the 1 or 2 teams which actually put in some serious effort. (Effort which eventually produces drivers like Mark Webber; he came from F4000.) Formula Vee is another catagory which I find pretty sleep-inducing. Probably the most of all the catagories. (not including truck racing! :D)

    Well one solution would be to have it span across Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand. Sort of like an Asia / Pacific open-wheel feeder catagory, paralleling F3000 in Europe. This would be especially useful when it comes to sourcing engines; i.e. as you mentioned, possibly using ones from Japan.

    I have that on my Kart. Cost a few thousand dollars for full set of sensors, digital display and software imported from the US. :)

    I had a look through the garage of the team currently winning F4000 a few weeks ago in Mallala, and a significant portion of the wings are made of carbon-fibre; there's your AUD $10,000.

    What is currenty used in F3000, F4000, Formula Ford, etc?


    Another thing I was wondering: Any idea how much the cars of various catagories cost? Also rough estimate of the amount required to run a team for a year?
     
  3. moretti

    moretti Five Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 1, 2003
    58,226
    Australia
    Full Name:
    John
    you boys must have missed out on F5000 racing in the 70s, bloody fast, bloody powerful, bloody scary and bloody good fun :)

    As is usual in Oz, the knuckledraggers didn't appreciate it so they converted most of them to super sport sedans (basically dropped a well known shape - Charger, Mustang, etc over the top of the f5000 and off they went making the crowd happy)

    There's not enough money in Oz to support anything bar the supercabs so I thank heaven for the F1 race in Melb, but I think it should come to the Gold Coast where we can really bugger it up :)
     
  4. PSk

    PSk F1 World Champ

    Nov 20, 2002
    17,673
    Tauranga, NZ
    Full Name:
    Pete
    Yes I was there, but probably too young to remember ... but I have since had my dose of F5000's in historic racing as it is big in NZ ... and I love them.

    That is what we need for this area of the world ... :D :D

    Pete
     
  5. Admiral Thrawn

    Admiral Thrawn F1 Rookie

    Jul 2, 2003
    3,932
    I wasn't even alive in the 70's. :)

    So any idea of the costs involved in the various catagories?
     
  6. PSk

    PSk F1 World Champ

    Nov 20, 2002
    17,673
    Tauranga, NZ
    Full Name:
    Pete
    Sorry no idea.

    I only have a rough idea of the club racing I did in NZ, and I used to spend a bucket load.

    I will (when time permitts) have a poke around on Aussie/CAMS websites to see if I can find out the costs.

    I do remember that to be at the front of a Formula Ford series in NZ was over $100,000 NZ per sesssion ...

    Pete
     
  7. Admiral Thrawn

    Admiral Thrawn F1 Rookie

    Jul 2, 2003
    3,932
    I heard from a fellow Super Kart racer that the F4000 cars cost over $100,000 (not surprising), however I'd be interested to know the cost of a top team for a year.

    I read somewhere that to run an F3000 team for a year is in the region of USD $15 million. My guess is that F4000 wouldn't be anywhere near that. On that note, I wonder what the running costs are for V8 supercar teams. I believe each car is worth around AUD $300,000?
     
  8. PSk

    PSk F1 World Champ

    Nov 20, 2002
    17,673
    Tauranga, NZ
    Full Name:
    Pete
    Over $1 million AUS per year ... as stated on TV a few times.

    Motor racing is way too expensive nowadays and I blame all the extra BS, ie. unnecessary carbon fibre (even v8 supercars have this for dash boards, etc. when the weight limit is 1350 kg's ... thus a dashboard made of lead would do okay ;) ... just simply showing off and wasting money), unnecessary sponsorship BS, ie. fancy pits, pit stop requirements mean you have to have a large team and feed them and all the equipment.

    In the end we need to remember that motor sport is about ON track activities and stop wasting money on wanking around trying to be professional ... I think we all have forgotten what professional means regarding motorsport. If should mean that the car is perfect and the team well organised. It should not mean that the sponsors, etc. have great food and parties, etc.

    All this cr@p does is reduce the quality of the field competing and thus degrade the on track performances ... which is what it is supposed to be about!

    Pete
     

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