Launching a new series is always a challenge at any time. And, as you can read about here, the fairly modest numbers achieved by many of 2023’s fresh club racing categories demonstrate that it is especially hard when the economic climate is tricky.
After all, there are many hurdles to overcome. Selecting a reliable car to race. Putting together an attractive calendar to tempt competitors. Identifying a gap in the market that is big enough to secure a decent grid but not so small it is of little interest. But there is also another growing problem that organisers are facing: the ever-increasing complexity of modern cars. Take the 120 Coupe Cup that began last year as an example.
The 750 Motor Club sensibly took the decision to launch this alongside a sprint version of its 116 Trophy, which was a proven concept and plenty of cars were out there to ensure grids would still be full even if it took a while for the 120s to prove a hit. This therefore gave organisers vital time to hone the development of the new cars without worrying about small entry numbers. And that was just as well, as things were not smooth sailing with the two-litre BMW E82s that were built from 2011.
“The 120s had a few gremlins, which is often the way with the first year of a new series,” says 750MC competitions secretary Giles Groombridge. “They have an intelligent oil pump that drops the oil pressure to improve fuel economy when on the throttle for a long period of time.”
While that is a very sensible idea for the roads, it is just not compatible with the flat-out demands of racing the cars on track. “As cars become more and more sophisticated, they’re going to be less easy to turn into race cars,” adds Groombridge, who believes this is going to be a major problem moving forwards.
While Groombridge says plenty of work has been undertaken to develop a low-cost solution to the difficulties with the BMW 120s, the challenge posed by the growing number of areas of a modern car that are controlled by ever more complicated computer systems is going to be much harder to fix. And that is especially the case with the rapid increase in electric and hybrid vehicles on the road.
Source: Autosport