FIA on Malta

[ribaric]

Final FIA round to be held on Malta at the end of September. Now there's a reason to choose Malta for a late summer holiday.

Already in the diary.

[DWphil]

So Santa Pod European finals event will now not be the Finals ?

[Turn7]

Serious question-is the track capable of holding FIA cars ?

[ribaric]

DWphil said:

So Santa Pod European finals event will now not be the Finals ?

BIG question. It already isn't for UK sportsman classes. This looks like a brave move in that there's a risk that some FIA competitors will not support it on grounds of cost, particularly if they are not within reach of a championship. I guess it all depends upon travel difficulties and the expense of getting there - and back. My heart says it's a positive move for European racing and it's good to have a track in the south lands, however I'm not paying the bills. Another risk is that racers will go there at the expense of an existing event, The "Main Event" for example? An extra race would seem to be a lot for a sport which is mostly funded by the competitors themselves.

[Tet]

ribaric said:

My heart says it's a positive move for European racing and it's good to have a track in the south lands, however I'm not paying the bills.

My heart says it's a good thing, and I'd love to race at Hal Far. But being one of the underfunded racers that this affects, it's really not a good thing from my perspective. Next year, I'd been hoping to step up to doing a few more races, and perhaps even the whole season. The addition of an extra race has effectively put a final nail in that coffin. I was strugging to make 6 races. 7 is completely out of the question (unless anyone knows of a sponsor with cash burning a hole in their pocket, in which case, please send them in my direction).

In 2015, we had 6 cars do the whole tour in TF and PS, 4 in PM, 1 in TMFC and none in TMD. Expanding a healthy series is one thing. Expanding a series that's already struggling (and let's be realistic, it is) seems like a foolhardy move. How is a 3 car championship good for anyone?

My worry is that this is political maneuvring from one side or another to try and get one of the UK/Swedish rounds dropped (depending on which party has been driving the change, which at this point I don't know). Our community is too small for us to let it be torn apart by power games like that. We'll all suffer.

Edited by Tet on Thursday 3rd December 09:49

[Burndown]

You would hope that there will be some sort of agreement with the Maltese government that now the round has been awarded there will be a full redevelopment of the track and a new surface laid at least in the shutdown.

[hairyjester]

A bit of Googling turned this up:
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2014-11-29/...

[Largeeng]

^^Mmmm interesting article
Also I was wondering with the renovation of Gardermoen whether they will apply to have their FIA sanction reinstated and a round of the championship. I don't know their intentions, but you don't make that sort of investment just to run sportsman events, do you? That would be 8 events, almost at the point where from May until the end of September if you wanted to run all events for the championship you would be practically a full time racer. This could be tricky as most won't be able to fund this kind of commitment, in either time or money.
This could actually dilute the championship with lower turnouts in the pro classes at all events as racers have to decide which events to support and which to drop, and if they have no chance of winning the championship because they can't make all the meets then they may well only attend their local events.
A distinct possibility in PM where we have very good series here and in Scandinavia.
I can see both the Pod and Tierp going to one FIA meet per year if Malta and Norway come into the championship.
Just thinking out loud really

[Tet]

Largeeng said:

This could actually dilute the championship with lower turnouts in the pro classes at all events as racers have to decide which events to support and which to drop, and if they have no chance of winning the championship because they can't make all the meets then they may well only attend their local events.

This pretty much describes my situation. It's looking like I'll have enough money for the two UK rounds and perhaps one or two others next season. But the extra round in Malta pretty much rules me out of contention for the championship, so what's the incentive to spend the money and do anything more than just the two UK rounds?

[robc3303]

Obviously attractive from a spectator's point of view - if it did go ahead, in a meaningful way, I would make a big effort to get there. If some government investment occurred maybe it would give the Maltese economy a return, clearly the teams would need financial help as part of this. Some late summer Med sun, beers, pool and nitro... it has its appeal.

[Burndown]

I expect there will be investment and funding for a couple of years and then it will have to stand on its own to feet and the problems will start.

Obviously the big advantage is the weather, at least you are almost certain to decide your championship on the track. The weather is always European Drag Racings limit to growth.

[Blown V8]

Update on Eurodragster about this

[DWphil]

Does not really tell us much more

I hope the decisions being made are in the best interests of European drag racing and not points scoring, politics or power struggles as European drag racing doesn't need that and its the sport that's important

Time will tell

[Justin Stage]

DWphil said:

Does not really tell us much more

I hope the decisions being made are in the best interests of European drag racing and not points scoring, politics or power struggles as European drag racing doesn't need that and its the sport that's important

Time will tell

Sounds like a pi$$ing match to me... I hope I am wrong though.

[firewalker]

DWphil said:

Does not really tell us much more

I hope the decisions being made are in the best interests of European drag racing and not points scoring, politics or power struggles as European drag racing doesn't need that and its the sport that's important

Time will tell

+1.
Whilst I'd love any excuse to visit Malta again, I don't think the jewel in the crown at a virgin venue on a small(er) island involving new logistics for all makes any sense.
Even less sense as an extra round when the pro fields have been shrinking under financial pressures for years, and then only a few weeks after the round prior to it.
It's obviously a surprise to many, the 2016 Finals having been announced as being held at SPR for some time.
This and the demise of Shakey does not bode well when the sport is struggling more than ever to find competitors.

[Burndown]

You have 4 days to get from the UK National Finals to Malta.

[MajorLucky]

I wish the guys supposedly in charge would actually clear things up for everyone and elaborate more.

Obviously pod have already got all their promotional stuff made with European finals on, So i keep thinking maybe the Euro finals will be at pod, with an EXTRA round at the end in malta called the meditiranian European finals.

But then that's stupid because why would anyone travel if the championship is already over, unless someone is going to put up some substantial incentive.

If you have visited hal-far you will know it needs a lot of development, now I know Tierp was built over the winter so that is possible, but to risk the Crown of the European championship on a project is crazy IMO.

Either way I'm planning to attend and have already priced it all up BUT I am waiting to see what classes they'd plan to run, as we know they cannot run an event entirely on Pro classes, so I'm interested to see what they add, seeing the cars from malta last month there was some serious machinery there but most of which I doubt will actually pass scrutineering.

Again as I started I wish they would give more details to begin with but I'm sure they will probably wait until about February to confirm stuff like normal

[Tet]

Burndown said:

You have 4 days to get from the UK National Finals to Malta.

Yep. It wouldn't surprise me if Malta has effectively put an end to any UK participation in FIA Pro Mod in 2016. I don't know if any of the UK teams were planning on doing the full tour anyway. But it's probably put a nail in the coffin of that thought and they'll just concentrate on the MSA Pro Mod championship.

[Tet]

MajorLucky said:

So i keep thinking maybe the Euro finals will be at pod, with an EXTRA round at the end in malta called the meditiranian European finals.

But then that's stupid because why would anyone travel if the championship is already over, unless someone is going to put up some substantial incentive.

This could have been a fantastic move if they'd made it a demonstration event, with financial incentives to get teams to attend. It would provide a great spectacle, and would have proven the viability or otherwise of Hal Far for FIA competition. Then if all went well, they could have converted it into a full championship round in a couple of years. But the current approach just baffles me.

[MajorLucky]

I think it has been said before about Norway and their investment to return to FIA competition so that's going to fill the calendar further, maybe we could see a full European tour with thought about travel order,
You could even open the calendar with Hal-Far as its sunny all year round.
Malta, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Gemany, England (yes I have dropped both 2 rounds in UK and SWE) but hey I'm a spectator when it comes to Pro stuff anyway, I think the guys at the top need to work out how to make this all pay first and foremost. Does having the FIA name prevent having a proper corporate sponsor for the pro classes?