NitrOlympX

[Tet]

Interesting to see Jerry Lackey's comments on Eurodragster the other day. Now I haven't been to Hockenheim for many years, so I'm not speaking from personal experience. But I have spoken to many that have been of late and they haven't been complimentary.

Jerry Lackey said:

It cannot be denied that the NitrOlympX is popular amongst almost all racers in Europe because of the atmosphere surrounding the event

It absolutely can be denied. The Hockenheim facility is second to none, certainly. But racers want to race, and everyone I know would rather race at a great track in the middle of nowhere with a burger van and a rank of portaloos than at a stty track with outstanding facilities. And that's the reality of Hockenheim. Is it popular among racers? Among sportsman racers, perhaps. But the majority of those in the pro classes certainly don't hold that opinion. The track was dreadful when I was last there, and by all accounts has been even worse than that in the last few years.

I'd love nothing more than to see a Hockenheim event with a decent track. Fingers crossed that it happens this year. European drag racing needs showcase circuits like that. But I don't see how trying to claim that racers love the track or that the past few years have been anything other than a disaster is beneficial to the sport. By all accounts, it's been a great sportsman track. But the sportsman classes aren't what draw 50,000 spectators.

[Tet]

dorrisdormouse said:

I had heard that they were called out by promoters for not being daring enough to run on the track and im not sure that it reasonable at all.

Promoters and racers have different priorities. Thus it has always been and probably thus it shall always be. I remember us idling down the track in the semi finals many years back when we ended up with a bye run. The promoter was furious and claimed we weren't putting on a show for the paying public. But the promoter's not the one that has to pay for damaged parts.

[Tet]

Bikermoore said:

Seem to remember reading a letter regarding this. stating most spectators miss the 1st round due to still getting in, and miss the finals coz there have left etc. The other semi final was similar or both did a 60ft squirt?

No, we both ended up just idling down the track. The claim was made that we should have at least done a launch to 60' or something. But again, why should we risk the parts by doing so? The promoter wants to put on a show for the spectators, and without the spectators, we wouldn't have racing. We all know that. But putting on a show costs money. If that's what the promoter wants, they need to pay for it rather than expect others to do so for them. Nitro is really, really unforgiving, and it's quite possible to do tens of thousands of pounds worth of damage just from a launch. Further, were we to have done so and damaged the car, there's a risk we would have missed out on the final (and thus the corresponding win money).

[Tet]

It's still uncertain, but the balance seems to be tipping towards not running the F1 race at Hockenheim this year:

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/12040/9763661/ho...

[Tet]

dragstarfan said:

A bye run is a great way to gather the much needed data.

Equally, a bye run is a great way of destroying parts you were relying on to try and win in the final. As 37chevy has implied, if you want to restrict racing to only those that can afford to destroy an engine each run, you'll find very few entrants at each meeting, which isn't good for anyone. It's a compromise.

dragstarfan said:

Seeing an top fuel dragster idling down the track has 0 entertainment value

I won't argue with that. But the economic reality is that it will happen. I assure you seeing the parts for which you've paid a fortune disappear into a pile of twisted scrap metal has about as much entertainment value for the teams as watching a car idle down the track does for spectators. If I can save parts to ensure I have a better shot in the later stages of eliminations, then I guarantee you that's what I'll do. I'll wager that were you to find yourself in the same position, it's what you'd do too.

Sure, it's different for some. But where I've been for the last couple of years, I've had the option of racing at a couple of rounds or not racing at all. I've chosen to do the former. And yes, that's made for some painful decisions (skipping Q3 at the Main Event last year, for example). But if the alternative is to sit at home, well, I'll do the racing that I can afford. Of course, I'd love to find a huge sponsor that will fund a full season of hard racing. But they're few and far between. If you know of one with cash to burn, by all means send them in my direction! But lacking that, I'll stick to trying to round up enough money to allow me to race a limited schedule again this year.

[Tet]

dragstarfan said:

Destroying an engine is not needed at all if you know what you're doing (both driver and crew chief) and you won't get that experience from idling down the track. Like I said, but a half pass in. It gives so much data...

Nitro is really, really unforgiving. To give you some idea of what we're up against, since stepping up to the pro classes, I've destroyed 4 engines. Some repairable, some not. Of those, not a single one made it to half track. Saying, "put a half pass in" is much simpler on paper than in reality. Now my crew chiefs have decades of experience and countless championships between them, so I don't think you can claim they don't know what they're doing. You could certainly claim that I don't, but I've spoken to enough people that know what they're talking about that believe I'm doing OK, and the general consensus has been that probably only one of those 4 was my fault (and even then, I arguably only made the damage worse than necessary, rather than causing the problem in the first place).

Also, you haven't taken into account the cost of the run. Yes, a half pass will give you some data. But even if you don't break anything, that run's still going to cost a significant amount of money just in consumables and general wear and tear. Don't think for one second that any of us turn up at a meeting wanting to do anything other than a full balls out pass from start to finish in every qualifier and in eliminations all the way to the final. But the real world sadly doesn't work that way.

Yes, I'm fully aware of the need to put on a show for the spectators. But someone has to pay for that, and at the moment, the financial compensation for running a high end vehicle is so paltry that it essentially means the teams are expected to be the ones stumping up the cash. Like it or not, that means the lesser funded teams will have to prioritise, and putting on a show comes a long way down the priority list.

[Tet]

It seems F1 will be returning to Hockenheim in 2016:

http://www.speedweek.com/formel1/news/74871/Hocken...

[Tet]

Yep. It's a fantastic track and I'd love to go back there, but it doesn't have enough spectators to justify the cost of running an FIA round.

[Tet]

Gastech said:

Tet, will you be appearing in TF at the finals?

Find me the money, and I'll be there. But short of that, I'll be a spectator like everyone else. I'd been expecting to get some money through over the summer to fund me running at the finals, but that didn't materialise, so that's pretty much it for this year. I'll see what I can do over winter to raise the funds to race again next season.