RE: TVR Chimaera Challenge
Friday 15th March 2002
TVR Chimaera Challenge
TVR Malaysia gearing up for 24 car grid
Discussion
)quote:
Or how about a TVR race challenge where anyone can enter as long as it's a TVR! Kind of like the Tasmin Challenge but with more variety....... Have to ban the Ex-Tuscan racecars though cos they'd clean up and leave us all looking like tossers!
Jas.
Well, there's always sprinting if you want to compete in your roadgoing TVR? Not quite the thrills of real racing, but not quite as expensive either!
Just corresponded with the guys in Malaysia about this and they have six drivers confirmed and more in the process of signing. Still a fair bit of paperwork to do by the sounds of it with regard to Government permits, sorting out the TV coverage etc. Dunlop have signed up as the tyre supplier. Hopefully I'll have some more coverage of it later in the year.
As for UK TVR racing, the Tasmin Challenge set out to make racing TVR road cars a reality a couple of years back. Steve Lewis has done an amazing job (in the face of a lot of cynics) of creating a series that should see almost 20 Tasmins racing this season. Quite a sight. There was a proposal this year to let S series cars race too but that wasn't approved. I hope that will happen at some point in the next few years and who knows where it will could from there...
As for UK TVR racing, the Tasmin Challenge set out to make racing TVR road cars a reality a couple of years back. Steve Lewis has done an amazing job (in the face of a lot of cynics) of creating a series that should see almost 20 Tasmins racing this season. Quite a sight. There was a proposal this year to let S series cars race too but that wasn't approved. I hope that will happen at some point in the next few years and who knows where it will could from there...
a tvr cup for older cars would be cool, i think the tasmin series was a superb idea, but can bring myself to spend money on a tasmin! spending money (albeit more money) on a race prep'd chimera is much more enticing...
this would be even better if the races were longer, say 1 hour endurance style
this would be even better if the races were longer, say 1 hour endurance style
id Have thought the next step in TVR racing in the uk would be an intermediate stage with ex Tuscan race cars using standars 4 or 4.5 ltr rover engines with about real bhp.
That would be the cheapest way to do things. the main cost in preping a tasmin ( or an s if we went down that route) is in restoring the dam thing before you can start preping it.
the trouble with allowing the S cars in tho the challenge is
a) development costs
b) spares ect would cost more as fewer of each car type
c) maintaining the reulations to keep a level playing field.
d) if one type of car was found to be better than the other then the others would be worthless.
The tasmins were picked ad they are the least loved and hence cheapest.... Id love to race a v8 wedge can do quite enough damage with a v6 at the Mo
I wish the Malaysian guys luck, they need it to sell a few more cars, mind you a dealer other than the factory in te middle of nowhere might help...
That would be the cheapest way to do things. the main cost in preping a tasmin ( or an s if we went down that route) is in restoring the dam thing before you can start preping it.
the trouble with allowing the S cars in tho the challenge is
a) development costs
b) spares ect would cost more as fewer of each car type
c) maintaining the reulations to keep a level playing field.
d) if one type of car was found to be better than the other then the others would be worthless.
The tasmins were picked ad they are the least loved and hence cheapest.... Id love to race a v8 wedge can do quite enough damage with a v6 at the Mo
I wish the Malaysian guys luck, they need it to sell a few more cars, mind you a dealer other than the factory in te middle of nowhere might help...
Only thing that causes me slight concern is cost of running newer cars. The amount of money that goes into racing my Fiesta is unbelievable. Not hundreds of pounds, but thousands! Last summer, two separate races cost me nearly £1,000! (including B&B, food, repairs, etc....) Bear in mind that the avarage season is approx 10 races, and this soon mounts up. Imagine how much Chimaera's would cost to race! As for the Tuscan's, even the ex-race cars will be further developed as new technology becomes available and you start getting in to cheque book racing in a serious way.
The key to enjoying motorsport is to keep costs to a minimum and make it available to the masses and not the select few, otherwise you have half empty grids which no-one wants to watch.
The Tasmin Challenge addresses this issue extremely effectively. Maybe a compromise would be to run a championship for all TVR's regardless of age and cost and have a class structure for the different models. This is already being done in many local championships with regional motor clubs and makes it enjoyable for everyone.
If this were to happen, I would build an 'S' series race car. I've wanted to do it for ages anyway!
Finally, someone once told me, "The way to make a small fortune in motor racing is to start with a large one!"
Anyone who Sprints, races, etc.. will understand the truth in that statement!
Jas.
>> Edited by Paceracing on Monday 18th March 18:47
The key to enjoying motorsport is to keep costs to a minimum and make it available to the masses and not the select few, otherwise you have half empty grids which no-one wants to watch.
The Tasmin Challenge addresses this issue extremely effectively. Maybe a compromise would be to run a championship for all TVR's regardless of age and cost and have a class structure for the different models. This is already being done in many local championships with regional motor clubs and makes it enjoyable for everyone.
If this were to happen, I would build an 'S' series race car. I've wanted to do it for ages anyway!
Finally, someone once told me, "The way to make a small fortune in motor racing is to start with a large one!"
Anyone who Sprints, races, etc.. will understand the truth in that statement!
Jas.
>> Edited by Paceracing on Monday 18th March 18:47
wise words indeed!...i'm looking at doing the caterham supergrads series which has a neat formula for keeping costs down; sealing engines, virtually no mods appart from saftey ones, limit of 12 tyres per season, and a prohibition from usuing pro race teams for support. i think the tasmin formula could be extended to chimeras, esp. using a class based formula. the mods required to run race chims would seem well established, given that one won in malaysia last year...
Why not check it out with a week in Kuala Lumpur to include a visit to TVR Malaysia and tickets to watch the factory defend its title in the 12 hour endurance race at Sepang on 30th August - see www.diplomatic.co.uk/asia.htmlquote:
Or how about a TVR race challenge where anyone can enter as long as it's a TVR! Kind of like the Tasmin Challenge but with more variety....... Have to ban the Ex-Tuscan racecars though cos they'd clean up and leave us all looking like tossers!
But this is the problem. The Tasmin challenge has been successful because the cars have virtually the same performance. Through a different TVR especially a V8 and it makes the competition very one sided. OK so now you let tazzies have more mods but that costs more money and very soon the costs escalate.
The fairest way is to have a handicap a la Pete Humphries power to weight ratio used in the Sprint challenge where basically the guys who drive out of their skins get the most points and it isn't all about how deep your pocket is. The trouble is how do you implement this when racing for position in a short time duration race.
While Tazzie racing is cheap compared to many others, it still requires a serious commitment in time and money to make it happen. Any form of motorsport is not cheap... it is just that some are less expensive than others. I stick to sprinting because I love tinkering with the car and the running costs for the level of performance I have are a lot lot lower than that for an equivalent race series as there is a lot less strain on the car.
Anyway, I am a strong beliver in the Enzo Ferrari spirit. Drive to the circuit, slap some numbers on the car. Compete and usually drive home.
Steve
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