2019 Formula Classic Round 7
2019 Formula Classic – Round 7
WASCC August meeting – 18th August
Despite the beautiful winter day only a very small field of cars were entered for the August meeting, 10 in total. The WASCC deemed it appropriate to dock 2 laps from each of the races as ‘punishment’ to the class for providing such a small field of cars. Eight, 6 and 6 being the laps allocated to Formula Classics three events. (I shall comment further on the WASCC decision below)
With the recent introduction of unleaded race fuels only it was interesting to note several competitors struggled with starting problems this cold morning, coincidence or just the cold morning air? Hendo missing the qualifying session completely due to a non-starting car. Normal service was resumed quickly however for Michael, despite a rear of the field start in race one. Craig Thompson too started the race day poorly with a spark plug lead coming off in both qualifying and race one, thankfully this was successfully rectified by one of his support team before race two.
Harvey Leys pulled the pin on the event after the first race in protest over the shortened event durations. An honourable thing to do but maybe not the best strategy for the group as it left even fewer cars in the field.
It was a case of the usual suspects for the outright positions for the race day, the result being exactly the same as the July meeting;
1st Michael Henderson
2nd Simon Alderson
3rd Dave Turner
Handicap results for the event were;
1st Murray Charnley
2nd David Turner
3rd Craig Thompson
The next round is a little way off at Collie on the weekend of 19th / 20th October but closely followed by the final round for the 2019 season at Barbagallo the immediate following weekend of 26th / 27th October. Not great planning, some may say, having a two month break and then two weekend meetings back to back, but it is what it is.
The 2019 season, to date (7 rounds), has not been well supported with an average field of only 11 cars per event. It would be great to see a strong Formula Classic finale to the season at the remaining two rounds. Come on Chaps, let’s put a few more cars on the grid.
Commentary
I think the ruling by WASCC to ‘punish’ Formula Classic for providing a small field by reducing the number of racing laps is unfair and wrong. Unfair, as our entry fee is the same as other class entry fees yet we get less laps and wrong, because the people that are being punished are the one that actually entered the event and yet get penalised for something outside their control.
That said, I do understand that only so many racing laps can be run in a day and that the WASCC want to get and provide ‘best bang for your buck’ and that 15 to 20 cars on the track at one time is better than only 8 or 10.
From my perspective the solution is simple, Formula Classic needs to put more cars on the grid at every race meeting. Not only will this ensure we avoid the unpleasantness of having racing laps taken away from us but ultimately it will give us a ‘loader voice’ with WASCC to get better track terms and conditions for Formula Classic.
Over the past five seasons over 50 different cars and drivers have run in Formula Classic events at the Barbagallo and Collie circuits, with most of these cars and drivers still in the State. Surely we can put on a better show than we have for the earlier part of this season and demonstrate to the WASCC and the viewing public that Formula Classic is a great class and one that’s here to stay.