Interesting reading the extreme 2wd thread makes an old bloke like me wonder if we have perhaps lost our way a bit. I may be old but the main reason I compete, still, in off road is because I enjoy it. Plenty of people have better cars than me, so what.
I think the shift in our sport from finishing to winning has caused a lot of unrealistic expectations. I remember when I first became involved in off road the question at the next club meeting after a big race was never did you win, it was always did you finish. Let's be clear, to finish a long distance off road race is still a great achievment. If like my old girl you have no power steering, you ache for a week. I am not sure these days how many events still award finishing certificates, I think Sea Lake does. To spend many hours in the shed preparing your car & have it perform without incident, is a very satisfying feeling.
So my friends understand this, someone will always have more money than you, will always have a better car than you, will always exploit rules to the maximum. That's the nature of sport.
I also think that the speed difference combined with late running time also discourages people from entering events for enjoyment & to simply finish. I did the maths on the Pines enduro a couple of years ago, it worked out that if we got a flat tyre we would have ran out of late time. I want to say that I am not complaining, just stating facts. If we want to get new people into our sport & encourage some old ones to come back, I believe we need to look at this.
I think having a state component at national events is heading in the right direction. I would suggest that where possible, it be made compulsary.
I think the shift in our sport from finishing to winning has caused a lot of unrealistic expectations. I remember when I first became involved in off road the question at the next club meeting after a big race was never did you win, it was always did you finish. Let's be clear, to finish a long distance off road race is still a great achievment.
My feelings exactly. Maybe the sport is passing us older guys by.
Maybe it is Steve, & if that's how it is, so be it. I can't complain, I've had 30 years of pleasure out of the sport. My concern is the next generation like my son. We need to find ways to encourage them to just compete & recognise things like preparation & finishing.
This is my 29th year in the sport. Went to my first event at Griffith in 1981. Many people lamented the lack of exposure and professionalism in the sport in the early days - apart from a few exceptions. Progress in these areas raises the bar for all in terms of preparation and presentation. We all should remember the reason we got involved in this sport in the first place. It was fun, uncomplicated and relatively cheap to compete. Apart from the well heeled few it still is - mostly. For the well heeled delete cheap :)
Naa, not lost the way, its just evolution as our sport goes to bigger and better things. Its a change of focus at the top, but thats not a bad thing. This is my opinion only of course.
Although the focus may now be those who are in it to win it, there are still lots of of people out there just to finish, we're one of them! Why else would we be competing in a division where mega HP turbos or max-cubed V8's is the standard with a stock 4ltr?! Not to win, but to have an awesome time competing and to see how far up the order we can go as the underdog.
In general our sport must be very healthy, we're getting more exposure, entrants and vehicles than we've had in a while, the increased professionalism is reflective as well, and all this in the middle of a recession. Cant be too much wrong!
__________________
Green Sally up. Green Sally down. Lift and squat, gonna tear the ground.
I HAVE NO REAL PROBLEM WIH THE WAY OUR SPORT IS HEADED. AS THE SAYING GOES YOU CANT STOP PROGESS, WHICH ONE OF US HASN,T GOT A TRICK PART OFF OF ONE OF THE BETTER FUNDED GUYS YES IT MAYBE 12 MONTHS OLD AND DONE THE NATIONAL SERIES THE YEAR BEFORE BUT IT STILL HELPS YOU GO FASTER AND HOPEFULLY LONGER.THE ONLY THING THAT CONCERNS ME IS THE LITTLE GUY LOOSING HIS VOICE IN THE SPORT AS THE BIG MONEY COMES TO THE SPORT. HOPEFULLY AORCOM REMEMBERS THE SPORTS BOTTOM DWELLERS ONLY TIME WILL TELL.
i gota agree with anthony , and not cause were family ,
the thing thats sometimes upsets me is when the guys with the big $ cars only race the state rounds , as there not competative in the national rounds , making it that bit herder for the working class racer's who can only afford to race the state rounds ,
__________________
were we're goin we dont need roads.
it's not the speed of life that scares me, it's the sudden stop at the end ,
Are some people forgetting that in order to win, you first & most importantly have to finnish. Look at the results of any race & see just how many big $ entrants didn't finnish for what are quite often minor problems leaving quite a few slots at the pointy end (if thats where you want to be) for the well prepared & carefully raced low $ folks. My opinion is that nobody finnishes last in an off road race because everyone who finnishes has usually beaten statistically at least 30% of the field.
