Post
by tut » Sat Aug 31, 2013 9:38 am
Bob, When I competed in A8 in 2005, the rules were that the engine did not have to be original but had to be the same configuration, ie:- 4 cyl, 16 valve, horizontal. It could also be S/C and there was no power restriction. As A8 was a new Class there were no lap times, so bogey times were set and were easy for me to beat by quite a large margin. As a result I was getting the maximum 32 points at every Sprint event, and if I had managed that I would have been Scottish Sprint Champion with 256 points. KH was also included then which was even better for me. Ali was next behind me in an Elise 160S, a beginner back then but improving very quickly.
However at Boyndie with around three events to go, I could not get out of the car and ended up in a wheelchair, so that was my season finished. Ali ended up as Road Car Champion and also best Newcomer.
For 2006 they changed the regulations so cars for A8 had to be basically standard showroom cars that would not have been able to beat my records. The Exige then put out 190hp. Graeme Bremner managed to get around this by buying an S1 Exige with a 260hp Turbo Technics conversion, which was 50hp more than mine, so he was able to get maximum points and was Scottish Sprint Champion for the next three years until he could not beat his own lap times anymore so changed Classes. How that was classed as a standard factory car I do not know, but good luck to him, he did his homework and achieved his aim.
I may be being cynical, but I believe that one reason for the regs being changed was that if I had finished the season and won the Championship, it would have been a first, as the winner had always come from the racing car Classes, not a road car driven by an OAP. I don't think the bare feet helped either.
tut