continued from above
Vorshlag Leaving SCCA Solo for 2013
More bad news, but then it gets better below, I promise. Since we've got no place to race our S197 Mustangs in SCCA Solo for 2013, we're going to run our 2011 GT elsewhere and scuttle the 2013 GT project entirely. Yep, as in "sell the 2013". I will post a link to the ad for it in this thread soon (with the 18x10" wheels/tires, AST 4200RRs, and 2500 miles). While this seems drastic - "Why not just sit and wait for a year?" some have asked - we don't have time to wait for the painfully slow process, the glacial-like pace that SCCA rules changes always seem to take. It took them eight years to limit class jumping in ST, so of course it takes one year to properly clarify a single word within an existing rule. A solid year long wait to use the parts we have already used in Solo, openly and without protest, and that we feel have
always been legal.
But as a manufacturer of suspension products, we have many other chassis that we need to work with, and "waiting a year" to work on an outgoing chassis that has seen many years in production already (2005-2014), that is about to be replaced with a new version, just doesn't make business sense for us.
SCCA class decals coming off 2013 Mustang GT - which we bought solely to prepare and race in ESP class.
Leaving the SCCA for 2013
sucks and we're NOT happy about it, but it is a decision we've been discussing since this rule re-write was dumped on us from these committees. Now that the only "legal" Watts Link options we have are to use only a Fays2 or Steeda Watts Link, neither of which I sell (or care to), I opted for Option 2 - leave the class, and leave the sport. By the time this mess is undone, we will have
an all new chassis to play with in mid-2014 (see my last section in this post).
Remember, I'm losing a lot in this ruling and decision to leave the sport for 2013: in late 2012 I bought a
brand new car
just to build for SCCA ESP class. Onto this new 2013 GT we have already dumped many thousands of dollars in parts and labor. We have installed high end monotube double adjustable coilovers with remotes (AST 4200RR), an adjustable front sway bar, our camber plates, built custom remote reservoir brackets, cut the trunk for reservoir routing, yanked the rear seats (in preparation for 2012 Leguna Seca seat delete), and already started testing. There was still a LOT of work left to do: we were about to cut and flare the fenders to fit the monstrously large wheels and tires we were going to run (335F/345R), yank the radio and A/C, swap in a Boss302 motor, build the custom exhaust, test several intake manifolds and throttle bodies, and make this into a real, dedicated, no-holds-barred ESP autocross Mustang. But now... there's
just no point to all of this extensive, expensive work we have left - especially considering what is coming in mid-2014.
To some folks, our "I'm going elsewhere" statement sounds petty or petulant, but in the end
it is just business. We've been running SCCA Solo for more than 25 years, but for the past 7+ years it was no longer "just for fun" or just for "competition reasons", but to
test and showcase parts we make and/or sell. Since I can no longer race in a class where the rules makers choose to completely ignore the common aftermarket solutions and have decided to ban
some brands of parts that had previously been legal for decades, but allow others which have no real functional differences, we need to step away.
Other Sports Beckon!
We have too many other motorsports series out there for us to test our cars and parts in - from NASA to Optima and GTA to Goodguys. We don't
need to race in SCCA Solo to showcase or sell plenty of Whiteline Watts Links... the S197 Mustang owners just don't seem to care what the SCCA autocross rule makers say or do. Because, well, SCCA Solo is such a
tiny draw to the typical S197 chassis owner right now (but it could be - more on that below).
So we're out of ESP class for 2013 and I won't give any more money to the SCCA National office (no more entry fees, no more sponsorship), but we
will still support SCCA racers, our local SCCA Region (Texas Region), and will even compete in a few of our regional SCCA events in 2013 - just not in either of our Mustangs (I don't even think our 2011 GT is legal for Street Modified anymore). We are hosting the Annual Tech day at Vorshlag
this Saturday (Feb 23, 2013 - see the
FB invite) for our SCCA region and have even agreed to once again sponsor the welcome party at the Texas ProSolo in 2013. So we're not cutting all ties to this club, its members, or the regions.
We just don't agree with some decisions made at the top levels within the SCCA of late, and have decided to step away for a bit to see if or how we can return to this sport at the National level.
Click above to learn about the Texas Region SCCA Solo School, March 9th, 2013.
Amy and I will also be instructing at the March 9th
"beginners autocross school" hosted by the Texas Region SCCA, like we do every year. Come out to drive and learn with experienced autocrossers in the right seat with you all day. This isn't a sport or skill set you can teach yourself, you need both seat time and first-hand instruction to get better. Entry into the Solo School gets you a free entry into the autocross on March 10th. You can read more about it and register
here. We may or may not have something to race in Solo by the March 10th event, depends on some outside factors, but we will be there March 9th.
continued below