Quote:
Originally Posted by Tone
I agree, never had two cars back in the day and you don't see Hamilton asking for a wet car when it rains, he gets new tyres on it
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Because there are rules in most series that forbid the use of multiple cars. Backup cars used to be common in motorsport (still virtually a necessity in NASCAR), and if possible nowadays I can safely say that teams with big enough budgets would have a second car.
You can't compare something that you can hold in your hand that costs a few hundred pounds with something that needs towing round in a huge trailer and costs tens, hundreds of thousands, in some cases millions of pounds. There's a reason people do scale motorsport, and it's because in the grand scheme of things it doesn't cost a lot of money. It's not cheap, but a full professional setup will cost you about the same as some basic club autograss or rallycross. Similarly, you can lump a car, a pit box/hauler bag full of tools, charger, batteries, wheels, tyres, tables, chairs and everything in between in the back of a car quite easily. If you want to throw a couple of spare cars in (that might have only cost you the same as a couple of new motors), it takes up the back seat of the car. If you want a 1:1 spare car, you'll either need a bigger truck or a second trailer and car to tow it with, as well as all the extra logistical issues and expenses. If you're looking for, say, a secondhand backup GT3 car, that's going to be an extra £100-200k of expenditure for something you might never need during the season, and something that's going to depreciate quite quickly. Not many people can easily afford to do that, and even if they could, I'm sure they would much rather spend it on ensuring they have all the necessary consumables and spares covered - or even increasing the amount of races they attend.
If the BRCA were to introduce said rule, it would probably turn just as many people away as this current situation ever will. I've heard people voice frustration at not wanting to spend money on multiple platforms, but I've not heard anyone wish to completely give up racing 2wd because of it. The average racer who can only afford one car would only really need a normal mid motor car and two solid wet and dry setups. If you're an average racer who has the money to spend on more cars, it won't be an issue for you. If you're an above average driver and you're competing at a higher level, then the chances are you'll have some kind of sponsorship deal, in which case you won't have to spend that much (if anything at all) on multiple cars.
If you over-complicate, you end up turning people away. There are some effective ways of cutting costs through the use of control items, like handout tyres, and then there are the things that are left to the driver themselves, like 17.5 buggy - a "fair" class which essentially involves throwing the most amount of money possible at your car. If you limited people to one chassis, you might eliminate the cost of people buying two kits, but people would still spend an equal amount on high/low grip specific parts that they could bolt on.
It might not please everyone, but capping the consumables is about as far as you can realistically go in terms of meaningful cost control.
03-05-2016
What are peoples views on the current trend in 2wd?
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