Quote:
Originally Posted by john ruston
Not enough young people
|
Define "young"? I'm guessing that's people in their 30s?
The cost issue can't be denied but I would argue that most people in to historic racing want to race the cars that they watched when they were kids. Hmmm, I spot one problem - apart from BTCC and F1 there isn't really much of an audience for many series so where does the interest stem from (and they are both joke series in my opinion).
The next issue is that the 30 somethings probably lusted after cars that were current when they were 15; Clios, Focus, Porsche Boxsters etc. Many wouldn't know what a Capri was if it ran over them, and yet those cars are not catered for in historic racing yet, indeed they are still current in club racing. The one series from that era that is relevant and " current historic" is the Super Tourer series and that seems popular.
As Peter says, we need to get people involved in club racing and I think historic racing will survive as the next step, but will always be a slightly older audience.
We need to persuade people that club racing can be done more cheaply than imagined. Not cheap but more cheaply. There are start up cost of suits and ards but I still have my suit that i bought 16 years ago so the costs can be amortised. The growth in 2 driver 40/45 minute races also makes racing more accessible as costs can be shared, and we need to help people realise that you don't need to spend really big money to go racing, it can be done in a 2 Grand Fiat Uno, or a 4 Grand MX5 mk1 and be enjoyed just as much. There are plenty of series where those cars will do ok in their class (and by some standards they are historic anyway, certainly "classics"!)