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Old 25 Apr 2012, 22:48 (Ref:3065620)   #96
Tim 27
Racer
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
England
March,Cambs
Posts: 118
Tim 27 should be qualifying in the top 10 on the grid
I visit this forum each day, but only very rarely is something posted that I feel strongly enough to comment on, so thankyou Bella for raising the question to something so close to my heart.
Like many others who have posted before me, I firmly believe that too many championships lead the career drivers confused and bewildered as to which path to follow. Even with the required budget, guessing which is the best championship to choose to further that career is nigh on impossible in this day and age.
Even as a small child the ladder was easy to recognise and follow.
Start in Formula Ford, make the jump to Formula Three or maybe Atlantics (oh how I miss that championship), go on to Formula Two, if you get stuck stop off in Formula 5000, and then if you are lucky enough Formula One.
Grids were always full, as there were simply no other choices.
Manafacturer involvement was the main reason this changed over the years, creating series to promote their various brands. Organisers and governing bodies jumped at the chances, keen to promote more races at more circuits.
The downside of course is that grids became diluted. F3 was no longer a championship only held in your own country, and the European F2 championship disappeared altogether.
I know it's an impossibilty now, but if we went back to those core championships of the past, budgets, drivers, and teams would all be channelled into certain areas, creating full grids, even heats to decide who would go onto the final. Just think, the Formula Ford Festival of old, but in every championship at every round!
Avid motorsport fans that they were, my parents took me to my first meeting at a month old, and at 45 now I have regularly attended both national and international meetings ever since. But I find it impossible to keep track of the various European single seater championships now, let alone those throughout the world. For too many years to remember, the motorsport community has tried to make Joe Public aware that F1 isn't the only single seater championship in the world, but with the leisure pound harder fought for than ever, trying to persuade someone to go to a predominately single seater meeting is nigh on impossible. I find it grossly unfair that the promoters couldn't care less about how many spectators come through the gate, and rely solely on entry fees to run a meeting. Corporate and track days are only things of fairly recent years, and that revenue has made those promoters care even less as to how many people actually want to come and watch their meetings.
The technical debate isn't really an issue, we will never stop teams and drivers trying to seek an advantage, whether it be through engines, tyres, telemetry etc. This will happen whether there be 3 championships or 330.
Single seater racing isn't in crisis, it just lacks direction, lacks clarity as to which path to choose, whether it be the F1 wannabe, or the casual fun racer.
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