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MartinH is right. I gave up U2TC a few years ago (Alfa GTA). I knew I was not going any slower (or quicker !) but I was sliding down the finishing order inexorably. I knew my car was not super-tuned and it was more standard than most. The influx of money does not just affect the performance levels of the cars, but things like entry fees : Carol knew that for the well-heeled, the difference between a £500 entry fee and a £1200 fee was nothing. But it was to me, trying to do a full season of U2TC. I cannot criticise her for that - if I was running a series I would have gone down that route, I am sure.
So if you can't afford it, you can't race. It was ever thus.
The thing is, when a financial crisis hits the West, some of these guys will evaporate, not to be seen again - for example 1991/2001/2008 and so on.
Do the less well-off return then ? Probably not because the cars stay as highly-tuned and the circuit fees get higher and so on, one-way ratchet. Like most freelancers, my day rates did not change between 2008 and 2018 but the costs rose : I was one of the lucky ones.
A lot of sports start simple with plenty of entrants and a huge crowd who say " ...they're just like me ..." or "...maybe I'll have a go ..." or "...I know him and him..." . Over the years, the simplicity goes, the entrants/driver get wealthier, the crowds get smaller. That's the story of our sport.
Nick
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