[F500] F500 rules

[Stan]

F500 Community,

While I too was annoyed by the difficulty finding the ruling of the CRB
in the Feb Fastrack Addendum, I am equally confident that the lack of
an 'F500' title has an explanation no more complex than simple human
error. There was no effort, intent nor desire to try to 'slip one by'
the F500 community in the hopes no one would notice. On the contrary,
the CRB made a definitive decision about the Rakavon issue, and very
much intended that it be right out in plain sight.

That said, let me address the issue of the Rakavon itself, so that
anyone reading this forum knows exactly what the process was and how we
arrived at the decision we did. In December the CRB asked me (as one of
the Formula reps to the CRB) to look into the issue and report back in
time for our January conference call. The CRB did not want the issue to
fester for any longer than neccessary. Furthermore, in a phone
conversation with Jay, he personally asked me to urge the CRB to make a
definitive decision ASAP so that he could get on with his plans, one
way or the other. Therefore, over a two week period I undertook to read
every letter and email the CRB received on the subject during 2005, as
well as read again all the posts I could find on this forum dealing
with the issue. I also spoke with several individuals currently
involved in the class as designers, constructors and competitors, and
visited the Novakar contructor's facility.

I also asked Jay to provide me with photos or drawings of the Rakavon
layout, as I wanted to evaluate claims that the system could be
retrofit to existing cars. In spite of offering full confidentiality
for his material, Jay did not provide me with the information I
requested.

A number of persons wrote the CRB (I do not get BoD letters) in support
of the transfer case. Had the CRB simply tallied votes and issued a
decision, then Jay's innovation would have won since the majority of
letters supported his side of the issue. However, the CRB does not take
that simple an approach. Instead, we evaluated the specific contents of
the letters to gain a more in-depth picture of the issue. And what kept
coming through was the financial impact that permitting reversing the
engine and all that went with it would have on the class. Here is what
we found.

1. The Rakavon has probable net advantages over existing cars in terms
of aerodynamic drag, engine performance and cooling.

2. Most existing cars cannot be readily coverted to this configuration.
Therefore, drivers wishing to remain competitve would feel compelled to
buy new cars, sharply raising the cost of competing.

3. Other constructors were working on their own reversed engine designs
- some with transfer cases; others with different mechanical solutions
to reversing rotation. This confirmed reports that existing cars cannot
(in the main) be converted.

The CRB also considered the wording and intent of the class description
in the GCR. It states in part that "Formula 500 is a Restricted class.
Therefore, any allowable modifications, changes, or additions are as
stated herein. There are no exceptions. IF IN DOUBT, DON'T."
Furthermore, the preceding sentence reads, "Specifications are
restrictive in nature to emphasize driver ability rather than design."

Yet Brian's letter of yesterday refers to Jay's superior skill as a
designer no less than seven times, concluding that he is "THE BEST
DESIGNER IN F500", and rhetorically asks "Do you honestly expect the
next design from that designer to NOT BE ANY FASTER???" [Emphasis in
the original.]

Although stated after the CRB made its decision, Brian's comments
underscore the CRB's concern that the Rakavon represents a
revolutionary design advance that fundamentally alters the F500
landscape. And it is this fundamental advance and the cost escalation
that it implies for the class as a whole that weighed most heavily in
the CRB's decision. Philosophically, F500 has been kept relatively
simple precisely to preclude the sharp cost rises we have seen in
recent years in other formula classes. To permit this revolutionary
change we would be significantly raising to financial bar to be
competitive in F500.

I hope most folks understand what we did, even if they disagree with
the decision. So where do we go from here? If there is a general
concensus that F500 needs to evolve into a more technically advanced
car, then my suggestion is that the community work on a comprehensive
revamping of the class philosophy and class rules to reflect where you
want the class to go. OTOH, piecemeal changes that clearly rise the
cost of the class will almost certainly not be approved.

In the meantime, there is no agenda to "get" F500, an accusation I have
read in some of the more impassioned letters. Heck, the easiest way to
do that would be to approve reversing the engines, and then watch the
class die as cost escalation drove competitors out of it. Instead, to
protect the interests of the vast majority of the participants, the CRB
took decisive action to head off a significant cost increase. I think
we made the right decision.

Regards, Stan Clayton

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