Rules are meant to be ..... changed

Spoiler alert – this might sound like a whinge.

As motorsport competitors we are governed by, surrounded by and slightly obsessed with rules.  There are rules controlling how we build our cars, how we race them, what we wear and what we say and in general they do a great job of keeping us safe and sometimes saving us from ourselves.  The rules are generally written with safety front of mind followed by cost and fairness of competition with a degree of history thrown in for good measure but of course they have to constantly change and adapt to keep up with changes in technology, advancements in safety and evolving community expectations and standards.

The reality then is that rules are generally written by the regulators or event promoters rather than the competitors, and inevitably they reflect the wants and needs of those people and sometimes the competitors are handed with a set of regulations that no longer align with their wishes or expectations.  In professional motorsport there is generally far more collaboration between these parties where factors such as cost containment and market relevance may be more important at this level whereas in club level competitions the onus falls on the promotors to craft a set of rules that fit in with their needs.

I'm talking about this now because the Targa regulations have recently been amended for the next few years and there are some big changes that directly affect our own competition and specifically our ability to be competitive with our current car. Of course I'm referring to our own category being "Classic GT" which is the premier class in tarmac for classic rally (cars up to 1986) and is the outright class with the fastest classic cars competing against each other in open competition with no handicapping.

Classic GT is itself only three years old and was created to cater for the increasingly modified cars at the pointy end that made a mockery of the handicap system applied to Classic which made it virtually impossible for older and less modified cars to place in the competition as the handicap system simply couldn't reign in the faster cars.  So the outright cars were split off into Classic GT and even given a range of additional freedoms such as bigger wheels, larger capacity engines, suspension freedom and in some cases allowed modern engine swaps. In our own case with the 240z we wanted to be judged on outright pace rather than the handicap system so we elected to join Classic GT and tweaked the car a little to make it a bit faster (slightly larger engine capacity and some adjustable suspension).  In this configuration we had some success at Targa High Country achieving two podium finishes and a DNF in three starts, but we were a long way from being on the same pace as the leading cars.  The leaders in the class were running better cars, more power and more highly modified within the rules but also those guys were trying harder than us and taking more risks so deserved to be winning regardless. We made our choice and elected not to continue development on the car to try and chase them but be happy with our lot and just run around down the order and hope for some podium scraps when they fell off as they invariably do.

Fast forward to present day and the organisers at Targa have released the technical regulations for 2020 – 2023 and the expanded technical freedoms in Classic GT effectively mean that our car simply won’t be competitive against potential new or modified cars without a significant spend and a fundamental change to the character of the car.

Of course we could just sell the house and spend $100,000 upgrading the car but even then we still wouldn't have a competitive car compared to the front runners.

Breakdown:  The new Classic GT rules basically allow replacing your classic engine with a modern equivalent of same manufacturer and layout, install a sequential gearbox and big wheels along with existing freedoms in suspension and bodywork.  Classic cars are now acceptable up to 1989 (hello R32 Skyline) with AWD cars now accepted in Classic GT (mmm... GTR). Carbies replaced by fuel injection and modern engine management systems.

In theory the new rules make it easier to get your classic car a powerful reliable power plant so you might think we should be happy really but the limitations and restrictions still put us at a significant disadvantage.

For example:  we could replace our old iron block L28 with an iron block Nissan RB30 and bore and stoke to a class maximum of 4000cc (assuming this is possible).

Compare to a V8 Holden with a 4.2 or 5.0 iron block V8 than can be replaced with an all alloy 6.2 litre Chevrolet engine.

Now I'm no expert but I'm pretty sure that no amount of development (within the rules) is going to see a 4.0 six match a 6.2 V8.  Not even a stock one.

"But wait", I hear you cry, "it's not supposed to be an equal class, a V8 is supposed to be quicker".  And you're right of course.  This isn't a parity class and if we want to win we have to start with a better car.

So then, what was the point of the rule change in the first place?  The new freedoms mean that anyone who wants to be seriously competitive is going to have to at least upgrade / switch their engine and gearbox while those of us who can't afford to do that will just slip further down the order. 

I guess my point is, who has gained by making this rule change?  The V8 brigade controversially already had freedom to run a selected modern LS engine while some talented crews have already showed that a well-developed and very well driven 240z could still be competitive against them even with the old iron block L28.

So who wins?  Targa say the point of the change is to encourage new entrants into the field by expanding the number of cars eligible and making it easier to power up your old classic with a modern engine.

But I don't get it.  For us, Nissan haven’t made a compliant variant (in line 6 under 4.0 litre) for over 15 years.  And what about those manufacturers who no longer exist such as Triumph, what can they do? And just how many turbo fours were there in the 60's and 70's? There are clearly many cars with great options (Escorts with Duratec power and any Holden or Ford V8 for example) but these already have proven classic engines that have been well developed and are readily available.

Sour grapes perhaps you say?  If you don’t like it just go back to the old handicap class.  Sure.  Except now our car isn't compliant with the handicap rules anymore, the engine is too large and the adjustable suspension isn't legal so we at least need to build another (allegedly hard to find) original engine and swap out the LCA's. We have to spend money to go slower.

Add to that, a few years of exceptional results by some very talented crews in 240z entries have seen the handicapper apply a hefty handicap to EVERY 240z, regardless of modification level so our more expensive and slower car will be even less competitive in the handicap than it was in GT. Awesome.

So given all that, what do we do?   Lobby the regulators for yet more change? Join the masses in Early Modern with a turbo terror? Despite the fact that we have been fairly successful in the 240z over the years, we never set out to build a particularly fast car or trawled through the rulebook to best optimise our chances of success. Our motivation has been to build a safe, fun and reliable car that we could use in a range of disciplines from Rally to Circuit to Hillclimb that we could build and maintain ourselves and keep under a sensible budget.  In other words, "run what you brung".

So we will continue to run the car in whatever class it fits and accept the results whatever they are.

As we have always done.  #nomoretrophies