BMW CCA CLUB RACING
		Thoughts on the Spec E30

The concept of a spec E30 is not a new one. Scott Hughes and the Club Racing team contemplated a spec series using the E30 chassis as well as the 318ti and 4 cylinder Z3 models over four years ago. Much of the analysis has to do with the philosophy behind a spec series of any kind. The philosophy was to have a relatively inexpensive platform that would be essentially identical to all the racecars in the class. A corollary to that was the idea of keeping the budget of the racer out of the equation to the greatest extent possible. The consensus then was that so many modifications of so many different types already existed in the E30 community, that it would be a huge burden to find a common standard and an even bigger one to enforce that standard. The determination was that a clean slate was needed or a dramatic increase in the size and expertise of the tech staff as well as the budget needed to accommodate that effort.

When I assumed the role of chairman, I also quizzed the staff about the viability of an E30 spec class. Even though many of the faces had changed, the conclusions were nearly identical in almost every respect. Those conclusions included some key elements which I will outline below.

First and foremost, the racers have spoken with great volume about their desire not to have to remove performance parts on which they have already spent significant money. Removing ECU chips, shocks, springs, differentials, brake kits and a host of other improvements allowed under our Prepared rules would be a huge burden in that regard. Allowing multiple spring sets and shock valving gives a clear competitive advantage to those who can afford the cost of different set ups for different tracks.

Just as important was the enforcement of whatever rule set might be established. Writing and publishing rules is very simple. Enforcing them is a totally different story. Not enforcing the rules negates the purpose of ever having created them and it totally undermines the initial philosophical concept of a spec series, an equal racing platform. It was roundly agreed that we do not possess the staff, expertise or funds to properly enforce a spec series where ALL of the existing racecars have to have something done to them to comply.

The rules proposed by the spec E30 series will require enforcement. Cheating is rampant in spec series and that fact is well documented. SCCA requires sealed engines that can only be overhauled at a single facility. They spend huge amounts of resources, which we don't have at our disposal, to enforce the Spec Racer Ford series.

Given the failure to produce a true spec series, the "new" spec E30 class is nothing more than a created class that exists somewhere between Stock and Prepared. A racecar prepared to those rules will not be legal in Stock and will be non-competitive in Prepared. A Stock racecar will have considerable expenditures to match the spec E30 rules, and a Prepared racecar will also have to spend considerable money to "dumb down" to the spec E30 rules. The rules are non-compliant with SCCA IT series rules which essentially limits the crossover viability to any other meaningful venue.

We know we don't have the tech capacity to properly enforce these rules and we strongly suspect the other venue won't either. That simply means a new class that will be a magnet to non-compliant cars and that the debate will continue ad nauseum about whether the leaders are cheating or just better drivers. With such a wide window and inadequate tech, no one will ever know.

We believe we have four classes that closely mirrors this effort ... it's called K Prepared, J Prepared, K Stock and J Stock. Changing a couple of allowed preparation items and adding two more classes while radically increasing our tech inspection and enforcement burden doesn't seem productive from our perspective.

Steve

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