There have been several member inquiries regarding the motivation for some of the moves that we have proposed for 2015. Hopefully this clears some of that up...

First, some history – As part of the move from Stock Category to Street Category, the SEB and SAC included an Appendix A car classification that was a best guess of maintaining the right competitive balance and class personality for all of the classes within the category. We also knew that we are not perfect and that we would likely get some of these classifications wrong. So along with the transition, we requested and the BOD approved, that the entire Street Category Appendix A would be subject to 3.2 of the Solo Rules. This allows for reclassification of a car within 12 months without BOD approval and without member input. We did this as a way to allow for mistakes to be corrected quickly as we transitioned between Stock Category and Street.

In response to some concern early in the year that members would be chasing a moving target, we published the following member advisory in the March 2014 FasTrack - "The SEB does not anticipate making significant classing changes within the new Street category, or within Street R (known in 2013 as Stock), prior to the 2014 Solo Nationals. The intent is to utilize the provisions of 3.2 only to correct significant errors or oversights in the listings." Fortunately, no classifications proved themselves so egregious that we felt a mid-year reclassification was appropriate, and we made no updates to Appendix A during the 2014 Season.

With the 2014 Nationals behind us, the SAC and SEB took the opportunity to reassess Appendix A to see if there were any moves that we felt would be appropriate under 3.2, and we determined that some were justified. This list will be published for the official record in the November 2014 FasTrack, but as a service to the membership we also wanted to get this information out as soon as we could, so these reclassifications were published in an un-official manner via the SoloMatters website.

As for what the motivations were behind the moves, the over-arching answer is that they were done in an effort to foster good competition and generate increased participation. More specifically, the SAC and SEB feel like the best way to accomplish this is to have favorable classification for cars that are widely available and popular with enthusiasts. Cars that are difficult to acquire, difficult to own, etc. are generally going to be classed less favorably than cars that are easy to own. Cars that are older and have a limited parts supply are generally going to be classed less favorably than cars that are still supported by their manufacturer. Cars that are popular with our participants are generally going to be classed more favorably than cars that are not. Each class tends to develop its own "personality" and we are sensitive to that. There is also the desire to remove course dependency where we can, and that was the motive on some of these moves. Finally, there are two moves that we could not reach consensus on amongst ourselves and we are thus putting them out for comment to the membership for feedback - First is removing the Porsche 997 GT3 from SSR (this would be in an effort to improve participation via ridding the class of a low-numbers perceived over-dog) and moving the C5 Corvette base model from BS to AS (this is driven by the fact that most enthusiasts who want a C5 will go for the not-much-more-expensive Z06, as well as an effort to keep the cars in BS more similar to each other).

In total, out of approximately 750 classifications in the 2014 rule book, there were 18 (2%) that were moved within the first eight classes. Another 99 (13%) were moved from GS to HS on the belief that they were not competitive in GS, but could move to HS without upsetting the competitive balance there. We believe that these moves, while they may or may not be favored by individuals directly affected, result in a set of car classifications that will increase participation and ensure solid competition within each of the classes.

Dave Hardy,
Solo Events Board