In May 1958 Road & Track magazine tested the Mercedes 180D. Performance was meagre: 0 - 60 was 32.3s. 1/4 mile time: 26.0s and top speed not quite 69 mph. In 1968 I bought one as my first car. Every day, on the way to the University of Calgary, it became a challenge to see how fast I could get going up University Drive from Crowchild Trail before I had to brake for the light at the end. I don’t think I ever broke the speed limit - by much.
What’s that got to do with B-Spec Racing? Everything. Based on B Cars including: Mazda2, Honda Fit, Toyota Yaris, Ford Fiesta, Chevy Cruz these small, light and nimble cars will offer more skill-based racing than many earlier series like this.
Speed and power will take a back seat to line, momentum and finding the gap before it starts to appear. Couple that with a relatively low cost, how much more fun can you legally have? It's also a great way to entice new club racing prospects.
Cars will be stock with a few upgrades to tires and suspension allowed, equipped with the mandatory safety equipment and race certified. Drivers also need the normal race paraphernalia and licencing, but after that, it’s basically showroom stock with a multitude of fiddle factors like restrictor plates and ballast to even the playing field a bit.
SCCA has a complete set of rules and regs available at
http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/assets/B-Spec-March.pdf
Now all I need is about 25 grand and to be able to get in and out of the car.
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