To all Autobahn Racers,
Recently we had an off-season meeting which was very well attended. Prior to the meeting, and since then, I have had numerous conversations and received an abundance of emails expressing many different viewpoints of the member racing. Some opinions are in stark contrast to others. This is further evidence that we are entering a new and very positive era for the Club and the racing.
Tim O’Donnell, Craig Cunningham and I had a long discussion regarding the racing, what the vision is, and how to meet the Members’ needs. The subject of formalizing a competition committee made up of existing racers has been brought up in the past but was never fully embraced by the majority. Considering the record number of racers we currently have, and the large amount of information that comes with it, it is difficult to respond to each person to assure them that their voice is being heard. We feel the time is right to put this idea into action. We discussed what this committee might look like and how it could help us better serve the racers. We determined that a committee consisting of 5 active racers representing each discipline of our wheel to wheel racing, made up of drivers that generally have a pulse on their respective groups, could help me, as Race Director, sort through all of these existing voices and assist in the decision making as we enter this new age for the Club.
Talks like this inevitably include names of who could best fill these positions but also who might be a good candidate to lead. This is when Charley Margosian’s name came up. Charley has been a GT racer with us for many years and has experience racing with other organizations. Charley’s enthusiasm for the Club is evident in the way he voluntarily organized a GT Racers email group and regularly encourages GT drivers to come and race. He also manages to keep this group on point when discussions get derailed. Charley has proven he is levelheaded and able to present all sides of an argument whether it be to his benefit or not. For these reasons and many others, we asked Charley if he would be willing to lead this new competition committee. I reached out to Charley and within minutes he responded with a resounding YES!
We are very excited that Charley has accepted this role. Charley immediately began reaching out to those who would be good candidates to complete this group and we are pleased to announce the following representatives have agreed to devote time to represent their designated groups.
GT Challenge – Charley Margosian
Spec Miata – Scott Bowman
SM2 – Bill Hamel
Radical Cup – Louis Schriber
Wings-n-Things – Philip DeFrancesco
Race season is fast approaching and the time it will take to put this group together may hinder it in having informed input into some of the topics that are in contention after the racer meeting. While some changes from the meeting seemed straight forward, such as flipping the GT class numbers and discarding the rewards weights, others are not as clear, particularly changes to the GT classifications and the eligibility requirements for SM2 drivers. Understanding that drivers need to know if changes will be required for their car in a timely manner, we will proceed with the elimination of rewards weight in the GT class for the 2020 season, but there will be no further changes to classification structure.
SM2 eligibility will be addressed by the committee and changes, if any, will be implemented when the committee has come to a consensus.
Any changes discussed but not included in this description will not be implemented at this time.
Furthermore, I would like to add that SM2 drivers have been heard that they feel slighted about having potential awards taken away and shifted to the Spec Miata group. My apologies for not recognizing the desires of this group. While we may look for opportunities to enhance the entire Miata series, we will take nothing away from SM2 including offers from Hoosier or anything else that arises.
I look forward to the input and help Charley and this committee will bring and hope this serves our racer members as we continue to grow our racing series and meet everyone’s expectations.
A copy of the Racer Committee by-laws and a brief list of rules changes can be found below and under the Member Racing tab at Autobahnmembers.com
Sincerely, Mike Gritter – Race Director
