Formula Libre change of class name

Discussion related to classification of cars in the NEHA series.
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walterclark
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Re: Formula Libre change of class name

Post by walterclark »

Kevin and John,

I think you are saying we would have a 3rd general classification, call it Open for now, that cars from P, S and U classes can compete in under their respective safety rules 1) if they choose to, or 2) would need to based on a performance feature (such as displacement) that would exclude them from any P, S or U class.

Thus any car wishing to run Open would have to be willing to meet the technical (except displacement) and safety requirements of one of our classes (P, S, or U) ...e.g. A Formula Atlantic car could run Open but will have to meet the cage and other safety requirements that apply to P. Or a bone stock 8.4 litre uncaged Viper could participate and would need run in Open, while meeting the U safety rules including breakout.
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Re: Formula Libre change of class name

Post by Mopar 151w2 »

You mean like this guy? No f'n joke - I saw this kart go 211mph at Epping in '78 or so
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by then it had been re-liveried as the Free Country
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Re: Formula Libre change of class name

Post by walterclark »

There might be one or two little issues fitting that cart into any of our classes...
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Re: Formula Libre change of class name

Post by Mopar 151w2 »

Does'nt the straight jacket count as arm restraints? Part of the act - The kart is rolled to the start line. A van pulls up - 2 guys in white coats lift out a "madman" in a straight jacket - then, they let him out of the straight jacket and Velcro him in to the kart.
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Re: Formula Libre change of class name

Post by KevinGale »

walterclark wrote:Kevin and John,

I think you are saying we would have a 3rd general classification, call it Open for now, that cars from P, S and U classes can compete in under their respective safety rules 1) if they choose to, or 2) would need to based on a performance feature (such as displacement) that would exclude them from any P, S or U class.

Thus any car wishing to run Open would have to be willing to meet the technical (except displacement) and safety requirements of one of our classes (P, S, or U) ...e.g. A Formula Atlantic car could run Open but will have to meet the cage and other safety requirements that apply to P. Or a bone stock 8.4 litre uncaged Viper could participate and would need run in Open, while meeting the U safety rules including breakout.
Yes, and again this is what we have now with Formula Libre we would just be changing the name and maybe tweaking some wording to make it clear that this is what is allowed.

However the displacement limit only applies to Prepared. There isn't as far as I know any displacement limit in U or S. So the bone stock 8.4 litre Viper could run in U1 but it could also bump to Open. Probably isn't any need for a displacement limit in U or S given the tire limits. Of course the Viper won't really have any more fun in Open since it will still be subject to the breakout rule. :-)
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Re: Formula Libre change of class name

Post by Kiwi »

The real objection I have to the class name Open is that other sanctioning bodies (Rally America, NASA Rally, PPIHC, maybe others) already use that name. Their rules for Open class are much more limiting than what we propose for Open. In Rally America, turbo restrictors are required, consumer-grade fuel, catalytic converter, and vehicles must be road legal.
Rally America: Open Category be based on production vehicles. Innovation and modifications within the rules is encouraged. Nonproduction based vehicles (i.e., "one-off" vehicles) built from the ground up, are explicitly prohibited.
Pikes Peak is different, Open is essentially a full race category for cars that look like production cars, think silhouette cars like NASCAR, except the panels are supposed to look like the production version.

If NEHA defines Open as equivalent to Formula Libre, we are setting yet another standard for the term Open.

I am trying to bring a more standards-based approach where the class lines up more closely with that of other sanctioning bodies. That's why PPIHC name of Unlimited makes the most sense to me, it is most equivalent to Formula Libre. NASA German Touring Series also uses the term Unlimited for their top class (GTS-U), as well as NASA's top class of Super Unlimited. I would personally rather change the class name Unprepared to something different to prevent confusion.

And Unlimited doesn't truly mean "anything goes". Vehicles need to be considered safe enough to compete. Possibly a new sentence in the classification rules should be added as a catch-all, something like:
"Vehicles competing for the first time at a NEHA event must be accepted for competition by the chairperson in consultation with the technical inspectors. Unusual vehicles may not be accepted, please contact the organizers prior to the event."

I would also take suggestions for a name other than Open or Unlimited for the Formula Libre name replacement. Prefer something used already by a sanctioning body to classify a vehicle using least-restrictive rules. Does Super Unlimited appeal to anyone?

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Re: Formula Libre change of class name

Post by hammer »

Luke and I were discussing this yesterday and it made the most sense to us that if Formula Libre were changed to Unlimited, in order to not confuse it with Unprepared that class could be renamed to Street. As that better describes the cars currently competing in the U class. So the classes would then be: Street (S), Street Prepared (SP), Prepared (P), Unlimited (U). Even if we don't change FL to Unlimited, I agree that Unprepared could use a name change as well, since Unprepared seems to indicate that the car isn't ready for racing as I believe someone else commented.
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Re: Formula Libre change of class name

Post by sachilles »

How about prepared libre or pl? Libre means the state of being free. Removing " formula" from the class designation removes the confusion with formula cars.
Libre Unlimited.
Prepared Libre.
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Re: Formula Libre change of class name

Post by Pascal »

Of everything suggested so far I would think that Sam's suggestion above would work best. If part of the goal is to avoid confusion with other classes used elsewhere, than I would agree that the Open designation should be avoided.

Changing unprepared to street should work, as street still describes the class appropriately. And in my opinion, Unlimited does the same for FL.
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Re: Formula Libre change of class name

Post by 3rdgendennis »

I think Unprepared should be renamed Stock rather than Street
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