36hp Spirit of the Challenge
Hi Bill and thanx for your interest in the 36hp Challenge. Here in the states, our four available race tracks are spread out with at least 1000 miles, and sometimes 2000 miles, between them and this one man operation called "the 36hp Challenge" cannot hope to visit, much less oversee, each event. This is one of the reasons "the Spirit" is so critical to having good racing and that "Spirit" has been well received by almost all involved.Those who could not wrap their head around such a simple concept have gone on to put their efforts into other racing ventures.
The only incentive you might receive as a 36hp Challenger, and then only if you have the fastest 36hp Bug speed in a specific year, is a little trophy I put together out of some early sixties trophies I was once given with your name and the fastest speed engraved on the plaque. In addition, since we started the "1" Club, any and all 36hp engined racers that exceed 100 miles per hour will get a special decal showing membership in this exclusive group of racers( the "1" Club was designed specifically for those who find it hard to keep within specified rules by essentially, having no rules at all to speak of!). Other than that, if lucky, your name and hopefully photo of your car may get published in a VW magazine somewhere. Thats it! There just isn't any real reason to not follow "the Spirit" in preparing your car. If a person does choose to go beyond the guidelines, they will know it and just have to live with their conscience.
And thats the reason we do not require (or need) dedicated inspectors to monitor the racers. The photos we specify and require and time slip or event result copies we ask for are sufficient to oversee this fun Challenge without getting too serious and take away the fun and personal pride each racer receives with his or hers participation. This simple concept was designed to allow for widespread racing venues to be accepted, and weather it is a couple of thousand miles to the east coast as in the US, or 15000 miles down to Oz, it still works.
This also allows the folks racing to focus on there efforts, and not worry about those of others diluting "the Spirit of the Challenge".
I hope this concept will encourage more folks to participate in the Challenge all around the world. Recently Mick Percy has discovered a new "Speedweek" event being formed in South Africa for 2010 ( http://www.vdubber.com/groups/forums/topic/Verneukpan-SpeedWeek.htm ) that has all of the makings of being a great venue for Volkswagen racers, both 36hp and bigger late model VW's like Mark Holyoaks Super Beetle effort.
With the work you, Steve, Mick, Ash and others in Austrailia are putting into seeing that Volkswagens are welcomed in the DRLA, and with the efforts of the Vernuekpan racers in South Africa, Volkswagen racing will move forward and in particular, the 36hp Challenge will truly become an International event.
Thanx for letting me bend your ear and "May the Speed be with you!"...........
Oh, by the way, be sure to catch the latest ( Issue 24 ) of VW Magazine Austrailia, just out on the stands, for their coverage of the Challenge. VWMA has been supportive of the 36hp Challenge since the beginning and we thank Craig and his staff for their support.
Being licensed and street legal (Rego?) just means everyone is having to play on the most level field we can create. Thats why we keep the 36hp Challenge guidelines very basic and simple. We want to be able to recognize all legitimate 36hp speeds,e specially if they are record worthy, and for that, everyone needs to be onboard.
36hp motored cars that are not street legal can still run for membership in the exclusive "1" Club ( see link below )
http://www.ultimateaircooled.com/landspeed.html 1 Club introduction
but would not compete for the 36hp Challenge class records. Since some folks do not want to build a car to the Challenge guidelines, we came up with the "1" Club to give those folks a target to shoot for. One thing to remember, all recognized speeds (including "1" Club) must be set using timing lights and be issued timing slips and published in the event result sheets. The GPS system the DRLA utilizes for the slower cars is a great tuning benefit and I am glad it appears they will let cars running over or near the records use the course with the timing lights so they can be equally compared.
Have a great day..............
