2012 Endurance Series cut down to 5 rounds?

First, to Sean Clarke and all the people at WERA: thank you for running the best Endurance series in the USA. This was our first full year in Endurance and as a result we got to meet a lot of WERA people in and off pit lane. Everybody was extremely helpful and knowledgeable and it was great to have people that truly care and know what they are doing running the races. After hours, some of you are great to party with as well. And Evelyn speaks French!

Second, I am going to ask again that you please do all that you can do to keep the Endurance series alive and running 100% with all 7 rounds for 2012.

As we discussed in a previous thread, cutting the VIR and Barber rounds out of the series is not going to make this the exciting series that it is today. I understand that you have financial considerations that lead you to cut tracks that are expensive to rent / not as profitable. I was happy to see that you had 22 entries at the RA GNF endurance round. May be things will turn around in 2012 and more of the many late baby boomers “Seniors” (that usually have plenty of cash) will race endurance in 2012. If you have to increase the WERA entries fees for endurance for all the rounds to keep the series going, do that, and keep the 7 rounds running. 4 rounds plus Miller Utah is just not going to help or be appealing to anybody.

I sincerely hope that you come up with something.

Again, thanks for a great racing season.

 

It's truly unfortunate that endurance is suffering from low turnout these days. Obviously it's not economically feasible to devote 4 hours of track time for just a few teams. Hopefully a viable business plan can be achieved that accommodates the variety of tracks we'd like to see along with being fiscally sound.

I'm looking forward to see what the schedule looks like next year so I can start planning.

 

I plan to race the series this year. If they needed a financial commitment for particular tracks... I wouldnt have a problem preregistering/paying in advance.

 

Cool Steve, will be good to see you out there. :up: What bike?




Jolly Roger is a definite for 2012. We're 100% for any eastern round (MI as well) and 50/50 for Miller.
We would love to see 7 rounds if at all possible but certainly understand the current climate. If I had a vote I'd go for the cheaper tracks if that meant more rounds.

See you guys next year.

 

What a bummer. We were really looking forward to running Barber too. I wonder why Endurance is taking such a hit these days? Too much specialized equipment these days to be competitive or just straight up money woes to even be there?

 

No factory contingency, difficulty getting tire deals are the biggest reason we are no longer racing.
And before that, low turn out in some of the classes, meant no payout anyway.
It's a shame, I really miss it. Not sure it will be coming back any time soon.
I'm on the verge of selling my radios,transponder and dump can

 

We had our first taste of endurance racing this year ... loved it. Joe has plans to run both endurance & sprints next year - I can say we'll hate to see it cut back but do understand.

 

:up: And you wonder why they say, "history tends to repeat itself"... Maybe they had Roger in mind.

 

I don't think so. WERA has always been straight forward. You know what you're getting into.
Just like DMG and AMA, rules were always changing with Moto-ST/GT.
Lot's of behind the scene bullshit.
As far as radios, I bought those well before that series began.
It's not that big of an investment. Having dump cans and gas tanks built
was my highest initial cost, besides the price of the bike{s}.

 

So is there a thread regarding this series and this Roger fella? I was asked to run on 2 or 3 endurance teams this past year and just never did for one reason or another. I'm interested....

 

O....got it. I'm slightly familiar with all that, just didnt know the guys name.

 

As you might conclude based on my sign in name, I have been around awhile too and have heard the grand visions for endurance racing from Roger's point of view and I even raced in a few of those now defunct series, but nothing has had the long term viability and professionalism that WERA has represented, much less the WERA series longevity. Even if it were a 3 race series, I would still be proud to run to chase a WERA National Championship! Oops, almost forgot... I am too slow at this point to be a champion any more!

 

I did not know that he worked for WERA. I know most of the rest.
My point was that I don't believe anyone thinks of WERA that way.

 

I am also willing to commit to all the rounds except Miller UT which we cannot afford to go to and is the equivalent in costs to 5 ASRA Team Challenge rounds for an eastern based race team "just" to get there and come back. You see Sean, we are financialy motivated as well and you need to keep this in mind as you make decisions.
Team Coyote is fully committed to the WERA Endurance series in 2012, but we are just not too happy about the short race schedule anticipated.
I wonder if other teams are willing to jump in this thread and commit to their 2012 plans and give WERA some feedback for the Endurance series attendance?
Michel.