08-13-2018, 11:47 AM
Recently i had a chat with a friend .
we were talking about how much vintage karting has grown .
i maintain that the growth is predictable and will continue for a good long time.
part of that belief is my love of vintage karting but most is from historical data from other vintage racing .
all of these motor sports evolved over time either good or bad.
the rules they made either made or broke the segment of motor sports they were trying to grow.
Unregulated or careless growth has ruined many vintage motor sport events for amateurs.
in other segments the "sport" evolved into something not recognizable as vintage to anyone .
Something we at this forum would like to avoid if possible.
anyway the subject of "paid" or more accurately sponsored drivers came up and i am at a loss for an opinion.
though i see a couple of examples of sponsored drivers personally i don't see it as a real threat to vintage karting. though maybe i'm wrong?
in any event it seems some people think they see guys who thatare brought in, sponsored with a kart and expected to win.
Personally i don't think it's a real problem yet.
i think many perceived as being sponsored are there because who ever brought them loves watching them on the track.
if anything the actual number of "paid guns" there "just to win" is microscopic compared to the number of drivers attending events.
BUT , right or wrong , people thinking there's "paid" drivers is not a good perception of what is basically an amateur sport.
i'm not sure if it matters since on the main we don't really compete for trophies in an organized way.
plus many of the sponsored drivers are there because the builder is getting a little long in the tooth but still likes the sport.
and i've noticed that when the drivers, regardless of how they got there , tend to like vintage karting.
they eventually evolve into an owner at some point so maybe it's good for growth?
right now that's my thinking .
usually i talk to people at events to get an idea of how they feel about certain issues.
i need to do this so the forum evolves in a way that most people will like.
since i won't be at any more events this year to talk with people i thought maybe it could be discussed here.
i could look at what other vintage motor events do to form an opinion but then i thought why not post this question and see what people think.
i'm more interested in what our crowd thinks so have at it.
what i'm looking for is how you'd like to see vintage karting grow in the future as far as sponsored drivers go.
example whould be how would you allow or limit them and why.
since this could get a bit high spirited i think a few things need to be made clear.
RULES
it's true there are some really good drivers who are clearly sponsored but still what i consider amateurs.
so not really an issue.
But vintage karting is growing and if certain articles are to be believed we are the fastest growing segment of karting.
if we get big enough we could possibly have issues in the future if we don't carefully define some limits.
In this forum we are concerned with growing vintage karting and preserving the karts so that is good news.
To be sure growth continues we have to look to the future and attempt to grow this sport in a way that makes sense to the most people involved
that's all i got
d
we were talking about how much vintage karting has grown .
i maintain that the growth is predictable and will continue for a good long time.
part of that belief is my love of vintage karting but most is from historical data from other vintage racing .
all of these motor sports evolved over time either good or bad.
the rules they made either made or broke the segment of motor sports they were trying to grow.
Unregulated or careless growth has ruined many vintage motor sport events for amateurs.
in other segments the "sport" evolved into something not recognizable as vintage to anyone .
Something we at this forum would like to avoid if possible.
anyway the subject of "paid" or more accurately sponsored drivers came up and i am at a loss for an opinion.
though i see a couple of examples of sponsored drivers personally i don't see it as a real threat to vintage karting. though maybe i'm wrong?
in any event it seems some people think they see guys who thatare brought in, sponsored with a kart and expected to win.
Personally i don't think it's a real problem yet.
i think many perceived as being sponsored are there because who ever brought them loves watching them on the track.
if anything the actual number of "paid guns" there "just to win" is microscopic compared to the number of drivers attending events.
BUT , right or wrong , people thinking there's "paid" drivers is not a good perception of what is basically an amateur sport.
i'm not sure if it matters since on the main we don't really compete for trophies in an organized way.
plus many of the sponsored drivers are there because the builder is getting a little long in the tooth but still likes the sport.
and i've noticed that when the drivers, regardless of how they got there , tend to like vintage karting.
they eventually evolve into an owner at some point so maybe it's good for growth?
right now that's my thinking .
usually i talk to people at events to get an idea of how they feel about certain issues.
i need to do this so the forum evolves in a way that most people will like.
since i won't be at any more events this year to talk with people i thought maybe it could be discussed here.
i could look at what other vintage motor events do to form an opinion but then i thought why not post this question and see what people think.
i'm more interested in what our crowd thinks so have at it.
what i'm looking for is how you'd like to see vintage karting grow in the future as far as sponsored drivers go.
example whould be how would you allow or limit them and why.
since this could get a bit high spirited i think a few things need to be made clear.
RULES
- this is a thread meant to comment on how you'd like to see vintage events evolve in the future nothing else.
- this IS NOT a place to post current complaints about VKA , individuals , events or anything like that.
- No actual names or real life examples should be posted since that wouldn't be productive.
- Keep this thread civil and polite.
- Should vintage karting be strictly an amateur sport
- do paid/sponsered drivers have a place in vintage karting?
- what do you consider a paid driver
- would you limit paid/sponsered drivers or are you ok with them
- do you think paid drivers are fine but they shouldn't be counted in what ever scoring there is?
it's true there are some really good drivers who are clearly sponsored but still what i consider amateurs.
so not really an issue.
But vintage karting is growing and if certain articles are to be believed we are the fastest growing segment of karting.
if we get big enough we could possibly have issues in the future if we don't carefully define some limits.
In this forum we are concerned with growing vintage karting and preserving the karts so that is good news.
To be sure growth continues we have to look to the future and attempt to grow this sport in a way that makes sense to the most people involved
that's all i got
d
Dave L.