Why TT and not racing?

[heavychevy]

I think the fun in TT is driven by the number of legitimate competitors in your specific region and even more specific, class. I also think TT teaches your driving at the limit of your car in short notice, possibly with someone on your tail. If you can do this without becoming sloppy, you will be a better racer. Sure you can develop the same skill set racing, but there is a lot more going on that you will have to develop as well, makes for a quicker transition. Also goals in TT may be different. I want to race, but not anywhere near as fast as my TTU car is. There isn't enough competition on a regular basis. I'd rather ST2 or the new ST3 in something or something like spec E30 where the competition is fierce. I like all kinds of cars racing so probably ST2/3 for me. But would still want to TT. Look at all the racers who still supersize to TT even though they get qualifying, and in MANY cases, the guys that do both are at the front of both.

 

As for cost, I don't see how there is any way TT could cost the same as W2W. I can do a whole TT weekend on a half tank of gas (especially when the gettin' is only good in the mornings). At 2-3 laps a session, I can stretch out A6's 2-3 events with some DE's in between (of course, that all depends on who is at the TT). More time on track = more money. More fluid changes, more gas, more tires, more brakes and those are the biggest parts of the budget. And no one has mentioned refreshening and rebuilding. Maybe if you are in TTF or something your motor will last forever, but if you are SUR and probably some of A and B as well, you are going to have to refresh/replace some parts if you are really ringing that thing out. Those are usually determined by hours on the engine. Many more hours racing than TT'ing no doubt. Those usually are in big chunks of change as well. What about an alignment? With 2-3 laps, mine lasts a good 2-3 events. I doubt I could say that after practice/qualy/race x2 in one weekend.

 

Plus you can sandbag TT some. Winners are there for 1-3 of 3 reasons. Lap record/Personal Best, Tires, Points/Win. For me, only the first two. The smart/serious guys run only as many laps as needed to win. The rest of the time you are just wasting consumables. If you show up and know you aren't going to set the LR or PB, but have a comfy margin and the numbers for contingency, you can do just as many laps as needed to win tires as easy as needed to win. I've done 10 laps in a whole weekend set a PB, got 4 tires and loved it. I don't instruct with NASA because I like to be able to address any issues that may come up with my car during the day, but if I did, that's a good little return (as good as it gets for us). You can't leave out any race laps, you must finish the race first to win it. My tire budget was erased in 2012 and I have 1.5 sets in my basement. If I was racing, and won the same number of events, doubt that happens.