Comments on the SCCA/Mazda problems
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From: Mason City, Iowa
Comments on the SCCA/Mazda problems
Just read this morning that Mazdaspeed is pi$$ed at the SCCA apparently because of some decisions about the MX-5 in Showroom Stock racing and subsequent comments allegedly made by an SCCA BOD member.
I received a survey from Mazdaspeed, which irritated me because they asked for a specific name or ID number. Not a real cool or valid way to survey opinions. I did not complete the survey because of the lack of anonymity, but did not realize until today that the survey itself was related to a problem with the SCCA and perhaps a way to measure whether people would be willing to jump ship to NASA.
Not that I have ever threatened to take any contingency money, but I am concerned about this to some degree with respect to the impact of participation in SCCA solo events. NASA is not a real viable option for autocrossers at this point.
I received a survey from Mazdaspeed, which irritated me because they asked for a specific name or ID number. Not a real cool or valid way to survey opinions. I did not complete the survey because of the lack of anonymity, but did not realize until today that the survey itself was related to a problem with the SCCA and perhaps a way to measure whether people would be willing to jump ship to NASA.
Not that I have ever threatened to take any contingency money, but I am concerned about this to some degree with respect to the impact of participation in SCCA solo events. NASA is not a real viable option for autocrossers at this point.
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I am a 30 yr SCCA member and have just joined NASA. I am considering dropping my SCCA membership because they don't offer anything for me anymore. Not because of any problems that Mazda have with them.
Mazda has lent considerable support to the SCCA, but the club needs to be neutral in it's rule making processes and not favor any manufacturer. Also, one person doesn't speak for the whole BOD, the comp board or the members of the club.
Mazda has lent considerable support to the SCCA, but the club needs to be neutral in it's rule making processes and not favor any manufacturer. Also, one person doesn't speak for the whole BOD, the comp board or the members of the club.
IMO you're overemphasing the situation some
Unless you have something to hide I don't see the issue with supplying your SCCA member #, trechnically they already have it if you're in the Motorsport program and have applied for contingency
On the otherhand, I had a major issue with the National's survey from the SCCA requiring us to supply income and other personal data on a supposedly anonymous Nats feedback request being run through an outside service, this to me was completely inappropriate
Unless you have something to hide I don't see the issue with supplying your SCCA member #, trechnically they already have it if you're in the Motorsport program and have applied for contingency
On the otherhand, I had a major issue with the National's survey from the SCCA requiring us to supply income and other personal data on a supposedly anonymous Nats feedback request being run through an outside service, this to me was completely inappropriate
you need to ignore the BS drama rumors
they both have great brand names and even if there is some small rift they'll work it out, they both have too great a potential with each other to let a few petty personality differences get in the way of their end goals
just took the survey, it seemed a bit 'tarded ...
they are requesting your Motorsport membership number (or name), not your SCCA membership number
I doubt they're being vindictive WRT asking for ID, but rather some opinions will carry more weight than others i.e. consider the source and they may simply want to verify that you are in fact a Motorsport member and not just some yahoo stuffing the ballot box
they are requesting your Motorsport membership number (or name), not your SCCA membership number
I doubt they're being vindictive WRT asking for ID, but rather some opinions will carry more weight than others i.e. consider the source and they may simply want to verify that you are in fact a Motorsport member and not just some yahoo stuffing the ballot box
Last edited by TeamRX8; Nov 19, 2007 at 06:33 PM.
just took the survey, it seemed a bit 'tarded ...
they are requesting your Motorsport membership number (or name), not your SCCA membership number
I doubt they're being vindictive WRT asking for ID, but rather some opinions will carry more weight than others i.e. consider the source and they may simply want to verify that you are in fact a Motorsport member and not just some yahoo stuffing the ballot box
they are requesting your Motorsport membership number (or name), not your SCCA membership number
I doubt they're being vindictive WRT asking for ID, but rather some opinions will carry more weight than others i.e. consider the source and they may simply want to verify that you are in fact a Motorsport member and not just some yahoo stuffing the ballot box
Once from the email Mazda sent out, then again from the post on sccaforums.com, I thought maybe they did a different one but they were the same. The second time around I let them know that I thought the other group would be a step backwards for them. I guess over there they can be a big fish in a small pond.
From the post on sccaforums it sounds like RDR is taking all of his cars to NASA. Might be time to put in that cage and go for the easy T3 win... Oh yeah, damn Cobalts.
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From: Justin, TX DFW area
not that my opion matters very much for the mazda survey, but I basiclly said that I wasn't leaving scca anytime soon not to mention I don't think we really have a nasa club out here in vegas
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Interesting stuff.
If I'm not mistaken, NASA was formed right here in the SF Bay Area, out of the old Capri club. Those guys were track hounds, with very modified (think Ford V8 power, turbos, IMSA bodywork etc.) cars, but when the cost of doing track events went up, they had to look for more participation and started NASA to attract more entries for their HPDE events. They also had a reputation for very poor safety standards, no real oversight on track, no teaching program and lots of "incidents".
But, they grew and the reason was that they were directly addressing what the participants wanted and were smart enough to structure low dollar entry points for "professional" series, like PRO RX7, CMC etc. That growth seems to be continuing and their initial reputation for running a lax program has gone away.
SCCA hasn't been as progressive and has experienced nowhere near the growth of NASA as an organization. Couple that with a demographic, particularly in club racing, that is aging quickly and not being replaced with new blood. Add in the arrogance to tell Mazda to take their ball and go home, and it becomes pretty clear why the survey reads the way it does...
For many of us, though, our allegiance will continue to be with SCCA because of the better, more established program for autocrossing.
If I'm not mistaken, NASA was formed right here in the SF Bay Area, out of the old Capri club. Those guys were track hounds, with very modified (think Ford V8 power, turbos, IMSA bodywork etc.) cars, but when the cost of doing track events went up, they had to look for more participation and started NASA to attract more entries for their HPDE events. They also had a reputation for very poor safety standards, no real oversight on track, no teaching program and lots of "incidents".
But, they grew and the reason was that they were directly addressing what the participants wanted and were smart enough to structure low dollar entry points for "professional" series, like PRO RX7, CMC etc. That growth seems to be continuing and their initial reputation for running a lax program has gone away.
SCCA hasn't been as progressive and has experienced nowhere near the growth of NASA as an organization. Couple that with a demographic, particularly in club racing, that is aging quickly and not being replaced with new blood. Add in the arrogance to tell Mazda to take their ball and go home, and it becomes pretty clear why the survey reads the way it does...
For many of us, though, our allegiance will continue to be with SCCA because of the better, more established program for autocrossing.
Last edited by mwood; Nov 20, 2007 at 02:21 PM.
results:
MAZDASPEED MOTORSPORTS DEVELOPMENT
Survey Results and SCCA Update
December 2008
Dear Mark,
To: MAZDASPEED Team Members
From: Robert Davis
Re: Survey Results & SCCA Update
Thank you for the strong response to our survey. Over 1,500 MAZDASPEED team members took the time to complete the survey. The comments were fantastic. I have personally read ALL 93 pages of unfiltered comments. I have also read as many of the on-line forum discussions as I could find. Overall the discussion has been very productive. This customer feedback was a major part of our club racing discussion with the SCCA leadership when we met face-to-face in Orlando last week.
The following is a recap of the survey, our recent meetings, as well as a few thoughts about 2008 and beyond.
Survey highlights:
My team is still analyzing the data, but some key results include:
· 76% of you currently race with the SCCA. That number is projected to drop ~10% next year based upon our question of where you will race in 2008.
· Approximately half of you have raced over 14 times in the past two years. You are an active group.
· The majority of our SCCA members were overall satisfied or fairly satisfied with the club BUT a majority also felt that the SCCA management could do better.
· 19% of those who wish for Mazda to maintain the same level of support said that they would take a more active role within the SCCA to facilitate change. Please do so, this is YOUR club. Don't do it as a Mazda rep. Do it as a club member who wants the club to succeed and grow. We enjoy the competition with our rivals at Toyota, Nissan, Honda, GM, Ford, etc. We hope their racers will likewise step up. No one should feel like they need to stop driving to become a regional club manager, but if we all take a turn, things can and will improve.
SCCA Meeting:
On Thursday, December 6th the MAZDASPEED management team met with the SCCA leadership at the annual PRI show in Orlando, Florida. To squash one rumor I saw in several forums the meeting was NOT just about the MSR package. That was just one agenda item. Rather we covered a multitude of topics related to both club and professional racing. Topics included:
· Court of Appeals process
· Classification/rule change process
· MX-5 Cup
· SPEED World Challenge
The meeting was lengthy and productive. After two plus hours we hopefully all came away with a better sense of serving our respective (and often overlapping) customers. I will not go into too many details as the SCCA leadership will be conveying a message to all of their members. I would like to note that:
The SCCA board expressed a unanimous position that Mazda participation is critical.
We were advised that changes to the Court of Appeals process will allow all manufactures their day in court.
The SCCA is handling the board member remark internally and we are satisfied with their course of action. Again, this one comment was not the issue.
Mazda racers who wish to contact the SCCA leadership should direct all comments to president@scca.org
Note: In late November we had also met with the NASA leadership and are looking forward to serving our Mazda customers who race with NASA. NASA has not positioned themselves as a replacement for the SCCA, and we know that for certain regions of the country, NASA is not an option. Our support of NASA should be viewed like our support of the NHRA, contingency support of a national organization where our customers chose to race. End of story. We will support each organization based upon objective criteria. Being better than the other guy is not the issue.
MAZDASPEED in 2008:
Our contingency programs for 2008 will continue pretty much the same as in 2007. We plan to keep our MX-5 Cup Shootout open to racers from both the SCCA & NASA.
If you heard the news from Orlando you'll know that we had several announcements of our own, along with some from our partners:
· The 2008 MX-5 Cup will be sponsored by Playboy
· The 2008 Playboy MX-5 Cup schedule was announced (7 confirmed with one more to be announced)
· The 12-race 2008 Star Mazda schedule was announced
· Skip Barber announced a new MX-5 Cup regional series managed by their school.
· Skip Barber announced the "Elite 12" for the Skip Barber Mazda karting shootout in January.
Final thoughts:
Our success is collective. The MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development department exists to support you the Mazda racers. Feedback is always desired. When we do something wrong. Tell us. When we do something right. Tell us that as well.
Likewise I encourage you to work towards the betterment of any organization with which you race. Regardless of whether you prefer the SCCA, NASA, NHRA, GrandAm, IMSA, etc., all racing organizations need the active involvement of the racer to succeed and grow.
Thank you again for your collective support in 2007. We wish everyone a happy holiday season and hope to see you at the race track again in 2008.
Thanks for racing a Mazda!
Sincerely,
Robert T. Davis
Senior Vice President, Research, Development & Quality
Mazda North American Operations
Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development
SURVEY RESULTS
A copy of this letter is posted publicly on our website. You can view the survey results by visiting this page and clicking the pdf link there, or by clicking here.
MAZDASPEED MOTORSPORTS DEVELOPMENT
Survey Results and SCCA Update
December 2008
Dear Mark,
To: MAZDASPEED Team Members
From: Robert Davis
Re: Survey Results & SCCA Update
Thank you for the strong response to our survey. Over 1,500 MAZDASPEED team members took the time to complete the survey. The comments were fantastic. I have personally read ALL 93 pages of unfiltered comments. I have also read as many of the on-line forum discussions as I could find. Overall the discussion has been very productive. This customer feedback was a major part of our club racing discussion with the SCCA leadership when we met face-to-face in Orlando last week.
The following is a recap of the survey, our recent meetings, as well as a few thoughts about 2008 and beyond.
Survey highlights:
My team is still analyzing the data, but some key results include:
· 76% of you currently race with the SCCA. That number is projected to drop ~10% next year based upon our question of where you will race in 2008.
· Approximately half of you have raced over 14 times in the past two years. You are an active group.
· The majority of our SCCA members were overall satisfied or fairly satisfied with the club BUT a majority also felt that the SCCA management could do better.
· 19% of those who wish for Mazda to maintain the same level of support said that they would take a more active role within the SCCA to facilitate change. Please do so, this is YOUR club. Don't do it as a Mazda rep. Do it as a club member who wants the club to succeed and grow. We enjoy the competition with our rivals at Toyota, Nissan, Honda, GM, Ford, etc. We hope their racers will likewise step up. No one should feel like they need to stop driving to become a regional club manager, but if we all take a turn, things can and will improve.
SCCA Meeting:
On Thursday, December 6th the MAZDASPEED management team met with the SCCA leadership at the annual PRI show in Orlando, Florida. To squash one rumor I saw in several forums the meeting was NOT just about the MSR package. That was just one agenda item. Rather we covered a multitude of topics related to both club and professional racing. Topics included:
· Court of Appeals process
· Classification/rule change process
· MX-5 Cup
· SPEED World Challenge
The meeting was lengthy and productive. After two plus hours we hopefully all came away with a better sense of serving our respective (and often overlapping) customers. I will not go into too many details as the SCCA leadership will be conveying a message to all of their members. I would like to note that:
The SCCA board expressed a unanimous position that Mazda participation is critical.
We were advised that changes to the Court of Appeals process will allow all manufactures their day in court.
The SCCA is handling the board member remark internally and we are satisfied with their course of action. Again, this one comment was not the issue.
Mazda racers who wish to contact the SCCA leadership should direct all comments to president@scca.org
Note: In late November we had also met with the NASA leadership and are looking forward to serving our Mazda customers who race with NASA. NASA has not positioned themselves as a replacement for the SCCA, and we know that for certain regions of the country, NASA is not an option. Our support of NASA should be viewed like our support of the NHRA, contingency support of a national organization where our customers chose to race. End of story. We will support each organization based upon objective criteria. Being better than the other guy is not the issue.
MAZDASPEED in 2008:
Our contingency programs for 2008 will continue pretty much the same as in 2007. We plan to keep our MX-5 Cup Shootout open to racers from both the SCCA & NASA.
If you heard the news from Orlando you'll know that we had several announcements of our own, along with some from our partners:
· The 2008 MX-5 Cup will be sponsored by Playboy
· The 2008 Playboy MX-5 Cup schedule was announced (7 confirmed with one more to be announced)
· The 12-race 2008 Star Mazda schedule was announced
· Skip Barber announced a new MX-5 Cup regional series managed by their school.
· Skip Barber announced the "Elite 12" for the Skip Barber Mazda karting shootout in January.
Final thoughts:
Our success is collective. The MAZDASPEED Motorsports Development department exists to support you the Mazda racers. Feedback is always desired. When we do something wrong. Tell us. When we do something right. Tell us that as well.
Likewise I encourage you to work towards the betterment of any organization with which you race. Regardless of whether you prefer the SCCA, NASA, NHRA, GrandAm, IMSA, etc., all racing organizations need the active involvement of the racer to succeed and grow.
Thank you again for your collective support in 2007. We wish everyone a happy holiday season and hope to see you at the race track again in 2008.
Thanks for racing a Mazda!
Sincerely,
Robert T. Davis
Senior Vice President, Research, Development & Quality
Mazda North American Operations
Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development
SURVEY RESULTS
A copy of this letter is posted publicly on our website. You can view the survey results by visiting this page and clicking the pdf link there, or by clicking here.
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