[spoier]

Holy crap! Now that is a one make series.

Let's see here...
*digs out the old collins pocket French dictionary*
It's been a few years since I escaped the gulags of Canuckistan where I was forced to learn the way these evildoers talk...

Converting everything to USD$, bein sur

Saxo VTS Challenge
. 6 races
. costs $3500 to enter the season
. each win gets $4500
. prizes are awared down the ** 35th ** spot
. additional $$ for top finishing youngsters (born after '76)
. additional prizes of free gas from Total
. the TOP THREE finishers at the end of the season get a FREE CAR

Peugeot 206 Cup (wheel?)
. 8 races
. each win gets $6000 plus $1750 in free stuff from the Peugeot Sport store (tires, parts, etc)

Saxo Super 1600 Trophy
. 6 races
. each gravel win $14,000
. each tarmac win $11,500
. "joker" random bonus prizes
. class/cars are FIA approved (can be used outside of series)
. races are part of French championship (big exposure!!)

I'll leave the Saxo T4 details as an exercise to the reader.

Note the clearly stated contact names and phone numbers for each series - no secrets where some people have put down deposits on cars before the majority even know any details? What a crazy system!

CLEARLY this is some sort of commie plot by the French to take WRC seats away from us poor unappreciated (North) Americans!!! The bastards! Don't they know that this sport is supposed to be a money pit with no tangible rewards or exposure, where success is a function of one's bank account?

Skye }>

[table cellspacing=20][tr][td]
http://www.rallyrace.net/images/CARtoons/rs500coswht.gif
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Skye Poier (Seattle WA)
Vive le Prole-le-Ralliat!
www.rallyrace.net
Black Rocket Rally Tires
www.blackrockettires.com
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[spoier]

Well I just went and did some actual research, and here's how they define expensive... crossposted from a response to my question on another BBS:

[blockquote]
The price is much lower than Super 1600. I take the 206 Cup as an example:

The car is the 206 XS 1.6 and it is basically a group N car but with all seats, carpets and other useless stuff removed ex factory (saves cost), then it has bigger group A brakes, limited slip diff, the engine is Peugeot Sport tuned and sealed (must stay sealed) and produces 140BHP, 30BHP up on the road version.

This car including all the necessary motorsport kit costs £19,500, which is in the area of 30,000 Euros or US Dollars - yes, for the complete car with kit! And of course these cars are available 2nd hand as well.

For this price, to purchase a 206 XS Challenge specification:
- You MUST purchase the car through Peugeot Sport (or in the case of a 2nd hand purchase, show the car to Peugeot Sport and show that all the seals are in place).
- You MUST sign a contract with Peugeot Sport that i.e. dictates you to accepting sponsorship as for example the red Total stickers on the bonnet and you MUST start on at least 2 Peugeot Cup events.

You could get your expense back (if you are good) in competing in the Peugeot Cups. I.e. for a win on a Peugeot Cup event, Peugeot pays you £2,000 (?/$ about 3,000) and the winner of the whole Cup gets a Peugeot works drive for next season. And there are other prizes as well, i.e. "The Late Season Charge Award", when you make the biggest charge up the championship tables in the last 3 or 4 events, this award comes in shape of a Peugeot 206 road car for you.

All PSA Cups run on similar lines to this, however:

Now the prices and prizes in the above example are actually taken from the UK Peugeot 206 Cup, which I know very well. The French Volant Peugeot 206 runs very similar to this indeed, however the prices and prizes may be slightly different. So I understand in the French Volant 206 the prize money is slightly less, therefore once a year you are entitled to a free new bodyshell to stop you hesitating to attack.

BTW this way of finding and supporting future talent really works well. Previous Peugeot Cup winners include:
F 1988 Francois Delecour
GB 1991 Richard Burns
F 1992 Gilles Panizzi
GB 1996 Justin Dale
F 1998 Cedric Robert
F 2001 Alexandre Bengué (seen his stage times in Corse?)
F 2002 Bryan Bouffier (watch him go this time next year in a WRCar, this guy is a Loeb-like sensation! (and funny enough lives down the road from Loeb))

To the other Cups, PSA runs them all on similar lines, the differences are mainly in the cars and budgets. The order would be somewhat like this:

Peugeot 205 Challenge - using old, group N 205 GTI, very cheap, but Cup winner gets a season in the 206 Cup.
Challenge Saxo VTS - using a group N Saxo.
Volant 206/206 Cup - using a 206 XS with 140BHP and some group A parts
Trophée Saxo Super 1600 - Saxo VTS, Challenge spec like 206 XS but with power increased to 155BHP
Trophée T4 Saxo - They call this car a Saxo T4 like the WRCar is a Xsara T4. Technically the Saxo T4 is identical to the other 155BHP Saxo, but the T4 is 4x4 - hence there is one Saxo Cup for asphalt and one for gravel, while the Volant 206 is combined.
[/blockquote]

So it looks like the price of the kit is about the same as the number being guessed at here. But, who wants to bet the payout and rewards are going to be an order of magnitude (or two) smallers? Call me cynical...

Skye

 

[spoier]

No, he meant dollars....
A brand new 206 cup car is 19,500 quid (see my post above)
I just found a used Polo Challenge car for 6000 quid,
used Peugeot 306 challenge car for 7000 quid, etc
Not sure where you're finding your prices can you post a link?
Oh wait I found it you meant rallycodriver.co.uk not .com
Also your exchange rate is a bit off and its not helpful to talk in USD because the USD has been tanking over the last year (xe.com/ucc)

I think you're missing an important point though - there are substantial PRIZES and contingencies available in EACH RACE that can recoup a lot of your costs if you finish in the top 3-5 places. Plus the series are integrated into National championships in some cases, so you also get very good exposure. Will the "Lancer Cup" get airtime on Speed?

It looks to me like the one-make series which may happen here will cost about the same for the car - but will there be any chance to recoup, and will the car be competitive outside the series (lifetime)? That remains to be seen.

This thread is "The Right way to do Single Make Series" and I don't think it can be Right without substantive prize/contingency programs. Supplying a kit car is not enough IMO.

Edit: added some prices

Skye

 

[spoier]

RE: 2004 UK 206 Cup

It's interesting to note however, even though this conversation is drifting towards a discussion of the UK 206 cup, that the scans John posted to start this thread are about the (completely separate if I'm not mistaken??) French 206 and Saxo cups, and the purses appear to be significantly more than in the UK series.

Skye