[dtfastbear]

As a spec miata racer and a close friend of many MX-5 cup racers (including the ones involved in that Miller incident), I'd like to weigh in. Flashgordon got it pretty close to right - you see more contact in spec series, or any series where the cars are very closely matched, that you will in other forms of racing. But, to say that the drivers just accept it as part of the racing isn't quite right.

The sort of contact that's "acceptable" in these series is "rubbing" - an occasional tire donut when going side by side through several turns in a row. Anything beyond that is NOT acceptable and is usually dealt with after the race. The post-race penalties and adjustments are rarely seen on TV, as they are settled hours, days or weeks after the race. There were several penalties handed out in that Miller MX-5 race, for instance.

Another thing you'll notice if you watch that whole MX-5 series on Speed is that it's the same 2-3 drivers initiating much of the contact. I race a spec miata with SCCA and NASA. We have over 100 spec miatas in this region and 60+ will show up on any given SCCA weekend. Of all of those, I know *exactly* the 5-6 guys that I have to watch out for who either intentionally won't race me clean or aren't capable of close racing without contact. Everyone knows who these guys are. And thankfully, SCCA is starting to crack down on these guys with penalties and license suspensions.

As for Porsche Super Cup, keep in mind that this series follows the F1 circuit. In my opinion, that's a bunch of super-rich playboys with much more money than racing experience or racing skill. When's the last time you saw a recoqnized driver enter that series or anyone come out of it into another series? The contact in those races is pretty much always either people INTENTIONALLY taking each other out as revenge or simply low-probability dive-bomb passes - truly rookie moves.

Cheers,

Dean