March is underway, but both the Rata-SM and AKK KITI sites are quiet. This is not good...
You find the links to both these sides below right, they are part of the standard set. What is quit annoying is that so far they have been pretty much useless! The KITI site still does not list all entrants and the Rata-SM entrants list was last updated in January although a key deadline came at the end of February. The only conclusion one can draw from this is that most entrants are either still considering, or have decided to pay-as-they-go.
With this seasons super-hike on the guest driver entry fee, it seems unlikely there will be many choosing this option. The deadline for the full series comes at the end of March, so it will be interesting to see what the situation is then. Personally I feel AKK and the series organizers are being hit by a tripple whammy (two out of three to their own fault!) - the financial crisis, the hike of the race fees in general, and the huge hike of the guest driver fee. So no surprise if this year's Rata-SM will be bleaker than ever before.
It seems unlikely the situation will much improve regarding the number of participants, but let us see how the situation evolves. At least in the Formula Ford class the season seems very interesting - talks about racing with ethanol (sponsored by the association partly, through Henry Ford Foundation) and then price money and an attractive grand price for the series. Of course, the fewer contestants, the better the chances to win...
