I admit to waking up on Sunday 13th January with a bit of a headache. Luckily the headache was not caused by any on track incidents, but by too much red wine the night before, as the Vodafone Dmax team joined with 60 of our drivers to celebrate the 2012 series and to present the top three drivers in each class with their trophies. Since becoming Series Director for Vodafone Dmax at the start of the 2011 series, I have always wanted to see us improving things every year and I am sure that the Awards Dinner was further proof of our commitment to the championship.
Just over 100 drivers took part in Vodafone Dmax championship races in 2010. In 2011 we saw over 200 drivers compete but last year the championship saw 0ver 300 drivers race in the series, with an average entry of 124 drivers per round. The 100% growth in entries over 18 months must mean that we are getting something right.
In 2012 we firmed up our racing classes, with three weight classes for enduro and sprints and, although it is always a bit of guesswork, it transpires that we got the weight classes pretty much spot on. All three weight classes were fairly evenly supported. With Inters seeing the most entries we did think about moving a couple of the weight limits for 2013 but in each case it risked mucking up the fairly even balance. As an Arrive&Drive series we need to appeal to drivers weighing anything from 50kgs to 125kgs and I think in 2012 we did exactly that.
For 2013 we aim to further iron out any logistical issues, improve kart parity, ensure that the dashboards are fully functioning and ensure that our penalty management is even better than 2012.
Only time will tell but we hope that we will see 100 of you at the Gala Awards Night on Saturday 11th January 2014 – go on put that date in your diary, and if any of you see me at breakfast in the hotel the next morning, please speak quietly.
Jim Graham
TEAM DAYTONA