" Of course we had to present evidence of this to the MSA, but that's only fair, as they can't have their own sanctioned championships competing with one another without good reason."
This, of course, is the reason that one needs to have championships registered.
People get very attached to "their" championship, it becomes important to them and is their goal in racing. They assume that their goal supersedes anyone else's in any given event.
We know for example that there is a problem with mixed grids; it means that back markers from one class can be blamed for incidents involving the leaders of another. Parc ferme for mixed grids can be an explosive place when that incident involves someone whose ambitions have been affected by the actions of someone who, by racing in another class, clearly doesn't share those ambitions.
Mixed category parc ferme can be even more explosive, because one has people racing the same class but with widely differing goals. It would be perfectly possible for one meeting to have drivers interested in the event by itself, as part of the club championship, as part on Northern TKM, as part of NKF or as part of the NKRA, each entirely and legitimately concentrating on their goals and liable to feel aggrieved if their ambitions are thwarted by the actions of someone who doesn't share those goals. We also know that sometimes drivers are less careful about their driving when it concerns a driver who isn't a member of 'their' group.
Throwing an unregistered championship into the mix makes things considerably worse, because one never knows just who is in that unregistered championship. While the Max series may have a sizable following, allowing unregistered championships also implies any group of drivers, however small, could claim to be a 'championship'.
There is a further problem with the proliferation of championships, namely that each one makes it more difficult for others to survive. Responsibly, clubs should not be mixing category championships at the same event, but some clubs will do if they think it will enhance their takings. Responsibly, championships should not seek to run at the same events as other championships, but some do. Responsibly, championships should offer reciprocity, that is, while drivers from that club may miss some club events to follow the series, when the series visits it brings with it more visitor entries than have been lost, but some championships don't.
There's a limited number of club events during any championship period and juggling the calendar requires planning a full year ahead. Throw in a few 'unregistered' championships not willing to coordinate their efforts and it's the clubs who lose out as their drivers follow 'series' that consume all of their budget without reciprocity and as a result the costs of running regular MSA events becomes disproportionate for certain clubs.
I'm not sure that that is a consequence we should be aiming for.
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