Where were All the Other people and infrequent racers ??
Good question Stoo.
I'm one of those, and seeing as you asked....
My intention late last year was to run as much Retro as I could this year.
My slot car hobby focus has shifted sideways a bit, in that I want to keep scratch building chassis, but not for competition racing. I have a stack of hard body kits and other bodies on a specific theme, and I want to build those into slot cars as my main building hobby. Too many things to do, and too many birthdays have gone by so I needed to make a decision.
I love Aussie Retro, and want to keep racing, so I have decided to assemble a few new cars by buying ready made/painted bodies and chassies. I've spent quite a few $s to do this, so I have a lot to lose financially if I don't make use of it.
The obstacle I face, is that my wife's parents are elderly (Ron 95 & Shirley 91) with Ron being hospitalised April 2018, and has been on death's door ever since. Shirley is still fairly active, but can't cope with all of the daily struggles, so my wife (Sue) is spending quite a bit of time helping mum and dad, which is taking a toll on her. Its a very stressfull situation for them.
So, seeing that family come first in my life, I work all of my activities around our circumstances.
It's not all bad for me, as I do get to get out with mates occasionally on Sunday car club runs, so please don't feel sorry for me.
As far as the HSC big track/small track thing goes, I'm not a fan of the big track and prefer the small track.
But I regard all slot car racing as good racing, and was intending to race all rounds of Retro on both HSC and SSME tracks when possible. Priorities for me on Sundays would be family, and/or car club outings, so slot cars lose priority.
I probably wouldn't participate in the GT1 class of the SRC, as I don't like the technology progress with the chassis, and don't want to throw my money in that direction.
Darryl, my good mate, you have nothing to be sorry about!!!
You are one of the most dedicated guys I know. When you say you're going to do something, you bloody well do it.
As Stoo says, you are entitled voice your thoughts and opinions. You are equal to being the most active, competitive, builder, and racer in the group, so certainly more than qualified to speak up.
I hope things pick for James, as he certainly deserves support after all of the hard work he puts in given his difficult circumstances.