joeg,
That's one of the first things I wondered about w/ the new SS/T longevity rules. Used to be that SS cars only had 5 years on National eligibility, which just so happened to be how long they had to wait to get into IT. My feelings that are if they delay the entry of cars into IT for 10 years, they'll be shooting themselves in the foot.
And as far as where it will land, I don't even want to guess what IT (or Prod for that matter) will look like in 5 years. There's already talk of re-introducing forced induction and AWD into Club Racing. Now, if the current IT trend continues, and they don't create IT2, in 5 years time, I would imagine that the base Mini would probably end up in ITA. ITS will have gotten even faster, and I bet you'll see things like E36 328s and E30 M3s in ITS by then.
On another note, I guess it's just me, because I don't "get it" w/ the new Mini. Yeah, fun car, but more of a novelty car. Kinda like the PT Cruiser. I've heard that the Cooper S is really fast, but I couldn't see buying one.
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MARRS #25 ITB Rabbit GTI
SCCA 279608