Right now the Merlin cant compete with any single racing variant that is flyable today. Why is this? The Merlin cannot be considered a intro level racer, because its a parasite ship, and cannot get to races on its own in the PU.

The Merlin has just gone live, so it's not fully tuned. It'll still need work, but will also still have down the road tuning and customization opportunities to help tailor the performance for racing more than the current generalist setup.