Quote:
Originally Posted by dknv
For me, I see the street tire handicap as not fair. 1) I don't see there being one factor that applies across the board to every class; (and it can go both ways, there are probably instances where the factor is too much for certain cars or classes, and others where it is too lenient).
2) I don't see a way to determine a factor based on controlled testing even, because there will always be variances among cars and setup, tires/condition, course, driver, weather, temperature, how much gas is in the tank, etc etc etc (to use a Dean-ism  ). Even if we could come close, there will still always be the suspicion that something influenced the outcome, leading to "the factor is flawed' mentality. And because of this, we end up taking away some of that element of 'fairness' in competition, and then the fun starts to go away too. |
Of course it's a compromise. The only way to ensure an absolutely fair playing field is if we have a single car challenge with new tires every run for every driver, or if we were somehow able to calculate a perfect factor for every car in every class. Since neither is possible, the best we can do is to do the best we can do. If the majority of people feel like the factor is hurting their chances, then the factor needs to be changed. But I still contend that the level of competition in our region is still so low that we have none of our drivers out there getting 100% out of a car that's 100% prepped. Not to be brash, but if you're not winning, just drive faster. I would be willing to be anyone that goes out and drives their car to 100% of its capability will walk away with a class win and top PAX every time in our region regardless of tires or PAX factors etc, because most people are only getting 85% out of there cars. Every time the national champ drivers from out of region show up, they clean our clocks, and every time our "good" drivers go to a national tour (with the exception of those of you that I consider our "national prep" drivers), they get embarrassed (for example, Dean's no slouch behind the wheel, and he got killed at tour events in a very well prepped STX car).
Quote:
Originally Posted by dknv
So - I keep wondering why it's not more understandable when race tire or national-prep car drivers see the street tire pax as a take-away, a penalty to them, and why it is considered that asking for a split seems like coddling to others. And why is the split of street tires into its own class being perceived as a take-away for street tire drivers. At least we are still incorporating street tires in Reno region, some regions don't do anything extra for them. (Not sure if LV is still that way, but they used to be.)
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I understand the complaints from the RT crowd. If the factor is indeed too aggressive, it needs to be fixed. But I don't see the split as good for either camp. And I don't understand why the people looking for national level practice (like yourself) are so concerned. If your goal is to get real practice in, chances are you won't be winning everyday because you should be trying new things, and seeing what works, what doesn't, etc... so when you do go to a national tour or a national pro, you've got knowledge and experience about what your car will do. If you're truly part of goal 2 from my other post, then ST vs RT should be a moot issue, right? Help me to understand where the national prep folks are coming from.