I believe winning, or running at the front, requires equal doses of driver, set-up and HP. If you come up short on any of these three you will not be competitive in a competitive race. So, having people follow chassis and engine rules is very important. Most organized amateur leagues for stick and ball sports, both kid and adult, have referees to ensure that the competitors follow the rules. Why wouldn’t amateur racing?
Either we have rules and tech/protest or we shouldn’t bother with either. No sense having rules if there is not a tech or at least a protest teardown procedure to verify compliance. Or perhaps we can have a claimer price for motors?
There are two reasons for this:
A) Without tech or protest, the slow people will have an excuse to complain about their lack of performance. Who wants to hear that?
B) Without tech or protest, those who follow the rules and get beat have a reason to not bother racing. Do we want smaller fields?
Having no rules or loose rules is OK too, but then it becomes a contest of who can build or purchase the fastest equipment. The need for driving ability is diminished.
I realize that money also buys speed in classes with tight rules, but everyone knows (or can easily find out) what it costs to run at the front and they can decide what class to run. We have 4-stroke classes that cost a fraction of a 125shifter for a first class motor. We could easily have a sealed class: Rotax.
I would like to see the stigma of protest and teardown removed. It should be considered a compliment to be torn down and exonerated. Likewise, someone who is caught purposely cheating should be ridiculed.
I am OK with either tight rules / good tech / protest procedure or no rules. We need to stay away from the middle ground of having rules without enforcement.