Jon
As far as the 2004 SKUSA rules, we don’t know what they are yet. But we do know there will be few changes for this year. We had to pick somebodies rules and since SKUSA lets anyone have them through downloading, it looked like they will be the best to follow. Once we see them, (I hope its soon) we can then decide if we need to modify them for our local condidtions or not.
As far as tires go, in the long run, a spec tire saves a racer money in that you don’t have to test each tire brand to find the “best”. And what works at Bandimere may not work as well at IMI. So if you really want to win the brass nut, you will test several tire compounds to determine the best. A spec tire removes one expensive variable to test.
But I do understand that for many racers, they buy tires based purely on costs. If a set of MG’s are 25$ cheaper than B’stones, then they feel they just saved $25 bucks. But each tire requires a different setup. And for the racers that run a series that has a spec tire, like SKUSA always has been and Stars will be, it means more testing.
But I also understand that each dealer, wants to sell tires. And not every dealer can sell the same tires. Our dealers have to be able to make a buck so we end up with open tires. I do like the idea of a spec tire for a particular class. It solves a couple of the problems I mentioned and still lets everyone sell the brand they are dealing. The B’stones are not the best, but if everyone is on the same rotten tires, then its even.