mika
Still Wondering
heavy snip of the op
I hate NASCAR for some of its rules that create only the appearance of racing (eg green/white/checker, restrictor plates, TV related rules) but much of what they do has worked well.
F-1 machines are amazing to watch up close and even their relaitvely modest rule changes have improved the actual competition.
Anyone for pit stops in bike racing and races 2 or 3 tires long?? Does anyone believe fuel or engine number restrictions are really helping.??
Infront launched a trial balloon just after their acquisition by Bridgepoint of dumping the WSBK two race format and adopting a longer one race with pit stops format. Since then rule refinements for tyres have been made. While they were crafted to deal with current issues of changing weather conditions in a two race format they looked very much like a draft of pit stop tyre rules. At the time it was put forward BMW supported the idea but I have heard precious little about it since then.
I don't think fuel restrictions capacity rules have helped. In the AMA the fuel rules allowed Kawasaki to be competitive and win championships with a bike that was a back marker in the rest of the world. Pit stops in SBK is a very interesting idea for all sorts of reasons. My only real concern is the rider. Bike road racing changing from say the current 20-22 lap format to a 40-44 lap format is a very different challenge for the rider than doubling a cage racing format. How will they stand up to it? What is the safety factor? Two questions of many that may be holding up the shift.
Engine and number of bikes may have helped the back marker racer pay bills but it has done little or nothing to improve racing.