Kezz - you are right in saying the use of heat guns is not allowed but enforcing it can be very difficult especially if it is done inside an awaning. Clubs have struggled for years trying to stop people running their engines in the pits (where they have a noise issue with local villages).
Just not enough people willing or able to volunteer to help out at club meeting to allow all the rules to be checked.
With the tyres, if they are cleaned immediately you get back to your awning then they will have cooled right down by the time you are back on the grid which makes it even more difficult for the club officials to check/prove you have used a heat gun - especially if you then give a quick rough-up with a sureform etc.
I am not sure who would have to make the decision to kick a driver off the grid if suspected of using a heat gun. Would the decision be open to an appeal as there are parents who would happily put their money down. Maybe that race would have to be postponed while the appeal process was carried out and maybe the club runs out of time or has to shorten races to finish the meeting - more unhappy customers!
Has anyone relly tested if a bit of rubber on the tyres gives an advantage or disadvantage in various conditions? Maybe when we are in cadets we clean the tyres because everyone does it rather than because we know it makes a difference.
The temperature of tyres at the start of the race is far harder to check and enforce than a skimmed head or bore out. Does the Bule book have a rule that says that your tyres will be considered too hot if they are x% greater than the average grid tyre temperature or x% higher than the next highest? Without a rule against heating tyres you could be competing with drivers who use tyre warmers on the grid as in F1.
|
|