I think there are a lot of reasons for its demise. But for me, a key point is the tyres. Yes you can make them last a few meetings, but the drop off in performance means you need new ones every round to be competitive, just like any other class. Add to that the push starting, and the disparity of the TAG engines, and you have people jumping ship to hype of X30 (looking at the entries for X30, that is where the majority of TKM drivers have gone).
In reality, TKM is a great class, but as Clubman has proved at Shenington and Risi, the class should never have changed from the homologated chassis and cheap tyre racing. another example is Clay IKR - we have a great, cheap and competitive championship set up with tyre regs that I think most would enjoy. We use the Sava Endurance tyre - £100 a set, and 1 set has to last the 5 round series. This equates to £20 on tyres per meeting. The tyres are hard compound, similar to the old TKM Maxxis tyre, but at the same time is much gripier, somewhere in between the old and new Maxxis compounds. I know this thread is related to North West, but if anyone reading this can make one of the Clay rounds, pop down, you will be more than welcome!
The point is though, TKM moved away from the budget class it was supposed to be, and became too much in line with rotax etc. Don't get me wrong, TKM is still cheaper than Rotax, and the engines are far more equal - but in reality, at club level, the running costs over a year are not all that different.
|
|