Just an social observation - Surely competitive human nature (the will to win) means that every event in every sport eventually becomes "cheat worthy" to the majority of competitors when the organisers are found to be "cheat tolerant" or oblivious or toothless to prevent the initial cheats. People will only be beaten so many times by a cheat that goes unpunished. They may moan initially, they may complain once, but if it becomes the only way to be cometitive, eventually they will do it too. Are they the cheats or the victims - or both? And its ironic to me that the innovation that the initial cheats bring is also just the element of human nature that made the likes of Colin Chapman a legend - to find a way to be faster with the bits they have and a somewhat "liberal" interpretation of the rules. Isn't it a bit naive to expect compliance to "We dont want innovation here - just follow the rules and get soundly beaten by those who drive better than you" - As if that is the human program - particularly with the want-it-now pay-for-it-later society we live in. I wish cheats had orange flashing lights on their helments, to identify them from the talented drivers who don't cheat, but unfortunately it isn't so. I am just a Dad with two "new to karting" sons, so its not hit us yet (we've enough on with Rotax new clutch, new coil, new reed block, 09 barrel, CMR helmets, disc protectors, end of unico bodywork, end of welded chassis protectors, Vega inconsistency, opposing spirals of costs and income et-al), but I see trouble ahead. I hope someone finds an effective way to level the playing field without making the fix more of a disincentive than the cheat. With the huge number of potential areas for cheating, and the paradoxically bureaucratic yet amateurish nature of SOME of the officialdom I have come across, the omens are not good. Before we got into Karts, I used to wonder what all the "retirement sales" were that I saw advertised here. I don't wonder now, I just wish I had known.
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