" even some starters were not correct to NKRA/MSA regs on 2 new engines supplied by them and had to be sent back by our engine builder "
This highlights some of the problems associated with the rules.
According to the Blue engine supplier, the problem is that they had a description of "box stock" for the engine, which got complicated when some drivers complained that another driver had got different parts in the box. The fact that the part might have been so irrelevant to performance as whether the starter was original or cloned, or even whether the battery (sourced from the same factory in China) had one name on it or another or even whether a gasket was pink or grey did not seem to matter when winning a championship was in the balance.
Apparently the relevant committee passed down the ruling that box stock meant exactly that and some scrutineers began to scrutineer on what was delivered in the box, meaning that the boxes had to be standardised which involves an extra layer of cost.
When the manufacturer changed their parts suppliers and their procedures without telling the importer, one ends up with starters that aren't from Mitsubi and/or don't have the IAME imprint on the casing.
If one looks at stock in the inventory and they all have the IAME imprint, then it is difficult to be sure that returns in fact came off an engine as claimed. However the importer found an engine, new in its box, with what would be an 'illegal' starter. So the process of amending the rules is underway.
So what starts out looking like a simple case of greed by an engine importer (and Rotax dealers charge the similar extravagant amounts for their goods too) get a bit more complicated once one starts digging in to them.
Somewhere along the line, what starts out as an innocent statement eg: FB on 'box stock' or Rotax on 'form and function ' modification gets the common sense knocked out of it, often by people trying to win in the office what wasn't won on track.
But this seems to be true of many aspects of the rules.
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Rotax starter motor by 'hetherip' (30 Jun 2013 @ 21:28)
