Hi folks,
I have read with interest the above posts with a bit of concern.
Before we go any further, we are not "experts" and can only speak from experience.
We have just moved into Blue after running in JnrTKM. The only reason we have moved is that we had been running overweight for over a year now. We chose Blue because of the grid sizes which at our local track are still growing and we could run without a severe weight disadvantage. We run the grey restrictor and see that with the large grids and finishing order, there seems to be a mix of restrictors all racing what appears to be, evenly matched to our eyes. The laptimes seem to bear this out.
The one thing that everyone had said, that we had spoken to before changing class, was that the restrictors seem to work well - close, even racing throughout the restrictor range. We have had a couple of people mention that if we can, try running/testing with the red restrictor as it may be better than the grey for longer races or when temperatures are very high. Easier on the tyres and would keep them more consistent throughout the raceday, we have been told.
The concern we have here is, that the "your restrictor is faster than my restrictor" chestnut seems to be rearing it's ugly head. Look at the hassle with the Jnr/Inter restrictors in TKM - the restrictors used in JnrTKM do seem to work well and thankfully there appears to have been no problems with them. Blue grids appear to be growing and we see quite a few ex-Jnr TKMers joining the Blue ranks - mainly for the same reason as us - have been running well overweight. If there was a problem, why has it not been mentioned before? Could it be that it that more grey restrictors are being used? Also, drivers with the grey restrictors are probably moving from another class and are experienced. Also if they have moved from another class and the ex-TKMers in particular seem to find that the extra grip is possibly more usable by them, as they will be used to running on much harder tyres with much less grip. Our son's first time out on a Blue was interesting as a couple of the Blue dads mentioned that the ex-TKMers seem to be competitive fairly quickly but again this is probably down to the extra grip and experience. If you check the results, often the grey restrictor-ed driver is not always turning in the fastest laps and it's consistency over the whole race. Also, even cadet drivers moving up and into Blue appear to do very well right off. Often smaller and lighter and definitely not on the grey restrictor, so again this is probably down to their previous experience and racecraft.
The worrying thing here is that if this restrictor thing carries on, you may find people possibly put off joining Blue or moving to another class or giving up. Given that this class is one of the few actually growing in numbers and seeming to run fairly well with close, competitive racing, it may be possibly more prudent to look at the real problems that exist and how to encourage more people into the class and keep them there, while also keeping the class stable for those already in it. This would seem much more sensible than starting to bicker about a possible non-existent "problem".
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Jnr Blue restrictors by 'YAN' (14 Nov 2008 @ 20:30)
