Quote:
Originally Posted by Rudernst
I predicted in the older thread that Dunlops promises would turn out to be empty, at least in part
I WAS PROVED RIGHT !
the Dunlop statements were designed to buy quiet for a while at the expense of long term credibility
here are some bits of what the nice man from Dunlops wrote in 2015 on Ten Tenths:
"This is James Bailey from Dunlop.........
.....I'm very conscious of our obligations and grateful for the loyalty - and we are acutely aware that some of you don't have a choice of supplier due to regulations and I understand the frustrations and inconvenience caused by having to source or reuse tyres from other teams and drivers. However, we entered into this relocation because we are committed to servicing the historic racing market for the long term and we do appreciate your patience.
This year, we have made several thousand CR65 tyres and the situation is improving daily. However, the 'pent-up' demand is such that we are working flat out to get to a normal situation. I'm not going to answer questions on specific sizes on here because the situation is improving at such a rate that my answer will be out of date by the time many read it. Instead, our dealers have done a superb job in managing inventory and supply and they should be the point of contact for accurate information in this ever-improving situation."
the keywords here are: "patience" (on our part), also "frustration", (again on our part)
the rest is adspeak such as:
- "we are working flat out to get to a normal situation"
- "committed to servicing the historic racing market"
- "the situation is improving daily."
Yes, they have made a lot of tires, and the situation has improved a lot
but, for some minor classes such as 500 F3s, there is no solution
THERE IS NO REAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR MANAGING THIS
so there wont be a solution
my guess is that Dunlops have a limited number of production slots available per year for historic racing tires, this number is not enough to cover all sizes required over a reasonable cycle of years
some simple techniques of stock management would have made that transparent
but transparency is not wanted
the FIA are probably afraid to really tackle the Dunlop business for a number of reasons, some legal, some commercial, some out of concern to make supply even worse
the 500 OA should opt out of this
make their own contract with a reliable supplier
they have the power to write the rules for their championship
Rudolf
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Rudolf, just to answer the last bit.
1 - There is no commercial agreement between Dunlop and the FIA.
2 - See FIA Masters Sports Car Championship Sporting Regulations which shows the allowed use of either Avons and/or Dunlops so nothing prevent any Championship of doing so.
3 - My general thought is that there are very few suppliers of period correct cross ply tyres around and very few that have the tooling to supply the whole world of historic as it is today. Don't just think of selling the tyres, it's all the tooling and moulds that are needed and this is not simple.
Cheers, Louis.