Quote:
Originally Posted by Anyopenroad
This is true and Stephane Ratel said as much in an interview with DSC a year or two ago. His argument was that if you allow something to be a possible competitive advantage, however small, then teams (especially the wealthier pro teams) will spend money on it. Costs spiral, the races become less competitive and the amateurs/semi-pro teams are priced out and leave. Hence, minimum pit stop times much longer than refueling time so no-one spends a million Euros on a rig that pumps fuel 2% faster.
I accept this. I am not sure I entirely agree but it's a coherent argument and consistent with the overall approach which has made SRO such a success.
Graham Goodwin didn't ask about the FCY->SC abomination but the answer Ratel would likely have given can be inferred from his repeated claim to be above all "an entertainer". Thus, if faced with the observation I have repeatedly made, that the Spa 24 is a great spectacle but a terrible race, he'd most likely think "great!".
Sadly then, we are likely to have to endure for some time the embarrassment of hearing respected commentators debase themselves by pretending that it's all for safety rather than to artificially bunch the field.
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Great post this, thanks for that additional info!
I do understand the idea of minimum pit time, especially for the semi-pro and am teams. But ACO and IMSA manage to run pit stops without things getting silly, and SRO is far from incompetent so they can do it if they want. I do think the Pro class minimum pit stop times should be removed. Of course the other issue is maximum stint lengths, but that's done so they don't need to balance fuel tank sizes. It'a a lazy BoP.
I think for FCY->SC we have to accept the official stance is it allows the cars to warm up the tyres as Alain Adam is now saying it on his brief snippets on the radio, so it's not just something commentators are saying anymore. That was straight from race controls mouth. And I think we can all agree that it is nonsense for many reasons - other series not having it, front runners still having cold tyres, etc etc.
SRO series so close to being absolutely perfect. I love everything else...please just stop the madness.