OK, seeings how we're debating how much wigglin' and tire spinnin' is
allowable before one has transgressed the "no tire warming" rule... how
about F1 Style electric tire warmers?
Yes, there is a rule in the book that specifically prohibits them... but
when?
- can I have them hooked on to my car in the paddock?
- OK, then how about in grid before the run group starts?
- If so, then when does the run group start? First car off, or first car in
class off, or my first run?
What's the history behind this rule? Was someone actually warming their
tires with electric warmers, or was this a case of the scary boogyman
nobody wanted to face?
It seems to me that electric warmers, applied in pre-grid, and swapped with
passive insulators once running started, would still offer a competitive
advantage. Can actions that don't occur during run-time be protested?
Hey, Roger - you're Protest Guy. Let's play a what-if.
1) I'm running in the first run group of the day at Nationals.
2) 06:30 I move my car into my grid space, cover my tires with electric
warmers, and plug them in.
3) I go walk course for a while. My tires get nice and toasty warm.
4) As the last strains of the Canadian National Anthem waft across the
course, I unplug my electric warmers. They are now "passive insulators"
much like the reflective covers that, well, you use. :)
4a) OK, if that's too hard to swallow, the warmers are pulled and replaced
with reflective insulators as per accepted practice.
5) I run. I win. At no time during running (any cars on course) are the
warmers powered up.
6) A competitor protests the warmers in Impound
Strictly hypothetically, (of course) how do you rule?
DG
|