Formula one, Formula 3000, NASCAR, WRC, drag racing, banger racing and dare I say it, even street racing all have one divisive issue in common, well two actually…… tires and regulations.
Guest Author – Michael Heywood
Whatever level of motorsport, these two, shall we call them, points of discussion will never be more than a whisper, rant or fist fight away.
You either accept the fact and get on with having fun, or risk your hobby/profession becoming a tangled web of lies, deceit and political manoeuvring.
I find it best to just accept the realities of the need for rules, there are more important things in life than fighting the system, and get on with enjoying what for me, is a very enjoyable way of spending my weekends.
With that in mind, this weekend saw the first round of 2013 Extreme Superlap series where I found myself at the mercy of the “regulations”, unable to enter the event in Category A due to a low turn out of similar spec cars. The rules require a minimum number of cars to attend to make a category viable, this didn’t happen, despite the sterling efforts of the organizers, so I had to either drop out, or move into category B. These are the rules, and I have no problem accepting them, in fact I applaud the organizers for maintaining the integrity of the event.
Whilst I had a nice set of Category A compliant slick tires waiting in the wings, hoping to have a pop at the current Superlap record, I would not be allowed to use these in Category B.
Scrounging around a matter of hours before the start of the event, the best that I could manage to find was a 2 year old set of 245/30/18 treadwear 200 road tires. On a car like the Sam Performance EVO X, these are pretty much akin to those hard matchbox wheels you used to find on those toy cars we played with as kids, with a profile width comparable to a bike tire.
Still, I was not going to let my better instincts get in the way of a bit of fun and gave it a go regardless…… as you can see from the footage, I wont be doing it again!
Mike aka The Fost
