Round 5 Wakefield - Championship Showdown! 13-14 Oct 2012

[MrBoost]

completely off topic (kinda), was the dunlop deal done to try and get closer racing and a slight form of parity
or do they give the series financial support?

I know this is a bit out there, but i remember when kerry first went to michelins he ground off the
markings and ran a bald tyre sidewall. Could 'part timers' who run say second hand michelins
or whatever grind off the markings and even say, spray dunlop on the side walls? Completely
understand if the answer would be no but maybe thats a small way to help the situation?

i know it wouldnt work for chris in his situation, but maybe others?

[MrBoost]

oh and obviously they wouldnt be eligible for points still

[Nadz44]

I thought you only had to run dunlops if you wanted to score series points?????, because chris is using a contract entry does that require that he must use dunlop branded tyres and that he score points????, what has been the outcome of the past non regular national runners who used a contract entry???....

[toranaracer]

I ran Dunlop's when I used Grant's entitlement at Phillip Island.
But then again we have only ever used Dunlop.
I would interpret this as a breach of the entrant contract, no different to crew apparel and vehicle signage.
I assume if you wanted to run brand "X" tyre you would need to enter as an individual entrant at the full entry price as to not jeopardise the contract terms and rebate agreement?

Rob may need to clarify this so Grant does not get caught up financially in this trying to do the right thing.

toranaracer.

[Nadz44]

that makes sense damien....

[Phast Phil]

Let me reiterate.....in the National series you MUST use Dunlop tyres, it is in the sporting regs now.

The reasons are:
To curb the higher costs to series entrants who were trying to get an advantage by using super soft tyres of whatever brand.
Dunlop do support the series financially and we have a 5 year contract for that and it is based on using Dunlop SS tyres as a control brand.

The Dunlop tyre is robust and will last a full round (maybe 2) and was lower cost than competing brands.

So no grinding off brands or any other slick tricks or you are on the trailer going home. It has nothing to do with points only, if a non complying tyre (even a Dunlop non complying or unmarked tyre) is used then it is a disqualification and off to the stewards for whatever penalty they may hand out, if you manage to slip past our series scrutineer and get out the gate.

This should be crystal clear now and will apply to ALL future rounds till the end of 2016.

[MrBoost]

i didnt mean for it to be a slick trick or sneaky, just a possible option to allow more cars
to run who wont be able to run otherwise. Doesnt matter it is what it is now.

Anyone out there not running at the wakefield round who has some good dunlops sitting
there hardening up, maybe this is your best chance to sell them at a reasonable price!
get them on here in the for sale section!

[toranaracer]

The Dunlop tyre is robust and will last a full round (maybe 2)

Haha, and the rest for us ;)

Please hand me down your 2 meeting old tyres as they will be newer than what we currently have :p

toranaracer.

[vehc-arbilac]

Oh well , if its written in the regs then it must be what everybody wanted & agreed to prior to season start .
Quite a shame that the tyre & other rule exceptions allowed for the combined State /national rounds , was not extended to all rounds , allowing non point scoring local runners to bolster the grids & support our friends running in the national series with larger grids & a better spectacle being the benefit to all.

Some may not agree with this , but these exceptions didn’t cause any problems at Eastern Creek , which was the best supported National series event this year .

Sometimes you have to make a few compromises while working towards the big picture , & until you have 20 + starters , all contracted & fronting at every round , then I think that this is one of those compromises that you need to seriously look at .

As far as good cars fronting at every round that is & always has been the biggest problem for this category .
On that score I haven’t missed a single NSW state round in 12 years & I haven’t missed a single NSW local National round in 7 years .
This will unfortunately be the first one I will miss in a very long time .

Good luck to everybody running , I hope you all have a safe & successful weekend ....
Chris

[toranaracer]

Phil, Thanks for clarifying once and for all the mandatory tyre requirements.

Also Phil correct me if I am wrong but at the time (and still maybe) Dunlop were the only tyre supplier who could support all the different sizes that we currently use which saved many competitors the expense of having to update wheels to 18"?

Chris it is a pity you will not be at WP. You would have certainly given the National guys a run for their money on whatever tyre you need to use.............

This is a similar sponsorship scenario back when HRT had Bridgestone all over the cars and ran on the V8SC Dunlop control tyre.

toranaracer.