Quote:
Originally posted by Jeff Higgins
Even Top Fuel, the last bastion of wide-open racing, has gotten more and more regulated in recent years. 500 inch maximum displacement, 80% nitro maximum, spec rear end ratio, maximum wheelbase, minimum weight. And the still hit 330-something in the traps. Something had to be done for safety's sake, even here. The days of wide-open, no holds barred racing at any level are gone. Technology has outstripped both the tracks and human ability.
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I don't know about drag racing, but in F1 the changes have mostly been done to curb costs, as you said earlier. Unfortunately that's one of the ways development works, if you have a huge amount of money and resources you are able to try more things than anyone else. Ultimately that would kill off the small teams, so something had to be done to level the playing field to the best of their abilities. There is a bit of a difference between doing this and selectively allowing manufacturers or teams 'tweaks' as NASCAR do. In that instance it isn't a cost issue, it's manipulation.
I think there will be a point with any genuinely open development series when dollars come into play.
One of the most impressive 'open development' series recently was the old DTM (German Touring Car) series. They had Mercedes, Alfa Romeo, and Opel with very high tech touring cars (sedans). They had cool stuff like active movable weight distribution, traction control, ABS, four wheel drive, and all kinds of high-tech stuff. Those cars were super cool, but escallating cost killed it and now they run cars that are a little more restrained.