Originally Posted by
big ted
No way I would tolerate replacing tires after every 3 or 4 packs either. We run on a grey felt-like carpet (I've heard it called Ozite, but I'm not entirely sure this is correct) with a slicks-only rule. A set of tires is competitive for around 3 race meets in my experience, (2 rounds of qualies and 1 main per class, plus one or two packs of practice). After that there's some fall-off but it's gradual enough that tyres can still be used for practice or racing if you're feeling cheap.
It does mean all the hassles of saucing, but sounds like we come out ahead in the end.
Sadly this is what we are facing in the UK/Europe at the moment. Tyres which are at their optimum grip level for 1 run, maybe 2 at best, run 3 they are good enough for practice or maybe a club qualifying round, 4th run pretty useless. Take the UK national scene for example, 2 days of racing outdoors on astro turf, 70% of drivers will be using a set of rear tyres every single run, with the majority of the quick guys changing fronts too. With the qualifying times so close, the extra few 1/10ths that new tyres give you make all the difference, and it's one definite advantage you can give yourself every round. One guy does it, so everyone else follows.