lipo is easier then nimh, like you said, charge it run it, charge it run it, however nimh is also easy, its only has hard as YOU decide to make it. when i was running my 1/12 at FW and SIR, i straped in a battery, and ran it all day, no discharging, no trays, no fuss, no muss. however at home during the week i would discharge it, tray it, and put back about 4 -5 minutes of charge into it. there are those that do even more seeking every last tingle they can get out of a battery.
I can tell you this for a fact as i have the numbers to back it up. During the ECT at TRCR I ran a 17.5 brushless motor with Nimh, 6 ozs over min weight and the results are posted somewhere, last friday at TRCR I ran the lipo in a couple of qual and then switched to Nimh and went way faster. and this was with a nimh battery that had been sitting around for a couple of weeks, i didn't even discharge it or tray it before peaking it.
during nationals i was running 17.2's with Lipo, i bought a Nimh and went 16.7, I ended up winning nationals with a battery that stayed in the car all day and was never discharged or trayed between rounds. at the sizzler i ran Nimh in the Trans Am class, (same story on the battery) and had a very very heavy car, heaviest one there, and had a hella of a battle with Mr. Dutemple, (not sure what he ran) long story short, (oops to late) Nimh is faster then lipo and the extra weight be damned and thats all MY personal opinion with race results to back it up. However with all that said, and with the new Thunder Power 40C battery that has probably all changed, (I believe Thunder Powers numbers and not the guy who a week before Thunder Power released thiers was on the internet saying 40C wasn't possible but now has one
) so lets say we decide to go with lipo and 17.5 for the WGT cars, wanna guess whos going to by the 40C lipo for $129.00 vs running the Nimh packs i already have? And if by chance I pull off a win or two, wanna guess who's gonna be over that FW ordering 40C lipo's, yep the guys that didn't wanna spend 80 bucks on nimh.
AND WITH ALL THAT SAID, whatever decision is made, I will take that side and try and convice everyone to play happy. (however not fond of making rules that exclude or make it difficult on those that bought one brand of chassis to comply)