Two things were suggested and ignored.
First, that a new class be created for BL that runs alongside BR. That way, people can choose which class to race in and, over time, one would prove more popular than the other. But no, Clubs and Associations simply made BL 'legal', and then tried to say both motors could run in the same class. Since the Bl motors invariably proved faster, guess what happened.
Second, it was suggested that once the BL motors caught on in volume, the focus would switch from hardware to software. Nothing was done to regulate this, so now we have new speedos coming out with unexplained tricks in them, and some needing a laptop at the track to tune them. This has increased the cost and complication.
What we said was that BL was not the answer to the motor maintenance, because it would bring with it another maintenance aspect (software) and a cost implication. We were right. And I was there supporting re-buildable Stock motors because I was fed up with people cheating by use of expensive, specialist equipment to true comms and set magnet timing.
And as for the idea that the mass exodus from BR is a power/maintenance thing - it's an efficiency thing. For most Club drivers, having a BL is essential in order to get their cells to last for eight minutes without the speed dropping off. They didn't want BL, but they couldn't make their BR last when put in the same race.
1-cell LiPo is now legal for 12th here in the UK, and will be pushed for EFRA. So, let's put my cards on the table again - it will not be cheaper than NiMh once the Teams get hold of it, the speedo software is adjustable to be used with it, and the cars are re-designed to cope with it. There will be no stopping it, but it isn't going answer anyone's prayers for a low-cost, simple racing.
TC has the same problem this side of the pond - BL and LiPo fully legal, numbers dropping. The appeal of 12th is its simplicity and low cost (BL and LiPo or not) so guess which class I'll be betting on to get through the next ten years of this recession?
