Like charlie b clarified, many of you miss that the original RCGT class (electric) is the brainchild of HPI. So, they just extended the rules over to nitro to include those racers as well. I, like fastharry, and maybe a couple more on this thread have participated in HPI Challenge races and know what they are all about. We can tell you that past HPI races were HPI/Hot Bodies products only if you wanted to participate, tires included (and yes, HPI do make foam tires). Again, I have just about all types of HPI tires and can tell you, like fastharry, they are not as bad as some of you make them out to be. Their belted tires seem to last longer than any other tire that I have used from various other manufactures (inserts included).
Many of you still are failing to realize that this is a spec-type class to lure folks into and back to r/c racing. Many of you are trying to shoot it down before it gets going good. We older, more experienced racers are suppose to be ambassadors to this sport and are suppose to promote it in positive ways. All I am hearing from some of you is more of what won't work and how this or that needs to be this way or that (what "I" am used to running or the way "I" do it) instead of going with the flow to see if this is for you or will have fun running it. Unlike some of you, I would rather finish 5th in a tight race with good competitors than finish first several laps ahead of racers that are no where close to my driving abilities.
Again, give this class a chance to succeed in your area and try out the bodies, tires, etc before you start saying what will or will not work. Being short-sighted will no only doom this class, but it will keep dooming r/c racing as a whole as more and more people are going to do other things than to hang around a bunch of sour guys with bad attitudes.