> ....wasn't there a tire safety issue at the
> root of this?
The way I have been reading it, the Michelin tires were not up to the task
of standing up to qualifying AND racing (the way that this year's rules
require) at Indy. Michelin could not figure out what was causing the
problem. Changing a tire during the race earns penalties, effectively making
the teams running Michelins non-competitive.
This is not open competition. The teams like Ferrari who run Bridgestones
have had fits with the new tire rule this season, but have raced anyway. The
Indy track gave the advantage to the Bridgestones and Michelin was not
happy. "Run whatcha brung"!
Michelin and their subscribers wanted a chicane added to the course (after
qualifying, after practice, etc) which would bring the speeds down to the
point where the tires would have a chance to survive. For some reason,
Ferrari did not think this was fair. Go figure.
The safety card was Michelin's way of trying to look like the victim here. I
don't think it was very successful.
David Lieb
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