F1 Option Tire To Stay
by Steve Ratchett
The ISF Technical Working Group voted on Thursday to keep the controversial option tire rule in the F1 division for 2016.
Drivers will again need to change tires within one minute of the halfway point of all heat races and the final.
"There were passionate people for and against the issue and it turns out that drivers were split 50-50 on the issue," explained ISF Commissioner Everet Kamikawa. "The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that it made a huge talking point during the season and it did factor inn the outcome of several races. We decided to keep it for 2016 because the F1 division is based on Formula One and since they have an option tire rule, we thought we would try it for another year.
There is one possible change to the rule. The tire committee is experimenting to see if the current stock tires can be replaced with so called "black cat" tires like those formerly used in the ISF.
The committee would look into how the tires can be marked with grooves or painted sidewalls, if there is a way to make it so all the tires appear to be of the same construction with no defects, and if there is a big enough difference in speed between the "black cats" and current PVT-01 tires. A decision on this issue is expected before the first race, The Rapids Invitational, in September.
