December 2013 Fastrack

[Andy Bettencourt]

I, and the company I own and represent are INSULTED by your shameful slur, sir!
Why are my blocks illegal?? The specific blocks in question are exact clones of the blocks that Honda sells, services and installs as replacements in the car that are approved and raced in STL.

By side company, Jakes Brake Discs has been supplying most of the field with my identical, but made with Polynesian and African labor, so that i can sell for lower prices....and nobody has any issues with their legality.

I fail to see the difference.

The fact that I am selling the exact same blocks to the guys who run in the JPL class of the SCCJ (Sports Car Club of Japan) where the rules state that original equipment blocks must be used shouldn't enter into your thought process.

My blocks meet the exact replacement rules, and my part numbers have no bearing on anything, nor should the other markets that they are used in.

If somebody feels the replacement parts I make are indeed not exact copies of the proper part, then they should determine the difference and protest me.

Ahhh but they aren't exact clones. They are cast with the JMB logo and serial number easily identifying them as specifically illegal from the get go. Spec for spec notwithstanding, the rule specifically calls your product out as illegal.

Jake's Brake Discs however flourishes. Why? No specific rule disallowing them exists in the rulebook and they are exact replacement parts.

In all seriousness, saying something is explicitly illegal as one of the core rules and then hinting that it could be legal later on isn't a great rule. There is a huge difference in the IT and ST rules here. IT talks about specs and equivalency, while the ST rules say no right up front and then allow exact substitutions...but really not the original. It's specific in that regard.

There is a better rule to be written here and it's not because the original rule was bad, but because the class continues to evolve as to what is acceptable and what isn't IMO.